Heart valve and textile-based products maker AorTech International plc (LON:AOR) saw its stock market value increase by a fifth after a company update.
The company said its "Leaflet Builder" software using computational fluid dynamics has been completed and has successfully replicated the leaflet design described in AorTech's patents; it has also accommodated any correction factors required to simulate the last design iteration of the AorTech valve.
Work has now started on planning the future manufacturing process that is verifiable from a regulatory perspective that minimises manufacturing costs and will be scalable to allow commercial volumes to be produced.
On the textile-based products front, the company’s partners at RUA Medical have successfully manufactured yarn that has been specifically designed for both its patch and grafts products.
3.00pm: Tri-Star Resources top of the tree after news from Oman
Tri-Star Resources PLC (LON:TSTR) was the top performer in London on Thursday afternoon after some welcome news from Oman.
Strategic & Precious Metals Processing (SPMP), in which Tri-Star has a 40% shareholding, expects the initial production of pure antimony metal to take place in the next week at SPMP’s antimony-gold processing facility in Oman.
Elsewhere, the disposal of the company’s interest in the Göynük mine in Turkey has completed for a total cash consideration of US$500,000, with the first tranche of US$200,000 already received by Tri-Star.
Shares in Tri-Star were up 72% at 40.5p.
2.15pm: Quixant in the mire
Gaming hardware group Quixant PLC (LON:QXT) said revenues for the year just ended are expected to be around US$115mln, lower than market forecasts of US$120mln.
Adjusted profit before tax is also set to be slightly lower than market expectations of US$18.98mln, the company said.
Shares in Quixant were down 65p at 282.5p.
We hope everyone's preparations for ICE are going well.
Please email sales@quixant.com to register for our Quixant Gaming Ecosystem Seminars. pic.twitter.com/C2sOIPOazU
— Quixant (@Quixant) January 21, 2019
1.20pm: Metal Exploration plunges as chairman and CFO quit
The resignation of two big names on the board of Metals Exploration Plc (LON:MTL) did not go too well with the market.
The shares fell 26% to 1.075p as non-executive chairman Ian Holzberger resigned with immediate effect while the chief financial officer, Andrew Rodgers, signalled his intention to hang up his abacus on 28 February.
The departures from the board of the Pacific Rim-focused company come three weeks after the company unveiled Darren Bowden as its new chief executive officer.
12.30pm: NCC Group lowers full-year earnings guidance
Cyber-security outfit NCC Group PLC (LON:NCC) hit the skids after it lowered full-year earnings guidance in its interims.
The shares lost a quarter of their value at 137.4p after the company said it now expects to deliver full-year earnings before interest and tax of around £34mln.
The group said demand in its core information assurance markets remains strong, although the second half of its financial year had a seen a slow start.
11.30am: MedicX succumbs to bid approach from Primary Health
Primary Health Properties PLC (LON:PHP) and MedicX Fund Limited (LON:MXF) have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended all-share merger.
Primary Health (PHP) is offering 0.77 PHP shares for every share held by MedicX, valuing each MedicX share at 88.7p, based on last night’s closing price of PHP of 115.2p.
Shares in PHP fell 2.4p on the news while those in MedicX shot up 9.4p to 87p.
My 2019 share tip, Primary Health Properties ( https://t.co/3ZH1MaJm77 ), has been busy! Today unveiled plans for a takeover of rival MedicX to create a £2.3bn empire of GP surgeries and clinics.. https://t.co/zTOCAhm9od
— Joanna Bourke (@ES_JoBourke) January 24, 2019
10.30am: Nautilus Marine buoyed by decision to hoist 'for sale' sign over its Colombian oil & gas assets
Nautilus Marine Services PLC (LON:NAUT) was buoyed by news it intends to offload its Colombian oil and gas properties.
The company said the decision to sell was sparked by “escalating interest being expressed by multiple parties during late 2018”.
The bosses at nautilus believe the sale of the company's assets in the Middle Magdalena Basin presents a significant opportunity to realise cash value from these non-strategic assets while eliminating the associated annual operating costs and future abandonment obligations.
Management offered the usual caveat that a sale may not materialise but on the assumption it would do so, market makers pushed the share price up by just over a third to 7.75p.
9.30am: Blue Star calls off acquisition of SatoshiPay; Gama Aviation issued another profit warning
Trading in the shares of Blue Star Capital PLC (LON:BLU) resumed on Thursday after the company binned its proposed acquisition of blockchain technology outfit, SatoshiPay.
The AIM-listed technology investment company said it had made the decision to pull out owing to difficult market conditions; the decision was not as a result of anything unpleasant found while the company did its due diligence on the proposed acquisition, which was announced way back in late July.
Blue Star’s shares tumbled 30% to 0.175p on the resumption of trading.
Gama Aviation PLC (LON:GMAA), the global aviation services provider, fell to earth as it lowered profit guidance for the year just ended.
The board now expects the full year underlying operating profits to be US$3mln below its previous guidance, provided on 29 October, when it also said it expected full-year underlying profit to be US$3mln below its original expectations.
Gama Aviation PLC: 2018 Full Year Update and 2019 Outlook#GMAA ..warns....again ...as new CFO gets stuck in????
somewhere someone will be sharpening a knife...this is turning into a long running story of reducing expectations ...then missing them???? https://t.co/L1YHczR3eP
— Rhomboid1 (@rhomboid1MF) January 24, 2019
This year, the company got its profit warning in early, saying that with continuing growth in the US likely to be offset by the challenging market conditions in Europe, and with M&A opportunities yet to be delivered, the company is taking a cautious approach and accordingly expects that the performance for 2019 will be similar to that delivered in 2018.
Shares in Gama were down 25% at 86.5p.
Proactive news headlines:
GP surgeries and primary care specialist Primary Health Properties PLC (LON:PHP) is increasing the increase the size of its portfolio to 479 properties worth £2.3bn through a merger with MedicX Fund (LON:MXF) . The merger values MedicX shares at 88.7p or £393mln in total. PHP shareholders will own 69% of the enlarged company.
Respiratory disease specialist Circassia Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:CIR) has acquired the exclusive US and Chinese commercialisation rights to AirNOvent – a treatment for persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn.
Drugs developer Shield Therapeutics PLC (LON:STX) saw an explosive increase in revenues in the second half of 2018 thanks to its commercialisation agreement with Norgine. A trading update covering the first half of the company’s current fiscal year revealed revenues for the period are expected to clock in at around £11./9mln, up from £637,000 in the corresponding period of 2017.
Specialist medical imaging technology company Feedback PLC (LON:FDBK) saw a sharp increase in invoiced sales in the first half of its fiscal year.
The first person has been treated in the US phase IIb clinical study of ReNeuron Group PLC’s (LON:RENE) CTX stem cell therapy candidate for stroke disability.
88 Energy Ltd (LON:88E, ASX:88E) told investors that it expects to mobilise the drill rig for the Winx-1 exploration well in the next seven days. It comes as the company, in a statement, said that ice road construction to the well site is now around 85% complete.
Tower Resources PLC (LON:TWR) has launched a placing to raise £1.7mln through a share placing and a subscription to support the funding of a drill programme at the Njonji area of the Thali project, in Cameroon. It intends to sell some 170mln new shares priced at 1p.
BlueRock Diamonds PLC (LON:BRD) has temporarily suspended operations at its Kareevlei mine in South Africa due to a section 54 notice from the country’s mining regulator.