Echo Energy PLC (LON:ECHO) retreated 6.1% to 0.535p after it lobbed out shares at 0.51p a pop to raise £856,000.
The company expects to trouser £800,000 after expenses. The funds will be applied towards a range of near term growth projects within the existing portfolio designed to deliver production uplift in response to improved market conditions.
This will serve as a platform for cash generation to underpin future growth, both strengthening the Company’s balance sheet and also providing support for Echo to pursue value accretive transactions, the company maintained.
1.35pm: DFS Furniture sitting pretty
DFS Furniture PLC (LON:DFS) was sitting pretty, up 12% at 235p, after it effectively raised full-year profits guidance.
The company said its full-year profit before tax is expected to be within the upper half of the current market consensus range of £82mln-£118mln.
In the year to June 28, 2020, the sofa retailer posted an £81mln loss before tax.
12.40pm: Intercede higher after contract win with defence contractor
Intercede Group PLC (LON:IGP) announced a new contract win, sending its shares 9.4% higher to 87p.
The specialist in digital identities, credential management and secure mobility has won a contract with a large defence contractor but it can’t say who it is otherwise it would have to kill us all.
The initial order totalling US$200,000 includes MyID Enterprise software licences plus associated support & maintenance and professional services.
11.45am: SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited (LON:SAE) was up 24% at 18.25p after its joint venture agreement with the Netherlands based N+P Group went live.
The company had previously flagged an agreement was in the works with fuel production specialist N+P back in August.
The joint venture, NPA Fuels Limited, will produce, market, and deliver waste-derived fuel products to converted coal-fired power station operators throughout the UK, and the Uskmouth project. NPA will produce “Subcoal”, a high-quality waste-derived fuel product for sale to Atlantis-owned assets as well as to other converted UK coal-fired power stations.
10.50am: Microsaic plummets as it ends formal sale process
Microsaic Systems PLC (LON:MSYS) lost two-thirds of its value at 0.12p after it took down the “for sale” sign.
The point-of-need mass spectrometers developer said it had not received any definitive offer for the company or any other proposal that would provide sufficient funding for the company to pursue its business plans.
As a result, the company has appointed KRE Corporate Recovery Limited to explore other remaining options to maximise value for creditors and potentially other stakeholders.
9.55am: Nuformix’s losses widen
Nuformix PLC (LON:NFX) fell 5.4% to 2.65p after it revealed a widening of half-year losses.
The drug repurposing specialist made a loss before tax of £474,659 in the six months to the end of September, compared to a loss of £131,842 in the corresponding period of 2019.
Revenue tumbled to £195,550 from £535,000 the previous year.
9.00am: Active Energy gets first order for CoalSwitch
Active Energy PLC (LON:AEG) revealed it has received its first order for CoalSwitch, sending its share price 37% higher to 0.535p in early deals on Tuesday.
The order is from PacifiCorp, the largest grid operator in the western United States, which serves the energy demands of 1.9mln customers.
Active Energy’s CoalSwitch, a biomass-based fuel made from waste wood, will be burnt at the Hunter Power Plant in Utah as part of a coal/biomass co-firing demonstration being conducted by PacifiCorp.
[email protected] Capital PLC (LON:SYME) rose 13% to 0.53p after it named Italian private equity group Quadrivio as the partner in its first inventory project.
Quadrivio is an alternative investment firm with a focus on Private Equity, Private Debt and Managed Accounts, said [email protected].
The firm has cumulatively raised and managed more than €2bn from both Italian and international institutional investors, added the standard market-listed company.
Proactive news headlines:
[email protected] Capital PLC (LON:SYME) has named Italian private equity group Quadrivio as the partner in its first inventory project. Quadrivio is an alternative investment firm with a focus on Private Equity, Private Debt and Managed Accounts, said [email protected]. The firm has cumulatively raised and managed more than €2bn from both Italian and international institutional investors, added the standard market-listed company.
SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited (LON:SAE) said it has now formally entered into a joint venture agreement with the Netherlands based N+P Group. The joint venture, NPA Fuels Limited, will produce, market, and deliver waste-derived fuel products to converted coal-fired power station operators throughout the UK.
Bezant Resources PLC (LON:BEZ) said it has agreed to acquire Metrock Resources and the Kanye Manganese Project in Southern Botswana. The initial consideration payable by Bezant at completion is £405,000 by the issue of 150mln Bezant shares at a deemed issue price of 0.27p per share and the issue of 31.8mln options over Bezant shares, at a strike price of 0.4p and an expiry date of September 30, 2024. Bezant will also issue a total of 84.6mln its shares to acquire loans of £198,213 and settle creditors of £30,200 owed by Metrock. The company will at completion settle creditors of Metrock of roughly A$26,508 (about £14,900) in cash. The shares to be issued represent around 6.26% of the enlarged share capital of Bezant.
Open Orphan PLC (LON:ORPH) said it has renewed a contract for its consultancy services with a top-3 global pharmaceutical client through to December 2021. The pharma services and vaccine and antiviral testing firm said it has provided independent, up-to-date and hands-on Chemistry, Manufacturing & Control (CMC) consultancy services to the client since 20212 through the Venn Life Sciences team in the Netherlands.
IQGeo Group Plc (LON:IQG) said it has secured a “significant new contract” for software and services with a tier-one Canadian telecoms network operator. The AIM-listed firm said the new contract carries an order value of £1.2mln for software licence subscriptions and implementation services to be recognised over three years, adding that the new customer has selected its geospatial Platform and Workflow Manager software to “rapidly capture and visualise the status of projects, service tickets and critical network assets for office staff and remote field crews”.
Westmount Energy Limited (LON:WTE) (OTCQB:WMELF), an investor in oil exploration assets in the Guyana-Suriname Basin, has increased its stake in JHI Associates to 7.2% following the purchase of 250,000 shares for US$400,000. The main asset of Ontario-registered JHI is a 17.5% carried interest in the Canje Block, which covers over 4,800 square kilometres, offshore Guyana. It sits next to and in the same geologic basin as the Stabroek Block which has delivered eighteen substantial oil discoveries since 2015 for a total of nine billion oil-equivalent barrels. JHI is carried for up to four wells and is funded for the drilling of additional wells.
Seeing Machines Limited (LON:SEE), the transport safety technology company, has said its Fleet (Aftermarket) business continued to grow in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic. The company, which specialises in artificial intelligence-driven operator monitoring systems, highlighted the performance of the division in the Southern Hemisphere, where recovery from the challenged posed by the pandemic has been “reasonably pleasing”. At the end of November 2020, Seeing Machines said it has a total installed base of more than 26,000 Guardian units, with additional hardware sales of 3,500 units still to be connected, due to vehicle accessibility and the subsequent slower installation rate
Destiny Pharma PLC (LON:DEST) has said it is making good progress with preparations for its phase III trial of a breakthrough new treatment for C. difficile infection (CDI) recurrence, which should get underway in 2022. This follows November’s successful fundraiser, which brought in £10.4mln and the completion of the acquisition of the drug candidate, known as NTCD-M3. Key among the early initiatives was the signing of a major new manufacturing contract that will deliver a more efficient process and a lower cost product. The group has brought on board high-level expertise in the form of Professor Dale Gerding, who has joined the drug developer’s scientific advisory board as well as becoming a “key consultant”.
Oriole Resources PLC (LON:ORR) said that Thani Stratex Djibouti Ltd, a company in which it has an 11.8% stake, has completed phase one of its drilling programme at the Hesdaba gold project in Djibouti. Previously reported intersections from Hesdaba have included up to 15 metres grading 4.08 grammes gold per tonne. At the Assaleyta project, immediately to the east of Hesdaba, construction of a camp, access routes and drill pads is now complete and a phase 2 drilling programme is underway. Initial results from this programme are also expected in the first quarter of 2021.
SigmaRoc PLC (LON:SRC) said it has secured a new syndicated senior credit facility of up to £125mln with Santander UK and several other major UK and European banks that will provide it with “further capacity” to support its ongoing buy-and-build strategy. The AIM-listed construction materials group said the new facility is comprised of an £85mln committed term facility and a £40mln accordion option for a term of five years with an interest cost of a 2.5% margin over the LIBOR rate at two times net debt to underlying earnings (EBITDA). SigmaRoc said the new facility and the £12.4mln raised in early December has placed it in a “solid position” to continue its strategy and take advantage of “multiple near-term opportunities”.
BlueRock Diamonds PLC (LON:BRD) has said it is well on track with expansion plans at its Kareevlei mine in the Kimberley region of South Africa. The crushing circuit will be completed by the end of 2020 and will be commissioned in early January 2021. The rest of the plant is expected to be installed in phases during the first quarter of 2021. The expansion allows for a 75% boost to processing capacity to 130,000 tonnes. The company said it continues to advance its overall expansion strategy to bring volumes up to a million tonnes per year. To support this, BlueRock has also been drilling to boost the resource base.
W Resources PLC (LON:WRES) said it shipped 20 tonnes of tungsten concentrate from the La Parrilla mine in Spain in December. The company also reported record concentrator recovery rates in December of 58.7% tungsten trioxide, increasing from 40% in November. There is also a 25-tonne shipment of tin concentrate at La Parrilla awaiting collection by a customer.
Touchstone Exploration Inc. (LON:TXP) (TSX:TXP) has announced the appointment of Beverley Smith to its board as an independent non-executive director as of December 22, 2020. The group noted that Smith is a chartered geologist and an accomplished business leader with over thirty years of experience in the oil and gas sector, having delivered a portfolio of achievements in a successful international career with BG Group, as vice president Exploration and Growth for Europe and most recently as interim chief executive officer of Hurricane Energy PLC. She has a background in development and production geology and subsurface management, notably in Trinidad (Hibiscus, Poinsettia and Ixora fields), Tunisia (Hasdrubal field) and various operated developments in the United Kingdom including Mercury, Neptune, Minerva, Apollo, Fleming, Drake and Jackdaw fields as well as other non-operated developments. John D. Wright, Touchstone’s chairman commented: “We are delighted that Beverley has joined the Board. Her expertise in international oil and gas, specifically her background in Trinidad, will be instrumental as we continue to explore and develop the Ortoire block.”
IronRidge Resources Limited (LON:IRR), the African-focused minerals exploration company, announced that Christelle Van Der Merwe has been appointed to the board of the company as a non-executive director.
Oracle Power PLC (LON:ORCP) announced on Monday that Glen Lewis, a non-executive director, has notified the company of his resignation from the board for personal reasons with immediate effect. Mark Steed, chairman of Oracle said: “The Board wishes to thank Glen for his contribution to the Company and we wish him the very best for the future.”
Galantas Gold Corporation (LON:GAL) (CVE:GAL), the Northern Ireland gold producer and explorer, with a 100% interest in Northern Ireland’s Omagh gold mine, announced late on Monday that a convertible debenture, as detailed in releases dated December 16 and 23, 2019, has been converted into common shares of the company, by the holder, Melquart Limited. The debenture carried a 15% coupon and was exercisable at a 25% discount to the market price. The capital and interest accruing on the debenture totals £1,150,000 (C$1,968,386 ). As governed by the debenture, 11,410,933 Galantas common shares of no par value have been issued at C$0.1725 each. Following the issuance, Melquart will hold 20,673,528 Galantas common shares, representing 45.1% of the issued share capital of the company and the debenture is satisfied in full.
European Metals Holdings Limited (LON:EMH) (ASX:EMH) (FRA:E861.F) said it has received option exercise notices to subscribe for 100,000 new ordinary shares in the company at 40.18 cents per DI Share, for which subscription monies of A$40,180 have been received, plus option exercise notices to subscribe for a further 100,000 DI Shares at 31.11 cents per DI Share, for which subscription monies of A$31,110 have been received, and option exercise notices to subscribe for a further 200,000 DI Shares at 25 cents per DI Share, for which subscription monies of A$50,000 have been received. The proceeds of the option exercises will be used for general working capital purposes.
Power Metal Resources PLC (LON:POW) the AIM-listed metals exploration and development company said it has received notices to exercise warrants over 5,698,000 new ordinary shares of 0.1p each in the company, with 3,198 issued at an exercise price of 1.0p per ordinary share and 2,500,000 at an exercise price of 0.7p per ordinary share. Subscription monies of £49,480 have been received by Power Metal in respect of these exercises.
Bahamas Petroleum Company PLC (LON:BPC), the Caribbean and Atlantic margin focused oil and gas company, with exploration, production, appraisal and development assets across the region, said it has received notification for the exercise of warrants in respect of 3,624,800 ordinary shares of 0.002p each in the capital of the company at an exercise price of 2p per share. Further, Bahamas Petroleum advised that, concerning funding agreement it announced on December 14, 2020, the company has issued 42,500,000 warrants concerning advisory fees. These warrants are valid for three years from the date of grant and with an exercise price of 2p per share. If exercised, these warrants would result in gross proceeds being received by the company of approximately £850,000.
Salt Lake Potash Limited (LON:SO4) (ASX:SO4 announced that it has satisfied all remaining conditions precedents under the Syndicated Facility Agreement (SFA) to achieve financial close and has received debt funds from the first drawdown of US$105mln. Tony Swiericzuk, Salt Lake’s chief executive officer commented: “SO4 is very pleased to have achieved financial close on the US$138m Taurus/CEFC debt facility and to have drawn down the initial tranche of US$105m. This is a substantial milestone in the development of the Company and the Lake Way Project. Drawdown has facilitated the repayment of the Bridge facility which enabled SO4 to progress the project substantially since August 2019. In combination with the recent Placement, these funds will ensure the Company is well financed to deliver the Lake Way Project.”
Sunrise Resources PLC (LON:SRES) has said its Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Thursday, January 28, 2021, at 12.00pm at the company’s offices at Silk Point, Queens Avenue, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 2BB. Due to the restrictions imposed by the UK government in connection with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the AGM will be held as a closed meeting, with only the minimum number of shareholders and directors in attendance. This being the case, shareholders are advised not to travel to attend the meeting as they will not be admitted. Shareholders are therefore urged to register a proxy vote appointing the chairman to vote following their instructions.
Mosman Oil and Gas Limited (LON:MSMN) has advised that all resolutions put to shareholders at the Annual General Meeting, held in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday were duly passed. The resolutions included one for the reappointment of Mr John Young as a director, and six dealing with the issue of shares and warrants to directors to satisfy amounts outstanding that were deferred due to impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The group said the passing of the resolutions removes A$225,000 in debt from its balance sheet and therefore increases working capital by a similar amount.
Zaim Credit Systems PLC (LON:ZAIM), the Russian focused fintech group providing financial inclusion for those consumers who are not well served by mainstream lenders, announced that it has a new investor presentation which can be found on the group’s new website using the following link: https://www.zaimcreditsystemsplc.com/investor_presentation
Avation PLC (LON:AVAP) said it is scheduled to hold its 2020 annual general meeting (AGM) at 9.00am (UK time) on December 23, 2020. Due to coronavirus restrictions, the AGM will be held remotely via Zoom teleconference, and shareholders are invited to participate via the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3413107807; zoom meeting id: 341 310 7807
