The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Wednesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Begbies Traynor Group PLC - Manchester-based corporate rescue and recovery company - Says its third quarter which ended January 31 had performed broadly in line with the first half. As a result, Begbies Traynor expects the full-year to be within the range of market expectations and significantly ahead of last year. Current market expectations for pretax profit are in the range of £17.0 million to £18.5 million. Reports insolvency numbers have returned to pre-pandemic levels due to increased liquidations.
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Gooch & Housego PLC - Somerset, England-based photonics company - Reports strong and improving levels of overall demand in the first four months of its financial year which ends September 30. The company reports a record order book of £110.5 million at January 31, up 16% from £95.0 million at the same time the previous year. Notes high demand for industrial lasers. Expects trading to have a slightly higher second half weighting than anticipated but says full-year outlook remains unchanged.
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Great Western Mining Corp PLC - London-based mineral exploration and development company with operations in the US - Says 51 mineralised spoil heaps have now been located at Mineral Jackpot in Nevada, US. Notes average grades of vein material of 1.57 grams per tonne of gold and average grades of altered wall rock of 0.04 grams per tonne of gold. Says spoil heaps were composed of average 5% vein material and 50% altered wall rock. Chair Brian Hall calls the results ‘highly encouraging’.
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Union Jack Oil PLC - Bath, England-based oil and gas company with operations across the UK - Says it intends to adopt a capital allocation and distribution policy to allow the payment of a dividend or implement a share repurchase programme. This comes as a result of its current performance, principally at the Wressle development, the company explains.
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BiVictriX Therapeutics PLC - Cheshire, England-based biotechnology company - Expands its therapeutic pipeline with two additional programmes, BVX002 and BVX003. BVX002 and BVX003 target novel cancer-specific twin antigen fingerprints and enable the targeting of several haematological and solid tumour cancer indications. Both are entering the early stages of drug development.
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Okyo Pharma Ltd - London-based biopharmaceutical company focused on eye diseases and ocular pain - Receives patent from the US Patent & Trademark Office covering OK-101 to treat neuropathic pain. OK-101 is the company’s anti-inflammatory drug being developed to treat dry eye disease. Adds the drug is expected to begin a phase two clinical trial in the fourth quarter of 2022.
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Faron Pharmaceuticals Ltd - Turku, Finland-based biopharmaceutical company - Announces updated survival data from its phase one/two study investigating the safety and efficacy of bexmarilimab. Bexmarilimab is an investigative immunotherapy with the potential to provide immune stimulation for difficult-to-treat cancers, Faron explains. Study demonstrates an estimated median progression free survival of 59 days and an estimated median overall survival of 157 days. Chief Medical Officer Marie-Louise Fjallskog says the data shows late-stage cancer patients who receive clinical benefit from bexmarilimab can ‘achieve long term survival’.
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Chesterfield Resources PLC - London-based gold and copper company operating in Canada and Cyprus - Says drilling at its Troodos West project in Cyprus has significantly enhanced the prospectivity at three target areas, Orchard, Evlim and Evlim South, and has also established a 12 kilometre geological trend that the company considers key to controlling several mineralised systems. Adds that this 12 kilometre trend, named the Westline Trend, will now be the focus of its 2022 exploration campaign, due to commence shortly.
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Invinity Energy Systems PLC - London-based energy storage company - Wins £708,371 of funding from the UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy for the Longer Duration Energy Storage Demonstration competition. The award will fund a comprehensive planning and feasibility study on what Invinity says could become one of the UK’s largest co-located solar and energy storage projects. Work on the phase one feasibility study has already commenced and is expected to progress throughout 2022, the company adds.
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Technology Minerals PLC - London-based battery metals company - Says its wholly-owned subsidiary, Technology Minerals Cameroon Ltd, has applied for five exploration permits in Cameroon. The company says it has now received copies of all these permits and has instructed Technology Minerals Cameroon’s legal counsel to verify the validity of the permits.
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Sanderson Design Group PLC - Buckinghamshire, England-based luxury interior furnishings company - Announces that its brand Morris & Co is launching a second collection of fabrics and wallpapers in collaboration with architect and designer Ben Pentreath. The collection will launch in March.
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Mirriad Advertising PLC - London-based advertising company - Signs partnership with unnamed company which it describes as ‘Canada’s largest TV and digital media conglomerate’. Says the partnership is strategically important for the North American market. Does not disclose financial details of the partnership. Mirriad adds that US campaign revenues were up by over 800% during the 2021 holiday season compared to 2020.
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SEEEN PLC - London-based AI-focused media platform - Forms strategic partnership with Auckland-based media intelligence platform Kinetiq Inc. The companies plan to provide ‘end-to-end’ solutions for brands, networks and publishers to better manage and measure audience experiences, SEEEN explains.
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Cohort PLC - Reading, England-based - Says that its SEA subsidiary has been appointed to supply its torpedo launcher systems to South Korea-based ship building company Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd. Says the multi-million pound contract will see the first Philippine Navy corvette delivered in 2023 and the second in 2025.
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Arena Events Group PLC - St Ives, England-based events management company - Acquisition by IHC Industiral Holding LLC and Tasheel Holding Group LLC completes. Shares in Arena were subsequently suspended.
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Drax Group PLC - Yorkshire, England-based power generation company - Provisionally secures agreements to provide 621 megawatts of capacity from its pumped storage and hydro assets. Drax says agreements are at the price of £30.59 per kilowatt for the period between October 2025 to September 2026. Expects income of £18 million for that period. Adds these agreements are in addition to its existing agreements.
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Power Metal Resources PLC - London-based metals exploration company focused in North America, Africa and Australia - Says that First Development Resources Ltd, a company in which Power Metal holds a 83% interest, has received notification from the Northern Territory Government Department of Industry, Tourism & Trade that all three Selta project mineral exploration licences have now been granted for a term of six years. The Selta project is located in Australia’s Northern Territory and has been declared prospective for uranium mineralisation.
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Curzon Energy PLC - London-based energy company - Refinances and extends the outstanding loan between itself and Redcar, England-based chemical recycling company Poseidon Plastics Ltd. On February 3, a loan agreement of £500,000 was made available and due for repayment on February 14. Companies agree to increase the size of the loan facility by £245,000 and to refinance all outstanding amounts to February 14, 2023.
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Schroder UK Public Private Trust PLC - London-based investment company - Says its portfolio company Atom Bank has raised more than £75 million in new equity priced at 70 pence per share. Says this aids company as it grows its profitability and drives towards an IPO. The impact of the funding round will also be reflected in Schroder’s next net asset value update, due in April.
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Amur Minerals Corp - Khabarovsk, Russia-based nickel copper sulphide mineral exploration company focused in Russia - Says that there is no impact on its operations or activities within Russia following a review of UK and US sanction documentation. Adds that no individual or entity identified within the documents is associated with the company in any way.
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Pembridge Resources PLC - London-based mining company with operations in Canada - Says Minto Metals Corp, a company it acquired in 2019, has received a new exploration permit. The 10-year class four quartz mining land use permit was granted by the Yukon Government in Canada. The permit enables Minto to diamond drilling, geophysical surveys and other associated exploration land-use activities on its mining claims, including the Minto Mine property. Adds that Minto has recently approved a C$9.2 million - around $7.2 million - exploration programme for 2022.
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Avon Protection PLC - Wiltshire, England-based respiratory protection equipment company - Reports that Non-Executive Director Bruce Thompson buys 5,000 shares at a price of £10.089 each. Purchase totals £50,445.
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