Shares in KEFI Minerals plc (LON:KEFI) surged after ANS Mining Share Company had put pen to paper on a binding project equity investment agreement.
It means that the Ethiopian syndicate is committed to investing a minimum of US$30mln in the Tulu Kapi gold project company, Tulu Kapi Gold Mines (TKGM), earning it a stake of 23% in the process.
READ KEFI Minerals signs heads of agreement with Ethiopian investor syndicate regarding Tulu Kapi project
The agreement also gives ANS the flexibility to invest further funds (up to US$38 million in total) to increase its interest to 29% with the proviso that its shareholding, when aggregated with that of the Government of Ethiopia, does not exceed 49.9% of TKGM; the proviso ensures that KEFI Minerals remains the majority shareholder of TKGM.
The signing of this binding agreement is a material milestone in the ultimate development of the Tulu Kapi project, KEFI said.
The shares were up 0.29p at 2.19p albeit less than half the level they were at a year ago.
12.45pm: The wrong Sirius
There is a considerable amount of interest in the retail investor community in Sirius Minerals but not so much in Nigeria-focused Sirius Petroleum PLC (LON:SERP).
The shares were down in the dumps in lunchtime trading after half-year results revealed the operating loss had ballooned to US$2.04mln from a loss of US$963,000 the year before.
The loss reflected the costs incurred during the period to continue to build the operational infrastructure at the Ororo field, funding the contracted operation team and planning work on the Ororo field.
That was all standard fare for a junior explorer. The shares retreated 9% to 0.565p, however, after the company reported delays with the drilling rig it proposes to use on the Ororo field.
Sirius is at an advanced stage of concluding its rig requirements in order to achieve spudding of Ororo-2 by the end of this year.
The development of the Ororo Field is the first of the company's marginal field developments, in line with its strategy to target proven opportunities and maximise hydrocarbon production and recovery from proven discovered assets in Nigeria.
Sirius is focused on appraising shallow water offshore areas where it can also “realise upside potential” (make money) for all stakeholders in potential assets through appraisal and development activities.
10.45am: Executive director Ian Smith says there is "nothing positive to point to" in IDE's results
The last business day of the quarter is when the “leave it to the last minute” crowd put out their results.
Leave it any longer than three months after the end of the reporting period and the company will see trading in its shares suspended until they publish the delayed results.
Clearly, many of these companies, most of which would characterise themselves as early stage ventures (with all the lack of resources that designation entails), would rather not release the results at all.
Whether IDE Group Holdings PLC (LON:IDE), with a market capitalisation of less than £9mln, comes into that category is hard to say but the fact remains its interims prompted its shares to fall by more than a fifth.
The network, cloud and information technology managed services provider posted a half-year loss of £7.0mln, compared to a profit the year before of £2.4mln, citing a laundry list of reasons, including onerous contracts, capitalised staff costs and exceptional items.
Ian Smith, the company’s sole remaining executive director, was not slow to point the finger of blame.
“As part of the strategic and operational review we have reversed the little integration that had been initiated by the previous management and as such the group has now been split back into the three component parts which comprised the original acquisitions made by the company, namely: Selection Services, C4L and 365 ITMS,” Smith said.
“There was a considerable lack of clarity around the trading performance of the group and in doing this we have been able to identify the activities which generate cash and those which are loss-making,” he continued.
Smith said the group is currently in talks to offload one or more of these component parts.
Making his bid for most honest and forthright management statement of the year/decade/century/millennium, Smith confessed, “I can safely say these are the worst set of results I have ever had to provide commentary for and there is nothing positive to point to.”
“I strongly believe that the strategy pursued by previous management, if allowed to continue, would have seen the company become insolvent. For example, many onerous contracts were signed that created little or no value to the company, including a single outsourced service contract that is costing the company more than £1.0 million a year and which has only generated net cost savings of £50,000.
"This contract, alongside others, was signed without due process or compliance with the company's authority limits. The company has sought legal advice in respect of this contract and we are currently considering our options in this respect,” Smith said, before going on to thank the staff for continuing to give a stuff in such miserable circumstances and to Nat West Bank for not pulling the plug on the whole sorry affair.
After such an honest appraisal, it is hard not to root for the company. The statement contains the usual “reasons to be cheerful” type stuff; let’s hope in this case it is not just deluded optimism.
10.00am: Weather-beaten stocks include RSA and Spaceforpeople
The number of companies grumbling about the weather seems to be on the rise – take that, climate change deniers!
This morning, insurance giant RSA Insurance Group PLC (LON:RSA) got in on the act.
The shares shed 9.3% after the company said pre-tax profit for the year-to-date is higher than 2017 but lower on an underlying basis due primarily to “elevated weather costs”.
The UK and London market business made an underwriting loss of around £70mln with higher weather, large losses and attritional claims; the Marine portfolio was the hardest hit.
Travel companies have also been using the weather as an excuse/reason (delete as applicable) for sub-par performance while, of course, retailers have been moaning about the weather, much like my dear old Auntie Renee, for decades.
CHEEESSSEEE :D!! Smile like you mean it without any worry! @Bupadentalcare will be at @StDavidsCardiff THIS WEEKEND ONLY speaking about their range of dental plans and FREE scan service (T&C's apply)! #Smile???? pic.twitter.com/iB3zmUmduf
— SpaceandPeople (@SpaceandPeople) September 28, 2018
SpaceandPeople PLC (LON:SAL), disappointingly, is not a Martian travel agency but is, in fact, a marketing company specialising in kiosks, stands and displays in places with high footfall so it is a fellow traveller of the retail sector.
As such, it was confirming to type this morning with a complaint about adverse weather conditions in two quarters this year; for good measure, it threw in a gripe about the diversion of the World Cup.
The firm’s revenue was down by 20% in the first half of 2018 compared with the previous year. Some of this reduction was anticipated in the UK retail and German promotional divisions; however, the fall in UK promotional and German retail revenue was “disappointing”, the company said.
After that long preamble – almost as long as the one in the company’s stock market announcement – we get to the profit warning.
“As a result of the slower than expected first half year along with the reduced expectations for Popup units in the second half of the year, the board has revised market expectations for the full year to being an operating profit of £0.2m, down from the previous expectation of £1.0 million,” the company said.
The market reacted with a hatchet, hacking 42% from the company’s share price.
9.45am: Major shareholder to put TyraTech out of its misery
The sometimes tortuous independent existence of parasite control products developer TyraTech Inc (LON:TYR) is set to come to an end.
The company has entered into a conditional merger agreement with American Vanguard Corporation (AMVAC), which already owns 34.4% of TyraTech’s shares.
AMVAC is offering to buy TyraTech shares at 3.15p a pop.
Five years ago, the shares were trading as high as 13.5p but for those investors who dived in at the beginning of the year (at 2.625p), the exit price represents a nice little return on investment – although the fact that the bid/offer spread on TyraTech shares is about 10% means the gain is probably not as handsome as it would appear at first glance.
READ: TyraTech moving to phase II of its development pipeline
AMVAC is a diversified speciality and agricultural products company; Eric Wintemute, who is both chairman and the chief executive officer of AMVAC, is also a director of TyraTech.
For the deal to go through, a 75% majority of the votes cast at a special meeting will need to be in favour, but with AMVAC holding such a large stake, this looks like it is done and dusted.
That’s just as well because otherwise, the company is in a sorry state. Given the company's existing liabilities, its limited cash resources and the uncertainty as to whether its assets could be sold at all and at what price, the independent directors believe little, if anything, would be available for return to TyraTech shareholders.
TyraTech had good technology but management has never been able to persuade the City to provide it with the financial backing to commercialise that technology. The hope is that AMVAC will have the firepower to do the technology justice and in the process enable TyraTech shareholders to vamoose with a few bob in their hands.
Proactive news headlines
Strategic Minerals Plc (LON:SML) expects 2018 results to exceed the record performance it reported last year after delivering a sharp rise in first-half profits.
Immotion Group PLC (LON:IMMO) will roll out its virtual reality brand ImmotionVR into Spain after signing a franchise distribution partnership with a local leisure operator.
Audio-visual interaction specialist Mirada Plc (LON:MIRA) reported an increase in full year gross profit and revenue, buoyed by contract wins and foreign exchange tailwinds.
Live Company Group Plc (LON:LVCG) swung to a first-half profit as the events and entertainment company delivered a 47% jump in revenues.
Action Hotels PLC (LON:AHCG) said underlying first half earnings rose 12% as occupancy levels remained robust despite the continued uncertain economic and political climate in the Middle East.
Ariana Resources plc (LON:AAU) swung to a first half profit, helped by an uplift in gold production from its Kiziltepe mine in Turkey, and said it was mulling options to diversify the business further.
Drilling is set to get underway shortly at Chariot Oil & Gas PLC’s (LON:CHAR) Prospect S well offshore Namibia. A deep-water drillship is due to arrive at the location within the next 24 hours, with spudding of the well expected shortly afterwards.
Sure Ventures PLC (LON:SURE) said it has raised £1.08mln in gross proceeds through a placing of shares.
Premier African Minerals Limited (LON:PREM) told investors on Friday it remains confident on the prospects in Zimbabwe projects after raising funds to support its operations.
88 Energy Ltd (LON:88E) has expanded its footprint on Alaska’s North Slope, securing additional areas of interest for the group’s planned conventional exploration campaign.
Curzon Energy Plc (LON:CZN) chief executive Stephen Schoepfer highlighted, in the company’s half yearly results statement, that it is currently evaluating alternative strategies for accelerating development of the Coos Bay coal bed methane (CBM) assets.
Anglo African Oil & Gas plc (LON:AAOG) executive chairman David Sefton has highlighted that the company remains focused on the drilling of the TLP-103C well, at the Tilapia field, offshore of the Republic of the Congo.
ITM Power plc (LON:ITM) told investors it has secured UK government funding to advance a possible power-to-gas energy storage project in Runcorn, Cheshire.
Shares in United Oil & Gas Plc (LON:UOG) edged higher on Friday after the operator of the Colter appraisal well signed a rig contract with drilling contractor Ensco.
Concrete products group SigmaRoc PLC (LON:SRC) more than doubled profits as latest acquisitions Allen Concrete and Poundfield chipped in for the first time.
Cradle Arc Plc (LON:CRA) seems to be putting the issues at its Mowana mine behind it, with the company reportedly making “good progress” at the Botswanan copper project.
Tower Resources PLC (LON:TRE) saw its first-half loss widen to US$3.35mln from US$730,129 the year before, largely as a result of writing down the value of its assets in Zambia by US$2.81mln.
Martin Andersson, the executive chairman of Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd (LON:CGH), said the Kyrgyz Republic-focused mine developer had made good progress in 2018.
Healthcare investor NetScientific PLC (LON:NSCI) has asid ti was “pleased” with the performance of its portfolio companies as it narrowed its losses in the first half of 2018.
Biotech investment group Amphion Innovations Plc (LON:AMP) is readying its FireStar Software partner company for an initial public offering, possibly as early as next year.
Xtract Resources PLC (LON:XTR) said in its half-year report the alluvial mining operations at its Manica concession in Mozambique remained cash positive during the period.
Since agreeing to purchase the Minto copper-gold-silver mine in Yukon, Northern Canada, Pembridge Resources PLC (LON: PERE) has been working towards completing the deal, it said, as it posted a half-year loss of US$2.2mln.
Eurasia Mining plc (LON:EUA) is seeing production as its alluvial platinum mine at West Kytlim run well ahead of schedule.
Recruiter Norman Broadbent Plc (LON:NBB) slashed its losses as recent efforts to boost sales started to show through.
Biotech investment group Amphion Innovations Plc (LON:AMP) is readying its FireStar Software partner company for an initial public offering, possibly as early as next year.
Advanced Oncotherapy PLC (LON:AVO), which is developing a breakthrough new proton therapy system for cancer sufferers, said it remains on course to treat its first patients in the second-half of 2020.
Tanzania-focused Aminex plc (LON:AEX) has confirmed its gas farm-out deal with an Omani industrial group is set to close by the end of November.
Curzon Energy Plc (LON:CZN) chief executive Stephen Schoepfer highlighted, in the company’s half yearly results statement, that it is currently evaluating alternative strategies for accelerating development of the Coos Bay coal bed methane (CBM) assets.
Amur Minerals (LON:AMC) said that it would turn its focus to corporate development after a successful 2018 field season and that the time was right to find a long-term strategic partner.
India-based power utility OPG Ventures PLC (LON:OPG) has written off its Gujarat power station after a series of ongoing disputes.
Delays in getting permits for its Honduras operations held back interim revenues at Wishbone Gold PLC (LON:WSBN).
Cabot Energy Plc (LON:CAB) chief executive Scott Aitken described himself as “encouraged” by the record positive cashflow from its Canadian operations.
Kore Potash PLC (LON:KP2) now expects to receive the definitive feasibility study documentation for its Sintoukola potash project in the Republic of Congo next month.
Bakery products firm Real Good Food PLC (LON:RGD) dished up a 20% rise in revenue for the year, supported by the acquisition of healthy snack bar maker Brighter Foods.
Red Rock Resources (LON:RRR) said it expects to receive an interim dividend of more than £0.5mln from its investment in Jupiter Mines (ASX:JMS).
Having taken a step back to review its business, Bezant Resources plc (LON:BZT) says it now has a “clear focus” on how best to progress its portfolio of copper-gold assets.
The next 12 months should be an “exciting time” for IronRidge Resources Limited (LON:IRR) as the minerals explorer looks to press ahead with the development of its portfolio of projects across Africa and Australia.
PowerHouse Energy Group Plc (LON:PHE) told investors that it has the right strategy to deliver substantive growth over the medium to longer-term, as the company released its half-yearly results statement.
PhotonStar LED Group PLC (LON:PSL) swung to a first-half profit and said its transformation into a software and services business was gathering pace.
Vast Resources PLC (LON:VAST) continues to look forward to the ‘transformational’ commissioning of the BBPM project, in Romania, which promises to generate cash flow to the support the group’s growth plans.