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Proactive news snapshot: Norman Broadbent, Pan African Resources, Tekcapital …

Published: 15:30 24 Jan 2020 GMT

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Norman Broadbent PLC (LON:NBB) revealed that the turnaround at the professional services firm has continued, with the second half of 2019 proving better than the first. The group returned to profit in 2019, it confirmed in a trading statement, on the back of a 22% increase in revenues to £11.5mln from £9.4mln in 2018. Group net fee income climbed 15% to £7.6mln from £6.6mln the year before.

Pan African Resources plc (LON:PAF) expects to produce 185,000 ounces of the yellow metal for the full-year as the South Africa-focused gold miner said sales at the halfway stage were 92,941 ounces, up 14.7%. The company, which owns the Barberton operations in Mpumalanga Province, said its development project, the Evander 8 Shaft Pillar will reach commercial production “in the next few weeks”. This will add “further high-margin” output in the second half, it said.

Metal Tiger PLC’s (LON:MTR) portfolio firm, metal explorer Cobre, is to float on the Australian Stock Exchange on or around the 31 January. The resources investor said it had subscribed A$2.4mln (£1.25mln) in Cobre’s ”heavily oversubscribed” initial public offering (IPO), and as a result, will hold just shy of a 20% stake in the firm when it floats.

Tekcapital PLC’s (LON:TEK) portfolio firm Salarius has inked a partnership deal for its MicroSalt product with US ingredients supplier Hanks Brokerage. Hanks supplies products to food manufacturers, restaurant chains and food service distributors, with the deal for MicroSalt to be focused on sales in the southwestern US.

Summit Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ:SMMT) (LON:SUMM) announced that its chief operating officer, chief medical officer and president of R&D, Dr David Roblin has resigned from the company with effect from 31 January 2020. In a brief statement, Summit’s chief executive officer Glyn Edwards said: “David has been instrumental in establishing our leadership position in new mechanism antibiotic development and launching our Phase 3 clinical trials of ridinilazole for the treatment of C. difficile infection.”

Columbus Energy Resources PLC (LON:CERP) told investors it is now preparing to test the Saffron well in February. The Trinidad oiler, in a statement, told investors that it has now completed the Saffron well logging and initial results support the decision to proceed with the remainder of the well programme.

88 Energy Ltd (LON:88E) has raised A$5mln of new capital ahead of next month’s drill programme at the Charlie appraisal well. The explorer, in a statement, said the capital injection would cover any potential costs above those carried by Premier Oil PLC (LON:PMO) via its farm-in to Charlie.

Anglo Pacific Group PLC (LON:APF) (TSX:APY) announced that Mike Blyth has indicated his intention to retire as a non-executive director of the company after its Annual General Meeting to be held on 11 May 2020. Patrick Meier, chairman of Anglo Pacific, commented: "Mike has played a vital role on the board and his experience, commercial acumen and attention to good governance has proven invaluable to Anglo Pacific. He has been an exceptional Chair of both the Audit and Remuneration Committees and we will miss his wise counsel. It has been a privilege to work alongside Mike and we wish him well."

Yellow Cake PLC (LON:YCA), a specialist company operating in the uranium sector with a view to holding physical uranium for the long term, announced that on 23 January 2020 it purchased 30,000 ordinary shares in the company on the market, through Numis Securities, in accordance with the terms of its share buyback programme announced on 22 January 2020. It said the shares acquired will be held in treasury.

Ades International Holding PLC (LON:ADES) said that, on 23 January, Investec Bank purchased 70,000 of the group’s ordinary shares at an average price of US$12 per share, representing 0.16% of its issued share capital, on the company’s behalf as part of the share buyback programme announced on 29 November 2019.

BlueRock Diamonds PLC (LON:BRD), the AIM-listed diamond producer, which owns and operates the Kareevlei Diamond Mine in the Kimberley region of South Africa, announced that it is hosting a shareholder conference call on Wednesday 29 January 2020 at 7.00pm (BST) in line with its commitment to maintaining positive engagement with its shareholders.

Redx Pharma PLC (LON:REDX) said Friday it has been notified that Moulton Goodies, a company owned by the veteran venture capitalist Jon Moulton, has completed a debt for equity swap, increasing its stake in the business to 42% from 18%. A consortium led by Sam Waksal, the US founder of biotech giant Imclone, must reveal by next Tuesday whether or not it plans to make a formal offer for Redx.

Bezant Resources PLC (LON:BZT), the copper-gold exploration and development company, announced that it has been informed that the ultimate beneficial holder of the 239,000,000 ordinary shares, representing 18.82% of the company's issued share capital, registered in the name of Tavira Securities Limited, as announced on 6 January 2020, is Sanderson Capital Partners Ltd.

Shield Therapeutics PLC (LON:STX), a commercial-stage pharmaceutical company with a focus on addressing iron deficiency with its lead product Feraccru/Accrufer, said it will be presenting at two investor presentations next month, providing an overview of the business and the progress being made by the company. It said Tim Watts, the group’s chief financial officer, will present at the Proactive One2One Biotech Forum on Thursday 6 February 2020 at the Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel, 35 Charles Street, Mayfair, W1J 5EB. Shield said it will also have a stand and present at the Growth & Innovations Forum 2020, to be held on Tuesday 11 February at the Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, Islington, London, N1 0QH.

Nu-Oil and Gas PLC (LON:NUOG) announced that all resolutions were approved by shareholders at its Annual General Meeting held on Friday in London.

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