Oberon Investments Group (AQSE: OBE), the boutique investment management, wealth planning and corporate broking group, announced that it has conditionally raised approximately £2.5 million at a price of 3.5 pence. OBE said it was delighted with the support we have received from both new and existing shareholders for the fundraising. It is investing for growth. The unique Oberon model continues to attract talent, and it is these hires which will help drive future revenues for the business.
Comment: OBE’s business is certainly a people business, and it has already underlined this with its growth in revenues. The latest fundraise gives the company a solid platform to go forward.
Petards (PEG) subsidiary QRO Solutions announced an additional software order worth over £0.25m for its AI enabled ANPR ( Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras. It to be fitted with QRO’s Harrier AI ANPR camera and to be delivered in the H2. This AI camera was launched in December 2023 and delivers real-time analytics ANPR software-enabled data processing and is powered by machine learning algorithms, making it adaptive and responsive to road conditions. This new contract takes it five customers since the first Harrier AI order in February with the UK national highways application so further orders seem likely.
Comment ( Jon Lev): After kitchen sink finals to December 2023 and the internally funded £2.8m acquisition of Affini, the 7p price and £4.25m mkt cap could look good value when interims are reported towards the end of September.
EnergyPathways (EPP), an integrated energy transition company delivering low emission energy solutions which offer energy security to the UK, provided an update following the UK government’s announcement last week on changes to the Energy Profits Levy. EPP said the new changes to the EPL are in line with its expectations and are aligned with its strategy that positions EnergyPathways to pursue energy storage opportunities such as the Marram Energy Storage Hub, or MESH, which will be critical to the UK meeting its energy security and net zero goals.
Comment: Given that the new government’s energy policy and net zero goals can only be described as suicidal for the nation, it is to EPP’s credit that they are in line with its expectations. If EPP can flourish in this environment, it is only to its credit.
ENGAGE XR Holdings (EXR), an immersive technology company, is pleased to provide an update on trading for the six months ending 30 June 2024. The Group expects to publish its interim results for the six months ending 30 June 2024 on Thursday 19 September 2024. EXR said it was satisfied with the resilient performance of the business in the first half of the year. Despite a continued reduction in enterprise spending as remote events and immersive marketing continue to reduce post-lockdown, it has made good progress within the Corporate Learning & Development sectors within Enterprises.
Comment: EXR may be making good progress, but the stock market reaction to its activities is yet to gather momentum, indeed, the shares are currently flirting with their lows. A change of tack is warranted as far as EXR is concerned.
Helium One Global (HE1), the primary helium explorer in Tanzania, provided an update on Itumbula West-1 operation. HE1 said it was pleased that it has been able to re-enter and deepen the ITW-1 well as planned. It has been very encouraging seeing the helium and hydrogen shows continuing whilst drilling this deeper section, and it looks forward to evaluating these results further through the EWT.
Comment: Although deepening a well does not necessarily mean that anything has been found in it, HE1 is such a stock market darling it does not actually need to find any helium, and can raise chunky 7 figure amounts of cash at will.
Venture Life (VLG), a leader in developing, manufacturing and commercialising products for the international self-care market, announced a trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2024, ahead of the expected announcement of the Group’s interim results on 30 September 2024. VLG said it was thrilled by the performance of VLG’s Brands within the UK; it has launched some great new products over the last year and continued to grow its distribution points, most significantly across core brands, including Lift, Balance Activ and Earol. The increased investment in focused marketing activity, plus the strengthening of relationships with major retailers, is delivering evident results and has put it well placed to quickly build-out further, with exciting potential collaborations also under discussion within Europe.
Comment: VLG has seen its share price recover well so far this year, as the market finally appreciates the company’s growth strategy, something which has been a long time coming.
KEFI (KEFI), provided an update on operations undertaken in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by KEFI’s 25%-owned joint venture company Gold and Minerals covering the Jibal Qutman Gold Project, the Hawiah Copper-Gold Project and regional exploration. KEFI said that in Saudi Arabia it has made two significant discoveries which, in aggregate gold-equivalent terms, are approximately double the in-situ metal of Tulu Kapi in Ethiopia. The two advanced Saudi projects will now benefit from an expanded leadership team has begun to be installed to oversee GMCO’s next chapter of development as it aspires to become a leading Saudi metal producer.
Comment: Jam tomorrow play Kefi does what it does best, heaping more jam on top of the already significant mountain of preserve already heaped upon its expectant and very patient shareholders.
Ondine Biomedical (OBI), the Canadian life sciences company pioneering light-activated antimicrobial treatments, and Iskus Health announced that Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will begin using its Steriwave® nasal decolonization technology later this month. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the largest and busiest acute hospital trusts in the country, treating 1.5 million patients every year.
Comment: OBI has already proved the argument and benefits of Steriwave® as a game changing technology, with today’s RNS underlining the momentum of the real application of this treatment.
GoldStone Resources (GRL) provided an update on the progress of operations in respect of the Homase Mine and heap leach operation in south-western Ghana. GRL said it had made solid progress with the development of additional heap leach pads at Homase, with Pad 4 now complete and Pads 5, 6 and 7 advancing on schedule and on budget. The development of additional leach pads is integral to the Company’s objective to deliver the planned 50,000 tonnes of stacked and agglomerated ore within six months, to support gold production targets of 1,000oz pcm.
Comment: GRL has been not only something of a phoenix rising from the ashes, but in being a producer has actually overtaken many of its peers, something underlined by the recent sharp, share price rise.
European Green Transition (EGT), a company developing green economy assets in Europe which aims to capitalise on the opportunity created by the green energy transition, announced that the Company has commenced drilling at its Olserum Rare Earth Project in Sweden. EGT said that since the completion of its IPO in April this year, it has had a series of encouraging results from the Olserum REE project. Positive channel sampling results including three metres grading 1.58% TREO and one metre grading 2.27% TREO with c. 30% HREO in addition to high-grade samples assaying 4.79%, 5.8%,11.77% and 15.27% TREO, increase its confidence in the programme. More recently, test work has confirmed that the mineralisation style at Olserum is capable of producing a REE-rich concentrate from conventional and relatively simple processing techniques at a third party facility.
Comment: EGT shows us how to hit the ground running after an IPO, with this point being underlined by the commencement of drilling at Olserum. The high grades certainly amount to icing on the cake at the project.
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