Two Shields Investments PLC (LON:TSI) was wanted after updating the market on its West African lithium portfolio.
Xantus, in which Two Shields has a 40% interest, has published the assay results from the recent auger geochemical programme, which it said confirm the prospectivity of the permit area for lithium mineralisation.
"The Auger Geochemical programme conducted by Xantus across the Niger permit area has successfully demonstrated a significantly greater number of lithium anomalies than previously recorded, and provided a better understanding of the distribution of mineralisation across the permit area,” said Charlie Wood, the chairman of Two Shields.
“The company has been informed that Xantus are considering the next stage in the development of the Niger permit area,” he added, Shares in Two Shields were up 14.3%.
Moving on from lithium to vanadium, the unstoppable Bushveld Minerals Limited (LON:BMN) was on the rise again after broker SP Angel hiked its target price for the stock to 87p from 37p.
The shares rose 3.5p to 44.5p.
Bushveld announced this afternoon it would host an interactive web seminar tomorrow for the investment and media community.
The “webinar” is entitled “Energy Storage101” - the 101 appellation is a US phrase, the meaning of which I need to learn by reading a US Idioms 101 primer.
2.00pm: Dignity is "overpriced" - that applies to the services it offers (some say) and the shares (the market says)
Who knew there was a funeral services comparison web site?
There’s no reason for there not to be, I suppose, but given the propensity for comparison web sites to use slightly jokey figures to advertise their services, one wonders what the approach of Beyond, which runs a web site of that ilk, would be?
Be that as it may, James Dunn, co-founder of Beyond, has passed judgement on today’s results from the UK’s publicly quoted funeral services provider, Dignity PLC (LON:DTY).
"Dignity's results speak resoundingly to the changing shape of the funeral sector.
“Death may be permanent but the funeral market is in the process of radical change,” the unfortunately named Dunn said after Dignity's shares fell 6.6%.
"The provider, which is in the middle of a restructuring, has historically reaped the rewards of an incredibly uncompetitive market.
"Despite targeting price reductions, Dignity is still very much overpriced when compared to your typical independent business. The average funeral director fee of chains - such as Dignity - is still 56% higher than that of independents.
"There could be another surprise for large incumbents down the line – at the end of the month, the CMA is due to issue a report that is likely to tackle the fundamental lack of transparency in the sector,” Dunn noted.
Investors left shares of Restaurant Group PLC (LON:RTN) on the plate after a highly dilutive rights issue to fund its acquisition of Wagamama.
The shares fell 4.2% to 241.2p; The 13-for-9 rights issue is priced at 108.5p, representing a 56.9% discount to the closing price of THE Frankie & Benny’s owner on Friday.
READ Restaurant Group launches discounted £315mln rights issue to help fund Wagamama takeover
“Not surprisingly at such a heavy discount, the group is able to say that the issue is fully underwritten. Existing shareholders not taking up their rights will be heavily diluted,” said Mark Brumby at financial services firm, Langton Capital.
Brumby noted that the restaurateur is no longer saying the deal will be “accretive” - we used to say “earnings enhancing” when not trying to sound posher than we are – in the first year of ownership.
Langton noted press reports over the weekend that the deal was “on a knife-edge” - which hardly seems appropriate when talking about the purchase of a chain of noodle restaurants – and speculated that “serious discussions must have taken place last week”.
12.15pm: Online Blockchain the weakest link as cryptocurrency bubble bursts
Has the crypto-currency bubble burst?
Few doubt that blockchain technology is here to stay but it is possible markets got a bit carried away with the while cryptocurrency thing, as evidenced by digital coin developer Online Blockchain PLC (LON:OBC) swinging to a loss in the year to the end of June as the value of cryptocurrencies fell sharply.
READ Online Blockchain swings to a loss after cryptocurrency prices dive
“In 2018, the Blockchain bubble burst and the market price for Crypto-assets has fallen back a long way,” said the chief executive, Clement Chambers.
“While this is undoubtedly disappointing in the short term, we firmly believe Blockchain technology has a huge future,” he added.
85MW crypto mining facility in Canada now online #blockchain #ethereum #altcoin Canada https://t.co/XwJHMS2WoO pic.twitter.com/QxbcbctMgg
— Coin Spectator - Real-time cryptocurrency news (@coinspectator) November 12, 2018
TomCo Energy Plc (LON:TOM) slipped out an announcement late on Friday on the field test programme by its TurboShale subsidiary.
If the intention was for the announcement to go unnoticed, it proved to be a failure.
The shares slipped to 4.3p from 8p on Friday and retreated further this morning to 3.5p as investors took in the news that the field test programme, on the Holliday block in Utah, would suffer further details.
The company has been advised by the site engineering team that, in order to ensure a successful 'live' test, a more robust coupling between the radio frequency (RF) antenna and the artificial lift system was needed and that in order to accommodate the improved coupling, further drilling would be required to extend the existing wells.
A drilling rig is therefore required to complete the necessary drilling and TurboShale's drilling contractor, Himes Drilling Company Inc, has indicated that as it is expected to snow at the site early next week, it will not be possible to transport a rig to the field test.
TomCo’s best guess now is that the rest of the field test will not start until the second quarter of next year, although it could start earlier if the weather turns mild sooner than it usually does.
10.30am: Johnston Press receives lift from talk of an approach to buy the i newspaper; GYG MD dips his hand into his pocket
“Journalists publish positive story on a newspaper group” shocker. Read all about it - “it” being Johnston Press plc (LON:JPR).
Johnston’s shares shot up 16% - what a scorcher! - to 3.8p on reports that the Daily Mail and General Trust PLC (LON:DMGT) is considering making an offer to buy Johnson’s i newspaper.
READ Newspaper publisher Johnston Press puts itself up for sale
The i was bought by Johnston for £24mln back in 2016 and is seen as the jewel in the crown of the company’s 200-strong portfolio of regional papers.
The group, which also owns the Yorkshire Post (by ‘eck) and the Scotsman, recently put itself up for sale as the chances of it refinancing £220mln of bonds when they mature next June look slim.
Daily Mail owner in bid to buy i newspaper from Johnston Press, reports say https://t.co/re4f8echHH
— Press Gazette (@pressgazette) November 12, 2018
Shares in super-yacht painting, supply and maintenance company, GYG PLC (LON:GYG) shipped water after the company’s trading update at the end of October but managing director Rupert Savage has stepped up to do a bit of baling.
Savage bought 146,250 shares at 34p a pop, taking his holding up to 2.72mln or 5.83% of the company.
READ GYG bemoans rich and famous sunning it up in the Caribbean as it issues huge profit warning
The shares rose 4p to 36.5p, with a bid-offer spread of 35-38p, so Savage is already sitting on a profit on his purchase.
9.00am: Lenigas followers all-a-Twitter over Anglo African; Carr's Group moves into a higher gear
Anglo African Agriculture PLC (LON:AAAP) has decided to pull the trigger on the proposed US$1mln loan to Comarco Group.
The 24-month loan will be used to help fund the growth of Comarco’s port and marine logistics business and repay existing debt.
The secured loan will be provided at a 12% rate per annum increasing to 15% after nine months. In addition to this, Anglo African has begun to provide assistance with Comarco’s restructuring.
The directors of Anglo African are confident that the loan will open new avenues for both AAA and Comarco to jointly find and work on investment opportunities.
Anglo Africa Agriculture moves ahead with massive Kenyan Port deal. Just announced. This is a very big deal. FE Investegate |Anglo African Ag PLC Announcements | Anglo African Ag PLC: AAA moves ahead with Kenyan oil and logistics port loan AAAP:LN https://t.co/l3RpAe3FRo
— David Lenigas (@DavidLenigas) November 12, 2018
“Since our announcement that we intended entering into this loan, we have been approached by numerous parties expressing their interest to cooperate with us in various forms. This is significant, as this clearly demonstrates that we have managed to find a very valuable and uniquely positioned asset with potentially very large upside potential. The recent oil price rise has been highly beneficial for the port, as it is heavily exposed to oil and gas related services (although not solely reliant thereon),” said David Lenigas, the non-executive chairman of Anglo African.
“I am also delighted that the trading at both our fully owned subsidiary, Dynamic Intertrade (Pty) Ltd as well as our 46.8% owned subsidiary, Dynamic Intertrade Agri (Pty) Ltd, are continuing on their improved trend,” Lenigas added.
The shares were the top risers in London, up 60% at 0.60p.
Carr’s Group PLC (LON:CARR), one of the few listed company that cares about the correct use of possessive apostrophes, climbed 9p to 165p on the back of full-year results that topped the board’s expectations.
The agriculture and engineering group saw headline profit before tax surge 45.2% to £16.6mln in the year to September 1 from £11.4mln the year before on the back of a 16.5% increase in revenue to £403.2mln from £346.2mln.
The group reported a strong performance in UK Agriculture with growth across all areas, reflecting improved farm incomes. While USA feed blocks were significantly ahead of expectations, up 17.7%, driven by the recovery in USA cattle prices.
"We are very pleased to announce a significant improvement in the group's financial performance for the year, exceeding the board's expectations, across both the Agriculture and Engineering divisions,” said Chris Holmes, the chairman of Carr’s Group.
“This performance was largely as a result of investments we made across the business in recent years, in addition to a recovery in our underlying markets,” he added.
Proactive news headlines
Sirius Minerals PLC (LON:SXX) told investors that procurement is complete for the major construction packages in its Yorkshire mine development project.
MaxCyte Inc (LON:MXCT) has signed a research agreement with Kite Pharma Inc, a subsidiary of US drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:GILD), to use its Flow Electroporation Technology (FET) platform.
Arix Bioscience Plc (LON:ARIX) has invested US$8.0mln (£6.1mln) in the US$70mln Series C financing of cancer immunotherapy specialist Harpoon Therapeutics.
Horizonte Minerals Plc (LON:HZM) made a third-quarter loss of £803,568, compared to a loss the year before of £307,817. Much of the increase was due to a £338,516 charge for share options granted, up from £23,121 the previous year.
Lionsgold LTD (LON:LION) has rebranded its physical gold currency and trading platform from “Goldbloc” to “Tally.” Tally is a physical gold currency and alternative banking platform that operates complementarily to fiat currency denominated banking accounts.
Anton du Plessis, who became the chief executive officer of Erris Resources PLC (LON:ERIS) last month, has been appointed to the board.
NQ Minerals PLC (AQSE:NQMI) has successfully produced its first lead, gold and silver concentrate at its poly-metallic Hellyer project in Tasmania.
Amur Minerals Corporation PLC (LON:AMC) said its pre-feasibility study (PFS) will be released in the first quarter of next year as it confirmed there had been interest in the Kun-Manie nickel project.
Ariana Resources PLC (LON:AAU) is on track to exceed this year’s target for gold production from its Kiziltepe mine in Turkey after another record quarter.
Westminster Group PLC (LON:WSG) said its chief executive Peter Fowler has bought a 4.97% stake in the company. Chief financial officer Mark Hughes and non-executive director Lady Patricia Lewis have also bought shares, representing holdings of 0.09% and 0.08% respectively.
Jersey Oil and Gas PLC (LON:JOG) has been informed that the Verbier appraisal well will now likely be drilled in the first quarter of 2019, rather than in the current quarter.
Eland Oil & Gas PLC (LON:ELA) on Monday issued a statement confirming the renewal of Oil Mining Lease 40 (OML 40) for a period of 20 years.
Highlands Natural Resources Plc (LON:HNR) has trimmed the number of permit applications for its West Denver shale project in Colorado following discussions with regulators and locals.
Scancell Holdings Plc (LON:SCLP) will present an overview of the company at the LSX Inv€$tival Showcase on November 13 in London.
Avacta Group PLC (LON:AVCT) said the chief scientific officer, Dr Amrik Basran, will present recent data for the firm’s Affirmer range of research tools and diagnostics reagents at the Protein Engineering Society of Europe meeting in Lisbon on November 14.