Pipehawk Plc (LON: PIP) have said today that strong second half trading have allowed the firm to swing to an annual profit. The Hampshire based underground piping specialist reported a first time company profit, leaving shareholders satisfied after prior loss. The engineering solutions provider said they had swung to a pretax profit of £12,000 in the year to the end of June. This was the first sign of profit since the £502,000 loss faced last year, as revenue climbed by 40% to GBP6.7 million from GBP4.8 million. The second half of the year benefited from a GBP129,000 one-off gain in relation to the reduction of the amount of money that is owed to the vendors of Thomson Engineering Design, Pipehawk explained. Chair Gordon Watt commented “The politicians faffing around with Brexit has undeniably had an effect on this year’s results and to some extent continues to do so. owever, UK business has generally had to move on, and delayed orders have eventually been placed such that we have had a very reasonable second half of the year” PipeHawk said new unit sales in its technology division were flat, although sales in the Middle East and Asia overtook Europe for the first time. Pipehawk have also received a boost from Thomason Engineering Design, a firm which it recently acquired in November 2017, who showed strong trading figures in the second half. Watt also added “The PipeHawk group remains committed to creating sustainable earnings-based growth and focusing on the expansion of its business with forward-looking products and services.One small such acquisition has been made since the year end in Wessex Precision Instruments Ltd, where I expect with synergies and cost savings an early return to its profitability.” Pipehawk added Wessex Precision Instruments to their portfolio earlier this month. With the first show of company profits investors can be optimistic on future returns with stron performance in Pipehawk and its subsidiaries. In the engineering sector updates have been added. IntegraFin (LON: IHP) have seen annual funds rise. Georgia Capital (LON: CGEO) have experienced their share value slip and Nexus (LON: NEXS) have given a positive outlook for shareholders. Currently, shares of Pipehawk are trading at 4.7p seeing a 14.63% rise during Wednesday trading. 23/10/19 14:13BST.  

EOS Scientific’s Ambience CBD is bringing CBD-infused skincare products to the UK high street. The CEO of EOS Scientific said that holistic compounds, like CBD, are “the future of skincare”. The UK’s leading CBD oil testing service, EOS Scientific, has established its brand Ambience CBD as one of the leading CBD providers in the UK. Ambience CBD’s new premium CBD-infused skincare range, named Ambience Apothecary, is available to buy in both Boots and Holland & Barrett. The CBD market is expected to see exponential growth – in the UK, the market is expected to grow three times in value by the end of 2021, amounting to £1.2 billion. In July, Sativa Group opened its first CBD wellness retail store in Bath. The CEO of EOS Scientific, Simon Manthorpe, believes holistic skincare will protect the cosmetics industry. “CBD has had a revolutionary effect on consumer markets in the UK. CBD wasn’t even on the FMCG market five years ago. Now, we’re expecting the market to be worth a whopping £1.2 billion by the end of 2021. CBD-infused skincare has been around for over a year, but investors are only just waking up to the rapid growth within this arena in the cosmetics market,” the CEO of EOS Scientific said. “The launch of our new premium CBD skincare range, Ambience Apothecary, this will allow us to lead the way for businesses looking to take advantage of the growing cosmetics market,” the CEO continued. “The infusion of CBD is particularly important too. Not only is it where our expertise lie, but we have conducted research nationally representative research that showed 40% of Britons will only buy skincare products with natural ingredients and a further 55% of Britons will not buy skincare products if they were aware that they are made with animal products.” “his means that collagen will become far less popular as a base compound for cosmetics, with natural compounds such as CBD becoming far more prevalent in the cosmetics arena. With an increasingly conscious consumer market, holistic compounds such as CBD will prove to be the future of skincare.”

Antofagasta Plc (LON: ANTO) have faced a production disruption after tough political conditions outlined in their third quarter update. Currently, strikers are occurring in Chile which has disrupted the copper production line where Antofagasta generate most of their revenue. The demonstrations have been ongoing, and fifteen people have died as result. Antofagasta joined Santiago in the list of firms who have been affected by this political action. Santiago is the world’s largest copper producer, and has been in a rut with strikers. Antofagasta said that the disruption could cause problems in their supply chain and prevent workers getting to site, with the potential to lower output by about 5,000 tonnes. The union of national copper miners, Codelco were expected to join today’s general strike which would give huge backing to the demonstrations. Antofagasta operates four mines in Chile, with its flagship Los Pelambres project located 240km north-east of the capital. Antofagasta chief executive Ivan Arriagada said: “We delivered another quarter of strong production underpinned by a consistent operating performance, which together with higher grades at some of our operations, contributed to year to date copper volumes of 584,200 tonnes which are 16 per cent higher than the same period in 2018.” Arriagada added that production growth for the whole year was expected to be in line with annual forecasts of 750-790,000 tonnes, with this expected to slip to 725-755,000 tonnes next year. Political demonstrations in Chile have significantly disrupted all business, but particularly mining. However, Antofagasta have remained confident that legislators and unions will be able to meet an agreement to stop the industrial action. The quicker this issue is resolved, the better for Antofagasta and Santiago will be able to restore their supply chains. In the mining sector, there have been updates. Hochschild Mining (LON: HOC) have remained confident after a mixed quarterly update, Centamin (LON: CEY) have remained confident on 2019 revenue and Thor Mining (LON: THR) have issued new shares. Currently, shares of Antofagasta are trading at 872.6p per share, seeing a 1.75% increase across Wednesday trading. 23/10/19 12:51BST.  

Nexus Infrastructure PLC (LON: NEXS) have given investors a confident outlook and that annual profits will be in line with market forecasts. Nexus provide infrastructure services in the housebuilding and commercial sectors, however, said it remains cautious over the ongoing political backdrop. Nexus is not the first industry firm to express their concern amidst Brexit anxiety. Along with Nexus, many British firms have suffered from low consumer confidence in a period of slow business. The AIM listed engineering services provider said divisional revenue in the year ending in September was productive. In this time period, divisional revenue increased year-on-year with Tamdown (Nexus’ civil engineering, infrastructure and concrete frame services arm Tamdown, which counts the bulk of the UK’s biggest housebuilders as customers) achieving high single-digit percentage revenue growth. TriConnex, part of Nexus is expected to deliver strong revenue growth following an increase in the projects secured and acceleration of other projects in the period. eSmart Networks also continues to successfully scale-up, Nexus noted. The Essex based firm said that revenues ended the year at £338.9 million, a 17% year on year increase. This provides the company with “good visibility” of earnings for the year ahead. Mike Morris, chief executive said “I am pleased to report that the group is trading in line with expectations. “The continued growth in our order book provides us with strong visibility of future earnings and gives us confidence in the future,” Low risk investor will be particularly keen on Nexas Infrastructure as Nexus closed their financial books with net cash holdings of £22.6 million, beating the forecast by Numis Securities by £10 million. The fact that in their most recent trading statement, Nexas have given investors a strong outlook is a positive sign. Shareholders can be optimistic for the future, with good performance coming in subsidiary companies as well. In the energy sector, Hurricane Energy (LON: HUR) have exceeded expectations, TomCo Energy Plc (LON: TOM) have reported a H1 loss and Rose Petroleum PLC (LON: ROSE) shares have spiked on loss announcement. Currently, shares of Nexus Infrastructure PLC are trading at 136.5p per share, seeing a 2.63% increase during Wednesday trading.  

Hochschild Mining Plc (LON: HOC) claimed that they would meet their annual guidelines after a mixed third quarterly review. The FTSE250 (INDEXFTSE: MCX) listed mining company said gold production had risen to 81,370 ounces in the three months leading up to September. This figure showed a 9.7% increase compared to the 74,200 ounces produced a year ago. This derived from solid delivery from all of the company’s operating mines, it said, especially San Jose in Chile. However, quarter on quarter gold production fell by 3.3% causing concern for Hochschild shareholders. Looking at silver production, the third quarter showed a positive 2.3% increase to 5.3 million ounces compared to the 5.2 million produced in the 2019 second quarter. Once again, year on year output in silver production fell 8.8% dampening the positive results. Overall year-to-date production was 366,721 gold equivalent ounces and 29.7 million silver equivalent ounces, the second highest nine month total in the company’s history, it said. Hochschild have given investors reassurance by saying that they are on track to meet full year production forecasts of 457,000 ounces of gold production, and 37 million ounces of silver. With respect to prices, Hochschild said average precious metal prices in the third quarter of 2019 were $1,510 per ounce for gold and $18.4 per ounce for silver, higher than $1,187 and $13.7, respectively, a year ago. Chief Executive Ignacio Bustamante commented “”Hochschild has delivered another strong quarter of output including robust contributions at all three of our mines and we remain on track to meet our annual production and cost targets” Bustamante added “We remain confident for the future and are excited by the acquisition of the low-risk Biolantanidos rare earth deposit in Chile which adds diversified optionality to our portfolio although we will retain our core focus on precious metals,” In the mining sector, Centamin (LON: CEY) have experienced a output decline, Serabi Gold Plc (LON: SRB) have shown strong production figures in their third quarter and Kavango Resources Plc (LON: KAV) have seen their shares climb. Shares of Hochschild Mining are trading at 188p per share. 23/10/19 12:05BST.

Getlink (EPA:GET) announced a slight increase in third quarter revenue on Wednesday, in a context hit by uncertainties. Shares in the operator of the Channel Tunnel were down during trading on Wednesday morning. Getlink said that third quarter revenue in 2019 rose to €305.1 million, up only slightly when compared to the same period a year prior. The company added that Eurotunnel Le Shuttle revenue declined by only 2%, amounting to €185.8 million despite a “difficult market”. Rail Network revenue increased by 4% to €83.9 million, Getlink said. The company added that this was driven by dynamic growth in Eurostar traffic, in particular the development of the direct service from London to Amsterdam.

Integrafin Holdings PLC (LON: IHP) reported a rise in funds under direction at the end of the 2019 financial year, but inflows slowed down in comparison. Integrafin held £37.8 billion in funds under direction, 4% higher than the reported £36.35 billion seen at the beginning of the quarter, and 14% higher than than the £33.11 billion reported at the same point last year. Chief Executive Ian Taylor said “”We ended the financial year with a good quarter. If only slightly, inflows were up and outflows were down on the prior quarter. We also learned from Fundscape data that Transact had the highest net inflows of all advised platforms in both of the first two quarters of 2019. These are positive indicators for the coming year” The FTSE250 (INDEXFTSE: MCX) listed organization also run investment Platform Transact, said in its fourth quarter update that net flows were down 9% to £891 million, with inflows shrinking 3% to £1.5 billion, and £584 million in funds flowing out. In July, the group said that it was continuing to bank more funds “despite persistent political and economic uncertainties” which had slowed net flows. In the interim results to 31st March 2019, the outlook looked positive for IntegraFin. Taylor said in this report “We are pleased to announce a solid set of results for the first half of the year. Despite the backdrop of political uncertainty and stock market volatility, Transact has maintained strong positive H1 net inflows. We remain confident we are well placed to sustain growth as we move into the second half of the year. The Board has declared a first interim dividend in respect of the six months to 31 March 2019 of 2.6 pence per ordinary share (H1 2018: nil) payable on 21 June 2019 to ordinary shareholders on the register on 31 May 2019. The ex-dividend date will be 30 May 2019.” This is an interesting move by the senior stakeholders, which may seem longer term benefits rather than immediate ones. Elsewhere in investment news, Georgia Capital (LON: CGEO) have seen their shares drop after a fall in net asset value and the London Stock exchange (LON: LSE) has reported strong third quarter performance. Shares of IntegraFin are trading at 369p per share, 23/11/19, 11:46BST.

Angling Direct PLC (LON: ANG) have announced a new CFO in Steven Crowe. The former Aviva plc (LON: AV) Finance finance executive will take the role on January 2nd. Crowe begum his career at PricewaterhouseCooper where he rose to the ranks before taking positions in senior finance at Aviva. Crowe worked at Aviva for ten years, where he worked as director of finance managing business units with £3 billion to £4 billion in turnover. Ian Hunter, the current CFO is set to step down after taking the devision to run his own consultancy business. Angling Direct Chief Executive Darren Bailey said: “The board would like to thank Ian for his significant contribution to the group, helping it through its IPO and establishing the company on AIM. We wish him all the best in his new venture. Bailey added “We are delighted to welcome Steve as chief financial officer of Angling Direct at an exciting time in the group’s development. Steve brings a wealth of financial experience gained in the e-commerce and insurance sectors, particularly in the planning and management of M&A and international growth. We look forward to working with Steve as we continue to deliver our multi-channel growth strategy.” Only last week, Angling Direct announced plans to take over Erics Angling showing an intent to grow and dominate the UK angling market. Crowe joins Angling Direct at a good time as earlier this month, the fishing equipment retailer reported a rise in interim sales and profits and now expects to meet its full-year expectations. In the period to July 31st, the angling titans saw a 15.7% rise in adjusted EBITDA to £1.25 million on sales up 25% to £26.5 million.- Store revenue was up 41.1% to £14 million, when UK online sales rose 16.8% to £9.2 million and in Europe advanced 29% to £2.7 million. In retail news, WH Smith (LON: SMWH) shares have rocketed after a new acquisition, Dunelm (LON: DNLM) faced a crash in their stock price and Laura Ashley (LON: ALY) announced their finance director would leave the company. Currently, Angling Direct shares are trading at 58.p per share. 23/10/19 11:27BST.

Centamin Plc (LON: CEY) is targeting the bottom end of 2019 guidance, following strong October production figures. The FTSE250 (INDEXFTSE: MCX) listed gold miner, which owns the Sukari mine remained confident in their ability to meet guidance figures. Gold production in Q3 was 98,045 ounces, seeing a 17% from the previous quarter and 17% lower than the previous year. Gold sales in this quarter were 108,826 in the third quarter. This saw a 3% fall, but a 2% rise in the prior year. These sales delivered $160.8 million in revenue. For the first nine months of 2019, Centamin has produced 332,141 ounces of gold, 1% lower than a year before. Chief Executive Andrew Pardey said: “This quarter was one of continuing transition. Further key staff changes were made at Sukari as we continue to strive for increased performance in key areas of the operation.The operational leadership team have commenced a comprehensive review, supported by external consultants, across all sections of the mine, including mining methodology and infrastructure.” The company have stated that the Sukari pit has improved grades, with better mining rates at the high grade end. Underground production exceeded targets along with this. Speculating on the final quarter of the year, Centamin are expecting strong cash flows due to improved gold quality and lowered costs, meaning the final dividend will likely be a minimum of 4 US cents. Additionally, Centamin paid an interim dividend four cents this year. This would result in a full year pay out of eight cents. At the Sukari plant, Centamin is looking to develop further. They have plans to build a 30 megawatt solar plant to provide a new power source for mining to reduce carbon emissions, There also have been “excellent” drilling results during the quarter at the mine, which gives investors a positive outlook. In the mining sector, Serabi Gold Plc (LON: SRB) have shown strong production figures in their third quarter. Kavango Resources Plc (LON: KAV) have seen their shares climb and URU Metals Ltd (LON: URU) had a new mining application accepted.

Midatech Pharma PLC (LON: MTPH) have reached a binding agreement with an unnamed institutional investor with takes a £3 million stake, equating to 20% in the firm. The investor, who is yet to be identified will acquire American Depositary Shares (ADS) for one dollar each, or the equivalent of buying the UK stock at 3.9p per share. The firm will also receive warrants to purchase a further 3 million ADS for $1.25 each, or 4.9p per UK share. US firm HC Wainwright is acting as the exclusive placement agent for the offering. Midatech are developing a new range of chemotherapies, and new immuno-therapeutics using its three drug delivery platforms. Only a few days ago, the firm announced their plans to trial a hormone based cancer treatment. Topline results from this study is expected in early 2020. Despite shares being volatile, seniors at Midatech have been confident in their ability to produce results amidst a period of new product development. “We are excited at the prospect of our products progressing in the clinic and making a difference for patients and create value for our shareholders,” the company said alongside interim results. Chief Executive Craig Cook commented on their interim results, ““The first half of this year saw us achieve some important milestones. Alongside a successful fundraise we secured our largest ever licensing partnership for our technology with CMS” Cook added “We have moved our in-house programmes forward and now have a clear, deliverable development plan for our lead product MTD201, together with the exciting potential of our MTX110 programme, with further clinical data expected from both programmes in the near term.” This is an interesting period for Midatech. The unnamed investment will give opportunities for growth and product development but how this is used is a different matter. Elsewhere in the Pharma market RA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RARX) have received a takeover proposal from UBS (EBR: UCB), whilst Tissue Regenix (LON: TRX) have issued warnings of lower revenues, driving share prices down. Currently, shares of Midatech are trading at 5p per share 23/10/2019 10:42BST.