Capital Metals (LON: CMET) shares have recovered by 183% to 4.25p after the minister of the environment in Sri Lanka lost his job after being expelled from his political party. The company believes he has been the main reason it has had trouble with its mineral licences. President Ranil Wickremesinghe will take on the environment minister portfolio. This could enable progress with the Eastern Minerals project. The share price is the highest it has been since May.
Digital health platform company Induction Healthcare (LON: INHC) shares have been consistently rising this week after the announcement on Tuesday of three NHS trust contracts in London worth £1.4m. More potential contracts are being discussed with the NHS. Interim results will be published on 7 November. The share price has risen 54.5% to a new 2023 high of 25.5p.
Premier Miton has increased its stake in Serabi Gold (LON: SRB) from 4.77% to 5.1%. The share price is one-third higher at 36p.
Market research firm YouGov (LON: YOU) reported a 61% underlying improvement in pre-tax profit to £56.4m. Net cash was £107.2m at the end of July 2023, although this is before the proposed acquisition of the GfK consumer panels business. Custom research is growing fastest. The US has been a tougher region. The share price increased 25.7% to 880p. This is still below the July placing price of 920p.
FALLERS
It was a week of profit warnings, and the worst hit was Eneraqua Technologies (LON: ETP) with a 61% slump to 38p to a new low. This is not the first warning this year. Further delays in energy efficiency spending by social housing companies have led to more downgrades for the energy and water efficiency technology company. Uncertainty about water standards for new housebuilding has hit demand for the water efficiency technology. The full year pre-tax profit forecast has been further reduced by 69% to £1.6m, with £2.4m expected next year. There continues to be underlying demand for the company’s products, but a significant recovery could be a year or more away.
Calnex Solutions (LON: CLX) halved to 47.5p and this is the first time that the share price has been below the original placing price of 48p/share in October 2020. The telecoms and network testing instrumentation supplier is uncertain about the timing of telecoms customer orders. Revenues will be up to 30% lower than previous expectations. Cavendish has slashed its 2023-24 pre-tax profit forecast from £4m to £100,000, down from £7.2m last year. The balance sheet remains strong even though net cash is set to fall to £13.9m. The market capitalisation is £41.6m.
Versarien (LON: VRS) shares have been on a downward trend for years and they reached a new low by falling 38.7% to 0.67p. The graphene technology developer has sent a general meeting notice to shareholders to gain approval to reduce the 1p par value of the share capital so that new shares can be issued.
Shares in Mind Gym (LON: MIND) also reached a new low when they slipped 36.9% to 35p. There will be a first half loss. Results will be well below expectations in the year to March 2024. Clients are restructuring and delaying training programmes and the US has been particularly weak. A full year loss of £6.2m is forecast, compared with a pre-tax profit of £600,000 last year. When the company floated in June 2018 it was valued at £145m and the market valuation has slumped to £35.1m.
