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Burberry dips after predicting tough trading amid lockdowns

Last updated: 15:15 12 Nov 2020 GMT, First published: 09:09 12 Nov 2020 GMT

Bango PLC - Bango an early riser after Microsoft partnership expansion

Burberry Group PLC (LON:BRBY) dipped 2% to 1,594p in the afternoon, wiping out earlier gains following its half-year report.

The fashion designer, which has around a tenth of its stores closed globally, expects a hit on trading despite an encouraging performance in October.

In the six months to September 26, revenue dropped by 31% to £878mln while profit before tax plunged 62% to £72mln.

2pm: Anexo Group jumps after new major shareholder joins the roster

Anexo Group PLC (LON:ANX) jumped 8% to 143p after unveiling private equity firm DBAY Advisors as a new major shareholder.

DBAY has agreed to acquire a minority stake of 29% of the issued share capital of the specialist integrated credit hire and legal services provider from three senior executive at a price of 150p per share.

Anexo also announced overall cash collections for financial year 2020 are estimated to be ahead of the prior year.

12.40pm: Omega Diagnostics lower after rejecting media reports on COVID-19 test

Omega Diagnostics Group PLC (LON:ODX) lost 16% to 46.76p at midday after rejecting the conclusions drawn on the performance of the AbC-19 Rapid Test seen on media reports.

The AIM-listed firm noted that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) was satisfied with the performance of the test as well as the UK Rapid Test Consortium.

“Public Health England conducted its own evaluation at the DHSC's request, and the DHSC will continue to deploy the test for use in surveillance studies,” Omega said.

“Omega does not believe the antibody testing opportunity through the UK-RTC has diminished.”

11.30am: Victoria Oil & Gas doubles after settling legal dispute with Cameroon Holdings

Victoria Oil & Gas PLC (LON:VOG) doubled in price to 4.19p after entering into a settlement agreement with Cameroon Holdings Limited (CHL) to stop all legal action and cancel the CHL royalty agreement.

The AIM-listed oiler said it results in a valuable net revenue increase on a monthly basis from December, while the settlement amounts to US$12.5mln.

The firm said that this agreement removes financial uncertainty and ongoing costs which could have run to a final hearing in 2022, with potentially negative consequences.

10.25am: Ironveld tumbles before option agreement ends

Ironveld PLC (LON:IRON) tumbled 18% to 0.67p in mid-morning after announcing an option agreement with IIG will not be extended further and will lapse at the end of the month.

The miner has received US$650,000 from IIG as part of the agreement since March.

However, the deal envisaged a potential fundraise of US$3.2mln as IIG could subscribe for 440mln ordinary shares in Ironveld.

Elsewhere, Spirent Communications PLC (LON:SPT) shed 4% to 273p after announcing trading in the quarter to September 30 was similar to the second quarter.

The FTSE 250 firm said 5G-led demand for its assurance solutions continuing to show strong growth but offset market softness in order placement for its positioning products from US government contractors due to COVID-19 closures.

The communications firm said year to date revenue growth is tracking broadly in line with its mid-single-digit target.

9.10am: Bango an early riser after Microsoft partnership expansion

Bango PLC (LON:BGO) was an early riser on Thursday, adding 6% to 166p after expanding its partnership with Microsoft to open-up access to Xbox subscriptions and consoles sales.

Microsoft will leverage the Bango Platform for data-driven commerce to enable telco partners to bundle Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox All Access in their subscription packages.

With the new Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S now available in time for the year-end buying season, the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription service and Xbox All Access program are expected to be in high demand.

Elsewhere, Powerhouse Energy Group PLC (LON:PHE) rose 6% to 2.8p on the back of a non-binding heads of terms agreement with Hydrogen Utopia International for a potential licensing deal in Poland.

Powerhouse would provide its DMG technology to produce hydrogen from the processing of waste plastics.

Hydrogen Utopia International has paid a €100,000 deposit in connection with the agreement.

Proactive news headlines:

Powerhouse Energy Group PLC (LON:PHE) has inked a non-binding heads of terms agreement with Hydrogen Utopia International (HUI) for a potential licensing deal in Poland. The preliminary agreement envisages Powerhouse granting HUI an exclusive non-transferable licence for the application of its DMG technology, which produces hydrogen from the processing of waste plastics. HUI has paid a €100,000 deposit in connection with the agreement

AfriTin Mining Limited (LON:ATM) has reported higher production of tin concentrate from its Uis mine in Namibia as a phase one, stage one ramp-up continues at the project. In an operational update for October, the AIM-listed firm reported that production of tin concentrate had increased to 48.2 tonnes containing around 32.2 tonnes on tin metal, a 24% month-on-month increase. The company said the production level achieved in October represented around 90% of the stage one target in terms of tin contained in concentrate.

Bango PLC (LON:BGO) revealed it has expanded its partnership with Microsoft to open-up access to Xbox subscriptions and consoles sales. The global platform for data-driven commerce noted that with new Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S now available in time for the year-end buying season, the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription service and Xbox All Access program are expected to be in high demand.  Microsoft will leverage the Bango Platform to enable telco partners to bundle Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox All Access in their subscription packages.

Brickability Group Plc (LON:BRCK) delivered a solid first half financial performance as the construction materials distributor bounced back strongly from the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown along with the rest of housebuilding the sector. Chairman John Richards told investors in the interim results statement: “The recovery that we have seen is V-shaped and continues to improve.” While first-half revenues slid to £75.3mln from £97.9mln, the group's gross margin increased by 1.5 percentage points giving underlying earnings (EBITDA) of £8mln and profit before tax of £5.4mln, down just £1.1mln on the year earlier.

Clipper Logistics PLC (LON:CLG) said it has continued to see strong trading across its business in the year to date as the coronavirus pandemic accelerated a structural shift towards e-commerce. In a trading update for the six months to October 31, 2020, the logistics, e-fulfilment and returns management specialist said it now expects to report revenue for the period of at least £300mln, a near 20% increase over the prior year, including e-fulfilment growth of over 30% and non-e-fulfilment logistics growth of around 10%.

FastForward Innovations Limited (LON:FFWD) said its investee company SatoshiPay has achieved two significant landmarks – it has reached 10,000 wallets, and has created an application programming interface (API) that should significantly increase its reach. The blockchain-based nano-payments company said the API means its technology can be used on all websites, mobile apps and internet-connected software. Previously, it could only be used by websites running WordPress, which accounted for 26% of the total number of sites.

KR1 PLC (LON:KR1) said it has started generating revenue from staking activities on the Kusama network, a portfolio holding it received at zero cost in line with the Polkadot position. Staking involves holding funds in a cryptocurrency wallet to support the security and operations of a blockchain network, effectively locking cryptocurrency to receive rewards. Kusama, which launched in early 2019, is an incentivised ‘canary’ network for the Polkadot blockchain project and is designed to battle-test technical upgrades for Polkadot as well as allow aspiring Polkadot parachain projects to test their systems before deployment on Polkadot.

Horizonte Minerals PLC (LON:HZM) (TSE:HZM) said it remains well-funded to advance its Araguaia ferronickel mine in Brazil towards being construction-ready and highlighted a strong cash position of £13.6mln. In its results for the three months to September 30, 2020, the nickel developer also said that the project financing process is continuing to progress with a number of key milestones delivered. These included a syndicate of five international financial institutions being mandated for a US$325mln senior debt facility to part-fund the development of Araguaia.

Capital Limited (LON:CAPD) has announced the award of a new contract and subsequent mobilisation of an initial four drill rigs to Firefinch Limited's in Mali.  The leading mining services company, which is focused on the African markets, said the rigs are part of Capital's existing West African fleet and will undertake an extensive delineation program under a two-year preferred contractor agreement between Firefinch and Capital. The first rig is now on-site, with the balance scheduled to arrive during the current quarter.

VietNam Holding Limited  (LON:VNH) said that a Monthly Investor Report detailing the activities of the company for October 2020 has been issued by Dynam Capital Limited, its investment manager. The report notes that Vietnam is poised to become the biggest constituent in the MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index following Kuwait's recent reclassification as an Emerging Market. This means that Vietnam could make up as much as 30% of this benchmark index by the end of 2021 and potentially attract several hundred million dollars more from foreign equity investors. 

Enteq Upstream PLC (LON:NTQ) has highlighted its stability with its interim results, thanks to its rapid response to the challenges in its markets amidst the pandemic and lower crude oil pricing. The specialist oil and gas services firm noted that international diversity has increased, with non-US sources now accounting for some 74% of revenue versus 42% in the same period a year ago. Specifically, it has seen growth in China and the Middle East. Separately, Enteq announced upcoming board changes via its successions plan with founder and chief executive Martin Perry moving to the non-executive chairman role from April 2021. Andrew Law, currently commercial director, will become the company's chief executive.

Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR) (ASX:THR) said that, further to its announcement of July 14, 2020, regarding the sale of the Spring Hill royalty entitlement to Trident Royalties PLC (LON:TRR), while approval of the acquisition by Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board has not yet been received, it is expected shortly and the parties have agreed to extend the period during which completion can take place to November 30, 2020. A further announcement will be made as appropriate, the companies added.

Empire Metals Limited (LON:EEE), the AIM-quoted resource exploration and development company, announced that the resolution approving the sale of the company's wholly-owned subsidiary GMC Investments Limited to Candelaria Mining Corporation, was duly passed at a general meeting on Wednesday. The final condition for closing of the transaction is the waiving of a right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) in favour of Empire's Georgian partners, Caucasian Mining Group which must be exercised within 20 business days from Empire submitting an offer. The final date for this ROFR to be exercised is November 23, 2020.

AFC Energy PLC (LON:AFC), a leading provider of hydrogen power generation technologies, announced that its board of directors, having reviewed the company's funding requirements following the £31.6mln fundraise earlier in the year, has agreed with Thalion Global Group to terminate with immediate effect the financing facility the company has in the form of the £4mln convertible loan note facility announced on April 12, 2019. No drawdowns were made on the facility. Adam Bond, AFC Energy's chief executive officer commented: ”I wish to thank Thalion Global Group for the confidence shown in the Company's technology and business plan last year, giving us the financial stability, in uncertain economic times, to continue delivering on our strategy and securing first commercial orders alongside a very successful fund raise earlier this year".

NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited (LON:NESF) has announced an interim dividend of 1.7625p per ordinary share for the quarter ending September 30, 2020, which will be paid on December 31, 2020, to shareholders on the register as at the close of business on November 20, 2020. The ex-dividend date is November 19, 2020. The company will also be offering shareholders a scrip dividend alternative to this interim dividend, the reference price for which will be announced on November 26, 2020, with elections to be made by December 4, 2020.

Supermarket Income REIT PLC (LON:SUPR) announced that at the company's annual general meeting held on Wednesday, all resolutions were passed on a poll.

Zephyr Energy PLC (LON:ZPHR), the Rocky Mountain oil and gas company focused on responsible resource development, announced that a new presentation is available on its website https://www.zephyrplc.com/ via the link https://www.zephyrplc.com/presentation-nov-20. The presentation provides an overview of the history of the company's Paradox project and its potential.

Arix Bioscience PLC (LON:ARIX), a global venture capital company focused on investing and building breakthrough biotech companies, has announced that Dr Naseem Amin, its executive chairman, is scheduled to participate in an analyst led fireside chat at the Jefferies Virtual London Healthcare Conference on Tuesday, November 17, 2020, at 10:35am GMT. A live webcast of the fireside chat will be available on the investor relations section of Arix's website at https://arixbioscience.com/investor-relations/events-presentations. After the conference, an archived replay will be available on the company's website at the same address.

 

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