Crest Nicholson Holdings PLC (LON:CRST) shares fell 4.4% to 308.80p, falling after the home builder said its chief financial officer is stepping down as a tough London market has hurt profit.
The FTSE 250 company warned that it expects full-year profits to drop due to weaker margins and sluggish sales. With CFO Robert Allen leaving, chief executive Patrick Bergin will take on responsibilities of the role.
READ: Crest Nicholson announces new strategy as in face of sluggish sales
But stock in Accesso Technology Group PLC (LON: ACSO) gained 3.2% to 2,580.40p, with the point-of-sale and ticketing software maker entering into a strategic partnership with Groupon.
Accesso, which trades on AIM, said e-commerce company Groupon will use accesso’s Ingresso distribution platform to give its app users access to ticketing inventory. The integration will begin in late autumn 2018.
READ: Accesso in technology deal with Groupon
Also up, Sound Energy PLC (LON:SOU) shares bulked up 3.8% to 37.40p, with the company confirming it has now begun drilling operations at an exploration well in Morocco.
AIM-quoted Sound Energy said the TE-9 well will be drilled down to 3,022 metres.
READ: Sound Energy kicks off new exploration drilling in Morocco
Berkeley Energia Ltd (LON:BKY) shares tumbled 44% to 13.00p as the company said it is seeking clarification after a report suggested its Salamanca uranium mine would not receive Spanish government approval.
A Reuters report suggested Spain’s government would not issue the required permits for construction to move forward, even though the project was granted preliminary approval. AIM-quoted Berkeley Energia said it hasn’t received official notice from government officials that it would not receive the required permits.
READ: Berkeley Energia seeks to clarify permit situation at Salamanca
Also struggling were shares of Flybe Group PLC (LON:FLYB), sliding 37% to 20.25p after the budget airline warned that full-year earnings will be hurt by slowing demand for its domestic and near-continent flights.
The AIM-listed carrier said it has been struggling to fill its planes in recent weeks, a trend it expects to continue throughout the rest of the second half. Flybe noted it had an encouraging first-half performance that saw an increase in average load factor and revenue per seat.
READ: Flybe shares plummet as airline guides to wider full-year loss
But gainers were joined by Angus Energy PLC (LON:ANGS), whose shares leapt 11% to 10.10p as the onshore O&G explorer company said Bergen Asset Management had reduced its shareholding in the company below the 3% minimum reporting threshold.
Bergen’s disposals, or potential exit, would effectively remove a possible ‘overhang’ or impediment to the AIM-quoted shares.
READ: Angus Energy rises on Bergen share disposals
ASOS PLC (LON:ASC) shares soared 13% to 5,626p as the apparel retailer’s full-year profit narrowly topped expectations.
The AIM-listed company said pre-tax profit increased to £102mln for the year to August 31, up from £80mln a year earlier. Analysts had forecast pre-tax profit in the range of £80mln to £101mln.
READ: ASOS profit narrowly tops forecasts, maintains current year guidance
Other gainers included Location Sciences Group PLC (LON:LSAI), as the mobile location data specialist climbed 6.1% to 0.03p after signing a two-year deal with Talon, the UK’s leading out of home planning and buying agency.
AIM-quoted Location Sciences said it will provide Talon’s clients – including McDonald’s, Sony and Google – with insights into the impact of their out-of-home ad campaigns.
READ: Location Sciences seeks out another long-term contract
But on the losing end, Diurnal Group PLC (LON:DNL) shares slumped 8.4% to 38p, with the company saying it will put US development plans for its flagship Chronocort drug on hold.
The move by the AIM-quoted company followed an earlier announcement that Chronocort - used to treat people with congenital adrenal hyperplasia - failed in a late-stage clinical trial. On Wednesday, Diurnal said it plans to request a scientific advice meeting with European regulators before the end of 2018. Diurnal is aiming towards submitting a Marketing Authorisation Application for Chronocort in the fourth quarter of 2019, including application for Orphan Drug Designation in the treatment of CAH.
READ: Diurnal lead drug Chronocort fails late-stage study
Solid State PLC (LON:SOLI) shares jumped 15% to 326.72p in early trading after the specialty electronics maker forecast growth in group revenues for the six months ended September 30.
The AIM-listed company said it foresees group sales of £23.5mln, ahead of £22.5mln posted in the same period a year ago. The Value Added Distribution division had a “particularly strong period” of growth in revenues and margins, including from a one-off client order of about £1.0mln in the first half.
Also trading higher, ValiRx PLC (LON:VAL) leapt 7% to 1.90p as the biotech firm said its VAL201 prostate cancer treatment has entered the final stages of its Phase I/II clinical trial.
UK regulators last December gave the AIM-listed company permission to raise the dose of VAL201 it gave to patients after early feedback showed it was safe and well-tolerated.
READ: ValiRx enters final stages of phase I/II trial of its VAL201 prostate cancer drug
Meanwhile, Ariana Resources PLC (LON:AAU) gained 6.9% to trade at 1.86p, as recent work at its Salinbas Gold Project in Turkey has demonstrated that exceptional mineralisation continues at the immediate north of the deposit.
Ariana, an AIM-quoted company, said trial mining produced more than 5,000 tonnes of mineralized material from the Ardala porphyry.
READ: Ariana Resources upbeat about work at Salinbas Gold Project
PowerHouse Energy Group PLC (LON:PHE) shares charged up 14% to 0.49p after the waste-to-energy technology maker received an independent endorsement of its technology.
DNV GL, a global leader in technical assurance certification, conducted a review of PowerHouse’s proprietary full-scale commercial engineering design for the waste-to-power and waste-to-hydrogen technology processes known as DMG. The end result was the issue of a “Statement of Feasibility” by DNV.
READ: PowerHouse Energy's technology receives the thumbs-up from technical assurance consultant
Proactive news headlines:
Waste-to-energy technology pioneer PowerHouse Energy Group PLC (LON:PHE) has received an independent endorsement of its technology.
Ariana Resources PLC (LON:AAU) said recent exploration and development work at the Salinbas Gold Project has demonstrated that exceptional mineralisation continues to the immediate north of the deposit, over around 500 metres of strike, as predicted in its JORC Exploration Target in June.
ValiRx PLC’s (LON:VAL) VAL201 prostate cancer drug has entered the final stages of its Phase I/II clinical trial.
Driver monitoring technology firm Seeing Machines Limited (LON:SEE) has appointed high tech veteran Ryan Murphy as chief operating officer.
Amryt Pharma PLC’s (LON:AMYT) flagship Lojuxta drug will soon be available in all five of the EU’s largest markets after French officials agreed to reimburse patients receiving the ‘bad’ cholesterol treatment.
Berkeley Energia Limited (LON:BKY) has noted media reports that the Spanish Government is intending to deny the company the necessary permits to open the Salamanca project. The company said it has received no official notice in this regard from the Nuclear Safety Council nor any other government department to date but is seeking immediate clarification on these reports and will make an announcement as soon as a response is received.
accesso Technology Group PLC (LON:ACSO), the technology solutions provider focused on the leisure, entertainment and hospitality markets, has entered into a strategic partnership with Groupon.
i3 Energy PLC (LON:I3E) told investors it has appointed FirstEnergy Capital LLP as acquisitions and divestitures advisor to assist the farm-out process for the Liberator oil field, in the UK North Sea.
The Cursor Controls Group, a designer and maker of human-to-machine interface products has been acquired by discoverIE Group PLC (LON:DSCV), the customised electronics products maker. DiscoverIE is paying £19mln upfront in cash and a further payment of up to £4mln could be paid, depending on how the acquired business performs over the next three years.
Europa Oil & Gas Holdings PLC (LON:EOG) is sufficiently encouraged by its progress offshore Ireland that is now actively preparing for a well programme, which could come as soon as next year.
Vast Resources PLC (LON:VAST) and Botswana Diamonds PLC (LON:BOD) are to push ahead with their plans to develop the Heritage concession in the Marange diamond fields of Zimbabwe.
Alba Mineral Resources PLC (LON:ALBA) has found evidence of gold well away from the old mine workings at Clogau in Wales. Soil sampling and geophysical sampling confirmed that gold anomalies occur all along the strike of the existing mine.
Sound Energy PLC (LON:SOU) has confirmed that it has now begun drilling operations for the TE-9 exploration well in Morocco.
Tlou Energy Ltd (LON:TLOU, ASX:TLOU) chairman Martin McIver, in a statement ahead of today’s AGM, told investors the company is excited by the development of a coal bed methane (CBM) gas industry in Botswana.
Red Rock Resources PLC (LON:RRR) has started a soil sampling programme to explore for copper and cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The licence is in the Copperbelt in the south of the DRC near the Zambian border.
Bushveld Minerals Limited (LON:BMN) expects to start detailed talks about a finance package for the Imaloto coal-fired power station project in Madagascar once the bankable feasible study (BFS) is completed. The study for the power station was completed in June and is under review, while the BFS for the coal mine is due to be finished in the final quarter of this year.
Chariot Oil & Gas Limited (LON:CHAR), the Atlantic margins focused oil and gas exploration company, announced that the Ocean Rig Poseidon drillship has been released by the group following the safe drilling of the Prospect S well, Namibia. The company also said it now estimates that its 2018 year-end cash position, after well costs, will be in excess of US$14mln.