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Getech Group boosted by contract wins

Last updated: 15:20 22 Apr 2021 BST, First published: 09:11 22 Apr 2021 BST

green energy

Getech Group PLC (LON:GTC) has gained ground after positive contract news and an increasing presence in green energy.

The company, which specialises in providing data, software and analytic products to the energy industry, said it had renewed software licences with existing customers with a combined value of around £375,000.

It has also won contracts for data and services with new and existing customers worth a total of £350,000, including work in new areas for the company in the petroleum and geothermal sectors.

The contracts should add around  £537,000 to this year's revenues, meaning it continues to trade in line with current market expectations.

Chief executive Jonathan Copus said: "I am encouraged to see our core business activity in the oil and gas exploration and production sector regaining momentum and that our existing customers are renewing their software licences, which results in recurring revenue.

"I am also excited that we are winning new business in the geothermal sector. It is Getech's strategy to apply our extensive geoscience and geospatial skills to fast-developing energy transition markets, in particular hydrogen, CCUS, geothermal and locating rare-earth and battery metals.

"We believe that the geothermal industry is poised for substantial growth as developers scale up projects to produce 'green' baseload power to help balance the exposure of electricity grids to intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. At Getech we have unique skills and software workflows that can help operators locate heat assets that are economic to develop and to de-risk their development and management."

Getech shares are up 6.38% or 1.5p at 25p.

2.39pm:  Real good rise

Real Good Food PLC (LON:RGD) has sold its Brighter Foods snack bar business for £43mln in cash.

The buyer is recently listed e-commerce business THG PLC (LON:THG), where Brighter already supplies its nutrition division.

Just over 15% of the business is owned by its managers so in total Real Good Food will receive cash proceeds of £35.64mln which will be used to reduce its net debt and make a contribution of £8.5mln to its pension scheme. In total it will make a £20.4mln gain on the value of the assets being sold.

Following the sale the remaining group will consist of its cake decorations business, being Renshaw and Rainbow Dust Colours. 

In a trading update the company said trading had improved in both Brighter and the decorations business in the second half of its financial year as lockdown restrictions eased.

Real Good Food chairman Mike Holt said: "We are very pleased with the disposal which crystallises substantial value for the group and enables us to halve our debt burden at a stroke, whilst materially improve the funding of the pension scheme. It also provides a basis for further balance sheet restructuring, as we look to accelerate and maximise value within Renshaw and Rainbow Dust Colours."

THG boss Matthew Moulding said: "We are delighted to announce our first major acquisition within THG Nutricion in 2021. Nutritional bars are a high growth category for THG, with significant product extension opportunity across all our brands."

Real Good Food has risen 13.46% or 0.35p to 2.95p while THG is up 2.23% or 14p at 642p.

11.51am: Kidney disease specialist receives milestone order

Renalytix AI PLC (LON:RENX) is in focus after it announced a 10 year US government contract to supply kidney disease testing services.

Shares in the company have jumped 18.75% or 180p to 1140p on news of the order for its KidneyIntelX early-stage kidney disease tests.

The contract - a five year term with a five year extension option - covers laboratory testing services that can be provided through more than 140 US government departments, agencies and affiliates, including the US Veterans Administration and Department of Defense military branches.

It said the process for receiving such a contract "requires an application and rigorous review against specific criteria, including the status of the provider, the quality and dependability of the service provided, and the need for the testing service." 

The company's president Tiom McLain said: "Achieving this contracting milestone allows us to make KidneyIntelX available to patients throughout the US. government healthcare system. Executing on our market access strategy represents a substantial commercial opportunity for RenalytixAI."

10.38am: Animal healthcare firm in demand

It's a dog's life for Animalcare Group PLC (LON:ANCR), and in a good way.

Shares in the animal health business have put on 5.17% or 14p to 285p after it received UK and European approval for its Daxocox tablets to treat pain and inflammation associated with osteoarthritis (or degenerative joint disease) in dogs.

It has also announced an agreement with French group Virbac to distribute Daxocox in the majority of European countries outside Animalcare's seven direct markets.

It plans to launch the treatment early in the second half of 2021, into a European market estimated to be in the region of £130mln.

Chief executive Jenny Winter said: "The approval of Daxocox represents an advance in the treatment of breakthrough pain associated with osteoarthritis. Veterinary professionals now have an effective and convenient new treatment option to help prevent episodes of osteoarthritis pain that can plague the quality of life for dogs, especially in middle-aged and older animals.

"This is also a milestone for our company and our growth ambitions.... We are excited at the prospects for Daxocox in what is a sizeable, fast-growing and competitive segment. By teaming up with Virbac, one of the world's biggest animal health companies, we are maximising the reach of Daxocox across Europe from day one."

9.11am: Gold miner shines after update

Arkle Resources PLC (LON:ARK) - which last week had to pour cold water on the idea it was being taken over - now has some good news for investors.

The miner, which is a gold and zinc explorer in Ireland, said diamond drilling was due to begin next Monday at its Mine River project in Counties Wicklow and Wexford.

The move comes after a recent gold find there, and the drilling programme - expected to take 10 to 12 weeks - is fully funded.

Chairman John Teeling said: "Last year we had very good trenching results from the Tombreen area so we are eager to drill.  The first 3 holes of 12 will target a new area 750 metres along strike from previous discoveries at Tombreen where we found visible gold in one trench.  Visible gold is a very encouraging sign.  The follow up drill holes will look to expand the Tombreen gold target along strike ."

The news has given its shares some lustre, up 14.29% or 0.13p at 1p.

SSP PLC (LON:SSPG) is also on the way up.

The owner of brands such as Upper Crust and Ritazza prominent in stations has been suffering in the wake of the travel restrictions caused by the pandemic.

So much so that it asked shareholders for £475mln to beef up its balance sheet.

Now it has announced that it had received 98.05% acceptances for the rights issue, with the rump of the shares placed at 311.5p each.

In the market SSP has added 15.9p or 5.1% to 327.4p.

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Bushveld Minerals Ltd (LON:BMN) said an unofficial five-day strike at its Vametco vanadium operation in South Africa has been resolved and workers have started safely returning to work.

Trident Royalties PLC (LON:TRR) welcomed a 50% increase in indicated resources at Apollo Consolidated Ltd's (ASX:AOP)  Lake Rebecca gold project in Western Australia. Trident holds a 1.5% net smelter royalty over the project.

Love Hemp Group PLC (LON:LIFE) (OTCQB:WRHLF) said it has re-signed the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC’s) current welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, as a brand ambassador for the company for another year.

Belvoir Group PLC (LON:BLV) chief executive Dorian Gonsalves and chief financial officer Louise George will be presenting at a Mello event on Monday 26 April, starting at 6pm via a Zoom webinar. They will give a 10 minute introduction on 26 April and a one hour follow-up presentation the following day at 1pm before taking questions.

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