The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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abrdn China Investment Company Ltd - invests predominantly in Chinese equities - Enters £15 million unsecured multi-currency revolving loan facility with Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, over two-year period. Can up the facility to £30 million at any time. ‘The facility will be utilised for general working capital purposes and for the acquisition of investments in accordance with the company’s investment policy,’ company says.
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Ecofin US Renewables Infrastructure Trust PLC - London-based investor in US renewable energy assets - Net asset value per share ends 2021 at 98.9 US cents, surging from 73.1 cents at point of incorporation on August 12, 2020. ‘Throughout the period and in 2022 to date, the company and its advisers have coped well with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are fortunate in that there has been no material impact on the company’s operations or its portfolio,’ company says. Total generation from company’s assets during the period was 169.2 GWh, 1.9% above budget, and the portfolio’s remaining weighted average contracted period as at the year-end was 16.7 years.
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AVI Japan Opportunity Trust PLC - invests in portfolio of 20 to 30 Japanese stocks - Notes net asset value slipped 4.1% in first quarter of 2022, slightly outperforming MSCI Japan Small Cap Index, which dropped 4.5%. ‘The first quarter of 2022 saw a sharp rotation out of growth stocks, as rising interest rates exposed stretched valuations, which was a relative boon for AJOT with only modest exposure to growth companies,’ company explains. Notes trading activity was elevated over the quarter. Adds: ‘In this volatile environment, we are not making any radical changes to the portfolio. We remain slightly geared and will continue adding to a select number of highly attractive opportunities where we are involved in meaningful engagement.’
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Ince Group PLC - London-based legal services company - UK regulator extends deadline date for takeover of corporate adviser and multi-service stockbroker Arden Partners PLC to April 28. The court hearing to sanction the scheme will be held on April 27, which is expected to be the last day of trading for Arden shares.
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Zenova Group PLC - Brentwood, England-based fire safety and thermal insulation products provider - Agrees with Amati Global Investors Ltd to extend Amati’s right to subscribe for additional shares in the company by three months. Amati can subscribe for additional 6.6 million shares in company at price of 19 pence within 9 months of company’s IPO. Was due to expire on April 22, but now extended to July 22. Amati currently holds 3.9 million shares, representing 4.2% stake.
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J Smart & Co (Contractors) PLC - Edinburgh-based construction contractor - Pretax profit in six months to January 1 jumps to £6.4 million from £890,000 year before. Notes £6.1 million gain on sale of investment properties in the first half. Revenue slips to £5.2 million from £5.8 million. Declares 0.96 pence interim dividend, up a hair from 0.95p a year prior. Looking ahead, says ‘unlikely’ headline profit will increase this financial year, and ‘remains to be seen what the underlying profit will be.’ Notes construction costs continue to rise.
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Hercules Site Services PLC - Cirencester, England-based labour supply company for the infrastructure sector - Agrees to acquire an additional ten suction excavators for a total of £4.5 million. Notes ‘high levels’ of demand for its suction excavator services. Suction excavators can safely and efficiently excavate significant quantities of materials or debris, while reducing the risk of service strikes, company explains. Adds: ‘The board of Hercules believes this decision will help accelerate Hercules’ overall growth plans in a key area for the company by expanding its fleet of suction excavators from 20 vehicles by August 2022 to 30 vehicles by March 2023. The additional units will be 90% funded by conventional asset finance, in line with the company’s other suction excavator orders, with the balance being satisfied from existing cash resources.’
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Crossword Cybersecurity PLC - London-based cyber security and risk-focused technology commercialisation company - Pretax loss in 2021 widens to £2.4 million from £2.3 million in 2020. Revenue rises to £2.2 million from £1.6 million. Administrative expenses grows to £3.3 million from £2.3 million in 2020. Notes Rizikon users grew to over 500 users by the end of 2021. Chief Executive Tom Ilube says: ‘We have had a strong start to 2022, commencing delivery of services to a new FTSE 100 company, also to a company which supports UK critical national infrastructure, progressed cross sell opportunities of Nightingale into our consulting client base and have already sold Trillion into our Rizikon network.’ Expects rate of growth in income to be about 75% in 2022, in line with market expectations.
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Tremor International Ltd - San Francisco, California-based digital advertising company - Agrees ‘next stage’ of partnership with marketing firm Fyllo. ‘As Tremor expands our TV Intelligence solution, we are exploring ways to creatively but strategically combine disparate data sets to offer advertisers unique and valuable audiences that open up new doors for their brands,’ says Alexandra Dean, senior director of Global Partnerships & Strategy at Tremor.
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Semper Fortis Esports PLC - London-based professional esports team operator - Reaches agreement with the Rocket League Championship Series team ’Team Endpoint’ for a loan agreement of SMPR player ’Archie,’ which will see the player competing under Team Endpoint until the end of the current RLCS season. Jassem Osseiran, COO of Semper Fortis Esports, says: ‘We have made the necessary changes we believe will allow our team to perform at their best for the remainder of the RLCS season. ’Archie’ remains a big part of our plans moving forward and we hope that this loan deal will be of great benefit to both parties upon his return next season.’
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Blue Star Capital PLC - investment company focused on e-sports, payments and technology - Notes over 78% of shareholders vote against authority for directors to allot shares at annual general meeting. Also says over 78% vote against authorisation to dis-apply pre-emption rights.
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Seed Innovations Ltd - Guernsey-based wellness and life sciences firm - ‘Delighted’ with Little Green Pharma Ltd’s progress. Seed owns 3.1% of Little Green. Seed Chief Executive Ed McDermott says: ‘Today’s news regarding a major agreement to supply cannabis flower medicines for distribution in Germany is further evidence of its growing profile in Europe and supports our belief that LGP is going to be a big winner on the continent and beyond.’ Notes deal is largest off-take agreement to date. Signs three-year term supplying over 1.3 tonnes of flower per annum post ramp up.
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Tekcapital PLC - London-based intellectual property investor focused on universities - Portfolio company Guident signs strategic alliance with Perrone Robotics Inc. Guident develops software solutions for remote monitoring and teleoperation of autonomous vehicles. ‘The objective of the alliance is to seamlessly integrate Guident’s remote monitoring and teleoperation solution with Perrone Robotics Tony AV kit for highly automated vehicles. The scalable deployment of safe & reliable autonomous vehicles requires a fast, reliable network coupled with low-latency, remote monitoring and control software, to facilitate fleet level management of multiple, concurrently operating autonomous vehicles,’ company explains.
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Gunsynd PLC - London-based investment company focused on the natural resources, life sciences and alcohol sector - Sinks to pretax loss in six months to January 31 of £310,000 versus £1.0 million profit in same period year prior. Records unrealised loss in first half of £170,000 compared to £1.2 million gain year before.
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BiON PLC - Kuala Lumpur-based renewable energy services - Shareholders approve sale of main operational subsidiary BiON Ventures, so now becomes cash shell. Now has six months to make takeover, or risk shares being cancelled from London Stock Exchange. Has to raise at least £6 million as part of being cash shell. Issues 2020 results and results for the six months ended June 30, 2021 so AIM suspension lifted. In 2020, records revenue of MYR103.7 million, about £18.6 million, versus MYR 24.1 million in 2019, while sinks to pretax loss of MYR120.3 million from MYR936,000 profit in 2019. In first half of 2021, revenue slumps to MYR552,000 from MYR27.2 million in same period of 2020. Pretax loss widens to MYR9.4 million from MYR2.7 million. In April 2022, operating entity BiON Ventures Sdn Bhd sold for a nominal sum, being £1.
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Canadian Overseas Petroleum Ltd - Calgary, Canada-based oil and gas company - Completes $13 million placement from issue of 49.9 million units at 20 pence each. Each placing unit comprises one common share and one half of one common share purchase warrant, exercisable at 24p. ‘The net proceeds of the placing, in conjunction with COPL’s other financial resources, are intended to be used for facility upgrades and drilling activities, and for general working capital,’ company explains.
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Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd - British Virgin Islands-based gold development company focused on Korea - Confirms funding package signed last week will provide company at least $3.1 million of funding once fully completed. Corrects that 12.0 million shares issued, not 13.0 million, with 15.3 million warrants issued, not the 25.3 million originally reported.
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