Versarien PLC (LON:VRS), the advanced materials engineering group, has made a step forward with its plans to establish a manufacturing centre in the Shandong Province, China.
The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Jinan High-tech Financial Investment (JHFI) to create a joint venture, possibly with the involvement of other parties, for the manufacture and sale of the company’s Nane, Graphinks and other graphene products in China’s Jinan innovation zone.
Subject to the satisfactory completion of negotiations it is envisaged that JHFI will provide funding for the venture in a structure to be agreed.
The shares were up 7.4% at 131.5p.
Meanwhile, sector peer Haydale Graphene extended its earlier gain to 25% in the afternoon session.
READ Haydale licenses its anti-counterfeiting ink to Thai printing company
The company has signed an inks deal with TKS, one of the largest security printing house based in Thailand.
Somkid Vekinwattanasate, the managing director at TKS, said the firm was “really excited” at the prospect of using Haydale’s anti-counterfeiting technology.
2.00pm: Centaur Media gets serious about its divestment plans
Centaur Media PLC (LON:CAU), a provider of market intelligence, has appointed two firms to advise on its divestment programme.
The decision follows Centaur’s announcement in October that it was “accelerating the simplification of the group's structure” to improve operational execution and to focus attention on the leading brands within its marketing division.
Livingstone Partners has been appointed to advise on the potential sale of “The Lawyer”, which operates a digital platform to provide intelligence and analysis to the global legal market.
Cavendish Corporate Finance will advise on the potential sales of Centaur's events division.
Centaur’s shares galloped 2.75p higher to 17.75p.
Also on the up was Kromek Group PLC (LON:KMK) after it won a contract to supply its technology for baggage scanning systems.
The firm, which develops radiation detection systems, said the contract would commence immediately and run for a five-year period, with an estimated worth of US$7.8mln.
The shares were up tuppence at 25.25p.
Kromek secures five-year $7.8m baggage screening contracthttps://t.co/2zPLikxw88
— Kromek Group PLC (@kromekgroup) November 19, 2018
12.30pm: Active Energy receives Newfoundland boost; Haydale inks licensing agreement
Active Energy Group PLC’s (LON:AEG) Timberlands International subsidiary has received government approval for two five-year commercial timber permits (CTP) in Newfoundland.
The group will use waste wood from the permits to provide the raw material for its biomass technology CoalSwitch.
The company’s market capitalisation rose by more than a quarter to £17.6mln.
Active Energy said the CTPs give “long-term visibility” over fibre and feedstock from forestry management areas to Timblerlands. It will now begin planning for the commercial development of these forestry areas and the construction of the first CoalSwitch plant in Newfoundland.
Haydale Graphene Industries PLC (LON:HAYD), the advanced materials group, has signed an exclusive licence agreement with TKS Siampress Management.
TKS has licensed Haydale’s patented anti-counterfeiting technology (PATit) for an initial period of three years and three months. The exclusive licence applies to Thailand and one other territory to be decided by the parties.
Shares in Haydale were up 18.3% at 17.75p.
11.00am: PipeHawk laid low by late orders
PipeHawk (LON:PIP) saw its annual profit and revenue fall after a flurry of orders came in later than expected during the year.
The company, which develops and sells ground penetrating radar products for use by the construction industry, said its operating loss widened to £408,000 in the year to the end of June from £16,000 a year earlier on revenues 15.8% lower at £4.8mln in the year to the end of June.
The news wiped around one-sixth off the value of the company.
“We had a most peculiar start to the year, the level of enquiries and indications that we would be awarded orders had never been higher; however, the orders, whilst not going away, simply were not received until late in the financial year with consequent underutilisation of staff – and hence profitability,” the chairman, Gordon Watt, said.
Most peculiar, watt?
The share price of Mears Group PLC (LON:MER) became a bit more “mere” after the support services firm raised £22.5mln in a share placing to fund the purchase of Mitie's (LON:MTO) property management division.
The provider of support services to the housing and care sectors said it would place 6.78mln new shares at a price of 331.5p to raise £22.5mln to fund the acquisition.
The shares closed at 368p on Friday and, as is the way with these things, headed down towards the placing price this morning – in this case, down 33p at 335p.
Shares in Mitie were up 2.2p at 139.2p, with broker Canaccord Genuity commenting that the deal would bolster Mitie’s balance sheet and accelerate repayment of the pension deficit.
Liberum Capital markets said it was a strategically sensible deal and that both companies’ balance sheets would be strengthened.
“For Mears, the acquisition strengthens its position in the Social Housing market where it is market leader. It has strong form in integrating Social Housing assets. We have little doubt that the business will be worth more in Mears’ hands than Mitie’s. By adding EBITDA at no cash cost, the deal strengthens Mears’ balance sheet. For Mitie, its Property Management businesses did not fit the strategy. The £22.5m to £35.0m of proceeds help it to de-lever,” the broker said.
9.30am: Two gold explorers coming up trumps down under
A look at Proactive’s coverage of Rockfire Resources PLC (LON:ROCK) reveals the latest story features the word “soars” and the one before that, “jumps”.
Since June 21, when the shares were languishing at 0.9p, the shares have hit 2.1p in mid-July before falling back again last Friday to 1.17p; this morning the shares were moon-bound again, rising 32% to 1.55p after its intersected “bonanza” grade gold at its Double Event prospect in Queensland.
READ Rockfire Resources soars as it strikes “bonanza” grade gold at Double Event prospect
Rockfire said it now had “a high degree of confidence to commit to additional work” with plans to define the extent of the “bonanza” grade gold.
Double Event - Lighthouse lies within one of the most productive structural corridors of Australia, hosting Mt Leyshon 4Moz gold, 2.3Moz silver & Charters Towers +7Moz gold. #Rockfire is targeting another Mt Leyshon-style & size of deposit. pic.twitter.com/FEBLDRBnly
— Rockfire Resources PLC (LON:ROCK) (@Rockfireplc) November 19, 2018
Rockfire’s gain put Greatland Gold PLC’s (LON:GGP) 0.18p rise in the shade but I do not suppose Greatland’s shareholders will sniff at a 16.4% increase.
Greatland’s shares rose to 1.275p after the company waxed lyrical about exceptional laboratory assay results from the company's first drill hole (HAD005) of the current campaign at its 100%-owned Havieron licence in the Paterson region of Western Australia.
Clearly, Oz is the place to be for gold miners at the moment.
The AIM-listed precious and base metals exploration and development company said the results significantly extend the known world-class mineralisation established in its first drilling campaign.
The group said it also establishes new peak grades for the mineralised system, including peak gold of 211.30 grammes per tonne (g/t), previously 137.69g/t, and peak copper of 8.45%, previously 4.11%.
Other Proactive news headlines:
Active Energy Group PLC (LON:AEG) told investors on Monday that its Timberlands International subsidiary received government approval for two five-year commercial timber permits (CTP) in Newfoundland. The group will use waste wood from the permits to provide the raw material for its biomass technology CoalSwitch.
Haydale Graphene Industries PLC (LON:HAYD), the advanced materials group, has signed an exclusive licence agreement with TKS Siampress Management for its anti-counterfeit ink.
Kromek Group PLC (LON:KMK) has clinched a long-term supply agreement to customise its technologies for baggage screening systems.
Block Energy Plc (LON:BLOE) boss Paul Haywood has hailed the entry of oil major ExxonMobil to the Republic of Georgia as validating the country's “credentials as a secure and stable place to do business”. Exxon, the world’s largest non-state-owned oil company, joins the international drilling group Schlumberger in taking a serious interest in the potential hydrocarbon bounty of the former Soviet state.
Aspen Bridging, the bridging loan subsidiary set up by S & U PLC (LON:SUS) in 2017, is set for expansion in 2019, with a targeted 50% increase in the loan book to around £30mln.
Custodian REIT PLC (LON:CREI), the UK property investment company, has acquired the 43,000 sq ft Evesham Shopping Park.
Coinsilium Group Limited (AQSE:COIN) said its investee company, RSK Labs, is to be acquired by Gibraltar-based RIF Labs.
Sound Energy PLC (LON:SOU) said wireline log interpretation of the TE-9 well the Tendrara area of Morocco has not established the presence of producible gas, and hence the well will be plugged and abandoned, and not tested, with the firm to move directly on to the TE-10 surface location.
Highlands Natural Resources Plc (LON:HNR) has withdrawn all of the permit applications for its West Denver shale operation following objections by the local community. The oil and gas group said it appreciates the concerns and debate raised by its development plans and was taking the action to affirm its commitment to being a responsible and transparent operator within the state of Colorado. Big Pic in April.
Cradle Arc PLC (LON:CRA) shares ticked up in early trading Monday after it hailed a “vote of confidence” in its Mowana copper mine in Botswana following an extension to its working capital facility for the project.
MTI Wireless Edge Ltd. (LON:MWE) saw its shares jump on Monday as the radio frequency technology group reported strong nine month results which reflected the merger with MTI Computers and Software Services (1982) Ltd. completed on 20 August 2018.
Vast Resources PLC (LON:VAST) has commenced surface exploration drilling at the Magura Neagra and Piciorul Zimbrului prospecting licences, known collectively as Zagra, in northern Romania.
Oriole Resources PLC (LON:ORR) has started sample analysis and trenchwork at two projects in Cameroon. The junior signed options over Bibemi and Wapouzé earlier in the year.
Galantas Gold Corporation (LON:GAL)(CVE:GAL) is to issue between 64mln and 80mln new shares to raise a minimum of £3.2mln and a maximum of £4mln. The money raised will be used for working capital and to achieve full production at Galantas’s Omagh gold mine Ireland, where mining is already underway.
Amur Minerals Corporation (LON:AMC) has set out a strategic plan for the development of the Kun-Manie nickel-copper sulphide mineral project in the far east of Russia. The company will focus on engineering and taking the Kun-Manie project to bankable feasibility study level, on infrastructure, on the engagement of a strategic partner, and on a phased funding process.
NQ Minerals PLC (LON:NQMI) has signed a marketing and off-take agreement with Traxys, the global commodities trader. The deal comes a week after NQ Minerals shipped its first concentrate from the Hellyer mine in Tasmania to Traxys, and follows on from an earlier off-take deal signed in August.
Eland Oil & Gas PLC (LON:ELA), an oil & gas production and development company operating in West Africa with an initial focus on Nigeria, said it intends to commence a share buyback programme for a maximum aggregate consideration of up to £3.0mln. The company said it believes that the current share price substantially undervalues its assets, the performance of the business to date, and its prospects. The group added that its robust balance sheet provides the opportunity to take advantage of prevailing market conditions to repurchase shares at advantageous levels.
Anglo African Oil & Gas plc (LON:AAOG,. the independent oil and gas developer, announced a partial drawdown of the conditional £5mln Convertible Loan Note Financing Facility with Sandabel Capital previously announced on 24 October 2018. The group said Sandabel has agreed to subscribe for £1,000,000 of unsecured loan notes under the terms of the Subscription Agreement. AAOG has elected not to redeem these loan notes in accordance with the repayment schedule and therefore Sandabel will receive conversion rights over the loan notes. The Initial Spot Price in relation to these notes is 10.3125p.