Sealand Capital Galaxy Limited (LON:SCGL) shares rocketed up 30% to 3.25p after saying it has formed a wholly-owned subsidiary to provide services to users of the Chinese app WeChat.
Sealand, which invests in and acquires IT and social media businesses in the Asia-Pacific region, said the ePurse (HK) Ltd subsidiary will provide a range of services to merchants wishing to target Chinese consumers and tourists using WeChat Pay, WeChat Official Accounts and WeChat Advertising.
The company will roll out the WeChat business in multiple countries over coming months.
It has already earned commissions from early WeChat Pay activities with 169 current retail merchants in Hong Kong and has now obtained official licenses to operate as a WeChat partner in both Dubai and the UK.
SSP Group PLC (LON:SSPG) shares fell 8.7% to 624.8p after saying Kate Swann will be stepping down as its chief executive officer after more than five years in the role.
Swann – formerly CEO of WH Smith Group PLC (LON:SMWH) - will leave her role at the end of May 2019 and will be succeeded by Simon Smith, who is currently the UK and Ireland CEO.
The news overshadowed the group’s full year results, which showed a 24% rise in profit to £184.4mln and a 9.5% increase in revenue rose to £2.6bn.
The firm operates food and beverage outlets in travel locations.
Biffa under the cosh after first-half profits fall on weaker margins
Biffa PLC (LON:BIFF) shares dropped after the waste management firm reported a decline in first-half profits as margins came under pressure.
The group said underlying (EBITDA) earnings for the period came to £75.6mln, down 0.9% on the first half of last year despite net revenues rising 4.2% to £501.8mln.
Underlying operating profit margins edged down to 7.4% from 8.1% previously. Net debt widened to £302.8mln from £272.2mln.
Shares were down 4.6% to 217.5p in morning trading.
Alpha Growth PLC (LON:ALGW) shares rose 13.7% to 3.30p as the financial services firm signed a heads of term with SL Investment Management Limited (SLIM) to launch an open-ended fund investing in life settlements.
The company said the fund is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2019 and has a minimum seed commitment of US$10mln, conditional on the launch.
Alpha and SLIM are co-advisors and the fund will be open to global investors.
Augean on the front foot as it expects profits to beat market forecasts
UK waste management firm Augean PLC (LON:AUG) shares rose 12.9% to 48p after saying it expects full-year adjusted pre-tax profit to be “materially ahead” of market forecasts after strong trading in the second half.
The group also said it has now moved to a cash positive position with all bank debt repaid.
Continuing business have been supported by higher contaminated soil volume, increased radioactive waste profit and solid performance of the treatment and North Sea businesses.
Augean has exchanged contracts to sell the freehold of a property in Hull for £1.3m, with no profit or loss on sale, with completion expected on December 20.
It is carrying out a strategic review of the operation of the East Kent High Temperature Incinerator facility.
Wey Education PLC (LON:WEY) shares dropped 13.3% to 9.75p after saying its executive chairman David Massie has stepped down with immediate effect after undergoing open heart surgery.
Massie was working part-time while he recuperated from open heart surgery.
“Unfortunately, David has not responded to treatment as well as hoped and following further complications, he has today resigned from his position as executive chairman and as a director of the company with immediate effect,” Wey Education said.
“Barrie Whipp, currently a non-executive director of the company, has agreed to take on the role of interim chairman while the board considers its next steps.”
Creightons shares jump on solid interims
Creightons PLC (LON:CRL) shares jumped 18% to 32p after the beauty products company posted a sharp rise in revenue and profit for the first half.
Profit before tax gained 44.4% to £1.4mln and revenue increased by 33.5% to £22.3mln in the six months to September 30.
The company said private label sales exceeded group sales growth, with sales increasing by 61.4% on the prior year.
“The continued development of sales with a new retailer and range extensions with our largest customer were the main drivers of this growth,” it said.
Contract sales increased by 19.8% and sales of own branded products grew by 11.2%.
The interim dividend was maintained at 0.15p each.
Elsewhere, Ethernity Networks Ltd (LON:ENET) shares increased 10.5% to 21p after landing a contract to provide its ENET Switch/Router firmware and software to a North American Military and Defence original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
The firm, which specialises in data processing tech, said the contract represented US$400,000 in short-term revenues with additional future royalty streams and would involve the integration of its firmware into the customer’s FPGA-based avionics platform.
Indivior shares fall again after US court ruling
Going the other way, Indivior PLC (LON:INDV) shares extended yesterday’s declines after losing a US court battle to prevent India’s Dr Reddy's Laboratories from selling a generic version of the UK firm’s addiction treatment product Suboxone Film.
The company tried to soothe investors’ concerns on Wednesday by reaffirming its 2018 guidance. It said its previously announced forecast of net revenue of US$990mln to $1.02bn, and net income of US$230mln to US$255mln was based on no material changes in current market conditions in the US.
"As such, the company's current FY 2018 guidance remains valid unless there is certainty of generic buprenorphine/naloxone sublingual film entry in 2018, in which case there would be risk to FY 2018 guidance," Indivior said.
Shares dropped 9% to 99p.
Maintel Holdings PLC (LON:MAI) shares dropped 24.7% to 455p after the communication services firm said it expects revenues and earnings to fall in the second half as it transforms into a cloud and managed services provider.
The company said there had been a significant shift in mix away from short-term projects where revenue and earnings (EBITDA) can be quickly recognised, to longer-term recurring revenue, in the second half. It also experienced delays to projects that were due to be completed in the period.
Proactive news headlines:
Eurasia Mining PLC (LON:EUA) shares leapt higher on Wednesday after the firm revealed late on Tuesday that the extensive permit application process Monchetundra PGM and base metals project had been concluded after the office of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation approved the issue of a mining permit.
Metal Tiger PLC (LON:MTR) has reported visible signs of metal from first drilling on its new target in the Kalahari copper belt in Botswana. The mining junior recently re-jigged its interest in the area by swapping a direct stake in the T3 prospect for 30% of Tshukudu Exploration, a joint venture which has numerous licences in the surrounding area.
Ethernity Networks Ltd (LON:ENET) has secured a contract to provide its ENET Switch/Router firmware and software to a North American Military and Defence original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
Aminex PLC (LON:AEX) has agreed to extend the longstop completion date for the farm-out agreement it signed with Omani conglomerate The Zubair Corporation over summer.
Premier African Minerals Limited (LON:PREM) shares jumped in early trading Wednesday after it said it had hit multiple high-grade intersections in an update on its drilling programme at the RHA Tungsten mine in Zimbabwe, in which it holds a 49% stake.
Anglo Asian Mining PLC (LON:AAZ) has identified ‘multiple additional gold and copper occurrences’ from an airborne survey over the 300sq km licence area of the Gedabek mine in Azerbaijan. Stephen Westhead, Group Director of Geology and Mining said: "Preliminary results from the area surveyed to date show both magnetic and electro-magnetic anomalies relating to geological entities at depth.
Kore Potash PLC (ASX:KP2 LON:KP2) has identified a possible 775mln tonnes of additional sylvinite at its Sintoukola project in Congo-Brazzaville/Republic of Congo. The potential upgrade is located at two new exploration targets, Kola South and DX North, that are adjacent to the Kola and Dougou Extension sylvinite deposits
Galantas Gold Corporation (LON:GAL) has been advised by the Court Of Appeal that the appeal against the company's planning consent has been listed for judgement on Friday 23 November 2018 at 10.00am.
IronRidge Resources Ltd (LON:IRR) has secured £5.4mln to fund the continued advances being made with its pipeline of gold and lithium projects in Ghana, Chad and Côte d'Ivoire. The shares will be placed a 20p each, a modest discount to Wednesday’s closing price. The funding round has the backing of the company’s major investors.
Curzon Energy PLC (LON:CZN) is to evaluate a “major onshore natural gas project” in Texas after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with US-based Pared Energy.
Rambler Metals & Mining PLC (LON:RMM) has reported a jump in copper production and revenues for the third quarter at its Ming mine in Canada.
MaxCyte PLC (LON:MXCT) said from November 28, all common stock will be held as unrestricted shares as it provided an update on plans to merge two separate classes of equity. The move is intended to help both trading liquidity and transparency for shareholders.
Live Company Group PLC (LON:LVCG) has published an updated corporate video on its website. The video, which gives an overview of BRICKLIVE's achievements over the past 2 years since launch and includes an insight into the business of its recent acquisition, Bright Bricks.
Adamas Finance Asia Limited (LON:ADAM) says all conditions for the proposed disposal of interests in the CPE Portfolio have been fulfilled and completion took place on 21 November 2018. The group said the move is in line with the company's objective of a managed disposal programme of its legacy portfolio where commercially viable and reinvesting the proceeds in pan-Asian income producing assets with capital gain potential.