Poolbeg Pharma (POLB), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company targeting diseases with a high unmet medical need, announced its unaudited interim results for the six months to 30 June 2023. The company said during H1 2023, we made significant progress in advancing our pipeline, bolstered by the strong clinical trial data for POLB 001 and breakthroughs in our AI-led drug discovery programmes, we are building towards becoming an efficient one-stop-shop for biopharma seeking products to in-license. With a cost-effective R&D approach, complemented by a strong balance sheet and multiple non-dilutive funding opportunities, we are well positioned for ongoing development and future growth with a strong focus on our business development activities.
Comment: POLB is an A Class AI prospect that with its strong balance sheet offers a unique opportunity. This is especially the case any level below the IPO price of 10p.
Hummingbird Resources (HUM) provided an updated Reserves and Resources Estimate Statements for the company as at 31 December 2022. Updated Group Reserves totalled 4.03 million ounces of gold and Group Resources totalled 6.95 Moz, a net decrease of 98 thousand ounces and 327 Koz respectively, on the company’s 2022 Reserves and Resources statement. The company said the last 18 months have been a period of significant operational progress for Hummingbird, with the construction and ramp-up of Kouroussa, which is expected to reach steady state production in Q4-2023, and the successful return to more consistent operational performance at Yanfolila. It is confident that its asset base has material LOM upside, with exploration plans being developed, in particular at Kouroussa, where it is targeting to increase Reserves to 1.0 Moz and a 10-plus year LOM.
Comment: The market perhaps still does not know how to swallow the significant and perhaps unexpectedly good progress made by HUM over the course of this year, and seems to want to kick the tyres some more. However, achieving steady state production is something that should finally get the valuation of HUM to an appropriate level.
Bens Creek Group (BEN), the owner of a metallurgical coal mine in North America supplying the steel industry, provided an operational update. The company said it was delighted to be able to report that the two highwall miners have started double shift production. This is a significant milestone, especially when added to the record coal production month in August. It is also very pleasing to see the record underground mine production in August in terms of ROM coal produced, clean coal and thus recovery (43.4%). The addition of a second mining permit is also a huge benefit to the company. It expects September’s coal production to exceed August’s numbers. It also noted that the high-vol B metallurgical coal price has now risen from its August low of $191 to $210 per ton.
Comment: It is somewhat ironic that now BEN seems to be firing on both cylinders / miners, there is relatively little fanfare around the stock. Hopefully production leads to momentum and decent earnings to boost the shares over the course of the rest of 2023.
Aterian (ATN), the critical and strategic metal-focused exploration and development company, announced the results, including 2.34 % copper and 33.3 g/t silver, from geological reconnaissance work completed on the company’s Zaer Project. The company said it remains committed to exploring this Project along with the other assets within our portfolio, which, thus far, are showing significant upside potential. It looks forward to updating shareholders with the results from this and the other exploration programmes in due course.
Comment: Today’s news, and recent positive significant newsflow makes the present share price of ATN something of a mystery in terms of the relatively lowly rating. One can only surmise that this state of affairs is due to the stock being a crowded trade going into the summer, with some of the weaker hands yet to exit.
Versarien (VRS), the advanced materials engineering group, said that as part of its turnaround strategy, Gnanomat S.L, the company’s 62% owned subsidiary based in Spain, has been concentrating on applying for a number of European and national grants, as well as development contracts, so it can become self-sustaining rather than relying on Group funding. Gnanomat has been awarded a grant to provide funding of approximately €415,000 from ICEX Trade and Investment, a Spanish Government entity. VRS said it was very pleased that Gnanomat has been awarded this grant which will enable it to quickly expand its ink-based product offerings in the electronics sector, a sector in which it already has a number of potential commercial opportunities. Gnanomat will continue to seek funding via grants and development contracts.
Comment: The VRS turnaround strategy is clearly progressing, but perhaps shareholders would like to see a share price turnaround as much as any fundamental wins.
Fulcrum Metals (FMET), a company focused on mineral exploration and development in Canada, is provided an update on the exploration programme at the Big Bear property, part of the Group’s Schreiber-Hemlo project in Ontario. The company said the phase 2 exploration campaign over the Schreiber-Pyramid area and the geophysical surveys conducted over the wider Big Bear property have materially progressed this project forward. Not only has it developed a high grading gold mineralised corridor of some 3km in length, which is open along strike and to the north, but 4 drill ready prospects have been defined with the possibility of several more subject to further groundworks. The exploration results have greatly exceeded its expectations and it will now need to make a decision on the next steps of its exploration programme.
Comment: The material progress announced today at Big Bear should be something which offers a material push higher for FMET shares, which have so far been treated rather harshly by the market. The progress since listing deserves to see the stock back above the IPO price of 17.5p by quite some margin.
PYX Resources (PYX), the Premium Zircon producer announce its results for the six months ended 30 June 2023. The company said looking ahead, PYX remains well positioned for growth with the award of the exploration and mining licence for Tisma and Mandiri’s export licence for Rutile and Ilmenite, of which we have 8.5kt stockpiled and are ready to ship at the end of August 2023.
Comment: A solid result from PYX which has certainly gained production momentum. It would be interesting to know how much higher the stock would be if more people in the market knew what zircon is and what it is used for.
Conroy Gold and Natural Resources (CGNR) announced that assay results from a scout trench (c.90m) and two scout drill holes (totalling c.500m) at Drumavaddy on the Company’s Slieve Glah gold target in County Cavan. The company said it was very exciting to see these gold assay results from drilling and trenching at Slieve Glah, which confirm the prospectivity of this very extensive target area located to the Southwest of the district scale Orlock Bridge gold trend in the Longford – Down Massif.
Comment: The spritely team at CGNR once again find gold in them thar hills. It remains to be seen whether today’s news is regarded as being significant enough to get the stock rebounding off year lows.
Belluscura (BELL), a medical device developer focused on lightweight and portable oxygen enrichment technology, announces its unaudited half year results for the six months to 30 June 2023. The company said the signing of new distribution agreements, the strong reception and orders for DISCOV-R, the continuing progression of X-PLOR and the signing of the significant licensing agreement with Innomax sets a strong foundation for great progress next year and beyond. The Portable Oxygen Concentrator Market is predicted1 to grow at a CAGR of 14.0%.
Comment: BELL has delivered a decent rebound for its stock, as the market cottons onto the CAGR prospects. What is interesting is that even after the recent bounce the shares remain at less than a third of last year’s 150p zone peak.
NetScientific (NSCI), the deep tech and life sciences VC investment group, announced that portfolio company Q-Bot has successfully closed a £3.5 million investment program. NSCI said it was pleased to see Q-Bot close out this important fundraising. The company continues to make strong progress in scaling sales with its innovative use of robotics and artificial intelligence in the Construction Technology industry, and in particular in the retrofit home insulation market. It looks forward to seeing its continued success as it scales beyond the UK market, with a focus on market entry in the US and EU.
Comment: Although the share price of NSCI has not reflected its ability to access non dilutive funding, we see this again with the investment program for Q-Bot. It is a shame the company continues to hide its light under a bushel.
Empire Metals (EEE), the AIM-quoted resource exploration and development company, announced that the first phase of the Company’s next major exploration campaign at the Pitfield Project in Western Australia is scheduled to commence next week, with a total of 1,500 metres of Diamond Core drilling planned over the coming weeks. The company said the diamond core holes are focussed in areas of known titanium enriched mineralisation, based on the results of its maiden RC drill campaign, and the information it will gain from these three, 500m deep, drill cores will be invaluable in terms of increasing its understanding of the thickness and geological controls on the titanium mineralisation, as well as providing a greater insight into the nature of the titanium minerals and their metallurgical characteristics.
Comment: From next week we should have the “big reveal” as far as what is lying under the ground, something which logically would be a fresh driver for the stock, on what has already been a stellar bull run.
Newmark Security (NWT) are a provider of electronic and physical security systems and will be reporting Finals to end April on Tuesday 26th of September. Its reminded me of May’s positive year-end Trading update reporting revenue growth from last year’s £19.14m and a likely return to profitability after losing £1.43m. Investment has been made in product innovation which are higher and benefiting the Human Capital Management (MCM) business SaaS model where sales increased 133% to £2.1m. The Access Control division are increasing sales momentum helped by technology. The guarding divisions, Safetell has developed a redesigned, cost-effective retail attack-resistant screen for convenience stores where there is strong demand for installations from major UK retailers. The Interims Revenue reported a 10% revenue increase to £10.6m with a £0.5m operating profit against a £0.6m loss. Cash is tightly managed and further equity funding is unlikely.
Comment: The business is quietly moving up the tech-chain with internet enabled software controlling devices with the shares at 5p and a £5m Mkt Cap a return to full year profits is a significant milestone.
Brave Bison (BBSN), the digital advertising and technology services company, reported its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2023. The company said it was pleased to report a period of stable profitability despite a difficult macro-economic backdrop. The core Brave Bison business has performed in-line with its expectations, and the turnaround of SocialChain is showing encouraging progress with a number of recent customer wins including national brands such as Asda, The Army and Holland & Barrett.
Comment: Rather under the radar BBSN has delivered a decent performance on a fundamental basis, and this should feed into the generally firm trend in the stock. It is something of a feat for any tech based company to thrive on the London market.
Longboat Energy (LBE), an emerging full-cycle E&P company active in Norway and Malaysia, is announced the expansion of its business in SE Asia through the acquisition of privately held Topaz Number One Limited, increasing its working interest in the Production Sharing Contract over Block 2A offshore Sarawak, Malaysia. The company said it was pleased to have increased its interest in the extensive and prospective Block 2A in deep water Sarawak, which contains the giant Kertang prospect. Sarawak has seen significant exploration success in recent years, and it is excited to play a role in the quest for additional gas resources in the area.
Comment: There has been a significant turnaround in LBE shares since May, and it would be expected that increasing its stake in the “giant” Kertang prospect should only accelerate the recovery.
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