Paragon Banking Group PLC (LSE:PAG) is in demand after raising its profit guidance and increasing its share buyback programme.
The specialist banking group reported a 49.0% rise in half year pretax profits to £143.6mln and gave a positive outlook for the rest of the year.
Chief executive Nigel Terrington said: "Strong growth in new lending at attractive margins has supported the group's earnings and return on tangible equity progression while capital levels remain comfortably in excess of our regulatory requirements, providing the foundation for further growth and additional capital returns in the future.
"Whilst the UK economy faces headwinds, we have a high quality loan book and we are confident in our momentum, and have upgraded our guidance for the full year."
The lender has raised this year's share buyback by £25mln to £75mln.
Its shares are up 6.53% to 500.71p.
3.03pm: Contango soars after signing supply deal for its coking coal
Natural resources group Contango Holdings (LSE:CGO) is climbing sharply after unveiling a supply deal for its coking coal.
AtoZ Investments (Pty) Ltd, a specialist coal trading company based in South Africa, has agreed to purchase the initial coking coal production from Contango's Lubu project in Zimbabwe.
After reviewing the composition and quality of the coal, AtoZ has entered into an agreement to purchase 10,000 tonnes a month at the prevailing market price set by the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, currently US$120 a tonne.
AtoZ will take delivery of the washed coking coal at the mine gate and handle all subsequent logistics and marketing, thereby removing associated marketing and transport costs for Contango.
The first sales are expected in the fourth quarter of this year.
At prevailing market prices Contango would expect to benefit from margins of around US$70-80 per tonne for its washed coal production under this contract, giving potential to generate up to US$10mln of earnings a year.
It believes the market price is significantly below global benchmark prices and so there is a strong likelihood of an increase, boosting its margins further.
It also wants to sell higher margin coke, an upgraded product derived from coking coal, and believes the AtoZ deal will help its position regarding funding the necessary infrastructure.
Chief executiev Carl Esprey said: "Given the scale of the Lubu asset, with a resource base of more than 1 billion tonnes, we believe that we can sell both coking coal and coke as two separate revenue streams moving forward. In addition, with the infrastructure in place for the higher margin coking coal and coke products, there is likely to be further economic markets for its additional suite of thermal and industrial coals. For now, we have reached a critical milestone and the horizon looks very exciting indeed ."
Its shares are on fire, up 30.74% to 6.14p.
12.48pm: Revolution Bars cheered by better than expected performance
Investors in Revolution Bars Group PLC (AIM:RBG) are toasting a better than expected performance from the group.
The owner of the Revolution and Revolucion de Cuba brands said a strong performance across the group and a bumper jubilee bank holiday meant it was now forecasting adjusted earnings ahead of the market's expected £10mln.
In March the group anticipated earnings at the top end of the prevailing City range of £8mln-£10mln.
Its shares are up 8.91% at 16.5p.
12.02pm: iomart under pressure as revenues and profits slip
iomart Group (AIM:IOM), the cloud computing specialist, has seen its shares slide as profits and revenues slipped.
It said revenues were down 8% to £103mln, reflecting lower non-recurring and consultancy sales, along with the impact of lower customer renewals experienced in the first half.
Profit before tax dipped from £12.5mln to £12.2mln.
In March it moved into the security sector with a partnership with cyber security specialists, e2e-assure, and it is also on the lookout for acquisitions.
It said the first two months of the new financial year were in line with its expectations, although it admitted the wider business environment continued to be challenging.
And like everyone else, it faces rising energy prices.
It said: "Although the current volatility of the energy markets may cause us to have to absorb some of the price fluctuations through the year, the core of our existing customer agreements, to varying degrees allow us to increase pricing, and some of this has already been invoked. In addition, any new business, contract renewals or shorter-term arrangements will be price adjusted at the appropriate time. We have various options to put in place hedging type arrangements within our electricity procurement to provide some certainty for our customers and our own planning."
Following the figures, its shares are down 7.63% at 172p.
10.52am: Eneraqua Technologies lifted by strong performance and upbeat outlook
Eneraqua Technologies PLC (AIM:ETP) has seen its shares bubble up after its first results since joining Aim last November.
The specialist in energy and water efficiency said full year revenues jumped 148% to £36.2mln, with adjusted pretax profits up from £0.8mln to £5.61mln.
During the year it completed two strategic acquisitions, HaGePe International BV and Welltherm Drilling Limited.
It has brought forward its maiden dividend by a year, paying 1p a share, and said the current financial year had started well, with its order book providing revenue cover for 95% of its full year revenue target.
Chief executive Mitesh Dhanak said: "We have continued to grow in both energy and water, with the recen tcontract wins in the UK and India. This, alongside the strategically important acquisitions that we completed, shows the quality of the services that we are now able to provide our clients...
"the increasing Net Zero regulation and initiatives being introduced across the globe provide us with confidence that we can deliver long-term value for our shareholders."
Its shares are up 5.93% to 286p.
10.17am: Oxford BioDynamics boosted by positive US response to flagship product
Oxford BioDynamics PLC (AIM:OBD) is in demand after a positive response to a key product at a US conference.
The company said it presented additional data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology on its flagship EpiSwitch checkpoint inhibitor response test.
The product is a simple blood test allowing clinicians to advise millions of cancer patients facing the complex choice between powerful immunotherapy treatments, which might have low response rates and immune-related adverse events, and alternative treatment options.
The company said interest in its test at ASCO was significant. It met 11 pharma teams, two major US hospital networks , National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers, as well as with clinicians and healthcare investors.
Chief executive Dr Jon Burrows said: "ASCO was a brilliant opportunity to get the attention of oncologists and the oncology community from around the world.
"As a small British biotech building our commercial profile, we were overwhelmed by the interest in the company and EpiSwitch CiRT. We had significantly more meetings than anticipated with practicing oncologists, pharma clinical development teams, hospital administrators and healthcare investors, who welcomed information on the potential use and utility of CiRT. It is highly encouraging that we continue to receive enquiries post-ASCO."
Its shares are up 5.11% at 18p.
8.43am: Xeros Technology soars on licensing deal and positive test data
Investors in Xeros Technology Group PLC (AIM:XSG) are cleaning up after the firm unveiled a new licensing agreement and positive test results for its filtering technology for washing machines.
The deal for its XFilter filtration technology is with Germany's Hanning Elektro-Werke Gmbh & Co, a manufacturer of components for the appliance industry, including pumps and motors for some of the world's largest domestic washing machine manufacturers.
Under the terms of the 10-year, non-exclusive agreement, Hanning will manufacture and sell filters incorporating technology. This will enable washing machine manufacturers to provide consumers with the ability to capture and easily and safely dispose of over 90% of microfibres, including microplastics, released during laundry cycles. The filters are built into the washing machine and are designed to last the life of a machine.
Xeros will receive a royalty for every filter device sold by Hanning, and it expects to begin receiving revenues from Hanning in late 2023.
Meanwhile German institute Hohenstein has accredited XFilter with the highest level of performance, capturing over 99% of microplastics. The tests were carried out on behalf of a leading Asian domestic washing machine manufacturer as part of the test and trial agreement signed with Xeros in July 2021.
Klaas de Boer, chairman of Xeros, said: "These test results provide further validation of the market leading performance of our XFilter technology..We are confident that this will accelerate our progress with the multiple parties with whom we are currently engaged."
Xeros shares have jumped 30.77% to 42.5p.
Meanwhile MyHealthChecked PLC (AIM:MHC) is moving higher after it launched five new at-home cheek swab DNA wellness tests.
The tests, which cost £54 each, are for intolerances and sensitivities, weight management, heart profile, vitamins and minerals, and glucose management.
Chief executive Penny McCormick said: "This is a significant achievement as we move into a new phase of the business outside of the COVID-19 testing space.
"These initial tests are just the start of our consumer testing portfolio, and we look forward to updating the market on further portfolio developments throughout the course of 2022. Going forward we will continue to engage with the market on potential opportunities and re-invest the 2021 earnings from our COVID-19 testing services to explore additional third-party technology options to further enhance the customer journey for our wellness tests. We also continue our efforts to identify and assess complementary earnings-enhancing partnerships."
The company's shares have climbed 8.48% to 1.79p.