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, is pleased to announce what it believes are encouraging results from samples taken from its Copper Tailings Recycling Project at Limni in Cyprus. EGT said the first stage of diligence at the Limni site has yielded encouraging results, indicating the potential for recovering a meaningful amount of copper, in addition to newly identified gold potential at the site which offers further upside for the project. It was also pleased to find indications of gold in rock chip samples taken from the pit edge, with results up to 1.48 g/t providing additional upside value.
Comment: One of the more successful IPOs this year, a decent step forward in Cyprus should be a decent driver for the company for the rest of 2024, especially the importance of copper currently.
Mosman Oil and Gas (MSMN) the helium, hydrogen and hydrocarbon exploration, development and production company, has acquired a further 10% working interest in the Vecta Helium Project in Las Animas County, Colorado, USA from Vecta Oil and Gas Ltd, increasing Mosman’s total WI in the project to 20%. Vecta will continue to own the remaining 80% WI and operate the project.
Comment: Those “Mosmanites” who have been calling up the stock to 0.1p near term are looking rather more believable than they were even 24 hours ago, as the company’s incredible re-rate so far this year continues. 6x up YTD and counting, and it would appear there is plenty of gas in the tank, so to speak.
Pensana (PRE) Directors are making a £ 2m facility available as working capital support as it finalises the main fundraising for the Longonjo project. To do so the Chairman Paul Atherley, sold £0.25m worth of shares which he has now brought back at 16.66p This may seem a trivial amount as part of the $200m funding package for the subsidiary but the facility is for the management company PRE. The last update contained a timetable of how the $200m will be spent on processing plant etc but has badly missed the April date for commissioning the mine. The Longonjo mine in Anglo, is one of the world’s largest undeveloped rare earth mines, and one of only three with a JORC Reserve greater than 100,000 tonnes of NdPr which is used in magnets. An off-take agreement would show money coming in.
Comment (Jon Lev): At 16.25p the market cap is £47m and despite the track record of over promising this valuation makes a tempting speculation
Deltic Energy (DELT), the AIM quoted natural resources investing company, announced that the Valaris 123 drilling unit has been mobilised and is on route to the Selene well location. DELT said it was excited to be commencing drilling operations on Selene with its partners Shell and Dana, and for which it has fully carried for the estimated success case cost. This will be the first exploration well spudded on the UKCS in 2024 and is an equally important milestone for Deltic.
Comment: Shares of DELT have already been stirring positively of late, a rise that today’s news should further underpin.
Petro Matad (MATD), the AIM quoted Mongolian oil company, announced that completion operations on its Heron-1 oil discovery commenced on 22 July. MATD said that when the well completion operations are finished, the wellsite will be prepared for the installation of surface production equipment and this work is expected to start during August. Once the surface equipment has been connected to the Heron-1 well and commissioned, the well will be ready for production start-up.
Comment: This RNS seems to be a paraphrase of Churchill. This may not be the beginning of the end, but the end of beginning etc. We look forward to a RNS when completion operations are actually complete. But at least as far as the share price is concerned the recent bear trap continues, and should continue towards the 4.5p chart resistance zone when the company is ready for production start-up.
Audioboom (BOOM), the podcast company, announces its unaudited half-year results for the six months ended 30 June 2024. H1 revenue of US$34.1 million, up 7% on H1 2023 (US$31.8 million). Adjusted EBITDA profit of US$0.3 million (H1 2023: US$0.3 million) – Q2 represented the third successive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. BOOM said it was pleased to report that it has continued to record positive results, with its third successive quarter of year-on-year revenue growth and its third successive quarter of adjusted EBITDA profitability. Its record eCPM – the value that it extracts from every 1,000 downloads across our network – is market-leading, and highlights the work it has done to optimise its monetisation engine in order to extract maximum value from its podcasts. BOOM said it has delivered these results despite the double-whammy of the advertising market recession now being followed by deep cuts to our advertising inventory due to Apple’s iOS17 update, which changed how listeners download content. These external impacts are frustrating – with the iOS17 change restricting our revenue in the first half of the year by an estimated US$9 million.
Comment: BOOM continues to run just to stand still in terms of its EBITDA, serves up the excuse of Apple eating its homework, rather than the dog, and is exceptionally skilled in sounding snooty in its RNSs, even though there is not much to be snooty about. There is still a long way to go, with no certainty that the company will get there, wherever that is. It is not surprising that no bidders, even fictitious ones, are on the horizon.
IQE (IQE), a supplier of compound semiconductor wafer products and advanced material solutions, provided a pre-close trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2024. Revenue for the first half is expected to be at least £65m, in line with management expectations. This represents a year-on-year increase of at least 25% (H1 2023: £52.0m) and half-on-half growth of c.3% from H2 2023. IQE said it was pleased with the performance it delivered for H1, in an industry which will remain in recovery throughout 2024. As markets correct at varying paces, it remains confident in its diversification strategy which will enable it to take advantage of the growth opportunities ahead.
Comment: Despite being based in the land of the 20mph speed limit, it can be seen that IQE is a beacon of light on AIM, and looks to be able to maintain this momentum.
Tungsten West (TUN), the mining company focused on restarting production at the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine in Devon, UK, announced that it has raised £2.975 million by way of adding an additional tranche to the existing 2023 Convertible Loan Notes and Tranche D Convertible Loan Notes. TUN said the proceeds of Tranche E will be used to continue work on an updated feasibility study which the Company expects to complete in Q3 2024, leading to a financing round in 1H 2025 which will enable the Company to recommence production of tungsten and tin in 2026.
Comment: Shares of TUN have been attempting to revive themselves of late, and may do so again on the basis that today’s funding news is the bridge to production shareholders have been waiting on for so long.
Yü Group (YU.), the independent supplier of gas and electricity, meter asset owner, and installer of smart meters to the UK corporate sector, provide an update on trading for the six months ended 30 June 2024. Strong organic growth continues underpinning outturn for the current year, with H1 24 revenue of approximately £310m, up c.60% (H1 23: £195m), despite mild Spring temperatures reducing consumption. YU. said it was proud to report a continued set of strong results; with revenue, meter points supplied energy, and meters installed increasing by c.60%, 82% and 125% respectively on the same period in 2023.
Comment: Being a paid up member of the folly that is Net Zero / green transition, making money for YU must be like falling off a sustainably farmed log. With the new government looking to double down on the eco folly, one would expect YU to do even better over the next few years. For the taxpayer it may be a case of don’t get mad, get even by buying YU shares.
Zephyr Energy (ZPHR), the Rocky Mountain oil and gas company focused on responsible resource development and carbon-neutral operations, provided an update on operations on the State 36-2R LNW-CC well at the Company’s flagship project in the Paradox Basin, Utah, U.S. ZPHR said it was delighted with the results from the initial production test. The well demonstrated excellent deliverability and consistently higher condensate yields than expected, both of which are highly encouraging signs for the underlying value of its wider Paradox asset base.
Comment: Given that the rug was pulled from under ZPHR shares yesterday, one might expect the stock to rebound at least a tad, given the emollient tones from the company’s RNS today.
Altitude Group (ALT), the end-to-end solutions provider for branded merchandise said it beat market expectations on adjusted operating profit and achieves record breaking results for the year ended 31 March 2024, showcasing accelerated scale, growth and momentum. “Demonstrating strength and scale, the Board is pleased to report that revenues are expected to be up 33%, at constant currency, to £24.0 million (FY23: £18.8 million) with a record Group adjusted operating profit of £2.4 million (FY23: £2.0 million) up by 31% at constant currency and ahead of market expectations.”
Comment: A very strong update from ALT makes it all the more ironic that the clue of what the company is not in the name, and that hardly anyone in the market is aware of this good news story.
Totally (TLY), a provider of frontline healthcare services, corporate fitness and wellbeing services across the UK and Ireland, announced a further two contract extensions and a new contract for corporate wellbeing services, collectively valued at c.£1.5 million. TLY said it was seeing momentum build as the market continues to ease, and commissioners take positive action to ensure continuity in the delivery of core services. The new corporate wellbeing contract demonstrates recognition of the increasing importance of wellbeing as part of an employee proposition and EFPs ability to deliver high-quality services.
Comment: It takes some effort on the part of a company to manage to hide its light under a bushel as TLY still manages to do. A paid up member of the NHS / healthcare gravy train, a doubling of the share price to last year’s levels should be more than possible by the end of 2024.
Graft Polymer (GPL) said that further to the investment and commercial collaboration with Awakn Life Sciences announced on 18 July 2024, the Company wishes to highlight the details of an announcement made by Awakn after markets closed yesterday in Canada. Awakn’s announcement relates to Graft Polymer’s interest in the aminoindane new chemical entity series, a novel treatment under development targeting trauma related mental health disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Comment: Given that many stalwarts of the small cap market are susceptible to PTSD given the performance of many of the stocks therein, GPL current efforts with Awakn should be just what the doctor ordered. It may also be the case that the company is trying to fight back given the way that the last RNS was not well received at least in share price terms. This may be because many in the market do not actually understand what it is trying to do.
Filtronic (FTC), the designer and manufacturer of products for the aerospace, defence, telecoms infrastructure and critical communications markets, announced the receipt of a follow-on production order from SpaceX. FTC said it was delighted to receive this further order from our partner, SpaceX, as it continues to support the rollout of the Starlink constellation. The order demonstrates the continued significant role we are playing in helping SpaceX achieve their mission.
Comment: Shares of FTC have already been on the front foot in recent months. With SpaceX in one’s RNS, it would be expected that the shares are indeed heading to the moon.
Oracle Power (ORCP), an international project developer, announced that drilling has resumed at the Northern Zone Intrusive Hosted Gold Project located 25km east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. ORCP said it was delighted that drilling has resumed at the Northern Zone Project so soon after the recent success of the maiden RC and AC drilling campaigns that exceeded our expectations by showing shallower supergene gold mineralisation. This new phase of drilling will target extensions to the first RC drill hole that Riversgold Limited drilled that intersected an impressive 18m at 4.14g/t Au from 36m (hole NZRC001). It will also target an identified fault, believed to be a controlling feature of mineralisation in the area. This latest drilling phase for approximately 1,500m to depths of 60-70m is estimated to take about two weeks to complete.
Comment: After a long time without momentum, ORCP is getting into the groove as far as its newsflow via the now two projects it is focused on in Australia, of which Northern Zone is currently taking the lead. Alas this is still not reflected in the share price.
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