Ariana Resources PLC (LON:AAU) jumped 9% to 4.08p before close after reporting a 50% increase in the joint ore reserves at the Tavsan project in Turkey.
The resource increased to 4.49mln tonnes for 253,000 ounces of gold and 723,000 ounces of silver, while the estimate was also further de-risked with 77% of the resource now in the measured and indicated JORC categories.
The Red Rabbit joint venture (JV) with Proccea Construction also completed a pre-feasibility for the project, while an environmental impact assessment was being finalised.
2.15pm: B&M slips on unpredictable trading
B&M European Value Retail (LON:BME) shed 10% to 343.6p in the afternoon despite upping its final dividend and announcing trading has been “unusually strong”, though unpredictable.
The convenience retailer has experienced high demand for gardening and DIY products as people stuck at home found things to do, hiking the full-year dividend by 6.6% to 8.1p.
However, social distancing measures have increased operating costs, while it is unclear how trading will pan out for the rest of the year.
12.10pm: Amur Minerals lifted by progress at Russian nickel and copper project
Amur Minerals Corporation (LON:AMC) advanced 15% to 1.36p at noon after the Russian authorities confirmed indicative revenue terms.
The explorer received non-binding indicative offtake terms for both the nickel and copper concentrates due to be produced at the Kun Manie mine project.
It comes after an update earlier this month which confirmed the metallurgical approach, with the generation of a copper concentrate and a nickel concentrate, using industry-standard sulphide flotation methods.
11.05am: CMC Markets boss bags £25mln after 640% dividend hike, shares rise
CMC Markets PLC (LON:CMCX) surged 18% to 235.5p in late morning after announcing a 640% dividend hike, resulting in a total dividend of 15.03p, up from 2p paid the year before.
The spread-betting provider saw its profit before tax zooming up to £98.7mln for the year to March 31, up from £6.3mln the year before, due to high financial market volatility amid the coronavirus crisis.
Boss Peter Cruddas, who has 62% stake in the company, will get a £25mln dividend payment.
10.15am: Urban&Civic slips on postponed dividend
Urban&Civic plc (LON:UANC) slipped 5% to 233p in mid-morning after postponing the decision to pay an interim dividend because of deferrals of cash receipts associated with residential sales.
The property owner saw its net asset value for the six months to March 31 dip 1.6% to 335.1p per share.
Profit before tax crashed 96% to £200,000 due to the reduction in value of investment assets at the onset of the crisis.
Elsewhere, Babcock International Group Plc (LON:BAB) dropped 8% to 376.5p after swinging to a £178mln loss before tax from last year’s profit of £235mln.
The engineer factored in £503mln of exceptional items including a £395mln goodwill impairment in its aviation division and oil and gas writedowns due to the oil price slump.
It also deferred the decision on whether to pay a final dividend to when there is greater clarity.
9am: Europa Oil & Gas rises after expanding footprint offshore Ireland
Europa Oil & Gas Holdings PLC (LON:EOG) shot up 14% to 1.42p in early deal on Thursday after expanding its footprint offshore Ireland by acquiring an area near its own exploration prospects.
The oiler has acquired a 100% interest in Frontier Exploration Licence (FEL) 3/19 from Norwegian firm DNO with a nominal upfront cash consideration, plus a 5% net profits interest royalty over any future gas or liquids production.
FEL 3/19 is host to the 1.2 trillion cubic feet Edge prospect.
Meanwhile, miner Greatland Gold PLC (LON:GGP) rose 8% to 12.47p thanks to what it called “truly spectacular” drilling results from the Havieron gold prospect In Australia.
One infill hole hit 109 metres (m) of gold at an average grade of 6.3 grammes per tonne (g/t), which Greatland described as among the best results from the project to date.
Partner Newcrest’s latest update also reported an 82m intersection of gold and copper in a new area 220m north-west of the previous drilling.
Proactive news headlines:
Greatland Gold PLC (LON:GGP) has described some of the latest drilling results from its Havieron gold prospect in Western Australia as ‘truly spectacular’. One infill hole hit 109 metres (m) of gold at an average grade of 6.3 grammes per tonne (g/t), which Greatland described as among the best results from the project to date. Partner Newcrest’s latest update also reported an 82m intersection of gold and copper in a new area 220m north-west of the previous drilling.
ImmuPharma PLC (LON:IMM), the AIM-listed drug development group, has arranged funding of up to US$6.3mln through two specialist US healthcare investors. The money will come from an issue of unsecured convertible securities and associated options to L1 Capital Global Opportunities Master Fund and Lind Global Macro Fund. The cash will fund continued expansion of the company's R&D programmes, ImmuPharma said, and bolster its general financial position.
Ariana Resources PLC (LON:AAU) surged on Thursday as the firm reported a 50% increase in the joint ore reserves at the Tavsan project in Turkey, part of its Red Rabbit joint venture (JV) with Proccea Construction. The AIM-listed firm said the resource has increased to 4.49mln tonnes for 253,000 ounces of gold and 723,000 ounces of silver, while the estimate was also further de-risked with 77% of the resource now in the measured and indicated JORC categories. An additional JORC exploration target of up to a further 9mln tonnes at 1.0-1.3 grams per tonne of gold has also been updated to reflect the latest estimation.
Open Orphan PLC (LON:ORPH) revealed that its Venn Life Sciences division has won a “major contract” with a leading vaccine developer and one of the top pharmaceutical companies in the world. While the full details of the deal weren’t provided, in a statement Open Orphan said Venn would help “obtain and support market access of newly developed vaccines into the EU and US markets until the end of 2020”. A delighted Cathal Friel, chairman of Open Orphan, said the contract reinforced the company’s position as one of the leading service providers to the vaccine industry globally.
Europa Oil & Gas Holdings PLC (LON:EOG) has expanded its footprint offshore Ireland with the acquisition of a 100% interest in an area in the vicinity of the Corrib gas field and its own Inishkea exploration prospects. The company is acquiring Frontier Exploration Licence (FEL) 3/19 from Oslo-headquartered DNO with only a nominal upfront cash consideration – it is also giving the seller a 5% net profits interest royalty over any future gas or liquids production. FEL 3/19 is host to the 1.2 trillion cubic feet Edge prospect, and, along with Inishkea which is estimated at 1.5 tcf, represents a strategic focus for Europa as it increasingly prioritises the gas portion of its hydrocarbon exploration portfolio offshore Ireland.
Amur Minerals Corporation (LON:AMC) shares strengthened in Thursday’s early deals as its project development process in Russia continued to make progress, with indicative revenue terms confirmed by the authorities. The company, in a statement, said that it has now been provided with non-binding indicative offtake terms for both the nickel and copper concentrates due to be produced at the Kun Manie (KM) mine project. It comes after an update earlier this month which confirmed the metallurgical approach, with the generation of a copper concentrate and a nickel concentrate, using industry-standard sulphide floatation methods.
Inspiration Healthcare Group PLC (LON:IHC) has announced that ‘Project Wave’ which is developing a novel technology for a respiratory device designed to be used in neonatal intensive care has been awarded a grant towards the cost of trials expected to commence this year on 20 babies at Trevor Mann Unit, Brighton & Sussex University Hospital. The global medical technology company said the Med Tech Trials Innovation Support Grant (MTT-ISG) has been awarded by the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSN) and part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) will contribute up to 50% (£50,000 maximum) towards the costs of the trials.
Woodbois Limited (LON:WBI) said it is planning to recommence limited production at its Mouila sawmill and veneer factory in Gabon on June 15. In an operations update, the Africa-focused timber group said while activity in the sector had fallen dramatically in April and remained at low levels for most of May, in the last two weeks enquiries and demand levels had started to return, particularly from Asia and the Middle East. As a result, Woodbois said it had a “solid order book in place” and planned to return to full production in Gabon as soon as coronavirus pandemic restrictions were fully lifted in the country. In a separate announcement, the firm also said it has appointed Canaccord Genuity as its Nominated Adviser and Sole Broker with immediate effect.
Ceres Power Holdings PLC (LON:CWR) has announced that, in line with board succession planning, its chairman, Alan Aubrey is standing down and that Warren Finegold, currently a non-executive director of the global leader in fuel cell technology will succeed him with immediate effect. The group noted that Finegold joined the board of Ceres in March 2020 as an independent non-executive director. In his career, he has spent more than 20 years in Investment Banking and 10 years on the Vodafone Group Executive Committee. Aubrey has served as chairman of Ceres since December 2012 and will remain a non-executive director to ensure a smooth handover of responsibilities to Finegold before retiring from the Board on September 28, 2020.
Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy (LON:FARN) (NASDAQFIRSTNORTH:FARON) said it has received a €2.5mln grant that will help “support the acceleration” of an early-stage study of its cancer immunotherapy. The award has come from the European Innovation Council Accelerator pilot scheme, which exists to back small companies and scientists working on breakthrough products. Faron’s phase I/II MATINS trial is being carried out to assess the tolerability, safety and efficacy of Clevegen, a precision cancer immunotherapy targeting Clever-1 positive tumour associated macrophages.
Coinsilium Group Limited (LON:COIN) has said that together with its portfolio firm, Indorse it will be organising the ‘Post Covid Hack’, a global online blockchain hackathon, from July to October. The blockchain and cryptocurrency investor said the hackathon will bring together blockchain teams, developers and blockchain protocols to ideate, collaborate, learn, innovate and build “cutting-edge decentralized, open solutions” to overcome health, social, economic and privacy challenges in the post-coronavirus (COVID-19) era. Submissions for the hackathon will open on August 10, which will be preceded by pre-hackathon webinars in July, and is expected to attract over 200 participants.
ADES International Holding PLC (LON:ADES) saw its first-quarter financial results put in a strong performance despite a challenging operating environment for the oil and gas services contractor. Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2020, was up 22% year-on-year at US$132.7mln supporting by previously acquired assets, though organic revenue growth was marked at 7%. ADES ended the quarter with an order backlog of US$1.34bn and noted that revenue trends continued through the month of April.
Angling Direct PLC (LON:ANG) is to raise £5.5mln through a share placing to strengthen its balance sheet to cope when stores reopen after the coronavirus lockdown. The fishing equipment specialist said it is anticipating high demand in the coming weeks as lockdown restrictions are eased and retail stores reopen from June 15. The share issue has been priced at a minimum of 50p, a 15% discount to last night’s close, and will be carried out in two tranches through a bookbuild programme by broker Nplus1 Singer.
Anglo African Oil & Gas PLC (LON:AAOG) announced it has entered into an unsecured convertible loan facility with Riverfort Global Opportunities for an amount of up to £1,500,000. The group said any funds advanced under the facility will be used to support the company's ongoing working capital as it pays down creditors and seeks to secure reverse takeover opportunities in keeping with its status as an AIM cash shell.
EQTEC PLC (LON:EQT), the technology solution company for waste gasification to energy projects, has announced the exercise of certain warrants to subscribe for 32,000,000 new ordinary shares in the company at a price of 0.25p each, with aggregate gross proceeds receivable by the company amounting to £80,000.
Capital Drilling Ltd. (LON:CAPD) confirmed it will be holding its annual general meeting (AGM) for the year ended December 31, 2019, at 10am BST on Friday, June 12, 2020, via telephone conferencing. Following the procedure of the normal course of business of the AGM, where shareholders will be provided with the voting results received by proxy for all of the resolutions set out in the Notice of AGM, a presentation, which will be available on the company's website ahead of the AGM, hosted by the firm’s chairman, Jamie Boyton, followed by a question and answer session. The dial-in details for the AGM, the chairman's presentation and the question and answer session, are as follows: UK Toll-Free: 08003589473 PIN: 59126109#; UK Toll: +44 3333000804 PIN: 59126109#; Hong Kong Toll: +852 30600225 PIN: 59126109#; Hong Kong Toll-Free: 800960242 PIN: 59126109#.
Gaming Realms PLC (LON:GMR) has announced that Resolutions 1 to 6 as contained in the Notice of Annual General Meeting (AGM), dated May 18, 2020, were duly passed at the AGM held on Wednesday, however, Resolution 7, related to the disapplication of pre-emption rights, did not achieve the 75% majority required as a special resolution. Details of the results of the resolutions can be found on the investor relations section of the company's website https://www.gamingrealms.com/investors/.
Newmark Security PLC (LON:NWT), a leading provider of products and services in the security and data sectors, has announced the launch of its new corporate and investor website. The new website presents a complete overview of the business, its vision, strategy and the markets it operates in, and its address remains as www.newmarksecurity.com Marie-Claire Dwek, Newmark’s CEO, said: "Our new website presents our investment case clearly and succinctly, and explains the strong position Newmark has adopted within the sectors in which we operate. The release of our website is timely, as we present a number of 'new workplace' solutions that are helping organisations as they re-think the use of workspaces, following the impact of the (coronavirus) COVID-19 pandemic, as announced in our recent trading update."
The City Pub Group PLC (LON:CPC) said it will be announcing its final results for the year ended December 29, 2019, on Friday, June 12, 2020.