Eurasia (EUA), the palladium, platinum, rhodium, iridium and gold mining company, reported its unaudited interim results and operational summary for the six months ended 30 June 2023. Current cash assets at 30 June 2023 including cash held in bank accounts (£0.4 million) and US treasury notes (£1.54 million) totalled £1.94 million. The value of unsold concentrate within Inventories at 30 June 2023 was approximately £3.5 million. In addition, the company expects to receive VAT refunds of circa £1.5 million. The company said in relation to the potential asset sale, it may be a source of frustration for shareholders that it cannot report on specific counterparties, the nature of its discussions, and the ongoing processes in more detail. All the Eurasia Board members are engaged in contributing towards a successful outcome to this process.
Comment: Apart from reminding us how wrong the rules are regarding HMRC / VAT and corporates, we see EUA still insisting that it will be able to sell an asset or two. It might have been the case that shareholders would have just preferred good news on inventory sales.
Oberon Investments Group plc (AQSE: OBE), the boutique investment management group, announced that it has raised approximately £2.5 million via Oberon Capital at a price of 3.6p. The company said Oberon is anticipating considerable growth in 2023 and beyond, which will be bolstered by this placing. It warmly welcomes its new institutional investors, alongside the continued support from existing investor base. Following previous indications of demand from retail clients, it is pleased to have also partnered with Winterflood Securities to provide a retail offering.
Comment: To adopt the sentiment of OBE, everyone in the small cap space will be anticipating a turnaround in the space. At least the company now has fresh funds to drive the growth, when it arrives, via a multi-pronged business.
Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH) and Cizzle Biotechnology (CIZ), the UK-based diagnostics developer, announced recent progress evaluating specific monoclonal antibodies for Cizzle’s CIZ1B cancer biomarker. Cizzle said it has successfully completed an evaluation programme aimed at assessing the feasibility of using the Simple Western platform from ProteinSimple (a Bio-Techne brand) for high throughput detection of the CIZ1B cancer biomarker which may be useful in the detection of early-stage lung cancer.
Comment: CIZ has always been striving for a very difficult and worthy goal re lung cancer. It is pleasing to see it is getting closer to early stage lung cancer, something which could and should be a great driver for the share price from current levels.
Scancell Holdings (SCLP), the developer of novel immunotherapies, announced positive data from the first stage in its Phase 2 SCOPE trial, investigating SCIB1 in combination with checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) in advanced melanoma. Initial data from 11 patients showed an 82% objective response rate (ORR) to treatment, which is better than 70% ORR that the trial was configured to show. The company said it was excited by these highly impressive results for SCIB1 combined with the doublet CPI therapy. It thought results from the Phase 1/2 trial evaluating SCIB1 as a monotherapy were positive but results from this combination are even more meaningful.
Comment: Today’s RNS explains why shares of SCLP have been a firm market in recent sessions. Clearly, some crystal ball endowed traders guessed today’s positive news was on its way. One would expect further share price upside, given how good the results are.
Team17 (TM17), a global games label, announced its unaudited results for the six months ended 30 June 2023. Revenues increased 31% to £69.7m (H1 2022: £53.2m). Gross profit increased 18% to £30.2m (H1 2022: £25.5m). Adjusted EBITDA of £16.5m (H1 2022: £18.2m). The company said it was pleased with the Group’s first half performance, with strong growth delivering record revenue levels, against a backdrop of one of the most competitive years for high quality launches and deep peer discounting that it can remember.
Comment: In a dog eat dog environment, and with the cost of living crisis, one has to tip one’s hat to Team17 for the latest performance, especially with regard to the gross profit rise.
Poolbeg Pharma (POLB), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced that the opposition to one of its European patents (Immunomodulator I) that was previously filed by a third party is to be withdrawn. POLB said the favourable resolution of the opposition filed against its Immunomodulator I European patent is an important outcome for it. It has full confidence in the strength and validity of its patent portfolio and looks forward to continuing to expand its intellectual property and protecting its pipeline of assets.
Comment: The newsflow from POLB has been positive anyway, ahead of today’s bonus news, something which shines a light on the strength of its portfolio and its IP.
Northcoders (CODE), an independent provider of training programmes for software coding, announced its results for the six months ended 30 June 2023. Revenue grew to £3.5 million (H1 2022: £2.4million), an increase of 46%. The company said its performance to date reaffirms its commitment to addressing the UK’s digital skills gap as a leading technology training provider. H1 2023 saw the Group’s revenue increase to £3.5 million, a 46% increase compared to the same period last year, driven by high demand for consumer bootcamp training, generating £2.8 million in revenue, up 65% on H1 2022 performance.
Comment: It will be interesting to see whether the share price rebound in CODE over the past week will continue after today’s news, given the way the rug was pulled from under the shares earlier in the summer.
Helium One Global (HE1), the primary helium explorer in Tanzania, announced the appointment of Graham Jacobs to the Board as a Director of Helium One with immediate effect. The company said it was delighted to welcome Graham to the Board of Helium One and looks forward to utilising his expertise and continuing to work with him during this very exciting period of the company’s development.
Comment: It would appear that our Graham is joining HE1 at a propitious time, just ahead of the eagerly anticipated spud due later this month.
Avacta Group (AVCT), a life sciences company, announced the successful completion of the sixth dose escalation cohort in the ALS-6000-101 dose escalation Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and tolerability of AVA6000 and provides an update on clinical progress. AVCT said it believes that it is on the verge of a paradigm shift in how chemotherapy is delivered to cancer patients. The safety and initial efficacy signals emerging from the data in the AVA6000 Phase 1 study are very encouraging indeed. The pre|CISIONTM platform is doing exactly what it was designed to do – target the release of active chemotherapy to the tumour tissue, sparing healthy tissues and improving the safety and tolerability of the drug whilst delivering potentially superior efficacy.
Comment: We all love a good paradigm shift, and as far as AVCT is concerned, this appears to be no exaggeration. The concept of targeted cancer treatment is an obvious game changer, and will logically feed into AVCT’s share price – still near the low end of the range.
Cobra (COBR), a gold, rare earth and IOCG exploration company focused on the Wudinna Project in South Australia, advised that it has signed a MOU with Watercycle Technologies Ltd with the objective to collaborate on sustainable Rare Earth Elements extraction via membrane desorption and filtration. COBR said its immediate priority is building upon our recent metallurgical results to ensure the rapid advancement of the Boland ionic REE discovery, Australia’s only ionic REE deposit with in situ recovery potential.
Comment: It would appear that COBR is on the front foot as far as Wudina and maximising the upside from having Australia’s only ionic REE deposit. This while the shares remain in bargain basement territory near the lows.
Chill Brands (CHLL), the consumer packaged-goods distribution company, will hold its AGM and will make the following statement: “A highlight of the year has been the relaunch of the Chill.com website. The platform has undergone a significant transformation and is evolving into a marketplace for wellness products, natural supplements, and reduced harm alternatives. Through this marketplace, we will offer a curated selection of products that contribute to the overall well-being of our customers.”
Comment: We have a characteristically upbeat AGM statement from young Callum. The key here at CHLL remains waiting on the tsunami of sales for its curated products.
Concurrent Technology (CNC) the Interims to June reported today showed a 63% increase in Revenue to £12.1m and a record back log of £29m worth of business. CNC supplies mission critical, high performance and rugged computer products and systems sold mainly to the military and defence which accounting for 73% of sales with the rest to the telecommunication and aerospace sectors. The Gross margin is 49.7% which reduced to PBT of £1m but previous issues with component supplies and elongated lead times are easing. A funding for an acquisition and WC raised £6.6m at 65p, mainly with institutions but with a small retail offer. An Interims dividend was not, however declared but it could be resume at finals.
Comment: It is to be hoped that readers managed to buy at the open offer after our last report, but with the shares at 75p and a £64m mkt cap it suggests that strong growth is already priced in.
Barkby (BARK) announced that its subsidiary, Cambridge Sleep Sciences, the science-based sleep technology business behind SleepEngine®, has granted a five-year global license, to Mammoth International Ltd., enabling it to manufacture a Smart Mattress using CSS’s SleepEngine® platform.
Comment: BARK managed to get itself on the map with media speculation regarding CSS last week. We can only mull over how smart a mattress can be.
Tekcapital (TEK) the UK intellectual property investment group focused on creating valuable products that can improve people’s lives, announced that its portfolio company Microsalt Ltd has announced a partnership with Weijohn Farms Group, a multi-faceted organization that includes Sorbatto Fresh and Washington Organic Hazelnuts. Weijohn Farms Group will be using MicroSalt on its Sorbatto Fresh line of hazelnuts. Microsalt said it was very excited about its partnership with the Weijohn Farms Group and their Sorbatto Fresh brand. Excess sodium consumption is one of the leading contributors to hypertension and heart disease. Partnerships like this are the best way to provide consumers with great tasting, healthy products with less sodium.
Comment: For those who wish to learn about the different varieties of hazelnut, it is worth checking out the latest TEK RNS. At least, we see Microsalt making decent progress.
IQE (IQE), a supplier of compound semiconductor wafer products, announced a strategic collaboration with VisIC Technologies, a global leader in the provision of GaN (Gallium Nitride) power solutions to the automotive sector, to develop the highest reliability gallium nitride D-Mode (D-Mode GaN) power products for use in electric vehicles inverters. It was pleased to announce this collaboration with VisIC Technologies to develop GaN power technologies for use in electric vehicles.
Comment: There has been a tentative recovery in IQE in recent weeks, something which may continue in the wake of the latest news regarding VisIC.
Billington Holdings (BILN), one of the UK’s leading structural steel and construction safety solutions specialists, announced its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2023. Revenue increased by 30.2 per cent to £60.15 million (H1 2022: £46.19 million), representing record first half revenues for the Group. The company said the first half of 2023 saw Billington achieve record first half revenues and good profits, with a strong performance across all its business units. The Group has been successful in securing a number of significant contracts and has a very healthy pipeline of current and potential business, with significant work in progress.
Comment: Looking at BILN’s results, small cap investors will be wishing that they only invested in companies with this kind of performance.
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