Avacta Group (AVCT), a life sciences company developing innovative, targeted oncology drugs and powerful diagnostics, announces its unaudited interim results for the six months ending 30 June 2024 with recent progress against the Company’s 2024 stated goals. AVCT said that at the half year stage, the data from the ongoing Phase 1a clinical study of AVA6000 continues to support Avacta’s growing confidence in AVA6000 and the wider potential of the pre|CISION™ platform. The Board of Directors is also exploring opportunities for a dual listing on NASDAQ and an update on this aspect of the Group’s longer-term financing strategy will be provided in due course.
Comment: The possible dual listing on the NASDAQ is a positive driver, if only because the UK is woeful on biotech. That said, the “we are getting there” RNS explains why it was so easy for our friends at Deutsche Bank to stick the knife in ahead of the interims, helping out the shorters.
CleanTech Lithium (CTL), an exploration and development company advancing sustainable lithium projects in Chile for the clean energy transition, announced its unaudited Interim Results for the six-month period ended 30 June 2024. CTL said the first half of 2024 has seen significant operational and strategic progress on our lithium projects in Chile. This includes the production of high quality lithium chloride eluate with low impurities from our DLE pilot plant, which has a capacity to produce one tonne per month of lithium carbonate equivalent. A drilling, pump testing and reinjection programme was started at Laguna Verde aimed at updating the JORC resource estimate, providing data for the PFS and developing of a maiden reserve estimate.
Comment: Under the currently sole stewardship of Steve Kesler, currently Chairman and Interim CEO, the company has been steadied. It is now primed for its ASX listing and as can be se3en from the interim report, is going great guns in Chile.
Rome Resources (RMR), the DRC-focused tin explorer, announced that it intends to appoint Klaus Eckhof as Non-Executive Chairman to the board of Rome Resources. Mr Eckhof is a key adviser to Rome Resources, having been an instrumental member of the team that discovered the Bisie North Tin Project that is currently the subject of an intensive drilling campaign by the Company.
Comment: The market is likely to approve of the appointment of Klaus Eckhof, as it is the equivalent of gaining a rock star Non Executive Chairman, to give the company not only the operational sizzle, but also that to attract fresh investors to the newly listed stock.
SEEEN (SEEN), the global media and technology platform that delivers Key Video Moments and Video Commerce to transform its clients’ video profitability, released its unaudited Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2024 and an update on current trading and the outlook for the Group. SEEN said revenue for the 1H24 increased 19% against 2H23, together with a 60% improvement in gross profit. During the period, the Group also concluded a successful fundraising of approximately £0.8 million primarily to drive further investment in the direct sales team for its current offerings and for an exciting extension of the Group’s Video Moment technology into the high demand training / skills market.
Comment: SEEN’s latest update underlines the turnaround that has started, with the key metrics being the revenue jump, as well as the sharp gain in gross profit. It could very well be that in the current ballooning video content era, the company could achieve the hockey stick jump that it has been aiming for.
First Class Metals (FCM) the UK listed metals exploration company, presented its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2024. FCM said it was enthusiastic with the speed at which FCM has started the field season, all thanks to EGS’s support. The review of the Sunbeam Property core, the geophysics survey over Kerrs and the preparation for work at Dead Otter herald an exciting field season for First Class.
Comment: It is all about speed and the substance of the exploration gains at FCM, something which will hopefully ensure that the market finally recognises the merits of the company’s strategy and values it accordingly.
Valereum (AQSE: VLRM), a company focused on unlocking capital and creating value in tokenised digital markets, announced its unaudited results for the six months ended 30 June 2024. VLRM said that through the acquisition of the technological intellectual property of the GSX Group, the raising of funding for working capital, the elimination of all debt, the forging of partnerships with technology providers, the development of technology, the receipt of the DASP licence, and the recent launch of VCM, Valereum has laid strong foundations to support the generation of revenues from Q4 24 and their future scaling in FY25 and beyond.
Comment: Perhaps rather against market expectations, the new board is making progress at VLRM, and the recent launch and funding of VCM underlines the momentum that is gathering.
hVIVO (HVO), a fast-growing specialist contract research organisation (CRO), announced the official launch of the full suite of its hLAB service offering, its highly specialised virology and immunology laboratory services for preclinical and clinical drug development. HVO said the expanded laboratory space has been specifically designed to streamline workflows and provide operational efficiencies. It includes a cutting-edge CL-3 laboratory, allowing hVIVO to work with hazard group 3 pathogens. The CL-3 lab has now received HSE clearance, and the Company has commenced operations.
Comment: HVO adds another important string to its bow, something which rather underlines the recent and significant stakebuilding seen from major shareholder Octopus Investments.
Ajax (AJAX), the UK listed special purpose acquisition company with a focus on natural resources, announced the appointment of Mr. Richard Heywood to the Board of the Company as an Executive Director, with a concentration on the successful identification of business development opportunities. AJAX said that Mr Heywood has experience in metal trading and financial services, having previously worked at J O Hambro Capital Management Group (JOHCM), where his role involved assisting the leadership of the company.
Comment: One would imagine that the timing of the arriving of a mining big wig at AJAX is a decent signal as far as the potential imminence of a deal for this mining SPAC. It would be expected that the share price will start to become a barometer in this respect.
Ondine Biomedical (OBI), a provider of light-activated antimicrobial technology to prevent and treat hospital infections, announced strong operational results for the first half of 2024, highlighting significant progress and expansion in its commercial and clinical endeavours. OBI said that its significant revenue growth and expanded hospital adoption of Steriwave are testaments to the technology’s efficacy as well as the need for simple solutions to prevent complex hospital infections. The Mölnlycke partnership underscores the value it brings to healthcare systems and marks a new era of accelerated growth for Ondine as it pursues approval for the large US market and expansion into critical care settings. It was excited about the road ahead and continued momentum in the second half of 2024.
Comment: The recent premium fundraise of C$5m at 12.5p sets OBI on the way to gain significant traction for the rest of 2024, with the Mölnlycke partnership the icing on the cake in this respect.
Celadon Pharmaceuticals (CEL) announced that Mr Jonathan Turner, Chief Financial Officer, will leave his position on the Board on 27 December 2024.
Comment: While shareholders and friends of the company are still hoping CEL’s recent travails will be resolved positively, and hope that this will be the case, the outgoing CFO has perhaps decided that discretion is the better part of valour.
LifeSafe (LIFS), a fire safety technology business, reported its unaudited Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2024. LIFS said the investment in our direct-to-consumer marketing campaigns successfully enhanced our brand awareness in 2023, particularly in the US, in turn enabling it to accelerate its transition to a more profitable distribution model. These interim results highlight the positive impact of this strategy, with a significant reduction in costs and improved margins, bringing it closer to profitability.
Comment: LIFS continues to move in the right direction, something which should gather pace as the fruits of its B2B partnerships make their way to the bottom line.
Aterian (ATN), the critical metal-focused exploration and development company, updated on the recently completed scout reverse circulation (“RC”) drill programme conducted on the Company’s Agdz Copper-Silver Project in the Kingdom of Morocco. ATN said it was pleased to announce its first drill results from the Agdz Copper-Silver Project in central Morocco. These scout holes were widely spaced across a large area to provide an initial indication of the sub-surface potential from several prospects previously identified across the licence. They proved themselves very informative as multiple locations indicated the presence of near-surface copper and silver. The drill programme demonstrated mineralisation across the target areas as a first-pass test of several geophysical and structural targets within four priority prospects.
Comment: We see some light at the end of the tunnel for ATN in terms of progress in Morocco, something it would seem is the minimum requirement to get its underperforming share price anywhere near the May CLN price of 0.7p. Indeed, it beggars belief that a company with so much going on is still languishing on the investor relations front.
GreenRoc Strategic Materials (GROC), a company focused on the development of critical mineral projects in Greenland, announced that it has submitted its application for an Exploitation Licence for the Amitsoq Graphite Project in South Greenland. The grant of an Exploitation Licence is a key deliverable as GreenRoc looks to fast-track the development of Amitsoq into a producing mine in the shortest possible timeframe to meet critical demand from Electric Vehicle manufacturers in Europe and North America for new, high grade and conflict-free sources of graphite.
Comment: GROC continues to push hard towards exploiting Greenland, and getting in production. Ideally, this will be from a large resource in the relatively unexplored region.
Tap Global Group Plc (AQSE: TAP), the FinTech company bridging the gap between traditional finance and blockchain technology, announced its participation in “The Pub Test” Investor Evening. This event is co-hosted by the Aquis Exchange and InvestorHub and will take place on Wednesday, 2 October 2024 at The Jamaica Wine House, St Michael’s Alley, Cornhill, EC3V 9DS, starting at 6.00 p.m. BST.
Comment: I will be in attendance at the event, signing autographs, posing for selfies and generally soaking up the adulation. Given the current share price and stock market rating is it pleasing to see that TAP is turning up too.
Chill Brands Group (CHLL), the consumer packaged-goods distribution company, will hold its AGM today. Ahead of the AGM, the Company updated on progress towards the completion of its audit, trading, and the recovery of its assets. CHLL said 2024 has been an incredibly challenging year for the Company, marked by regulatory headwinds in the vaping industry and significant corporate challenges. Despite these hurdles, there is cause for cautious optimism. It continues to add products and brands to the Chill.com website, develop new proprietary products, and prepare for exciting distribution opportunities with its retail partners.
Comment: Despite the brave talk, and strong distribution, it is evident that in the current regulatory environment CHLL is attempting to sell the equivalent of ice to the Eskimos, while walking up a down escalator.
Cykel AI (CYK), a UK-based technology company specialising in AI products, announced an oversubscribed placing by Clear Capital Markets at an issue price of 5.25p raising gross proceeds of circa £750,000.
Comment: Rather pleasingly, given the lay of the land, Clear Capital seems to be raising more cash for small caps than most, at for CYK a decent amount at a good price.
Rightmove (RMV) received a fourth proposal from REA Group Ltd on 27 September 2024, 346 pence in cash and 0.0417 new REA shares, which implies an offer value of 780 pence based on the closing price of REA on 30 September 2024. The Board has concluded that the Latest Proposal remains unattractive and continues to materially undervalue Rightmove and its future prospects and that the Board cannot recommend the Latest Proposal to Rightmove shareholders.
Comment: In terms of playing hard to get one has to say that RMV is scoring a 10 out of 10. However, presuming that anywhere nearer to pandemic highs of 800p plus a share is achievable may be presuming too much.
Aston Martin (AML) announced a strategic realignment of its 2024 wholesale volumes, making a circa 1,000 unit reduction to address disruption in its supply chain and continued macroeconomic weakness in China. It provided updated guidance for Full Year 2024, with adjusted EBITDA now expected to be slightly below FY 2023 and no longer expecting to achieve positive free cash flow in H2’24.
Comment: One of the worst London IPO’s ever, in so many ways. A company with the image of James Bond, and the performance of a Robin Reliant.
Electric Guitar (ELEG), the digital marketing and advertising company providing first-party data solutions, published its financial results for the year ended 31 March 2024, a period during which it was still a Special Purpose Acquisition Company. ELEG said the launch of VSP, recent strategic collaborations and a further acquisition, paired with the strength of 3radical’s unique data set, position it at the forefront of the evolving digital marketing landscape. It is now confident in its outlook as we continue to integrate new technologies, deepen customer engagement and pursue growth opportunities as part of its wider buy-and-build strategy.
Bezant (BZT), the copper-gold exploration and development company, announced its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2024. BZT said copper is showing resilience in the USD9,000 range per tonne, with resistance against fundamentals which are inescapable when making a case for copper. In terms of its own projects it continues to have several ongoing discussions regarding finance and resource collaboration for their advancement and will update shareholders as it has news to report.
Comment: It could be that the time is now for BZT, especially with progress at Hope & Gorob, and the current firmness in the copper price.
African Pioneer (AFP) a company engaging in development of natural resources exploration projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, announced its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2024. AFP said the major mining companies are seeking new projects for acquisition and all it projects have the fundamentals which may attract the attention of larger companies as reflected in the fact that First Quantum has issued an Option Exercise Notice in relation to the four Zambian exploration licences the subject of the First Quantum Option Agreement.
Comment: Given the presence of First Quantum already, it does not take much for AFP to suggest that other majors will be hungry for the projects it is scoping, and that it could achieve top dollar for them in the current environment.
Power Metal Resources (POW), the London-listed exploration company, provided an update on the formation of a uranium-focused joint venture involving Power Metal’s entire portfolio of uranium licences, with UCAM Ltd. The Company has been informed by the Investor that it is in the process of completing certain administrative tasks relating to the finalisation of the Joint Venture transaction, and expects to be in a position to enter into definitive documentation shortly. Separately, the Company announced that it has acquired the Drake Lake-Silas uranium project within a prolific uranium district in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Comment: Uranium is certainly a decent driver for POW, and we should expect to see this re-rate the company both in the guise of the JV, and the Drake Lake-Silas deal in Canada.
On Friday Xtract Resources (XTR), the gold producer, exploration and development company with projects in Zambia and Australia, announced its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2024. XTR said it has focussed its efforts on increasing its land position in Central and Northwest Zambia where it joins many of the global top tier mining companies in the race for copper discovery in the emerging Western Foreland district. The Company has increased its landholding via joint venture partnerships, with an additional three licences added to its Western Foreland project in Northwestern Zambia, bringing the total licence position to five, a significant tenure position.
Comment: The ongoing land grab at XTR should and is reaping dividends, something that should start to feed through to the current rather lowly share price.
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