Parkmead (PMG), the independent energy group, announced the signing of an agreement to effect the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary, Parkmead (E&P) Ltd, to Serica Energy (UK) Ltd. The consideration for the Sale being received by Parkmead consists of £14 million of firm cash consideration and up to £120 million of contingent cash consideration.
Comment: Even the London market in its current state has to bow down to PMG off the back of its latest news, with the shares up over 50%, even after already climbing 50% off its September low. It is almost as if someone new the sale was coming…
CleanTech Lithium (CTL), an exploration and development company advancing sustainable lithium projects in Chile, had produced a video highlighting the recent lithium carbonate pilot scale production as reported in the RNS published 21st November 2024. Link to video: https://shorturl.at/a9WLq CTL said it was thrilled that the Company, in collaboration with Conductive Energy Inc. and Forward Water Technologies, has successfully produced pilot-scale lithium carbonate samples, providing verification for each process step. The recent site visit video showcased the effectiveness of the downstream conversion process and marks a significant step towards the development stage of its lithium projects based on using direct lithium extraction (DLE).
Comment: While the ASX listing run up has been cooking, it can be seen that CTL has been getting on with the business of being a sustainable lithium producer, an eventuality which is clearly advancing at pace.
Helix Exploration (HEX), the helium exploration and development company focused on helium deposits within the ‘Montana Helium Fairway’, announced a commercial helium discovery in Darwin #1 well at the Rudyard Project in Montana. HEX said Darwin #1 has delivered exceptional results and has demonstrated it has the potential to be a strong producer capable of delivering sustained flow of commercial helium. The identification of 1.1% helium with commercial flow rates at Darwin #1 makes Rudyard a company making discovery. With capacity for several production wells to operate on Rudyard field simultaneously the project has potential to generate multi-million-dollar revenues per year.
Comment: HEX has looked to be a company which was set to deliver positive helium news such as today, with the recent dip in the shares providing an opportunity for traders to get in on the cheap. Hopefully some did. The stock has moved to fill the chart gap up to 21p in early dealings today as expected.
Hydrogen Utopia International (HUI), a company specialising in converting non-recyclable mixed waste plastic into hydrogen and other carbon-free fuels, announced that its subsidiary, HUI2021 International UK Limited has entered into a services and management agreement with TF Capital Dooel, a company incorporated in North Macedonia in relation to a proposed waste plastic to hydrogen facility in North Macedonia.
Comment: While the focus may have shifted in the recent past to HUI’s cannabis activities via Ohrid, today we are reminded that the group is still keen to stick to its knitting – producing hydrogen.
Avacta Therapeutics (AVCT), a life sciences company developing next generation peptide drug conjugates (PDC) targeting powerful anti-tumor payloads directly to the tumor, announced the completion of the enrollment in the AVA6000 Phase 1a Dose Escalation and Recommended Dose for Expansion (RDE) cohort, and the opening of the Phase 1b disease-specific expansion cohorts in the trial. Patient screening has commenced. AVCT said it was encouraged by the anti-tumor activity observed in the Phase 1 dose escalation and RDE cohorts of the trial and the expansion cohorts are designed to build on that knowledge. Opening of the expansion cohorts represents a significant milestone in the development of FAP-Doxorubicin (AVA6000) in that we will now be able to assess the activity in specific indications to better plan Phase 2 development.
Comment: Obviously we all love a good expansion cohort, especially at this time of year. However, the relative lack of share price movement in the wake of today’s RNS suggests that the market perhaps is not so interested in ongoing science experiments / work in progress, as AVCT getting to the Promise Land of having a fully fledged anti-tumour treatment.
Orcadian (ORCA) announced that the Company has agreed to sell a 50% interest in a sub-area of Licence P2680 to The Marine Low Carbon Power Company Ltd. MLCP plan to develop Earlham and Orwell to supply the first of MLCP’s Mobile Offshore Generating Units (“MOGU”), which will in turn supply carbon free energy to MLCP customers and to IPC New World Energy Ltd’s battery projects.
Comment: Shares of ORCA have already had a good run since the October low under 5p, to so far peak at our technical target of 13p. It is almost as if the market was expecting today’s news.
Currys (CURY) announced its H1 results. Group revenue £3,918m, +1% YoY (currency neutral +2%), driven by LFL revenue +2%. Group adjusted profit before tax £9m, +£25m YoY; reported loss before tax £(10)m, +£34m YoY. UK&I LFL revenue +5%, adjusted EBIT £23m, +53% YoY – strong sales and improved gross margin more than offset both investment and inflationary cost increases. CURY said it was confident of continuing our progress, and expect to grow profits and cashflow as promised this year. This is despite new and unwelcome headwinds from UK government policy. These will add cost quickly and materially, depress investment and hiring, boost automation and offshoring, and make some price rises inevitable.
Comment: It is absolutely right that successful national companies such as CURY highlight the double talk of the Budget for growth that we have just not had: the cost to business will be disastrous for many.
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