Savannah Energy PLC (AIM:SAVE) has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy of the Republic of Chad.
The agreement is for the development of up to 500 megawatts of renewable energy projects supplying electricity to the Doba Oil Project and the towns of Moundou and Doba in Southern Chad, and the capital city, N'Djamena.
Shares in Savannah were up 5.6% at 38p; what you might call a Chad rally.
1.20pm: SMT on the rise after Alibaba results
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC (LSE:SMT) shares were sent higher after receiving a boost from the results of one of its major Chinese tech investments.
Alibaba, which is a top-10 holding of the FTSE 100-listed investment company, reported higher than expected revenue growth of 9% to 204bn yuan ($30bn) for the three months to end-March.
Shares in SMT were leading the FTSE 100 higher, sporting a 5.4% gain at 786p.
12.25pm: Every little bit helps for Brandshield
Brandshield Systems PLC leapt a penny (12% sounds a bit more “leapy” – Ed.) to 9.25p after Sir Terence Leahy revealed he had built a 6.96%s stake in the company.
Leahy is the former chief executive of Tesco PLC (LSE:TSCO) who currently has a gig at now privately-owned Morrisons.
Also revealed today was an increase in the stake of William Currie Investments to 10.8% from 7.0%. Both increased shareholdings came about as a result of the company’s share subscription, announced earlier this week, which raised £1.0mln for the cybersecurity firm.
11.30am: Caffyns vrooms back up to seven-year high
Shares in Caffyns PLC (LSE:CFYN) vroomed up 9% to 600p after the Sussex and Kent-based car dealer reported better profits and said it had a strong new car order book.
Statutory profit before tax leapt to £4.4mln from £1.4mln a year ago, predominantly resulting from much higher levels of car deliveries, and the board followed up the resumption of dividend payments at the interim stage with a proposed final dividend of 15p.
Chief executive Simon Caffyn said: "The underlying profit before tax of £4.6 million was a significant improvement on the prior year. Despite limited new car supply, operating profits improved due to very buoyant trading in used cars and our strong focus on improving operational effectiveness.
"The outlook will depend on consumer confidence, but we carry forward a strong new car order book and have substantially strengthened our balance sheet "
10.30am: R U OK Rua?
Rua Life Sciences PLC lost around one-sixth of its value at 39p after a disappointing trading update from the medical devices firm.
The company, formerly known as Aortech, expects to post a loss of £2.36mln for the 12 months to the end of March, compared to a loss the year before of £1.59mln.
The trading year saw the group receive feedback from the US Food & Drug Administration that human clinical data would be required to demonstrate substantial equivalence of Rua’s Vascular's large bore vascular grafts to existing products on the market on the basis that they introduced novel technology compared to the predicate devices.
Pyx Resources Limited dived 7.7% to 60p after it confirmed the award of performance rights under the company’s stock incentive plan.
Chief executive Oliver Hasler was granted 10.5mln performance rights shares, convertible on a one-for-one basis subject to certain milestones being achieved.