Pri0r1ty Intelligence Group (PR1) announced its unaudited annual accounts for the year ended 30 September 2024. PR1 this past year has been transformational for Pri0r1ty as we have delivered on our key foundational objectives. AI is a fast-moving industry and our team has been able to break through and offer a unique solution to the growing demand for productivity-enhancing tools. With the ability to deliver high quality AI generated contextual outputs our platform is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the emerging significant market opportunity.
Comment: The recent Funding Circle deal really sounded like a big winner for PR1, and of course may prove to be. In the meantime the market needs a steady stream of new contract wins for its AI powered services.
Acuity RM Group (ACRM), the software group, which supplies the award-winning STREAM® software platform for the Governance, Risk and Compliance market, together with associated consultancy services, provides the following update on trading for its year ended 31 December 2024. In the year, Acuity again increased revenues and upsell orders from existing clients. Revenues for Acuity in the 12 months are expected to be £2.1m (2023 £1.4m). The pipeline of sales prospects was £7.92m at 31 December 2024, based on the same criteria as 31 Dec 2023 (£7.9m).
Comment: The hope with SaaS companies such as ACRM is that the niche they identify becomes an international scalable one. So far the group has managed to tread water rather than see a hockey stick jump in the numbers. It would be interesting to know how the company intends to drag itself forward.
Avacta Therapeutics (AVCT), a life sciences company developing next generation peptide drug conjugates (PDC) targeting powerful anti-tumor payloads directly to the tumor, today announced the appointment of Panmure Liberum Limited as its joint broker with immediate effect. Panmure Liberum will work alongside Peel Hunt, the Company’s Nominated Adviser and existing corporate broker.
Comment: Bringing in another broking heavyweight such as Liberum may suggest to some cynics that AVCT is looking to raise cash near the low end of the share price range. Ideally, this move is instead the forerunner of a leap higher in the company’s cancer fighting crusade.
Orosur Mining (OMI), announced an update on the progress of exploration activities at the Company’s flagship Anzá Project in Colombia. OMI said in some nine weeks (including the Christmas break), and less than 1000m of drilling, we have moved Pepas from a concept to one of the most exciting exploration stories in the gold space. It is very early days, but the results obtained thus far, if continued, could see the project advance very quickly.
PEP022 – 76.3m @ 7.24g/t Au (from surface)
PEP021 – 107.05 @ 6.22 g/t Au (from surface)
PEP020 – 54.65m @ 1.94 g/t Au (from surface)
PEP019 – 44.3m @ 1.63 g/t Au (from surface)
Comment: OMI has given the air of being very pleased with itself of late, even before today’s drilling news. Decent funding and progress at Anzá suggests that this confidence is on the money.
Comment:
YouGov (YOU), the international research and data analytics group, today issues a trading update for the half year ending 31 January 2025. YOU said it has delivered modest growth on an underlying basis reflecting stabilisation in our core business, with strong growth on a reported basis due to the inclusion of the CPS acquisition. This performance is in line with management expectations given the previously communicated slowdown in sales booking that we witnessed towards the end of the last financial year.
Comment: Shares of YOU have never really recovered from June’s profits warning, and today’s update merely reminds the market that the effect of that is still in force.
Diageo (DGE) released its interim results: Improved organic sales in the first half of the fiscal year, despite a challenging environment. Reported net sales of $10.9 billion declined 0.6% due to unfavourable foreign exchange, partially offset by an increase in organic net sales. Organic net sales returned to growth and increased $101 million or 1.0%, driven by positive price/mix of 1.2pps, partially offset by a 0.2% volume decline. DGE said it has anticipated and planned for a number of potential scenarios regarding tariffs in recent months. The confirmation at the weekend of the implementation of tariffs in the US, whilst anticipated, could very well impact this building momentum. It also adds further complexity in our ability to provide updated forward guidance given this is a new and dynamic situation.
Comment: Even if the trade war situation proves to be a Trump bluff, DGE is still a company making a lot of effort just to stand still. Although it recently denied it was selling Guinness, this would have been the right share price bazooka at the right time.
Filtronic (FTC), the designer and manufacturer of products and sub-systems for the aerospace, defence, telecoms infrastructure, space and critical communications markets, announced its half year results for the six months ended 30 November 2024. H1 revenue £25.6m (£8.5m), Adjusted EBITDA £8.7m (£0.2m). Robust order intake has resulted in the improved revenue and profit outlook in H2 which we communicated in market upgrades in December 2024 and January 2025. Investing in the business to underpin the orderbook has been timely and effective and we look forward to being able to communicate more about the next financial year as things develop during H2.
Comment: You do not have to be Warran Buffett, or indeed even Simon Thompson from the Investors Chronicle, to know that FTC is one of the best growth stocks on the London market, combining a massive financial and fundamental inflection point.
Devolver Digital, Inc. (DEVO), a digital publisher and developer of indie video games, announces a trading update for the financial year ended 31st December 2024. DEVO said it returned to positive Adjusted EBITDA in 2024 largely driven by strong back catalogue revenues supplemented by exciting new releases such as The Plucky Squire, Neva and Anger Foot.
Comment: Who needs The Week, ASDA Good Living or Private Eye, when you have The Plucky Squire, Neva and Anger Foot? Indeed, Anger Foot sounds like a real page turner. On this basis alone the shares deserve to be rather higher than 22.5p versus the 2024 peak near 40p.
East Star Resources (EST), which is exploring for copper and gold in Kazakhstan, is pleased to provide an update on recent exploration activities and future work plans in relation to its VMS and copper porphyry strategies. EST said recent exploration is delivering encouraging results across both our current work streams. Results at Verkhuba show we are advancing this already substantial copper asset, while refining other targets including Talovskoye for near-term drilling. At Snowy, the emergence of a large epithermal gold target bookended by old artisanal gold pits is undeniably exciting given the typically very large size of these deposits.
Comment: EST seems to have forgotten the current mantra for small London explorers is to prove up and sell on, or just produce. This may explain why the shares are 1.25p versus April’s 4.25p.
B90 Holdings (B90), an online marketing company for the gaming industry, specialising in customer acquisition, is pleased to provide a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2024, ahead of the publication of its full-year audited results. B90 said 2024 was a truly transformative year for B90. Maintaining positive EBITDA in every single month is an achievement that reflects the resilience of our business model and the incredible hard work of our team. Our strategic pivot to a B2B-focused operation is not just delivering short term results – it is more than anything positioning us for long-term success.
Comment: Although it has clearly taken some effort, B90 has been a company that even someone who writes about RNS updates every day has barely heard of. Should this situation be remedied any time soon, we could see the shares bounce of year lows near where they are now.
Gaming Realms (GMR), the developer and licensor of mobile focused gaming content, is pleased to announce its pre-close trading update for the full year to 31 December 2024. The Company anticipates reporting FY24 revenue of approximately £28.5 million, up 22% against the prior year, and adjusted EBITDA of £13m, up 30% against FY23 and in line with market expectations.
Comment: GMR has never really got its dues as far as stock market appreciation is concerned, something which means even today’s impressive update will not get the sizzle it deserves.
Helix Exploration (HEX), the helium exploration and development company with near-term production assets within the Montana Helium Fairway, is pleased to announce that it will commence re-entry and acidisation of Clink #1, and has commissioned Petroleum Consultants LLC to oversee contractor services. HEX said while our recent focus has been on the rapid commercialisation of the Rudyard Project, we remain committed to the significant potential of Ingomar Dome, and the promising helium and hydrogen indications seen at Clink #1. Following the successful closure of our non-discounted placing to raise £5 million, we are now fully funded to bring Rudyard into production in the coming months, with excess capital to fund growth projects.
Comment: Now that the company is fully funded to production, it is probably the case that the market just wants to hear of a rapid move to production, rather than any fresh growth projects, which can come after the gas is flowing.
Great Southern Copper (GSCU), the company focused on copper-gold-lithium exploration in Chile, provided an update on its Phase 1 diamond drilling programme at the Cerro Negro project in northern Chile, where drilling at the historical Mostaza mine commenced on 5 January 2025. GSCU said its Phase I diamond drilling programme at Mostaza has been very successful to date with three of the four objectives achieved, namely, the width of mineralisation reported in historical drill holes is confirmed, mineralisation extending at depth and along strike of historical holes below the Mostaza mine is confirmed, and copper mineralisation extending along trend to the south of the mine is also confirmed.
Comment: It looks as though the latest news from Mostaza has indeed cut the mustard in terms of the drilling results, something which should allow the shares to continue their recent, nascent recovery.
Ondine Biomedical (OBI), a Canadian life sciences company pioneering light-activated antimicrobial treatments, announced that The Pennycook Family Trust, controlled by Carolyn Cross, CEO, and Robert Cross, husband of Carolyn Cross, has purchased 149,225 share in the Company at a price of 12.5 pence per Common Share on 03 February 2025.
Following this transaction, Carolyn Cross and Robert Cross, directly and indirectly, hold 156,314,029 Common Shares representing 35.3621% of the issued share capital of the Company.
Comment: Director buying, following the share price higher is actually quite rare, as it is usually of the catching a falling knife variety. Indeed, it would appear that the recent purchases are building a decent momentum in the stock of their own.
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