Pathfinder Minerals PLC (LON.PFP). which has mining concessions on the Indian Ocean coast of Mozambique, has seen investors welcome its latest board appointment.
The company, which is in dispute over its licences in the country, has made Jonathan Summers - a fomer managing director at Goldman Sach and currently on the boards of medical cannabis company EXMceuticals and ecommerce businss Mocha Holdings - an independent non-executive director with immediate effect.
He will waive a salary for the first twelve months but has been awarded options over 6mln shares exercisable at 0.55p a share. The company will seek shareholder approval for another 6mln exercisable at 1.25p.
In the market Pathfinder's shares have jumped 9.52% or 0.05p to 0.58p.
Pathfinder chairman Dennis Edmonds said: "His significant business experience will be beneficial to Pathfinder as we move into a new chapter of assessing additional opportunities for value creation, while continuing to advance our valuable Bilateral Investment Treaty claim [in Mozambique]."
2.10pm: Biome shares jump
Biome Technologies PLC (LON.BIOM) is in demand after news that it has secured funding to complete the development phase of its biodegradable tree shelter project,
The company, a specialist in biodegradable natural polymers, has received £248,000 from the Government-backed Innovate UK agency to help reach commercial production of the shelters.
It said: "In the UK, around 45 million trees are planted each year, most of those using non-biodegradable tree shelters for protection, with an estimated 2,500 tons of persistent plastics ending up annually in the natural environment after use. Plans to significantly increase tree planting as part of the UK's drive to mitigate climate change will exacerbate these problems. This project aims to curb such unnecessary levels of plastic pollution with a product that biodegrades in-situ after use."
For the project Biome has partnered with tree shelter manufacturer Suregreen, whose customers will help assess the biodegradable shelters.
Paul Mines, Biome Technologies' chief executive officer, said: "This additional funding will help accelerate both the laboratory and 'real-world' testing of this exciting new product, moving it a step closer to large scale commercialisation."
Biome shares are 40p or 19.51% better at 245p.
12.16pm: Electronics specialist loses ground
LPA Group PLC (LON.LPA) has been the victim of its own success, according to the company.
The electronic component systems group is being affected, like everyone else in the world, by coronavirus but says it was fully prepared for Brexit. However its customers have been impacted by these events and have been rescheduling work, which means they don't yet need the company's parts. So while LPA's medium and longer term prospects have been improved, this is at the expense of the short term.
Chairman Peter Pollock elaborated in his statement for the company's annual meeting: "We have been victims of our own success in managing the business successfully through the UK lockdown. Other parts of our customers' supply chains have not performed so well and, as a consequence, our customers have production issues caused by lack of supply of parts needed to run their production lines. Following programme reviews by customers, further supplies of many of the parts we manufacture are now not expected to be required for several months
"Approximately £2.7mln of output will be delayed from the second half of this financial year into later periods, and strong action has been taken by management to mitigate the impact. As our customers' production recovers to normal levels, equilibrium should be restored and our sales output recover."
The news has seen its shares drop 12p or14.04% to 73.5p.
10.20am: Betting group boosted
B90 Holdings PLC , the online marketing and operating company for the gaming industry, has seen its AIM listed shares soar after returning from suspension in the wake of a fundraising and the announcement of results.
The company, formerly Veltyco Group, has raised €1.85mln in convertible loan notes, with online gaming entrepreneur Ronny Breivik investing €500,000.
Its half year results showed a fall in revenues from €520,000 to €321,000, mainly due to the cancelation of the sporting events due to the pandemic. It made a net loss of €1.0mln. It also bought the outstanding 49% of Quasar Holdings - which wholly owns Bet90 Sports Limited - so it now has complete control of Bet90 Sports.
Paul Duffen, executive chairman, said: "2020 started as planned, completing the acquisition of 49% of the issued share capital of our trading subsidiary Bet90 Sports Ltd, not previously owned by the group. This signalled the opportunity to invest in our core operations and grow the business in line with our strategy. The timing and impact of COVID-19 was significant, as almost all sporting events were cancelled globally, which removed a significant percentage of our betting product and had a substantial adverse effect on revenues. Operations eventually restarted in June when the main European football leagues resumed fixtures. The funds from the €1.85m Convertible Loan, announced today, will enable us to focus on launching new products and expanding our geographical presence as well as enter into new marketing agreements for the existing markets."
But it also warned: "The group continues to remain reliant on being able to manage its cash resources carefully, continuing to manage its creditors and trading being in-line with management's expectations. Furthermore, should trading not be in line with management's expectations going forward, the group's ability to meet its liabilities may be impacted, in which case the group will need to raise further funding. In the circumstance that this is needed and whilst the Directors are confident of being able to raise such funding if required, there is no certainty that such funding will be available and/or the terms of such funding."
The company's shares are up 10.10p or 212.6% at 14.85p.
9.03am: Quarrying group beefs up dispute team
Fox Marble Holdings PLC (LON.FOX), the quarrying group currently in dispute with the Repubic of Kosovo, has hired some heavy hitters to bat for it.
It has retained Simon Nesbitt QC of the Maitland Chambers in London and has also engaged Kroll Associates to act on its behalf in the €195mln claim against the Republic. Fox launced its claim in September 2019 alleging the Republic failed to protect its rights over the Maleshevë quarry and was therefore in breach of its responsibilities towards the company as a foreign investor in Kosovo.
Fox confirmed it had enough capital to cover the costs of the forthcoming arbitration, and expected to nominate its panellist for the proceedings in the next few days.
Fox shares have jumped 12.5% or 2.03p to 12.5p on the news.
Anpario PLC (LON.ANP), which makes natural sustainable animal feed additives, has added 17.4p or 2.84% to 629.9p after it reported a 5% rise in full year revenues and a 22% increase in pre-tax profits to £5.4m.
The company said: "The board is delighted to report the Group's best operating performance to date, notwithstanding that 2020 was an extremely challenging year for the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This outstanding performance is due to the swift implementation of our Covid-19 response plans and the commitment, flexibility and supreme efforts of our staff. The resilience of the company's systems and operating procedures have meant that the company was able to operate as near normal as possible, ensuring customers did not experience disruption in supply."
It said the current year had started strongly, and analysts at Shore Capital said: "Since our buy initiation in November 2020, shares have increased around 43%. Anpario is a high-quality speciality feed additives business with a credible management team and focused strategy. We believe the feed market will continue to grow and adapt to changes in market dynamics, which presents the group with long-term structural and regulatory growth drivers and opportunities...We retain our buy recommendation."
Proactive news headlines
DeepVerge (LON:DVRG) said initial results from phase III clinical studies of a rapid Covid breath test showed it can deliver results in under 60 seconds.
Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited (LON:COPL) has completed its reverse takeover of Atomic Oil and Gas. It shares have now been suspended pending a listing on the LSE’s standard market.
Supply@ME Capital PLC (LON:SYME) announced it has signed an initial agreement to buy a FinTech-powered commodities trade enabler, focused on small and medium-sized enterprises, based in Singapore.
Red Rock Resources PLC (LON:RRR) and Power Metal Resources PLC (LON:POW) said their joint venture company Red Rock Australasia Pty Ltd (RRAL) was awarded two additional licences in the Victoria Goldfields, boosting the planned IPO of the business.
Kavango Resources PLC (LON:KAV) reported encouraging initial results from airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys flown over its interests in the Kalahari Copper Belt (KCB) in Botswana.
MetalNRG PLC (LON:MNRG) said it raised £2.3mln via a share placing priced at 6p, with the funds to be used to develop the Gold Ridge gold project in Arizona. The new shares come with a warrant attached on a one-for-one basis.
Jersey Oil and Gas PLC (LON:JOG) has unveiled plans to raise up to £15mln through a placing and subscription to strengthen its balance sheet ahead of what it said were anticipated commercial negotiations for its Greater Buchan Area (GBA) project in the North Sea.
Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR, ASX:THR, OTCQB:THORF) confirmed that trading in its shares will begin today on the OTCQB Market in the United States.
Caledonia Mining Corporation PLC (LON:CMCL) (NYSEAMERICAN:CMCL) said it is to be included in the MVIS Global Junior Gold Miners (GDXJ) Index for the first time on March 19 following the index’s first quarter 2021 review.
Kodal Minerals PLC (LON:KOD) announced the final loan conversion under a US$1.5mln unsecured convertible loan agreement with Riverfort Global Opportunities PCC Ltd and YA II PN Ltd. The investors will convert US$200,000 (£144,160) into 168.5mln shares at a price of 0.08556 pence per share.
Woodbois Ltd (LON:WBI) welcomed MCM Sustainable Resource SP as a 3.72% shareholder after being informed by Rhino Ventures that it has sold 60,700,000 voting ordinary shares in the company and immediately thereafter requested conversion of another 75,000,000 of its 750,000,000 non-voting ordinary shares into voting ordinary shares.
Base Resources Ltd (ASX:BSE, LON:BSE) advised that its half-year dividend for the six-month period ended 31 December 2020 of 3 Australian cents per share, unfranked, will be 1.6719p per share when denominated in sterling, based on an AUD/GBP exchange rate of 0.5573 as per the record date of Monday, 15 March.
Genel Energy PLC (LON:GENL) announced that independent non-executive director George Rose will not be standing for re-election at the forthcoming annual general meeting, having been on the board for more than nine years. The company said the board will continue to keep its size and composition under review, including the balance between independent and non-independent directors in light of the recommendations under the UK corporate governance code.
RM Secured Direct Lending PLC's (LON:RMDL) investment manager will be holding a webinar on Tuesday 30 March at 10am, the day after the trust reports its final results. A recording of the event will be made available on the company's website afterwards.
Curtis Banks Group PLC (LON:CBP) announced that the publication of its full-year results for 2020 has been moved to Wednesday 7 April 2021 after a request from its auditor, PwC.
Naked Wines Plc (LON:WINE) said it intends to announce a full-year trading update for the 52 weeks ended 29 March 2021, on Thursday 15 April 2021.
SourceBio International PLC (LON:SBI) notified that it will release its full year results for the year ended 31 December 2020 on Tuesday 13 April 2021. An analyst briefing will take place remotely via video conference call that afternoon.