Director deals: boohoo founder buying but retailer still has problems

Andrew Hore
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Director deals: boohoo founder buying but retailer still has problems

Founder and executive director Carol Kane bough 6.86 million shares in online retailer boohoo (LON: DEBS) at 14.5p each, following the recent full year results. That is just under £1m invested and takes her shareholding to 27.8 million.  
She has been buying shares since November 2024 and spent around £300,000 on share purchases at prices between 30p/share and 34p/share. Back in 2020 she bought two million shares at 214p each.
However, in 2017 she sold 4.65 million shares at 230p each, raising £10.7m. That means that sales in the past decade have raised around £5m than purchases.
Business...

AIM weekly movers: Positive exploration news from Oriole Resources

Andrew Hore
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AIM weekly movers: Positive exploration news from Oriole Resources

Oriole Resources (LON: ORR) says the number of gold bearing intersections at the Mbe gold project in Cameroon to 285, equivalent to one intersection for every 21 metres. A mineral resource estimate is expected before the end of the year. The share price jumped 135% to 0.47p, having been as high as 0.62p.

Synthetic binders developer Aptamer Group (LON: APTA) has launched a biomarker discovery service. Biomarkers are molecular indicators of physiological states, including disease presence and enable targeted drug development. The service will use the company’s own Optimer technology in combination with proteomic analysis and it can generate the binding molecules. This is a fee for service model. The share price increased 65.5% to 1.2p, which is the highest level since early 2024.

Fiinu (LON: BANK) has been readmitted to AIM following the acquisition of Poland-based foreign exchange brokerage Everfex. The initial payment of £8m was satisfied by the issue of 80 million shares at 10p each and the rest will depend on performance and be payable via up to 20 million shares at 20p each. Everfex made a pre-tax profit of more than £600,000 for the four months to April 2025. The share price rose 49% to 19p.

Empire Metals (LON: EEE) has made a breakthrough in process development at the Pitfield project in Western Australia. Recoveries are 77% at the rougher stage and 90% at the cleaning stage. Leach results achieved 98% titanium dissolution. Overall titanium recovery is 67% and this is expected to improve. This is a high purity product. The share price improved 38.2% to 52.5p.

FALLERS

Fire safety products supplier LifeSafe Holdings (LON: LIFS) is asking for shareholder approval to leave AIM. It has raised £700,000 at 3p/share and a retail offer, which closes on 5 September, can raise up to £500,000. Disappointing sales mean that LifeSafe requires more working capital. Overoptimistic expectations from the company have led to the share price slumping from the 75p placing share price in July 2022. It costs £300,000 each year to be quoted and management says that it has prospective investors that can only invest in private companies and are willing to invest at higher valuations than the current valuation. Executive chairman Dominic Berger acquired 1.37 million shares at 1p each, taking his stake to 5.85%. The share price slumped 46.2% to 1.75p.

Advanced engineering materials developer Versarien (LON: VRS) says that the sale of its remaining subsidiaries is near completion. The Chinese strategic investor has withdrawn from the investment process because of the UK national security review process only approving a restricted joint venture. The share price dived 40.7% to 0.008p.

Sorted Group (LON: SORT) finance director Mahmoud Wariah is leaving the company, but he is working his six months’ notice. The software supplier plans a share capital reorganisation to reduce the nominal value of the shares from 62.5p to 0.01p. The will enable placings of shares to raise cash. The share price fell 31.3% to 27.5p.

AI-based services provider to smaller businesses Pri0r1ty Intelligence Group (LON: PR1) has joined the OTCQB Venture Market in the US. This is designed to attract US investor interest. It works best when companies have business in the US. The share price slipped 29.4% to 3.6p.

Aquis weekly movers: KR1 NAV increases

Andrew Hore
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Aquis weekly movers: KR1 NAV increases

Lord Bethell has been appointed as a non-executive director of biotech Cardiogeni (LON: CGNI). He is a former health minister. Another director, Ajan Reginald, bought 10,001 shares at 20p each and 2,000 shares at 10p each. He owns 22.1% of Cardiogeni. The share price is one-fifth higher at 9p.

Phoenix Digital Assets (LON: PNIX) director Jonathan Hives has sold 350,000 shares at 5.085p each. The share price rose 1% to 5.3p.

FALLERS

The Smarter Web Company (LON: SWC) has raised a further £3.66m at 193p/share and there are 2.59 million shares still available for subscription. The company has bought 2,440 Bitcoin and the total cost was £201.1m. Net cash available to invest in Bitcoin has fallen to £600,000. PKF Littlejohn has replaced Adler Shine as auditor. The share price slipped 18% to 125p.

KR1 (LON: KR1) had net assets of 49.38p/share at the end of July 2025, up from 40.69p/share at the end of June. Aggregate income during the month was £419,630. The share price declined 14.3% to 36p.

Wishbone Gold (LON: WSBN) has raised £1.5m at 1.25p/share and this will provide working capital for drilling at the Red Setter Dome gold target. The share price dipped 3.33% to 1.45p.

Guident demonstrates systems management prowess with certification

UK Investor Magazine
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Guident demonstrates systems management prowess with certification

Guident has achieved ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification, the world’s leading information security management standard. The milestone confirms that the company maintains comprehensive security controls to protect critical assets and processes.

The company believes the certification strengthens client trust through internationally recognised security practices and enhances operational resilience with proactive risk management.

Ultimately, the AV safety company’s efforts to win new business will be enhanced because partners can now rely on Guident’s compliance with evolving cybersecurity requirements.

“This accomplishment reflects Guident’s top-down commitment to embedding security into our strategy and governance. Integrating this standard into our business model ensures that every technology decision and operational process is aligned with international best practices,” said Dr. Gabriel Castaneda, VP of AI and Research at Guident.

The certification marks a significant step for the Tekcapital subsidiary in reinforcing its security posture across all operations as it prepares for a potential NASDAQ IPO.

AIM movers: Avacta agrees changes to convertible and Eqtec capital reorganisation

Andrew Hore
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AIM movers: Avacta agrees changes to convertible and Eqtec capital reorganisation

Conroy Gold and Natural Resources (LON: CGNR) recovered a further 42.3% to 9.25p since yesterday’s announcement of an agreement to restructure liabilities, including the writing off of 20% of the €3.36m owed. Directors and former directors are swapping the remaining 80% owed into a capped net smelter royalty relating to the Orlock Bridge and Skullmartin projects in Ireland.

Nortrust Nominees has bought back some of the shares it had sold in oil and gas producer Empyrean Energy (LON: EME) earlier in the week and the stake has increased from 3.41% to 4.88%. The share price increased 12% to 0.07p.

Cancer drugs developer Avacta Group (LON: AVCT) is raising £3.25m at 50p/share and is deferring quarterly repayments of its convertible bond after the October payment. The next two payments will be deferred until October 2027. After the publication of data from the phase 1b trials of FAP-Dox (AVA6000) for breast cancer of 30 June 2026 the bondholders can demand an acceleration of one of the deferred payments in cash or shares. The conversion share price is 75p. This is conditional on the raising of at least £13m. The share price rebounded 14.6% to 63p.

CleanTech Lithium (LON: CTL) raised £250,000 from its retail offer at 5p/share and takes the total amount raised to £4.95m. This will finance the development of the Laguna Verde lithium project in Chile. The share price rose 8.74% to 5.6p.

Van Eck Associates has raised its stake in uranium investor Yellow Cake (LON: YCA) from 6.12% to 7.04%. The share price is 5.92% higher at 516.25p.

Logistics Development Group (LON: LDG) had net assets of 26.7p/share at the end of June 2025, up 8.67% over the quarter. Since then, £15m has been invested in a company that has taken a 78.3% stake in Alternative Parcels Company. The share price improved 5.26% to 15p.

FALLERS

Waste to energy technology company Eqtec (LON: EQT) is proposing a capital reorganisation. The shares have been trading below the current nominal value, and it would be reduced from €0.01 to €0.0001. If approved this will happen on 26 September. This will enable the issue of shares to provide further funding for the company. The share price slipped 22.2% to 0.35p.

Helium One Global (LON: HE1) has received a conversion notice for £1.725m of its convertible at a conversion share price of 0.42p. There will be 410.7 million shares issued. The share price fell 8.51% to 0.43p.

Metals One (LON: MET1) is making a C$750,000 strategic investment in Lions Bay Capital and taking a 19.1% stake. The plan is to commence production at a South African gold processing plant by the end of 2026. Lions Bay has an option to acquire the supporting generation plant for $1.4m. The plant will be modified and refurbished. The strategy is to acquire gold mines in the region once the plant is up and running. The share price declined 9.2% to 4.1675p.

Banks drag FTSE 100 lower on tax raid concerns

UK Investor Magazine
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Banks drag FTSE 100 lower on tax raid concerns

The FTSE 100 had another underwhelming session on Friday, despite US equities reaching fresh highs overnight.

US stocks were buoyed by better-than-expected US GDP and Federal Reserve members calling for rate cuts. The S&P 500 closed at 6,501, up 0.3% overnight.

Unfortunately, there was little direct read-across for UK stocks, and the FTSE 100 was driven largely by sharp declines in banking stocks following suggestions that the government should launch a windfall tax on banks to help plug budget gaps.

The reports were not taken well by the banks or the FTSE 100 as a whole, and the index was down 0.4% at the time of writing.

“Shares in UK banks including Lloyds and NatWest have taken a hit as the idea of a tax raid on lenders was suggested by think-tank IPPR,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“It’s hardly a surprise that every cushion is being upended in the hunt for extra cash to fill the much-discussed black hole in the Treasury’s finances.

“The issue is whether taxing the banks more will end up stifling the very growth the government is keen to foster, by crimping lending to businesses and households alike.

“The banks will undoubtedly argue as such, and shareholders may not want to see any such raid either. The wider public may see it differently, given how HSBC, Barclays, NatWest and Lloyds are expected to earn some £44 billion between them worldwide in 2025, their third-best year ever, after 2023 and 2024.”

NatWest was the FTSE 100’s top decliner, with a 4% decline. Lloyds was close behind with losses of over 3%.

Barclays also lost around 3%.

Banks have played a significant role in the FTSE 100 breaking record highs this year, so news of a windfall tax will weigh on investor sentiment.

There was strength in Rentokil, Babcock, and Rolls-Royce, but not enough to keep the index anywhere near positive on the session.

US data due for release later on Friday will likely dictate trade going into the weekend as traders position themselves for shifting interest rate expectations.

Wood Group disposes of North American engineering business

UK Investor Magazine
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Wood Group disposes of North American engineering business

John Wood Group has agreed to sell its North American Transmission & Distribution engineering business to Qualus LLC for $110 million as part of Wood’s ongoing disposal programme aimed at shedding non-core assets.

Wood Group are being forced to strip down the business to pay off debts.

The Aberdeen-based engineering firm reached the agreement following what it described as a “highly competitive auction process”. Qualus, a power infrastructure specialist, will acquire the business at a valuation of 14.9 times adjusted EBITDA.

Wood says they identified its North American T&D unit as non-core during a strategic portfolio review.

The business provides power infrastructure engineering services for substations, transmission, distribution and renewable generation across Canada and the United States.

The disposal contributes to Wood’s target of raising £118-158 million from asset sales in 2025. So far this year, the company has agreed disposal proceeds totalling approximately £217 million – already exceeding its initial target.

While the sale will help shore up Wood’s finances, investors will be more concerned about the ongoing takeover saga and whether the deal with Middle Eastern buyers is done at 30p.

Metals One makes strategic investment in gold processing opportunity

UK Investor Magazine
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Metals One makes strategic investment in gold processing opportunity

Metals One Plc has announced a ‘major’ strategic investment of C$750,000 in Lions Bay Capital Inc., expanding its global gold and copper exposure through Lions Bay’s portfolio of assets.

The AIM-listed minerals exploration company will acquire 7,500,000 common shares, giving it a 19.1% stake in the TSX-V listed Lions Bay.

Gold Processing Plant Revival

Lions Bay’s primary focus centres on bringing a South African gold processing plant back into production by Q4 2026. The company holds an option until November 2025 to acquire the cogeneration facility for US$1.4 million.

The plant represents exceptional value, having originally cost approximately US$20 million to commission before shutting down in 2021 after just 18 months of operation. It previously supplied steam and power to an adjacent chemical complex.

Once refurbished, the facility will process approximately 5,000 tonnes of gold-bearing concentrate per month. Metals One believe this provides an attractive alternative to exporting concentrate to Asian smelters, with roasting technology that exposes gold for conventional extraction.

“We believe the Lions Bay’s gold processing plant in South Africa offers exceptionally attractive economics,” said Craig Moulton, Chair of Metals One.

“The near-term cash flow opportunity complements our earlier stage critical metals exploration projects, balancing Metals One’s asset base. With a market capitalisation of under C$4 million and a portfolio of other projects, we regard this as a highly opportunistic investment.”

Through Lions Bay, Metals One gains exposure to a diversified portfolio of mining investments. Key holdings include a 45.22% stake in Fidelity Minerals, which owns copper-gold porphyry projects in Peru and Canada.

Other investments span Epic Minerals’ tin and copper-gold projects in Queensland, KALiNA Power’s low-carbon electricity generation, and Greensands Australia’s organic fertilizer technology.

Lions Bay also holds a debt loan related to the Bosveld gold mine, which operates a 60,000 tpa gold treatment plant as a toll processing facility.

Gold breaks through $3,400 as dollar drives price higher

UK Investor Magazine
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Gold breaks through $3,400 as dollar drives price higher

The gold price broke through $3,400 yesterday to trade at the highest point since the Jackson Hole symposium, as the dollar weakened further and geopolitical risk helped provide support for the price.

“In yesterday’s session, gold broke above the psychological threshold of $3,400/oz, marking a new high since the Jackson Hole symposium,” explained Linh Tran, Market Analyst at XS.com.

“The main driver remains expectations that the Fed will soon begin its rate-cutting cycle in September, after Chair Jerome Powell delivered a “cautiously dovish” message, acknowledging rising risks in the labor market while noting signs of easing inflation. A weaker U.S. dollar and falling bond yields directly supported the rally in the precious metal.”

Gold was trading at $3,410 at the time of writing.

Ultimately, the Federal Reserve will be driven by what’s happening in the underlying economy, making each data point all the more important for the price of gold in the coming weeks.

“The fate of the gold market—and whether range highs are tested next week—ultimately rests on upcoming US data,” said Chris Weston Head of Research at Pepperstone.

“Gold will take its steer from the USD and real yields, but it’s the data that will decide its path. If the numbers flag economic fragility and the perception grows that the Fed is behind the curve, gold could kick higher as a hedge, with new highs on the horizon.”

AIM movers: Potential funding for Tungsten West and ex-dividends

Andrew Hore
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AIM movers: Potential funding for Tungsten West and ex-dividends

Focus Xplore (LON: FOX) has revealed progress with exploration on rare earth element and lithium pegmatites at projects in Ontario, Canada. Rock chip samples show that the Bay Road and Iva projects “have elemental ratios and values consistent with moderate levels of fractionation within locally enriched, or “fertile” granites”. This is an indicator of the formation of pegmatite systems, although there is yet to be any identification of significant mineralisation. The share price is two-fifths ahead at 0.0525p.

Brain health software developer Cambridge Cognition (LON: COG) is raising £1.12m at 27.25p/share from key shareholders and management following the interim figures. Changes to the board mean that Rob Baker becomes senior executive director, Alex Livingstone-Learmonth is chief commercial officer and Ronald Openshaw becomes head of finance and corporate development. Interim revenues fell from £5.6m to £4.3m and the loss increased. Cash fell to £400,000. The order book was £16.4m at the end of June 2025. The share price rose by one-quarter to 32.5p.

Tungsten West (LON: TUN) has received a non-binding letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, outlining potential financial support for the Herdon tungsten and tin mine. The export credit agency could provide up to $95m over a 15-year term. The share price increased 22.2% to 11p.

Conroy Gold and Natural Resources (LON: CGNR) has secured agreement to restructure liabilities and writing off 20% of the €3.36m owed. Directors and former directors are swapping the remaining 80% of the money owed into a capped net smelter royalty relating to the Orlock Bridge and Skullmartin. They are also being issued seven-year options exercisable at 30p. The share price improved 13.2% to 6p.

Empire Metals (LON: EEE) has made a breakthrough in process development at the Pitfield project in Western Australia. Recoveries are 77% at the rougher stage and 90% at the cleaning stage. Leach results achieved 98% titanium dissolution. Overall titanium recovery is 67% and this is expected to improve. This is a high purity product. The share price is 11.2% higher at 54.5p.

FALLERS

Shares in fire safety products supplier LifeSafe Holdings (LON: LIFS) fell a further 36.4% to 1.75p following the launch of a retail offer to raise up to £500,000 at 3p/share. It has already raised £700,000 and is asking for shareholder approval to leave AIM. The plan is to move to JP Jenkins.

Caledonian Holdings (LON: CHP) is planning a fundraising. Investee company AlbaCo has received a banking licence and is raising at least £25m. Caledonian Holdings wants to contribute to this fundraising, and it has to commit by mid-September, so it is calling a general meeting on 12 September to gain approval to issue up to 600 billion shares. AlbaCo will be the first bank focused on lending to small and medium sized businesses. The share price slipped 18.8% to 0.00325p.

Oil and gas producer Arrow Exploration (LON: AXL) is focusing on exploration drilling over the next few months. Oil production from existing fields is set to reach a peak in the short-term, but it will start to fall off, so this will need to be replaced. Current production is 4,200 barrels of oil equivalent/day and Canaccord Genuity has cut its full year forecast from 5,000 barrels of oil equivalent/day to 4,300 barrels of oil equivalent/day. Second quarter operating cash flow was $14m with net cash of $600,000 at the end of June 2025. The share price declined 13.8% to 12.5p.

Ex-dividends

Arbuthnot Banking (LON: ARBB) is paying an interim dividend of 22p/share and the share price fell 35p to 1065p.

Northern Bear (LON: NTBR) is paying a final dividend of 2.5p/share and the share price is unchanged at 96p.

PetroTal Corp (LON: PTAL) is paying a dividend of 1.5 cents/share and the share price improved 1p to 38.25p.

Quartix Holdings (LON: QTX) is paying an interim dividend of 2.5p/share and the share price is unchanged at 264p.

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