Shares in Hamak Gold Limited (LSE:HAMA) are shining after a positive update from one of its projects in Liberia.
The company announced positive gold and multi-element exploration results from the first grid block soil sampling in the Gozohn licence.
Karl Smithson, executive director, said: "We are highly encouraged that our first soil sampling results have successfully identified significant gold anomalies in our priority target area of the Gozohn licence. These positive results extend over a considerable strike length associated with known artisanal gold mining and are supported by a rock chip sample returning 2.6g/t gold from identified quartz vein assemblages that occur throughout the area.
"We plan to commence detailed follow up through trenching and channel sampling to identify and map in detail the sources of the gold anomalies, which could then lead to drilling of the targeted gold anomalies."
"We look forward to providing further updates from our active exploration programmes in both the high priority Gozohn and Nimba licences."
Its shares are up 7.03% at 9.9p.
2.13pm: Osirium Technologies sees losses rise and plans fundraising
Osirium Technologies PLC (AIM:OSI) has dropped sharply after reporting increased losses and saying it will need to raise funds later this year.
The cloud-based cybersecurity software business saw full year bookings virtually flat at £1.6mln, with customers reluctant to commit due to the uncertain economic environment.
With increased investment in its headcount and activity levels, operating losses rose from £2.87mln to £3.23mln.
It said it had seen more normal customer purchasing patterns in the first quarter of the current financial year, with five new contracts signed in 2022 of a greater value than any contract in 2021.
But its shares have fallen 20% to 12p as it said it would be required to raise additional capital during the second half of 2022 to "deliver on its growth expectations."
12.04pm: Rank cuts profit guidance as casino and bingo visits fall
Rank Group (LSE:RNK) is on a losing streak as it cut its profit guidance for the year after a fall in visiter numbers.
It reported a jump in third quarter revenues from £48.7mln to £156.4mln, but pointed out that its Grosvenor and Mecca venues in the UK were shut in the comparable period last year because of the pandemic.
Even though they are now fully open, both businesses have seen a dip in visits at the end of the most recent quarter as COVID-19 cases increased once more.
With that, and rising costs, it now expects full year earnings of between £47mln and £55mln, down from the previous forecast of £55ml to £65mln.
It expects an improvement in its performance after April but added it was uncertain how the trends in the rate of return of office workers to city centres and overseas customers to London would develop towards the summer.
Chief executive John O'Reilly said: "The performance of our venues softened in March, and this has continued into the first few weeks of the fourth quarter, impacting our current expectations for our full year performance.
"We recognise the pressures on UK consumers but are confident that the improvements we are continuing to make to the customer proposition and the investments in our venues, alongside the gradually reducing impact of the pandemic and, with it, the return of overseas customers, position us well for the year ahead."
It seems investors are not willing to take the gamble just now, and its shares are down 8.1% at 118p.
11.07am: Ibstock boosted by strong demand and £30mln buyback programme
Ibstock PLC (LSE:IBST) has built up a good rise as it reported a strong start to the year and launched a £30mln share buyback programme.
The manufacturer of clay bricks and concrete products said its first quarter performance was ahead of expectations, with strong demand across its markets.
Despite worries about the overall economy, it expects its full year results to be slightly ahead of previous forecasts.
It has recovered the costs of rising inflation in its clay business, and in the face of soaring energ prices, it has substantially covered its requirements for the first half of the year, purchased around 75% of requirements for the second half and has over one-third covered for 2023.
Chief executive Joe Hudson said: "We've made a strong start to 2022, supported by robust demand in our end markets and a dynamic commercial approach to manage input price inflation...
"Demand in both the new build housing and [repairs, maintenance and improvement] markets remains robust and, while we are mindful of the broader macroeconomic uncertainties, we now expect to deliver performance for the full year modestly ahead of our previous expectations.
"We are also pleased to be announcing a £30mln share buyback programme, demonstrating our ability to deliver enhanced returns to shareholders whilst continuing to invest in our future growth."
Ibstock's shares have climbed 7.51% to 178.9p.
9.29am: Zenova upbeat despite going £1.1mln in the red
Zenova Group PLC (AIM:ZED) is in demand after an upbeat trading statement despite a loss in its first year as a listed company.
The fire safety and heat management specialist was in the red to the tune of £1.1mln, mainly due to the costs of research, testing, staff and professional fees as it establishes itself in the market.
But it said its customer base was developing well after it began marketing and selling its first products, fire protection paint, thermal insulation paint and thermal insulation render.
Three more products are currently in the testing phase, and are expected to be brought to market later in 2022.
It said 2022 would be a critical year for the company, and it aimed to be operating profitably by 2023.
Chief executive Tony Crawley said: "We are experiencing significant global interest in our products, and we expect our order books to grow at an increasing rate over the next 12 months as we focus on delivering sales in our target markets.
"Later in 2022 we expect to launch three further products into our portfolio. They provide innovative solutions which are underpinned by extensive testing, and they will help address the ongoing global challenges surrounding heat management and fire safety."
Its shares are up 11.33% at 16.7p, albeit still below July's placing price of 19p.
8.50am: Solid State jumps as it forecasts record performance
Shares in Solid State PLC (AIM:SOLI) have made a solid start after the component supplier said it would report forecast-beating record profits for the year.
After a strong finish to the year, it expects revenues of around £85mln, up 28% and better than City forecasts of f £80mln.
Adjusted pretax profits are set to come in at around £7.2mln, compared to an expected £6.5mln. Its order book has more than doubled to a record £85.5m ln.
Solid State said it had seen a strong performance across the group, especially in the the energy and aerospace and defence sectors.
Its electro-mechanical and imaging systems businesses have been boosted by the acquisition of Willow Technologies and Active Silicon respectively.
Like for like organic revenue growth was more than 8%, despite supply chain issues and macro-economic challenges and the more recent conflict in Ukraine which, to date, has had negligible impact.
Its shares are up 12.32% at 1140p.
Elsewhere essensys PLC (AIM:ESYS) has moved higher despite increased losses, as it gave an upbeat outlook statement.
The company, which provides software and technology for the flexible workspace and property industries, said half year revenues rose 2.8% to £10.9mln, while losses increased from £1.4mln to £4.5mln.
But it expects to meet market expectations for the full year, and chief executive Mark Furness said: ""essensys performed resiliently in the first half of our financial year with 3% revenue growth driven by continued strong growth in the US.
As outlined in March, whilst COVID-19 temporarily slowed our hiring plans, sales cycles and our accelerated growth plans we've made excellent progress in product and development and in the strengthening of the senior executive team.
"We have seen customer activity begin to increase in the second half of the year and remain confident of meeting 2022 consensus market expectations. I am also pleased to report excellent progress in APAC following the establishment of our regional operations at the start of 2022 with sales pipeline now building strongly.
"As the impacts from Covid-19 begin to subside working patterns are starting to settle and our flexible workspace operator customers are reporting increased demand. Consequently, larger flexible operators are starting to focus on expansion again, driven by positive long-term market dynamics. Landlord business plans around the provision of flexible space are becoming more visible and corporate use of more flexible workspace is becoming increasingly evident.
"These structural drivers underpin our strong pipeline for 2023 and 2024 and the board's confidence in essensys' plan to capture its expanding market opportunity."
The upbeat tone has helped lift it shares by 13.61% to 96p.