The RUA Life Sciences (LON: RUA) share price has recovered strongly following its interim results and chief executive Lachlan Smith bought 19,341 shares at 54.2p a share. Contract manufacturing revenues grew by two-thirds to £917,000 and the group total was £1.1m. The medical devices developer had net cash of £2.51m at the end of September 2022. Preparations are underway for clinical trial for large bore vascular grafts and a decision on which prototype aortic heart valve is better should be made soon. The share price has risen 43.9% to 47.5p.
Oriole Resources (LON: ORR) has published a maiden JORC resource for the Bibemi gold project in Cameroon. The pit-constrained resource is estimated to be 4.3 million tonnes grading 2.19/t gold equating to 305,000 ounces. There could be up to 148,000 of additional gold in other resource blocks. The directors have sacrificed a total of £8,000 from their salaries and have been issued 3.33 million shares at 0.1276p each. The share price increased by 40.9% to 0.155p during the week.
Steel structures supplier Billington (LON: BILN) will report a much better 2022 profit than anticipated. Forecasts have been raised by 50% to £5.9m and the 2023 pre-tax profit forecast increased by 56% to £7.55m. Business is being won at higher margins, while capital investment has boosted efficiency. The forecast dividend is 11p a share, up from the previously expected 8p a share. The hare price jumped 26.1% to 290p.
Blackbird (LON: BIRD) announced that its major partner is Belgium-based live video technology developer EVS Broadcast Equipment, which has already announced a $50m, ten-year deal with a US broadcaster. Blackbird completed the development and integration of its technology with EVS earlier this year. This deal incorporates Blackbird’s video editing technology and provides Blackbird with a per-seat user licence fee, as well as maintenance and support revenues. Similar deals are likely to be secured from EVS’s customer base. The share price recovered 26.1% to 14.5p.
Seed Innovations (LON: SEED) has risen consistently throughout the week. Interim results were followed by director buying. Chief executive Ed McDermott bought 3.425 million shares at 2.52p each and 850,000 shares at 2.69p each, while chairman Ian Burns purchased 300,000 shares at 2.57p each. The investment company has net assets of £16.7m, including £360,000 in cash, at the end of September 2022. That was after an unrealised loss on investments of £3.54m. Early in December, the conditional sale of investee company Leap Gaming to Seed Innovations’ partner was announced and that could generate €5.6m, plus the repayment of a €250,000 loan. The payments are expected to be over a two-year period. The investment and loan were valued at £6.07m (€7m). The shares rose by 25.8% to 2.8p, which values the company at £6m.
==========
Fallers
Trackwise Designs (LON: TWD) had already flagged that it would need more cash and subsequent fundraising is at a significant discount to the previous market price. The printed circuit technology supplier is raising £3.64m at 1p a share and a one-for-0.250054 open offer could raise up to £1.5m. Unsurprisingly, the share price has fallen sharply and is 89.6% lower at 1.325p. Hamilton Capital Partners is investing £1.21m in the fundraising. The funds should last until August, when it is likely that more cash will have to be raised. If production for new contracts gets going as expected there may be a more positive view of the company by then.
Midatech Pharma (LON: MTPH) is acquiring TSX Venture Exchange quoted Bioasis Technologies Inc and as part of the deal it will leave AIM but retain the Nasdaq listing. The purchase will be financed by the issue of 75.9 million shares and that valued the transaction at £4.4m when it was announced. There will be £8.2m raised through a fundraising via a share issue at 3.3p a share and the sale of units of ADSs and warrants at $1/ unit. Bioasis focuses on treatments for rare and orphan diseases of the nervous system. The lead product is a treatment for optic neuritis associated with MS. There are deals that generate milestone payments of up to $200m, but much of this cash could be paid many years in the future if ever. This will change the focus of the enlarged group from drug delivery to therapeutics. The group is changing its name to Biodexa Pharmaceuticals. The share price fell by 64.1% to 2.1p, which is well below the placing price.
There was a 97.88% shareholder vote in favour of Parsley Box (LON: MEAL) leaving AIM. The ready meals supplier has arranged a matched bargain facility for the shares through Asset Match. The share price had been declining, but it fell a further 63.1% to 1.55p.
Engage XR (LON: EXR) warns that the fourth quarter has been slower than expected and 2022 revenues will be below €4m, rather than the previously forecast €4.9m. The extended reality technology developer says customers have delayed contract decisions and this has put pressure on cash levels. Net cash should be €1.9m at the end of 2022. Cost savings are being considered to reduce the cash outflow. The share price slumped by 59.6% to 5.25p. In June 2021, £7.7m was raised at 16p a share.
