RNS Hotlist: It is now noted that there is a second rundown of RNS highlights being published daily. Alas, it is just links to the RNS, without the cutting edge commentary on Zaks Traders Cafe. That said, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. There is another “interesting” service, which is not as interesting as its sounds, as it just paraphrases what was in a RNS…
Alliance News – AI chatbot DeepSeek has made waves in Silicon Valley, stunning investors and industry insiders with its ability to match the skills of its Western competitors at a fraction of the cost. But where it differs is the answers it offers to topics considered politically sensitive in China, from the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to the status of Taiwan and the country’s leadership.
Comment: Any chatbot that says that China is big on human rights, thinks that Taiwan should be Chinese, and is the strong, silent type on Tiananmen Square is clearly not a $1tln threat to anyone, apart from maybe Magic 8 Balls, however cheap to produce. By the way, 9/10 Far East stock market inspired rug pulls are a buy the dip in the West…
Cornish Metals (CUSN), a mineral exploration and development company focused on the advancement and restart of its 100% owned-and-permitted South Crofty high-grade tin project in Cornwall, the United Kingdom, announced that it is undertaking a proposed fundraising to raise a minimum of £56 million. As part of the Fundraising, the Company today announces that it has conditionally raised up to £28.75 million by way of a strategic investment by the National Wealth Fund Limited, a company wholly-owned by HM Treasury. CUSN said Tin is a critical mineral that is essential for the energy transition and anything electronic. South Crofty is a strategic asset with the ability to responsibly provide a secure, high grade long-term supply of tin, reviving Cornwall’s rich mining history and contributing to the local economy and the UK’s transition to net zero.
Comment: It is good to know that HM Treasury does have money for the really important things in life such as net zero, rather than trivial matters such as old people trying to heat their homes. CUSN clearly has friends in high places to help it with the dewatering, which is due to finish in Q3 2025.
Blencowe Resources (BRES) invited shareholders and investors to a focusIR live Q&A webinar on Tuesday, 25 February 2025, at 18:00 UK time. A recording of the webinar will also be made available post-event. Blencowe CEO Mike Ralston will provide insights into the Company’s recent developments, including: Progress on the 6,700m drilling programme at Orom-Cross, targeting substantial resource and reserve upgrade. Advancements in Project SAFELOOP, where Orom-Cross graphite continues to demonstrate exceptional performance in testing. Key steps toward DFS completion and upcoming project milestones. Market outlook and strategic priorities for Blencowe in 2025.
Comment: BRES continues to be undercooked in terms of market appreciation, especially given the non-dilutive funding it has already received, and how well it has de-risked Orom-Cross. Let us hope the latest Q&A will win it more friends.
Hydrogen Utopia International (HUI), a company specialising in turning non-recyclable mixed waste plastic into hydrogen and other carbon-free fuels, new materials or distributed renewable heat, is pleased to announce that Ohrid Organics DOO has published an update on its website. HUI has exercised its option to acquire 49% of Ohrid Organics Ltd., the holding company of Ohrid Organics DOO. HUI said that with the addition of a new trading contract, Ohrid Organics DOO is seeing a notable boost in profits, enabling the company to repay its obligations to HUI. In the near term, it is projected that improved harvest yields will drive revenues up by one-third.
Comment: HUI remains one of the companies on the stock market which is being held back by the shorting conspiracy (of whose mafia nothing is being done about.) That said, even the bears should be blown out of the water as Ohrid ramps up production and profits.
Audioboom (BOOM), the global podcast company, announce new and renewed UK creator partnerships, and the hiring of a key UK-focused sales executive. BOOM said the UK podcast industry is projected to experience substantial growth and we are committed to strategically increasing our market share in the near future. No Such Thing As A Fish is a podcasting masterpiece, and the extension of our partnership sets the tone for our UK growth plans. I’m pleased to welcome HatTrick and Filthy @ Five to our network, and I’m confident that Liv will play a major role in our future UK success.
Comment: Although shares of BOOM have doubled since November, for most in the stock they remain about £10 too cheap, with marginally important RNSs such as today’s not really cutting the mustard. A US peer group takeover is what the public really demands.
Marula Mining (AQSE:MARU) an African focused mining and development company, provided an update on metallurgical testwork and commissioning activities at the Kilifi Manganese Processing Plant located in the Tezo Area, Kilifi County in Kenya. MARU said the final modifications to the Kilifi Plant are anticipated to be completed in the current quarter, with commissioning of the plant and first exports sales to then follow.
Comment: MARU appears to have decided to be the slow, steady type as far as its newsflow currently. On this basis the recovery for the shares back to the dizzy heights of last year towards 14p looks like it will take much of H1 2025.
Cobra (COBR), the mineral exploration and development company advancing a potentially world-class ionic Rare Earth Elements discovery at its Boland Project n South Australia, announced that it has successfully produced a potentially saleable mixed rare earth carbonate at laboratory scale from its in situ recovery study on permeable ore from Boland. COBR said that to achieve such high purities with 62.4% of the MREC being rare earth oxides in our first attempt is outstanding! Such a high purity product from a simple, low-cost flow sheet is a clear demonstration of Boland’s commercial potential.
Comment: Stunningly high grades from COBR, It remains to be seen whether the share price can respond significantly if the market is still thinking about the company’s cash position.
GoldStone Resources (GRL), announced that the Conversion Shares and Consideration Shares have been allotted to Devonport Capital Limited and this constitutes full and final settlement of the Convertible Loan Notes. The Devonport Shares amount to, in aggregate, 147,692,308 new Ordinary Shares, equal to approximately 16 per cent. of the enlarged issued share capital of the Company following Admission.
Comment: One might have thought that the share price of GRL would rocket on today’s settlement news. Perhaps the market already anticipated that CEO Emma Priestley’s negotiating skills would achieve this result?
Guardian Metal Resources (GMET), a strategic development and mineral exploration company focused in Nevada, USA, announced rock sample assay results confirming a copper-molybdenum (Cu-Mo) mineralised hydrothermal breccia nested within the Company’s Porphyry South target at its 100% owned Pilot Mountain Project. GMET said it was very pleased with the confirmation of high-grade copper and molybdenum mineralisation at surface from a newly discovered mineralised breccia found within the Porphyry South target. These results validate our belief in the significant potential of Pilot Mountain as a large-scale multi-metal project. The discovery of a hydrothermal breccia zone with outcropping Cu-Mo mineralisation is a game-changer for this underexplored target area and underscores the potential scale and quality of this asset.
Comment: GMET has seemingly already proved up more than El Dorado. All that remains is line of sight on the non-dilutive funding, and then production to ease the US’s commodity dependency.
Prospex Energy (PXEN), the AIM quoted investment company focused on European gas and power projects, is pleased to announce that Po Valley Energy Limited (ASX: PVE), has successfully obtained regional approval from the Emilia Romagna Regional Council to commence its works under the planned 3D seismic campaign. PXEN said this is a crucial step in achieving full regulatory approval for the campaign so that acquisition can commence very shortly. This new 3D seismic dataset will be acquired and processed early this year in order to optimise the subsurface drilling targets for four planned wells.
Comment: It is interesting that PXEN seems to regard operational achievements such as today’s news as being paramount, when really much of the share price movement for the stock seems to be related to gas prices, especially the recent recovery.
Aptamer Group (APTA), the developer of novel Optimer® binders to enable innovation in the life sciences industry, is pleased to announce a trading update for the six months ending 31 December 2024 (H1 25). The Company has made significant advances in its key asset development programmes which are targeted at longer-term and higher-value revenue opportunities as well as its short term fee-for-service work. In partnership with Unilever, Aptamer continues to progress the development of Optimers as a novel active ingredient in deodorants.
Comment: The market is slowly cottoning on to the potential of APTA getting into bed with big blue chip counterparties such as Unilever. The company just needs more of the same.
Polarean Imaging (POLX), a commercial-stage leader in advanced medical imaging focused on functional MRI scan of the lungs, announced a strategic collaboration with SimonMed Imaging, one of the largest outpatient medical imaging providers in the United States, to expand access to Polarean’s cutting-edge Xenon MRI platform. POLX said SimonMed’s dedication to making imaging technologies widely accessible mirrors Polarean’s vision of optimising lung health and illuminating hidden disease, making SimonMed an ideal collaboration partner.
Comment: Considering the Russian Mountains ride (one probably can’t say that anymore) that POLX has offered its shareholders of late, today’s news may offer something of a near term anti-dote. One hopes all of this is not too little, too late.
Altona (REE), a resource exploration and development company focused on critical raw materials in Africa, announced that the Monte Muambe rare earths and fluorspar project’s mining licence number 11854 status has been updated to “active” on the Mozambique Government’s mining cadastre system. REE said the grant of the Monte Muambe mining licence contributes to the derisking of the project and will facilitate on-going discussions with potential strategic investors, and at the same time opens the door to the rapid development of a high-grade fluorspar production operation, subject to the completion of the fluorspar mining scoping study announced in November.
Comment: A good starting RNS for REE for 2025, especially as it underlines how the company is moving to de-risk Muambe. However, there is still work to be done on REE communicating its fluorspar laden wonders.
Diaceutics (DXRX), a technology and solutions provider to the pharma and biotech industry, today provides a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2024 (FY 2024) and announces continued strong commercial performance and growth across its business. Revenues grew 36% to £32.2 million in FY 2024 (FY 2023: £23.7 million), 39% growth on a constant currency basis, equating to a 3-year compound annual growth rate of 32%. DXRX said the accelerated investment strategy to scale for growth continues on track with the 2024 year end cash position in line with analyst consensus estimates and FY 2024 Adjusted EBITDA expected to be marginally ahead of analyst consensus estimates.
Comment: One of the better companies on the stock market that no one has heard of, and has a name that is nearly as difficult to say as to remember. That said, supplying pharma and biotech is clearly the equivalent currently of making the picks and shovels for the gold rush.
S4 Capital (SFOR) confirmed that trading in the fourth quarter was in line with the expectations outlined on 7th November and 2024 is expected to be slightly above current consensus of net revenue at £746 million and operational EBITDA of £84 million. SFOR said the headwind we experienced in Technology Services is likely to ease and initial indications are for net revenue and operational EBITDA to be broadly similar in 2025 to 2024. We will maintain our focus on cost efficiency for the year ahead.
Comment: While there is recovery at S4, there is still significant debt to clear, and in a Reeves dominated economic environment, new self-inflicted black swans are always primed for release to scupper SFOR’s efforts at getting itself back on track. Oh yes, and maybe it is time for Sir Martin to retire, even though he was a hero in the 80s and 90s.
Eleco (ELCO), the specialist software provider for the built environment, provided a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2024, based on unaudited management accounts for the period. Total Revenue is estimated to be ahead of prior year by 16% at £32.4m (2023: £28.0m). and by 17% to £32.8m in constant currency terms. Estimated organic growth was 9%, excluding acquisition effects. ARR at 31 December 2024 increased 18% to c.£26.6m (£22.6m at 31 December 2023).
Comment: Although few really care about revenues and ARR, they do care about companies increasing their cash pile significantly, and being debt free.
Nuformix (NFX), a pharmaceutical development company targeting unmet medical needs in fibrosis and oncology via drug repurposing, is pleased to announce, further to the Company’s announcement on 13 January 2025, that it has submitted an application to the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”) regarding Orphan Drug Designation for the Company’s lead asset NXP002, a potential novel inhaled treatment for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. The application follows an earlier pre-submission meeting to discuss the Company’s draft application document, following which the Company was advised to proceed.
Comment: After rather a long wait NFX sees its shares rocket today off the back of NXP002. Interestingly enough, the rise in the shares yesterday, suggests that some punters in the stock really could not wait until today’s confirmation of the news. Who can blame them given that they are on the receiving end of a 78% share price rise so far.
Microlise Group (SAAS), a provider of transport management software to fleet operators, provides an update on trading for the year ending 31 December 2024. The Group expects to publish its full year results in late March. Adjusted EBITDA of £11.3m, representing margins of 14%. Cash conversion above 89% and net cash of £11.4m
Comment: Having interviewed the company several times, I am fully aware of what a good growth prospect this business is. Today’s update only underlines this further.
Allergy Therapeutics (AGY), the integrated commercial biotechnology company specialising in allergy vaccines, today announces its trading update for the six months ended 31 December 2024 ahead of its Interim Results to be announced in March 2025. AGY said we enter 2025 building strong momentum across all aspects of our business. Our return to first-half growth and strengthened position, having secured the Hayfin facility in late 2024, give us the confidence and financial stability to further our ambitious strategy.
Comment: It could be argued that 99% of success in biotech is related to having enough cash. Given that AGY is currently sitting on £21.7m one could argue that it is well on its way.
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