Ultimate Sports Group plc (LON:USG) – CORP: Update
Market Cap: £3.7m; Current Price: 24.3p
UltimatePlayer.me update and appointment
Northland Capital Partners Limited has been appointed as Joint Broker to Ultimate Sports Group plc.
The Group reports that substantial progress has been made following on from the launch of the UltimatePlayer.me website, an online sports coaching platform, on 19 November 2015.
This includes the launch of the website shop which offers players virtual products and branded merchandise. The coach registration process on the UltimatePlayer.me site has been fully tested and is working efficiently and the approval process for parents has also been fully tested and again is working efficiently.
The Group reports that over 65,000 scores have posted on the system in the three months since launch and in the period since launch up to 3 March 2016 the site has seen a 73% increase in the number of players approved by their parents, combined with an 81% increase in the number of players actively logging into the website. Furthermore, once access has been approved to the website, 90% of players logged in and 64% of players have logged in multiple times.
Government proposals announced within the recent Budget 2016, where initiatives such as the set-up of a £1.5bn fund to invest in areas such as housing, schools and transport in addition to a new soft drinks industry levy which will be used to double the primary school PE and sport premium from £160m per year to £320m per year and provide up to £285m a year for secondary schools to offer a wider range of activities for pupils including more sport supports the business model.
Finally, the Board is confident in the future prospects for the business and confirms that current trading activities of the group remains in line with management expectations and that user numbers in the UltimatePlayer.me business will continue to grow during 2016 and beyond.
NORTHLAND CAPITAL PARTNERS VIEW: The increase in player activity over a short period of time on the UltimatePlayer.me website, since launch, is highly encouraging. The website shop is open for business and the functionality of the site is working efficiently. The outlook from the Board is positive and new government proposals in the Budget 2016 provides for longer term support of the business in our view.
Keras Resources (LON:KRS) – CORP: Placing
Market Cap: £14.7m; Current Price: 1.2p
£1.25m placing
Keras Resources has raised £1,250,000 by placing 113,636,364 at 1.1p. The proceeds will be used towards accelerating development of; the Prince of Wales Underground Mine where the Company has a five year Tribute Agreement with Paddington Goldfields; and the Lindsay’s Mine where Keras has a profit share agreement with KalNorth Gold Mines.
Prince of Wales has a historic mineral resource estimate of 154,000t at a grade of 8g/t Au and is expected to produced 15,000 to 20,000oz Au at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of less than A$900/oz Au. Based on the current gold price if A$1,650/oz Au Keras expects A$1m of pre-tax cash flow per month from the Project.
Lindsay’s has an open pittable and underground JORC complaint mineral resource estimate of 215,100oz Au at a grade of 1.7g/t Au.
Keras has also received notice of the exercise of 3,000,000 warrants at 0.5p per share from Jarvis Investment Management, who will now hold 4.44% of the Company.
Keras also issued 1,363,636 shares at 1.1p per share to its broker in lieu of fees.
Following admission the Company will have 1,343,547,323 shares in issue.
NORTHLAND CAPITAL PARTNERS VIEW: As a result, for the accelerated development programme at both the Prince of Wales and Lindsay’s Mines, Keras Resources expects to reach production levels of 30,000oz Au to 40,000oz Au in H117. The weakening of the Australian Dollar against the US Dollar since January, combined with decreased labour costs in Australia, has made Australian Gold Projects very attractive; it makes sense for Keras to accelerate its activities and to take advantage of the FX tailwind while it continues. Also Keras’ tribute agreement over the Lindsay’s Mine is for five years so fast tracking the deposit will ensure it maximises the cash generation from the project.
Port Erin Biopharma (LON:PEBI): Change of advisor
Market Cap: £1m; Current Price: 4.45p
Appointment of Northland Capital Partners as Nomad and Joint Broker
Port Erin Biopharma Ltd announce the appointment of Northland Capital Partners Limited as the Company's Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker with immediate effect.
Port Erin Biopharma is an AIM quoted company focused on investing in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical sectors.