Avocet Mining PLC (LON:AVM) has warned that it could be wound up if talks with its major lender and largest shareholder don’t go well.
The company, which now only owns a small stake in a Moroccan mining group, said its near-US$30mln of loans are an “unsustainable debt burden”.
Those loans have been due since 2013 and discussions with Elliott about restructuring them again continue.
“A possible outcome of these discussions could be that the Avocet Group is broken up further in an orderly manner and eventually wound up,” read today’s report.
“If this occurs, it is expected that, given the amount of debt owed by Avocet, there will be very minimal or no returns to Avocet's shareholders.”
Shares fell by 37.3% to 7.5p. They were changing hands for more than 120p only two years ago.
Vela’s investment in We Shop worth over £400k now
Tech investor Vela Technologies PLC’s (LON:VELA) investment in social shopping site We Shop is now worth more than four times what it paid.
Vela snapped up 71,429 shares back in 2014 for £100,000; those same shares are worth £427,000 today.
The investment group did the maths after AIM-listed Two Shields Investments PLC (LON:TSI) poured £200,000 in at almost £6 a share.
Vela shares soared 16.7% to 0.35p on Monday afternoon.
Goals Soccer assisted by rival Powerleague’s on-pitch struggles
Goals Soccer Centres PLC (LON:GOAL) saw its shares rise on Monday after rival five-a-side football pitch operator Powerleague unveiled plans to close 13 sites.
Powerleague, which operates 440 football pitches at 50 sites across the UK and Ireland, is looking to implement the changes through something called a company voluntary arrangement (CVA).
It has suffered three years of falling revenues and has failed to raise sufficient funds to pay for its leases.
“Without an approved CVA, Powerleague will not be able to secure the additional funds that the business needs and will most likely result in the company going into administration,” the company is quoted as saying.
Goals investors, hoping the move would generate some more business, piled in, sending shares up 2.1% to 73.5p.
Big Sofa Tech slumps as it raises £1.7mln at HUGE discount
Big Sofa Technologies Group PLC (LON:BST) plummeted on Monday after the video analytics provider raised money at a steep discount.
The company, a tiddler valued at less than £2mln, raised almost £1.7mln through a subscription from existing investors including various directors.
The shares were issued at 3p apiece, more than half what they were trading at on Friday afternoon.
Big Sofa said it will use the cash to top up the coffers as the company gears up its R&D spend ahead of its “next phase of growth”.
The stock fell back towards the issue price, down almost 60% for the day to 3.4p.
Ascent Resources “confident” permits for Slovenian gas field will be awarded very soon
Oil and gas firm Ascent Resources Plc (LON:AST) has told investors it is “confident” that it will be awarded an environmental permit for its Petišovci gas field in Slovenia “in the coming weeks”.
The permit is needed for the company to start construction of a processing plant adjacent to the field, which is near the town of Lendava.
Ascent said its confidence was based on the latest correspondence it received from the local environmental agency.
Investors have been waiting a while for these permits to be signed off and they poured back in on today’s optimistic update, sending the stock up 5.2% to 0.82p.
Eckoh signs big US contract
Eckoh PLC (LON:ECK) has won its biggest ever secure payments contract, sealing a two-year deal worth US$7.4mln.
The agreement is with an unnamed client described as one of the largest corporations in the US.
Eckoh will implement its patented and industry compliant CallGuard tokenisation technology across the client's entire American business which will protect card payments made to its contact centres and automated systems.
Shares rose 5.2% to 0.82p.
Strikes dent Ryanair profits
Ryanair (LON:RYA) shares were sent into a tailspin as the budget carrier lowered its full year profit guidance after it was hit by strikes by its pilots and cabin crew, lower third quarter fares and higher oil prices.
The low-cost carrier said on Monday that it was cutting its profit guidance by 12% to a range of €1.10bn - €1.20bn from the previous range of €1.25bn - €1.35bn.
The Irish airline also warned that forward bookings, especially for the October school half-term holiday and Christmas period, were lower due to passengers' fears of further strikes.
Proactive Investors
Greatland Gold plc (LON:GGP) has intercepted mineralisation in its current drilling programme at the Havieron project in Australia that appears visibly similar to core recovered from an earlier hole that yielded 121 metres grading 2.93 grams per tonne gold and 0.23% copper.
Chesnara Plc (LON:CSN) senior independent director Mike Evans is stepping down with immediate effect to become chairman of Prudential PLC’s (LON:PRU) UK and Europe division. Jane Dale, a non-executive of the life assurance and pensions consolidator since May 2016, will succeed Evans.
BigDish Plc (LON:DISH) has released an app that will allow restaurants to modify any deal on any given day in real time via its table-booking platform.
Arix Bioscience Plc (LON:ARIX) has invested US$11mln (£8.4mln) to take an 11.2% stake in next-generation cancer drug developer VelosBio.
Argo Blockchain PLC (LON:ARB) has reported a ten-fold increase in sales of its cryptocurrency mining packages in the first significant ramp-up of revenues since its initial public offering (IPO) in August.
European Metals Holdings LTD (LON:EMH) has secured permits to drill 13 new holes at the Cinovec project in the Czech Republic as part of an ongoing definitive feasibility study.
Arc Minerals Ltd (LON:ARCM) has raised £2mln (US$2.6mln) at a premium to fund exploration and development work at its Kalaba copper-cobalt project in Zambia.
Harvey Nash Group plc (LON:HVN) has acknowledged a statement by DBAY Advisors that its acquisition method has been switched to a takeover offer.
Base Resources LTD (LON:BSE)(ASX:BSE) will repay the outstanding balance of the US$215 million debt incurred during the construction of its Kwale mineral sands project in Kenya within the next ten days.
Rockfire Resources Plc (LON:ROCK) has been granted a 38 square kilometre permit surrounding Newmont’s Mt Leyshon gold mine. The grant of the New Leyshon permit means that Rockfire now has permitted ground immediately contiguous to Mt Leyshon on three sides.
Oil & gas producer Range Resources Limited (LON:RRL, ASX:RRS) saw revenues rise substantially in the year to the end of June from the year before.
Kore Potash PLC (LON:KP2) has appointed St James's Corporate Services Limited, a secretarial and corporate administration services provider, as interim joint company secretary from today, joining. current joint company secretary, Henko Vos.
Rosslyn Data Technologies PLC (LON:RDT) expects to report a profit in 2018/19 in what the big data technology expects to be a “breakthrough year”. The provider of a leading cloud-based enterprise data analytics platform said on Monday it continued to see strong demand for data analytics after winning several contracts with large, global companies in the year to the end of April.
Sareum Holdings Plc (LON:SAR) swung to a full-year loss but said it had made strong progress with potential therapies for certain cancers and autoimmune diseases during the year.
Eckoh PLC (LON:ECK) has won its biggest ever secure payments contract, sealing a two-year deal worth US$7.4mln.
Metal Tiger PLC (LON:MTR) has appointed Malcolm Bacchus as its new finance director following the decision of Keith Springall to step down.
Rambler Metals and Mining PLC (CVE:RAB LON:RMM) has hit some of the highest copper and gold grades seen yet at the Ming mine in Newfoundland.
Commercial announcements are coming thick and fast from OptiBiotix Health plc (LON:OPTI), which is developing natural remedies for obesity, cholesterol and weight loss.
Kibo Energy PLC (LON:KIBO) told investors that the deadline for concluding its Chinese partnership deal has been extended, until the end of November.
I3 Energy Plc (LON:I3E) is working towards what chief executive Neill Carson expects will be “an eventful 2019”.
Bezant Resources plc (LON:BZT) has given investors further insight in regards to its Mankayan copper-gold project, in the Philippines, with a new 3D model showing a representation of the proposed underground mine.
Europa Metals Ltd (LON:EUZ, ASX:EUZ) is moving in a more positive direction, declared chairman Colin Bird in the company’s annual results statement.
Rosslyn Data Technologies PLC (LON:RDT) expects to report a profit in 2018/19 in what the big data technology expects to be a “breakthrough year”.
Richland Resources Ltd (LON:RLD) has reported a narrowed loss in its half-year results as it continued its push toward restarting production at its Capricorn Sapphire project in Queensland.
Avation PLC (LON:AVAP) has delivered the first new ATR 72-600 aircraft to Danish Air Transport (DAT) as part of a leasing deal signed in August.