Roadside (ROAD) announced its audited results for the year to 30 September 2024, following a year in which it has delivered upon its strategy of focusing upon roadside retail through the establishment of a JV with Meadow Partners LLP. ROAD said It was delighted with the significant progress it has made in realigning its business to focus on creating, managing and growing an exciting £250 million portfolio of roadside real estate assets in desirable locations catering for local communities and businesses. Over the last 13 months the JV has committed £86 million into real estate assets including the acquisition of 12 Lidl stores under a sale and leaseback agreement with Lidl. It is on target to deploy £250 million by May 2026 and have a large pipeline of potential further acquisitions as it moves into 2025.
Comment: ROAD has delivered a magic formula in terms of its JV, and swift deployment of cash, something which has delivered a 4x gain for the shares so far this year, and is set to deliver yet more for 2025. The massive swing to profit at £43m proves the ongoing merit of ROAD’s strategy.
Vinanz Limited (AQSE: BTC) the publicly listed Bitcoin mining company with US and Canadian Bitcoin mining operations, announced the publication of a prospectus in relation to the proposed admission of its existing ordinary shares and new ordinary shares pursuant to the conditional fundraise announced on 9 December 2024 to the Official List of the FCA and to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange. It is expected that: (i) the Enlarged Share Capital will be admitted to the Transition Category of the Official List and to trading on the Main Market at 8:00am on 13 January 2025.
Comment: Vinanz has already been one of the few winning companies on Aquis, and to paraphrase Frank Sinatra, if one can make it there, one can make it anywhere. The move to the main market is a massive coup for the company, and a great opportunity for investors looking to gain exposure to the crypto space and all its derivatives, at such an exciting time for the asset class.
Atlas Metals Group (previously known as MetalNRG) (AMG) said that as noted in the Company’s circular of 11 November 2024, in order to implement the Acquisition, the Company needed to raise new equity capital from investors in connection with the closing of the Acquisition. The Company had proposed to raise up to £15 million pursuant to the Placing. However, in light of feedback from prospective institutional investors in connection with the Placing and market conditions, it has been unable to do so within the timeframe allocated in the SPA. Managem has therefore terminated the SPA with immediate effect. As a consequence, OMF Fund IV SPV K LLC, a fund managed by Orion Resource Partners, has issued a default notice under the undrawn US$25,000,000 convertible loan note.
Comment: AMG has turned what was set up to be the small cap deal of the year, to one of the more memorable scuppered situations. There were a couple clues that all was not 100% given the relative heaviness of the share price, and the exit of a major shareholder on the initial news. Nevertheless, the last thing the small end of the London stock market needs was today’s news.
Ascent Resources (AST) announced the following indirect and direct dealings made by Andrew Dennan, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer: Yesterday, 23 December 2024, Mr Dennan purchased a total of 550,000 Shares in the Company at a price of 1.9p per Share. Following the acquisition Mr Dennan is now directly interested in 2,690,000 Shares in the Company, representing 0.98% percent of the Company’s issued ordinary share capital.
Comment: It would appear that Mr Dennan has been inspired by AST’s announcement last week of the company’s acquisition of a 49% interest in American Helium LLC’s Utah and Colorado upstream acreage which includes direct interests in a proportionate share of 119,000 acres of helium rich oil and gas licenses across the two states. Hopefully, he will be topping up on his 0.98% stake.
Bezant (BZT), the copper-gold exploration and development company, announced a fundraising of £560,000 from directors, existing shareholders, and investors at 0.02 pence for pre-development expenditure on its Namibian Hope & Gorob copper gold mining operation and for general working capital requirements.
Comment: It is quite an achievement to raise this amount of cash for BZT, something which underlines the importance of the Hope & Gorob project, and how its development could be transformational for the company.
Power Metal Resources (POW), the London listed exploration company with a global project portfolio, an update on the binding heads of terms signed earlier this year with GSA (Environmental) Ltd to conditionally acquire 75% of the entire issued share capital of GSAe, announcements dated 29 February 2024 and 20 May 2024. POW said it was pleased to see the encouraging progress from GSAe and, through the execution of this term, a further realisation of the value from this agreement for both parties. GSAe’s robust and adaptive technology has wide-ranging applications, and it looks forward to continuing its partnership as the GSAe team progresses on the exciting potential evident across their operations. The Agreement Terms, signed on 29 February 2024, provided for a maximum total consideration payable capped at £1 million.
Comment: Given the activity / dealmaking at POW, especially in the uranium area during the autumn, it is surprising that shares of the company are not significantly higher, and this is before factoring in the soaring Guardian Metal (GMET) stake.
Mendell Helium (AQSE:MDH) revealed its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2024. Post period highlights included the Company having an option to acquire M3 Helium, a producer of helium which is based in Kansas and holds an interest in nine wells. There is no certainty that the Company’s option to acquire M3 Helium will be exercised, nor that the enlarged group will successfully complete its re-admission to trading on the AQSE Growth Market.
Comment: Top marks for MDH in terms of positioning itself as one of the London market’s helium plays, even if as the company reminds us, this is not yet a done deal.
TruSpine (AQSE:TSP) announced its Interim Results – for the six months ended 30 September 2024. TSP said it continues to be in a pre-revenue development phase and remains loss-making. The loss before taxation for the six months to 30 September 2024 was £410k (2023: £363k) after administrative expenses of £410k (2023: £348k). As in the previous year, there was very little development spend for the six months to 30 September 2024. Consolidated net assets as at 30 September 2024 amounted to £2.33 million (2023: £2.46 million) including a bank balance of £51k as at 30 September 2024 (2023 bank overdraft of £9k). The Company remains in pre-revenue stage and is in detailed discussions with various parties to agree a substantial fundraise in 2025.
Comment: Ironically, TSP’s performance this year in terms of the business, which is still attempting to take off in a meaningful way, the company has been punching above its weight on the PR front.
Oxford BioDynamics (OBD), a precision clinical diagnostics company, announced the issue of 2,742,657 ordinary shares at a price of 1.1 per share to its directors, PDMRs and certain other senior staff members to satisfy part of their salaries and fees, in line with the Company’s ongoing strategy to preserve its cash resources as announced on 14 October 2024.
Comment: There has certainly been a clearing of the decks at OBD in the recent past, as the company looks at funding options to potentially get it over the line to deliver on its EpiSwitch® platform. The departure of the CEO and now the shares for salaries move mean that the company is certainly hunkering down.
Kooth (KOO), a company involved in youth digital mental well-being, announced that it has agreed terms of a new pilot contract with the State of New Jersey, valued at $1.45m in its pilot year. KOO said it was delighted that, in partnership with the State of New Jersey, it will be providing 50,000 students with access to its platform, enabling them to engage with vital mental health support and services. KOO said it was confident that it will continue to grow its presence across the US, providing support to young people to help combat the growing global youth mental health crisis.
Comment: After shares of KOO halved over the autumn, it remains to be seen whether today’s news is too little, too late. However, the prospect of US expansion is one that bottom fishers could be attracted to.
Mindflair (MFAI), the company investing in next generation technology focused on AI, announces a placing to raise gross proceeds of £490,000 through the issue of equity with attached warrants and the re-profiling of its outstanding loan notes, including the repricing of its outstanding warrants. MFAI said it believes that the Placing and Re-Profile is a good solution for all parties and provides the Company with additional flexibility, notwithstanding the proximity of potential realisations from our portfolio. It firmly believes that it is at a very exciting time in the development of the Company.
Comment: As we have seen with company’s like Seed Innovations (SEED) Tern (TERN), the market has long been weary of small scale investment companies, especially in the tech space. A lack of understanding and willingness to understand has meant that the likes of MFAI have simply had to keep on raising cash, and hope that a big winner eventually comes in.
WeCap (AQSE:WCAP) update on progress of its primary portfolio company, WeShop Holdings Limited. WeShop has announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft “Registration Statement” on Form “F-1” to the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed direct listing of its ordinary shares. The direct listing is expected to take place after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions.
Comment: Answers on a postcard on why a company would reveal an investee’s “confidentially submitted” registration with the SEC, but clearly that is how these things work. It will be interesting to see how WCAP shares on Aquis respond to this momentous US listing news over Christmas.
Author
