Cloudcall Group PLC was the week’s top riser after getting taken out by a group of funds managed and advised by Xplorer Capital Management.
The shares shot up by two-thirds to 79.5p after the board of the communications group recommended an 81.5p cash offer from Xplorer that values the company at £39.9mln.
The next best riser was genedrive, the molecular diagnostics company, which revealed its rapid point of care Genedrive COV19-ID Kit has received CE-IVD certification under the European Communities Council Directive 98/79.
The kit is a rapid molecular diagnostic test that delivers positive results as quickly as 7 minutes and thirty seconds and negative results at 17 minutes, genedrive told investors.
The shares were up 65% at 67p in the week that the government signalled its concerns about the spread of the Omicron variant in the UK.
One company that will be keeping a close eye on government policy – albeit in Germany – regarding lockdown restrictions is Live Company Group PLC (AIM:LVCG), which this week confirmed the K-Pop festival ‘KPOP.Flex’ will take place in Frankfurt, Germany on 14 May 2022.
The event is a joint venture between Live Company’s 50%-owned K-Pop Europa subsidiary, Deutsche Bank Stadium, PK Events and Seoul Broadcasting Service.
If you do not know what K-pop is, you have my congratulations; it is short for Korean popular music.
Shares in Live Company were up 25% to 4p.
It was a busy week for the resource sector, with oil companies Rockhopper Exploration PLC (AIM:RKH) and mining companies Pathfinder Minerals (AIM:PFP) PLC and Atlantic Lithium Ltd to the fore.
Rockhopper leapt 62% to 8.415p after Navitas (ASX:NVT) Petroleum effectively took over from Harbour Energy (LSE:HBR) PLC as Rockhopper’s partner in the development of the Sea Lion prospect in the waters surrounding the Falkland Islands.
Rockhopper's share of Sea Lion costs from transaction completion up to the final investment decision will be funded through a loan from Navitas with interest charged at 8% per annum.
As for Pathfinder, its shares rose 23% to 0.675p after an update on its dispute concerning mining concession 4623C in Mozambique.
The company has significantly advanced its preparation to refer the dispute to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) under the Mozambique – United Kingdom Bilateral Investment Treaty of 2004.
This preparatory work includes the development of a detailed budget and timeline for claimant costs, the identification of the company's litigation team, and independent professional analysis of valuations for differing successful outcomes at an ICSID tribunal, Pathfinder said.
Atlantic Lithium shares saw some profit-taking at the end of the week reducing the share’s gains to 16% at 25.65p, as investors piled in after it showcased an updated scoping study for its Ewoyaa lithium project in Ghana.
The study makes the case for a two million tonnes per annum operation with the life of mine revenues exceeding US$3.43bn.
Atlantic Revenue is currently valued at roughly £150mln by the market.
The year-end trading update from Actual Experience PLC (AIM:ACT) was a painful experience for its shareholders.
The analytics-as-a-service company saw revenues in the year to the end of September dip to £1.7mln from £1.9mln the year before.
“Overall, whilst we have made good progress during the year, our sales cycle remains lengthy and efforts to reduce this are being hampered by the pandemic and the resultant elongation of procurement processes,” the company said, as it conspicuously made no mention of profits or losses.
The shares plunged 44% to 31.5p.
The share price of Victorian Plumbing PLC went down the plughole after its full-year results, prompting a couple of directors to pitch in and buy some shares.
The online specialist bathroom retailer’s shares plunged 40% on the week, despite being one of Friday’s big gainers, to 96.2p after the company said in the current financial year – i.e. October and November – demand and revenue have been roughly flat year-on-year.
After Thursday’s big plunge, product director Neil Radcliff weighed in with a purchase of 529,267 shares at 94p a throw so is already in profit, as is Philip Bowcock, the company’s chair, who bought 53,000 shares at 92p each.