Xaar PLC (LSE:XAR) has printed a share price rise after its latest update.
The inkjet specialist said it ended the year strongly, with revenues expected to climb 23% to around £59mln compared to 2020.
After an adjusted half year pretax loss of £2.3mln, it is forecasting a profit for the second half of the year.
On the supply chain issues affecting many businesses, it said it had invested £7mln in inventory to secure materials to meet its 2022 production needs.
It is also adapting product designs to allow for alternative components to be used.
Net cash at the end of the year was £25.2mln, an increase of £7.1mln from the position six months previously. That included the £9.3mln initial consideration received from the sale of Xaar 3D and continued strong cash generation from its printhead business.
Chief executive John Mills said: "We ended the year well with an improved second half performance which shows the positive momentum we have in the business . Strong order intake over the last few months gives us confidence of maintaining this momentum into 2022.
"The investment in working capital gives increased certainty in our ability to maintain supply to our customers throughout the year, a year in which we expect to see further growth. We will continue to invest in capability and capacity to drive growth and deliver further opportunities to grow the business and accelerate our strategy."
Xaar shares are up 4.59% at 186.8p.
2.09pm: Mobile Streams soars as it signs esports partnership
Mobile Streams PLC (AIM:MOS) is on the move after it unveiled a strategic partnership with esports specialist International Gaming Systems.
The contract, a revenue share, will see IGS's gaming and entertainment services launched and made available globally via Mobile Stream's website mobilegaming.com and its telecom company contracts.
The services will begin in the first quarter of this year with the launch of a FIFA esports tournament involving a top Eurasian football league and a trading service for online gaming skins.
These will precede the rollout of further esports, gaming and content services that IGS will deliver via Mobilegaming.com.
Under the terms of the contract, IGS has committed to deliver a minimum of US$720,000 revenue to Mobile Streams over the first six months, a portion of which will be paid to IGS while Mobile Streams will fund modest start-up costs.
Mobile Streams now expects its revenue across all services to exceed US$120,000 this month.
Its shares have accelerated 26.74% to 0.55p.
11.44am: Countryside Properties (LSE:CSP) loses more than a quarter as chief executive departs amid disappointing trading
Countryside Properties (LSE:CSP) has seen its shares collapse by more than a quarter after a disappointing update and the immediate departure of its chief executive.
It said that Iain McPherson was stepping down by mutual agreement, with chairman John Martin taking on the chief executive role as well until a successor is found.
The company said trading in the first quarter had been below its expectations.
Revenues were down from £363.8mln to £249.8mln, while operating profits dropped from £36.6mln to £16.5mln.
Martin will conduct a review of each of its developments across every region to make sure each site is being developed in accordance with its plans.
On the costs of cladding in the wake of the Grenfell fire, it said: "We are currently working with landlords to expedite remediation in cases where the historic work on Countryside developments did not meet building standards, in accordance with the provisions made last year. We will update shareholders comprehensively when an industry-wide solution is identified."
Meanwhile, in another board change, it has appointed Peter Lee of activist investor and shareholder in the company Browning West as a non-executive Director.
As part of this move, Browning West has agreed not to requisition or propose resolutions at company general meetings, circulate statements to shareholders or seek to remove directors from the board.
Countryside shares are down 27.49% at 298.6p.
11.04am: PipeHawk boosted by expansion plans and office deal
PipeHawk PLC (AIM:PIP) has been boosted after it unveiled expansion plans for one of its key subidiaries.
The company, which provides technology solutions for the highways, automotive, rail and aerospace industries, said its QM Systems division had signed a ten year lease for an office building at Hartlebury Industrial Estate in Worcestershire.
The move will give an extra 80% office and commercial space when compared with QM's existing premises. It has been driven by the need for more space for QM Systems' project business and partly by QM's expansion into contract manufacturing and new producti introduction.
Chairman Gordon Watt said: "The new premises will house our ongoing project business to develop and manufacture automated manufacturing and test systems...together with our expansion into new contract manufacturing. Here we have already signed contracts with two clients and are in advanced discussions with a third. The first of these is expected to commence production in June 2022.
"In order to facilitate the growth of our business, QM is expecting to increase its workforce by approximately 70% over the next twelve months."
Pipehawk has put on 19.29% or 3.8p to 23.5p.
10.20am: Mercantile Ports & Logistics sees its shares sink as Omicron hits its business
Mercantile Ports and Logistics Ltd (LSE:MPL, LSE:) has seen its shares take on water after it warned full year revenues would be below market expectations.
The company, which is developing and operating a port and logistics facility in Navi Mumbai India, had been recovering from the effects of the Delta variant when Omicron hit the country.
It had signed a number of new contracts, its coal jetty was generating revenue for the first time and the first blocks of the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, which had been constructed on the facility by Tata Daewoo, left by barge last month.
It said its sales and marketing team had been making good progress in the last quarter of the year, but Omicron brought further strict lockdown measures to India and hit this momentum. The variant also had an impact on cargo movements in December, and some of the contracts that had been expected to be signed that month have been delayed, impacting revenues for 2021
So while revenues are expected to be significantly ahead of 2020, they will be below market expectations.
It hopes there will be a quick rebound in activity and that the contracts that had been expected to be signed in December will be concluded in short order.
Chief executive Jay Mehta said: "Having made progress and built momentum after the easing of restrictions from the Delta variant, it was disappointing for this momentum to stall with the emergence of the Omicron variant. However, the Company is well placed to make up lost ground and the recent achievements by Tata Daewoo demonstrate exactly what our facility can deliver. We expect to be able to evidence this further this year".
Its shares are down 12.15% to 23.5p.
9.15am: ASOS in demand as it unveils plans to move to main market
Next month will see the end of an era as an AIM-listed company worth nearly £2.5bn finally leaves the junior market.
It was always a bit of an anomaly that a company as valuable as online fashion group ASOS PLC (AIM:ASC) was not on the main market, but it has now announced plans to move up in the world.
Chief operating officer Mat Dunn said: "Our listing on AIM for the past 20 years has been an important part of ASOS' development, but the time is now right to move to the main market as we focus on delivering our medium-term guidance and longer-term growth ambitions."
The company - which now owns theTop Shop brands - issued a profits warning in October, hit by supply chain problems and the fallout from the pandemic. At the same time, chief executive Nick Beighton stepped down.
Now it has announced revenues rose by 5% to £1.39bn in the four months to the end of December, with 13% growth in the UK.
Its margins were hit by the need for clearance sales to get rid of slow moving 2021 spring and summer stock, as well as the cost of flying in products to ease the supply chain issues.
But it expects these pressures will ease, and it is sticking to its previous guidance for the full year, with revenue growth expected in the range of 10%-15% and adjusted pretax profit of £110mln-£140mln.
Dunn said: ""ASOS has delivered a robust start to the year, in line with the guidance we set out at full-year results, despite challenging market conditions...Looking ahead, while mindful of the near-term uncertainty relating to the pandemic, our guidance for the full year remains unchanged."
The company's shares have climbed 7.79% to 2435p.
The move from AIM will mean more institutional investors will be able to buy the stock if they wish.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The company should qualify for a place in the FTSE 250 index later this year and benefit from index funds buying its stock...
“ASOS should have made the move years ago given how it has progressed from being a UK business selling goods mimicking those worn by celebrities on the TV or in films, to now being an international online retailer.”
8.43am: React boosted by contract with charitable housing trust
React Group PLC (LSE:REAT) has reacted well to a new contract win.
The cleaning, hygiene and decontamination company, has been awarded a new long-term contract with The ExtraCare Charitable Trust, a not-for-profit developer and operator of housing for the over 55s and an existing customer of the business.
React will provide a range of facility management services across multiple sites, including contract cleaning, grounds maintenance, window cleaning and pest control.
The new 5-year contract starts at the beginning of April 2022 and is worth a minimum of £1mln a year, which is more than three times greater than the previous contract and covers a larger number of facilities.
React also hopes to provide the Trust with other specialist reactive services which would provide incremental revenue to the recurring component of the contract.
Its shares are up 17.65% at 2p.
Also benefiting from news of a contract win is Tekmar Group PLC (AIM:TGP), which provides technology and services for the global offshore energy markets
It has been awarded a contract worth more than US$10mln to provide pipeline support and protection materials for a major subsea construction project in the Middle East.
Chief executive Alasdair MacDonald said: "This major contract award represents a significant milestone in expanding our geographical presence, a key driver of our growth strategy, and builds on our encouraging recent contract momentum, including our partnership with DEME Offshore on the Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
"These contracts highlight the breadth of our engineering capability and support our strategic growth plan as we continue to work through the industry related challenges we've previously highlighted."
Tekmar is up 9.8% at 56p.