Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) have seen their shares dip modestly, despite the announcement of a new Chief Financial Officer.

Shares in Resolute Mining dipped 0.87% to AUD1.14. 16/12/19 14:42BST.

Resolute is a gold miner with more than 30 years of experience as an explorer, developer, and operator of gold mines in Australia and Africa which have produced more than 8Moz of gold.

Resolute’s production and cost guidance for the 12 months to 31 December 2019 is 400,000 ounces of gold at an All-In Sustaining Cost of US$1,020 per ounce.

In August, Resolute saw their shares rally after the firm gave shareholders an impressive update.

The Company posted headline-grabbing EBITDA of AUS $78 million, booming 171% on H1 2018 EBITDA of AUS $29 million.

This was led by gold and silver sales revenue of AUS $324 million, spiking 33% from AUS $243 million. Resolute gross profit from operations bounced AUS $30 million on a year-on-year basis, up to AUS $69 million for H1 2019.

Today, the firm said it has ppointed Stuart Gale as chief financial officer with effect from January 20, 2020.

He will be replacing Lee-Anne de Bruin, who will be stepping down after three years in the role since 2017.

Gale will be joining from Australian iron ore company Fortescue Metals Group where he was group manager for Corporate Finance for nine years since 2010.

“Stuart Gale is an experienced CFO who joins Resolute with exceptional experience in successful financial leadership and positive transformation in the mining industry. Stuart has managed teams within one of the world’s leading mining companies and brings proven financial and commercial experience to complement our senior executive team,” said Chief Executive Officer John Welborn.

Shareholders should remain optimistic about the move from Resolute, at a time where gold miners have seen their shares become volatile.

This morning, FTSE250 listed Centamin PLC had started to consider a merger deal with rival Endeavour Mining, after a deal was firmly rejected just under a fortnight ago.

Additionally, fellow Australian gold miner Panther Metals announced that it had secured its first exploration licence in the Northern Territory, Australia.

Its Exploration Licence Application regarded it Marrakai Project, which is located in Pine Creek Orogen. This announcement sent shares in green.

Bigblu Broadband PLC (LON: BBB) have seen their shares in green after the firm agreed a credit facility deal with Santander (LON: BNC).

At the start of December, Bigblu saw their shares dip as its debt widened on further investment.

The Company said that during the period, it had also secured new funding to accelerate Quickline’s growth plans, and had launched a new partnership with Eurobroadband Infrastructure.

Today, the firm said that it had agreed a new £30 million revolving credit facility with Santander Bank UK PLC, a firm which recently invested into startup Ebury.

This new facility will be used to replaces the two tranches of loan notes, totaling £12.0 million issued in 2016 by Business Growth Fund and the company’s £10.0 million revolving credit facility with FTSE100 listed HSBC PLC.

It will also be used to provide additional working capital to support the company, Bigblu said.

Bigblu said that HSBC will continue to provide a £4 million revolving credit facility and operational banking support to the company’s UK fixed wireless subsidiary QCL Holdings Ltd.

The new deal with Santander is a three year loan agreement, with the option to extend for up to a further two years.

“As a result, there will be a significant reduction in the group’s annual cost of debt and net interest payments,” Bigblu said.

Business Growth Fund continues to own 4.5 million shares in Bigblu, the company said.

As part of its initial subscription for the loan notes in 2016, Business Growth Fund had options over 4.9 million ordinary shares at an exercise price of 112.5 pence, expiring August 2021, and a £2.4 million convertible loan note convertible at an exercise price of 135 pence per share.

Bigblu has said it agreed to extend the 4.9 million options to May 2024, and granted Business Growth Fund an additional 1.8 million options at an exercise price of 135p pence expiring May 2024.

Wizz Air Holdings PLC (LON: WIZZ) have announced that they will be expanding into Armenia in an announcement on Monday.

Wizz Air have seen a relatively successful year, in a time where the airline industry has perceived to be quite hostile.

Wizz Air have seen a stable year, in a time where the airline industry has appeared to be in decline. After the collapse of Thomas Cook (LON:TCG) in September, firms have been cautious.

At the start of June, Wizz air reported that they saw their passenger numbers climb in May, which sent shares up.

The Hungarian airline flew 3,470,889 passengers in May, a 22.4% rise compared to the 2,836,380 figure from the same month a year prior.

The low-cost people carrier also added 9 new routes from/to Poland and Ukraine, in addition to opening a new Polish base in Krakow.

Additionally, in November the firm raised their profit capacity forecast which pleased shareholders. Chief Executive Officer József Váradi said the airline was increasing its capacity growth rate to 22%, from 20% promised in July, which was another piece of good news for shareholders.

Today, the firm has updated the market by saying that it plans to expand its routes into Armenia.

The firm said it will be operating flights from Vilnius and Vienna to Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan.

The FTSE250 (INDEXFTSE: MCX) listed firm said that it expects to start flying the two twice weekly routes by April 2020.

“We have put a great effort in decreasing costs for airlines operating in Armenia,” Tatevik Revazian, chair of the Civil Aviation Committee of Armenia, told Reuters.

Wizz Air follows rival RyanAir (LON: RYA) who announced four new twice weekly routes in October, with flights expected to start next month.

Certainly, shareholders of Wizz Air can remain optimistic, and certainly this does give one over rivals in the industry.

While the airline industry gets ever more competitive, it seems that Fastjet (LON: FJET) are struggling to stay afloat. The firm saw its shares crash at the end of November as it considered to sell its Zimbabwe operations.

Despite the apparent increase in passenger figures reported by both firms, it seems that many players in the airline industry are still treading cautiously, and firms may wait for more long term visibility before producing strong results.

Croda International Plc (LON: CRDA) have seen their shares in green after the firm announced a new senior board appointment.

Croda International plc is a British speciality chemicals company based at Snaith in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Shares in Croda jumped 1.31% to 4,940p on Monday morning. 16/12/19 11:35BST.

The FTSE100 listed firm has seen its shares in green, in much similar pattern to the other constituents in the FTSE100 index.

The FTSE100 index has seen a very strong start to the week of trading, as all firms saw their shares climb apart from four.

Noteworthy rises came from come from Glencore plc (LON: GLEN) who hit news headlines after the firm was subject to investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

Shares in Glencore received a 4.07% boost to 234p, making it the biggest riser in the FTSE100. 16/12/19 11:14BST.

Additionally, British American Tobacco and Bunzl plc saw their shares rise drastically by 4.21% and 3.59% respectively.

Croda indirectly hit news headlines a few weeks back, when SkinBioTherapeutics PLC (LON: SBTX) secured an extended agreement with Croda for use in cosmetic applications.

Today, the firm has updated the market about the appointment of John Ramsay as a non-executive director, effective from the start of next year.

The chemicals company also said that Alan Ferguson will step down from his roles as senior non-executive director and audit committee chair from April 23, 2020.

Ramsey will take over as chair of the audit committee and Director Helena Ganczakowski will take on the role of senior independent director. Ganczakowski is currently chair of Croda’s remuneration committee as well as a member of its audit and nomination committees.

On his appointment to board of Croda, Ramsay will become a member of the audit, nomination and remuneration committees.

Chair Anita Frew commented: “John brings with him a wealth of financial, international and sector experience. I am delighted that Helena Ganczakowski is stepping up to become senior independent director. She has extensive board experience and has demonstrated strong leadership of the remuneration committee.”

She added: “Alan Ferguson has made an outstanding contribution to the board, both as audit committee chair and senior non-executive director, and, on behalf of the board and his colleagues, we thank him for all his advice and support and wish him all the best for the future.”

Both parties from Endeavour Mining and Centamin (LON: CEY) have hit news headlines over the last couple weeks, a potential merger deal flirted with headlines.

Centamin have seen a mixed time of financial 2019, and the firm has been confident throughout the year. In October, the FTSE250 listed firm saw its shares dip after the firm saw its output levels decline.

Centamin first saw the approach from Endeavor hit their desks on the 3rd December, where Centamin saw their shares spike on the news.

On December 3, Centamin said that they had rejected the hostile approach from Endeavour Mining.

Centamin PLC on Tuesday said the combination proposal made by Canadian peer Endeavour Mining Corp would provide greater benefit to Endeavour’s shareholders than to its own shareholders and does not reflect the contribution that would made by Centamin to the merged entity.

In a response to the £1.47 billion, all share combination proposal, Centamin said that it is ‘better positioned’ to deliver shareholder returns on a stand alone basis than a combined entity, leading to a unanimous board rejection.

The following day, Centamin gave the market another update on the rejection of the deal.

Centamin said the offer “materially undervalues” the company and it is “better positioned” to deliver shareholder returns on its own rather than teaming up with Endeavour.

In the statement the company Chair Josef El-Raghy said: “The board strongly believes that Endeavour’s proposal significantly increases financial and operating risk without any material benefits to our shareholders. Centamin’s stated strategy has always been to maximise returns for all of its shareholders, having returned approximately USD500 million to shareholders since 2014. In addition, despite numerous requests, Endeavour has refused to enter into a customary non-disclosure agreement to allow the board to further assess the proposal.

Once again, the FTSE250 listed firm pledged to shareholders that they would look to turn business fortunes around and on Friday announced the appointment of a new interim CEO.

Centamin announced the appointment of Jim Rutherford as a non executive director. He currently works at FTSE100 listed Anglo American plc where is a non-executive director.

Today, Endeavour have said that they have made progress with Centamin ahead of the offer deadline.

The merger values Centamin at around £1.47 billion, and Endeavour noted it has made several unsuccessful attempts at engaging with Centamin’s board.

The two have agreed they would both need to conduct due diligence, but Endeavour said the scope and timetable need to be decided. Endeavour has sent its own proposed timetable to Centamin, it noted.

Endeavour stressed it will not make an offer before the December 31 deadline without the recommendation of the Centamin board.

Shares in Centamin trade at 121p (+1.8%). 16/12/19 11:03BST.