Argos Resources Limited, the Falkland Islands-based exploration company, tumbled 18% to 1.65p after providing an update on its PL 001 licence.
The company is currently in discussions with the Falkland Islands government regarding the terms on which a further extension of the PL001 Licence may be granted, to enable Argos to undertake the necessary technical work to progress the project.
The board expects that any extension beyond 31 December 2022 would be subject to certain technical commitments from the company, which would require Argos to raise additional capital.
12.55pm: Riverfort Global Opportunities sees net asset value rise
Riverfort Global Opportunities PLC (AIM:RGO) gained 5.4% at 0.975p after a solid set of full-year results.
The investment company said 2021 was another active period for the company in which profit before tax retreated to £1.04mln from £1.50mln the year before while net asset value per share rose 10% to 1.49p.
At the end of the year, the company held around £5.8 million of its investment portfolio in listed junior companies through debt and equity-linked products, with investments in over 20 different companies.
11.50am: Trackwise Designs warns of 'reduced near term demand' from EV makers
Trackwise Designs PLC (AIM:TWD) shares fell 20% to 48.5p after it warned that reduced demand from UK electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer customers was expected to hit sales but not profits this year.
Sales in 2022 are now expected to be below previous market expectations, though the company said it specific contract terms mean that it still expects full-year adjusted operating profit and adjusted profit before tax in line with forecasts.
The maker of specialist products using printed circuit technology said it has a total order book for delivery this year is £4.6mln and a sales pipeline for its Improved Harness Technology (IHT) with 95 customers and opportunities across its primary target markets that comprise a "growing number of opportunities" in the EV market, including "a number" of major car makers.
10.55am: Gulf disappoints with AGM trading update
Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd shares slid 8.8% to 247.5p on the day of its annual general meeting.
Year to date, production has averaged around 44,900 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and the company said today it expects to average 44,000 – 47,000 bopd in 2022, which represents a tightening of its guidance range.
Gross average production in June has been around 45,900 bopd.
10.00am: Lamprell plummets as it flags up liquidity crisis
Lamprell PLC (LSE:LAM, OTC:LMPRF) shares plunged 78%to 4.85p after it was faced with the dilemma of whether to accept a lowball bid that would secure the future of the company.
Blofeld Investment Management, which owns 25.06% of the oilfield services provider, has indicated it is willing to make an offer to acquire the rest of the cash-strapped company, albeit at a very significant discount to the prevailing share price.
Lamprell said it continues to explore several potential financing and strategic options, including asset monetisation, project-specific financing, hybrid facilities and/or additional equity, as it seeks to meet funding requirements of US$75mln over the next two months.
9.05am: Premier African surges after signing marketing and prepayment agreement
Premier African Minerals Ltd (AIM:PREM) rose 7.6% to 0.355p after it entered into a marketing and prepayment agreement with Suzhou TA&A Ultra Clean Technology.
The agreement will allow Premier to establish a large-scale pilot plant at its Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project to produce spodumene concentrate (SC6) from the third quarter of 2023.
“The prepayment is expected to fully fund the construction phase and is interest-free provided first shipment[s] occur by 31 March 2023. At present SC6 pricing, the pre-payment is expected to be fully liquidated inside of twelve months,” asserted George Roach, the chief executive officer of Premier.
A pre-closed period trading update from RPS Group (LSE:RPS) (RPS Group (LSE:RPS)) PLC prompted a 2.7% rise in the share price of the environmental consultancy company to 113p.
Performance for the first five months of the year was encouraging and ahead of the board's expectations, with 12% year-on-year growth in fee revenue (at constant currency) and an improvement of one percentage point on margins.
Following the strong start to the year and in view of the growing contracted order book, RPS expects momentum to continue in the second half.