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Power Metal rises as Paul Johnson ups his stake again

Last updated: 15:45 24 Feb 2020 GMT, First published: 08:54 24 Feb 2020 GMT

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Chief executive officer Paul Johnson has topped up his holding in Power Metal Resources PLC (LON:POW), sending the shares 12% higher to 0.45p.

Johnson bagged 1mln shares at a price of 0.437p, taking his holding up to 28.1mln shares, which is equivalent to around 5.1% of the issued share capital of the company.

It is the third time in less than a week that Johnson has bought a million shares in the battery metals company.

2.00pm: Picture looking bleaker at Cineworld

Shares in Cineworld Group plc (LON:CINE) tumbled 5.9% to 171.05p following a warning after hours on Friday from its US rival, Cinemark.

The UK company derives 75% of its revenues from America, so Cineworld investors closely follow the ups and downs of the market there.

The worry for investors in both companies was that Cinemark‘s attendance in the final quarter fell 6.7%, a faster pace than the year as a whole.

12.40pm: Trackwise celebrates first order for its printed circuit technology

Trackwise Designs PLC (LON: TWD), which designs products that use printed circuit technology, shot up 15% to 105.5p after it secured a breakthrough order.

The company has secured its first production order for its flexible printed circuit technology, Improved Harness Technology (IHT), for delivery in 2020.

The initial order, which is in support of the start of vehicle production, is worth about £600,000.

11.15am: Plant Health Care wilts as directors buy shares in heavily discounted placing

Plant Health Care PLC (LON:PHC) has raised roughly US$4.6mln by issuing shares at 8p a pop, well below Friday's closing price of 14.25p.

Not surprisingly, the shares tanked; they now trade at 9.2p.

A number of directors bought shares at the knock-down price. In total, directors bought 1,021,379 shares, including Chris Richards, the chief executive officer, who bought half a million shares.

It's barely more than three months since the plant productivity specialist tapped the market for US$3mln. The company nevertheless said it needed more money because of the seasonality of its cash flows and because its revenue was lower than expected in 2019.

10.00am: It's an ill wind ...

On a day when the market seems to be approaching full panic mode with regards to the coronavirus, Novacyt SA (LON:NCYT) continues to go well.

That's because it launched a coronavirus diagnostic test earlier this month, since when the phone has apparently been ringing off the hook.

The shares were up 43% at 149.94p in mid-morning trade, having hit 190p at one point.

9.00am: Travel stocks get whacked over coronavirus outbreak fears

A trap-door opened up beneath the share prices of airlines on Monday after Italy quarantined two northern regions over the weekend.

Shares in easyJet PLC (LON:EZJ) and Ryanair Holdings plc (LON:RYA) were down 9.5% and 8.5% respectively; Wizz Air Holdings PLC (LON:WIZZ) was off 5.7%; British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (LON:IAG) tumbled 7.0% and Jet2 owner Dart Group PLC (LON:DTG) fell 5.0%.

Cruises operator Carnival PLC (LON:CCL) was also caught in the fall-out and was down 5.4%.

London's listed airline stocks, most of which are focused on serving European destinations, have got off relatively lightly thus far since the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in China but the prospect of the contagion spreading in Europe has rattled investors.

Italy has put strict quarantine restrictions on Veneto and Lombardy while outside those regions the authorities have even gone so far as to cancel numerous top-flight football matches.

More than 150 cases of the coronavirus have been reported in Italy, prompting the authorities to lock down at least 10 towns.

Cobus Loots, chief executive of gold miner Pan African Resources plc (LON:PAF), has bought £18,600 worth of shares at 12.4p each. The purchase is his third in the past week and takes his stake to 1.49mln shares.

Kodal Minerals PLC’s (LON:KOD) permit application for Bougouni lithium project has gone through the first technical meeting with the DNGM and is now proceeding to a ministerial commission meeting.

BATM Advanced Communications Ltd (LON:BVC) has been awarded a US$4mln cybersecurity contract from a long-standing government defence department customer. Total contracted revenue for the deal to date is now over US$18mln.

EQTEC PLC (LON:EQT) has signed a deal to upgrade an existing syngas research and development facility at the University of Extremadura in Spain. The installation of the new unit is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2020.

Ethernity Networks Limited (LON:ENET) predicted that an upswing in 5G deployment will help it achieve “positive cash flow generation” in 2021. Revenues this year should be 20% ahead of the previous year while costs in the second half of the year had fallen by 5% compared to the first half.

Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:NCM) has updated investors on progress at the Havieron gold project in Australia, which it holds in partnership with Greatland Gold PLC (LON:GGP). Newcrest now has eight drill rigs in operation at Havieron, up from six rigs previously. The company is also considering constructing an exploration decline at Havieron by end of calendar year 2020.

LoopUp PLC (LON:LOOP), the conference call and remote meetings company, expects to report 2019 results “in line with market expectations” with revenues of £42.5mln, up from £34.2mln in 2018, and earnings (EBITDA) of £6.4mln compared to £7.7mln last year.

ADES International Holding PLC (LON:ADES) told investors that its revenues rose by around 132% in 2019. The oil and gas rig and equipment contractor, in a trading statement ahead of full year results, said that revenues for the year amounted to US$477.8mln versus US$205.6mln in the year before.

Anglo Pacific Group PLC (LON:APF)(TSE:APY) plans to focus on investing in commodities that support a more sustainable world, following an investment review.

This means that the company will not invest in any more thermal coal projects.

ADM Energy Plc (LON:ADME) has agreed a deal which will see it increase its stake in the OML 113 asset, which includes the Aje field offshore Nigeria.

The AIM-quoted firm is acquiring 25% of the interests, rights and obligations held by EER.

InnovaDerma PLC (LON:IDP) said has launched its hair removal line Nuthing, formulated with skincare benefits and to be vegan-friendly and cruelty-free. Chief executive Kieran Callan believes the products, which go on sale online on Wednesday (Feb 26) and will be stocked in all 800 Superdrug stores from March 11, could to shake the segment up.

The Ministry of Mineral resources in Greenland has confirmed that the Social Impact Assessment submitted by Bluejay Mining PLC (LON:JAY) for its Dundas ilmenite project is compliant with guidelines for the purposes of public consultation related to an exploitation licence. The assessment concluded that the construction and commencement of the ilmenite sand mine at Dundas will have a significantly positive effect on the livelihoods of the people of Greenland

Anglo Asian Mining PLC (LON:AAZ) has updated on the exploration work it's undertaking on projects in Azerbaijan. Positive exploration results were returned in the fourth quarter of 2019 on three contract areas, Gedabek, Gosha and Ordubad.

ReNeuron Group PLC (LON:RENE) said its cell therapy for a degenerative eye disease held onto sight improvements for as a long as a year after treatment. The update was provided alongside news the group had applied to the US regulator to add a further nine people to its phase I/IIa clinical study.

88 Energy Ltd (LON:88E) has shared a number of key facts with investors ahead of the hotly anticipated Charlie-1 well in Alaska. Rig and well teams mobilised earlier this month. Drilling is expected to start in “late February”. The well will be drilled down to a depth of 11,400 feet.

Westminster Group PLC (LON:WSG), the global supplier of managed services and technology-based security solutions, has reduced its financing costs by redeeming some loan notes. The company has redeemed £561,250 worth of its convertible secured loan notes (CSLNs).

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