Eqtec to record profit in 2021 as revenue set to soar
Eqtec finished 2020 with cash and cash equivalents of €6.39m
Eqtec (LON:EQT), the gasification specialist, says its revenue will increase to around €15m in 2021, significantly up from €2.2m in 2020.
The company said in its end of year statement that the rise in revenues, along with an expected contribution from EQTEC Capital, are forecast to bring about a positive EBITDA, meaning in 2021 the company will make a maiden profit.
During 2020, Eqtec‘s revenue grew to €2.23m from €1.69m the year before, while its pre-tax loss rose to €5.84m from €3.58m. This was a result of an increase in administrative expenses to €3.7m, in addition to a payout to employees during the year to the value of €1.3m.
The AIM-listed company finished the year with cash and cash equivalents of €6.39m, up from €482,392 the year before. This came following the firm raising £10m from an oversubscribed placing of shares.
David Palumbo, the chief executive officer of EQTEC, said: “2020 was a year in which we advanced and embedded our business strategy, significantly added to our pipeline, strengthened our management team, increased the depth and number of our partner relationships and expanded our platform for growth.”
“In the first half of the year, we achieved financial close on two ground-breaking projects, each with an additional pipeline attached to them and we concentrated on maturing our relationships with our go-to-market partners. In the second half of the year, we built further discipline into our business operations and project execution capabilities, toward mitigating risks and accelerating delivery of business cases and measurable value,” he added.
At early afternoon trading the Eqtec share price is up by 7.38% to 2.15p per share.
Echo Energy provides update on its Santa Cruz Sur assets
Echo Energy says daily operations in the field at Santa Cruz Sur to continue as normal
Echo Energy (LON:ECHO), the Latin American focused upstream oil and gas company, released an operational and commercial update regarding its Santa Cruz Sur assets, onshore Argentina, for the quarter ended 31 March 2021.
Daily operations in the field at Santa Cruz Sur continue with the delivery of produced gas to customers as expected and without interruption.
Production over the period reached an aggregate of 152,673 boe net to Echo, which included 17,814 bbls of oil and condensate and 809 mmscf of gas.
As a result of a series of optimisation activities being implemented in the field around the current production, average net daily liquids production in March 2021 increased to 230 bbls/d, a 24% increase over production in February 2021.
Echo Energy said the materials required for the infrastructure upgrades of 23 km of pipeline, announced on 24 February 2021, are now being fabricated by the supplier in Buenos Aires following contract execution and the installation schedule remains in line with that announcement.
Martin Hull, Chief Executive Officer of Echo Energy, commented further on the company’s announcement:
“Advancing into 2021, Echo has been set on optimising its existing production portfolio and low-risk development upside across the Santa Cruz Sur asset base. The benefits of these earlier efforts are now being seen. Additionally, I am pleased to report that Echo continues to benefit from increasingly strong local energy demand and pricing, which has led us to obtaining premium seasonal pricing to current prevailing spot market prices, and more than double the price of the previous winter period. Against this improving domestic energy price backdrop, we have also executed a significant domestic oil cargo sale which marks an important milestone linked to the improved economic outlook.”
“Furthermore, we are pleased with the progress we are making on our production optimisation activities across Santa Cruz Sur. Liquids production has recently increased in advance of the upgrades to the 23 km pipeline infrastructure which are progressing at pace. These upgrades will not only unlock previously shut-in liquids production but will also provide additional capacity with which to open up future incremental enhancement projects that have already been identified.”
UK house prices soar as high demand meets shortage of homes on market
Property prices up by 2.1% in April to £327,797
A surge in activity has pushed up UK property prices to a record high this month, following the government’s launch of its mortgage guarantee scheme to assist people with smaller deposits.
Rightmove, the online property portal, confirmed that the average asking price for a property rose by 2.1% in April to £327,797, a new all-time high, and an increase of £6,733 from the previous month.
The move has come about as a result of a shortage of properties on the market, while a number of families are looking to buy larger properties in order to work from home more comfortably.
Many sellers are putting sales off until they have been vaccinated which is leading to a further shortage in supply.
As of Monday, banks and building societies will start offering mortgages that cover 95% of a purchase price under the government’s guarantee scheme. As disclosed in March’s budget, lenders will be allowed to purchase a guarantee on the portion of the mortgage between 80% and 95%. The government will cover any losses on the debt should the borrower fall into financial difficulty which makes them unable to make repayments.
Ross Counsell, chartered surveyor and director at GoodMove, commented on today’s Rightmove HPI:
“According to the latest Rightmove House Price Index figures, average property prices in the UK have risen to a new record high of £327,797, up by 2.1% from last month,” Counsell said.
“The Rightmove HPI also shows that while many new properties were put on the market this month, there was still not enough to meet buyer demand. In fact, the average number of days it takes to sell reached its lowest ever level making it a great time for anyone looking to sell their house fast – and signals some issues for buyers who may struggle to find suitable property.”
“Given the extension of the Stamp Duty Holiday until the end of June, this surge is not necessarily that surprising, but does propose the question of what will happen after June.”
“Looking ahead, we predict the property market will continue to thrive in the first half of 2021; however, following the end of the Stamp Duty Holiday the state of the property market remains uncertain. Therefore, we expect that house prices and demand will ease in the last 6 months of 2021 resulting in a slower housing market.”
Record highs in sight as FTSE 100 makes positive start to the week
FTSE 100 is up by 0.26% to 7,037.60 on Monday morning trading, a 14-month high.
“Though there’s still some ways left before it gets there, a return to the 7,900-approaching records highs of May 2018 all of a sudden don’t feel as far off as they once did,” said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.
Beating its blue-chip brother to the chase, the FTSE 250 hit another record peak after the bell, rising a further 0.3% to touch 22,650.
“Sunny weather should have given retailers and hospitality businesses in England a boost over the weekend and this helps explain why the more domestic-facing FTSE 250 outperformed its large-cap counterpart and is marking new record levels,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
All eyes will now be on whether the FTSE 100 itself can push yet higher and challenge its own all-time high of nearly 7,900 as the economy continues its recovery from the pandemic.
After a lacklustre fortnight the DAX burst into action last Friday, breaking away from 15,250 to reach a fresh all-time high. A quiet start meant the German bourse couldn’t really build on that feat, lurking around 30 points shy of 15,500.
“The Dow Jones is still expected to start the session above 34,100. It’s been a steady climb for the Dow this month, opening at 33,030, with a good chunk of April left if it wants to strike 35,000,” according to Campbell.
“There isn’t too much going on this Monday, which might inhibit the market’s ability to really push forward and break records. Then again, said calm may be the kind of environment the Western indices want if they are to stretch their legs,” Campbell added.
FTSE 100 Top Movers
Ocado (3.05%), Fresnillo (2.46%) and London Stock Exchange Group (2.18%) made the most gains on the FTSE 100 on Monday morning.
Evraz (-1.84%), Phoenix Group Holdings (-1.11%) and Smith and Nephew (-1.02%) were the bottom thee companies on the FTSE 100 a couple of hours in on Monday.
Oil falls as rising Covid cases set to slow demand
India’s coronavirus death toll now stands at nearly 180,000
Oil prices slipped on Monday as rising cases of Covid-19 emerged across the world, leading to measures to tackle the pandemic being reinstated.
The strong measures to curb the spread will have knock on effects on economic activity, including demand for oil.
Having risen by 6% over last week, Brent crude oil was down by 0.3% early this morning to $66.60 per barrel. While West Texas Intermediate (WTI), having gained 6.4% last week, was down by 0.2% to $63.03 a barrel.
“The progress of vaccination drives in the developed markets can be seen in road traffic levels, but resurging case numbers have reversed the recovery in the emerging countries,” such as India and Brazil, ANZ Research said in a report on Monday.
India confirmed a record increase in cases of Covid-19 on Monday of 273,810, bringing the total number of cases to over 15m. India is now the second worst affected country behind the US, which has in excess of 31m infections. India’s coronavirus death toll now stands at nearly 180,000.
Hong Kong is supending flights from India, Pakistan and the Philippines from April 20, authorities have said.
In early March oil prices climbed to a 14-month high as Brent crude oil reached $67.85 per barrel today, its highest level since January 2020.
Starling receives £50m cash injection from Goldman Sachs
Starling now has over 2m customers and made a profit last year
Starling, the UK-based digital bank, confirmed on Monday that Goldman Sachs has invested £50m into the company.
Starling said that the Goldman’s investment is part of an already oversubscribed funding round of £272m, which valued the company above £1.1bn.
The bank said it would allocate the funding towards its “continued rapid and now profitable growth”.
Since it was launched in 2017 Starling has earned over 2m customers and even made a profit during the past year, one of the only challengers to the major banks to do so.
Starling performed well despite the pandemic thanks to its efforts in business banking which included its participation in the government’s Covid-19 lending scheme.
The bank now has in excess of £5.4bn in deposits while its gross lending has reached above £2bn.
Starling Bank has already gained attention from Lloyds and JP Morgan. Last autumn it was reported JP Morgan had talked about buying Starling while Lloyds was interested in its technology.
“Starling is one of the leading and most innovative digital banks in the UK, with an ambitious technology-first leadership team and addressing a deep market opportunity,” James Hayward, managing director at Goldman Sachs, said.
“Securing the support of another global financial heavyweight demonstrates the strength of demand from investors and represents yet another vote of confidence in Starling,” founder and chief executive Anne Boden.
“Goldman Sachs will bring valuable insight as we continue with the expansion of lending in the UK, as well as our European expansion and anticipated M&A.”
Starling is the fastest-growing bank for small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe and now holds a 6% share of the UK’s SME banking market. It is on course to report its first full year in profit by the end of its next financial year-end.
Greatland Gold begins Paterson drilling programme by confirming prospectivity at Scallywag
Greatland Gold has identified a number of new targets that merit further exploration
Greatland Gold (AIM:GGP), the precious and base metals company, announced on Monday that results from its drilling campaign at its Scallywag licence have provided further evidence of the potential for intrusion-related mineralised systems, as well as confirming the area’s prospectivity.
Initial targets have again intersected pathfinder elements associated with systems seen close by at Havieron and Telfer, and regionally at Winu.
The AIM-listed company has also identified a number of new targets that merit further exploration and will be conducting further drill testing.
The Scallywag drill programme is the first stage of an extended drilling programme across Greatland’s 100% licences and the Juri Joint Venture in the Paterson province of Western Australia, which is expected to commence in the coming weeks.
During 2020 drill results provide further evidence of pathfinder element anomalism potentially distal to intrusion-related mineralised systems, and potentially along strike of the current drilling
At the Kraken target, assay and logging confirm the intersection of prospective target lithologies and pathfinder element anomalisms including silver, copper, bismuth and lead.
Shaun Day, Chief Executive Officer of Greatland Gold plc, commented:
“We may only be in the first stages of an extensive drilling programme, yet these results provide further evidence that the Scallywag licence is prospective for intrusion-related mineralised systems. In particular, it is very pleasing that initial targets have once more intersected pathfinder elements associated with systems seen nearby at Havieron and Telfer, and regionally at Winu,” said Day.
“Greatland has established a proven approach to exploration that brought it much success at Havieron: drill selective targets, analyse the information and refine targets to unlock value from our projects.
Ongoing geological interpretation, assisted by drill information and regional aeromagnetics, has identified multiple new targets within the Scallywag licence.
New targets include “Architeuthis”, a 600m long magnetic anomaly located 1km north of Kraken and 9km north-west along strike of Havieron, and which may represent primary mineralisation along the Scallywag Synform.
