Kistos Holdings – startup news on its Jotun FPSO in Norway could get these shares running strongly ahead

Mark Watson-Mitchell
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Kistos Holdings – startup news on its Jotun FPSO in Norway could get these shares running strongly ahead

Next Monday Kistos Holdings (LON:KIST) will be holding a ‘virtual’ Annual General Meeting, not just to consider the group’s progress in its 2024 Trading Year, but also to approve a Capital Reduction. 
If approved that would have the effect of creating distributable reserves and provide the company with the ability and flexibility to return capital to its shareholders in future. 
That is, of course, good news for its investors but nowhere near as appealing as the group’s potential for its 10% interest in the Balder Field in the North Sea. 
Big News 
Yesterday the company not...

Greatland Resources readmitted to AIM

Andrew Hore
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Greatland Resources readmitted to AIM

Greatland Gold has been readmitted to AIM under a new holding company called Greatland Resources. (LON: GGP). It is also starting trading on ASX.

There was a consolidation of 20 shares into one new share. The previous closing price was 15.6p, so the consolidated price is 312p. The current share price has risen to 327.5p.

Greatland Resources raised £23.9m at 316p/share (A$6.60/share) in Australia, while a UK retail offer raised £6.69m. Newmont Corporation sold shares and its stake fell from 20.2% to 9.95%.

The core asset is the 100%-owned Havieron high-grade gold copper deposit in Paterson Province in Western Australia. There is also the operating Telfer gold copper mine. There are plans for an integrated Telfer-Havieron mining and processing operation.

AIM movers: Thruvision ends formal sales process but may sell businesses and Aferian turnaround

Andrew Hore
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AIM movers: Thruvision ends formal sales process but may sell businesses and Aferian turnaround

Trafalgar Property Group (LON: TRAF) is in discussions with one of its directors, Paul Elliott, about a potential property transaction. The share price rose 26.3% to 0.06p.

Gunsynd (LON: GUN) has entered into a term sheet with Critical Discoveries for a farm-in agreement for licences over the Barb gold project in Canada. There are 32 mining claims in the Rice Lake greenstone belt. There could be near term gold with drill ready targets. There will be a cash payment of £102,000 plus £13,500 worth of shares. Another £121,500 worth of shares will be issued in three equal instalments over 24 months. A total of £540,000 worth of shares will be issued on achievement of project milestones. The vendor also gets a 2% net smelter royalty. Gunsynd will own 100% of the project. The share price is 19.1% higher at 0.125p.

Video streaming technology developer Aferian (LON: AFRN) expects interim revenues to grow 36% to $16.6m. Growth is coming from existing pay TV customers. This will enable a return to profit with EBITDA between $1.6m and $1.8m. Net debt was $14.2m at the end of May 2025. Refinancing discussions are ongoing. Full year revenues are expected to be one-fifth higher. The share price rose 13.2% to 4.3p.

One Health Group (LON: OHGR) reported a 2% increase in revenues to £28.4m in the year to March 2025. Surgical procedures increased by 14% to 7,043. Underlying pre-tax profit improved £1.3m to £1.9m. A further improvement to £2.3m is expected this year and that does not include any contribution from the proposed surgical hub. The share price increased 8.36% to 188p.

FALLERS

Harvest Minerals (LON: HMI) raised £300,000 at 0.3p/share and every two shares come with a warrant exercisable at 0.6p each. The cash will be spent on rare earths exploration at the Arapua project in Brazil. The share price dipped 26.3% to 0.35p.

Security technology provider Thruvision Group (LON: THRU) has terminated its formal sale process, but it may still sell individual subsidiaries. Recent trading is described as solid and that means that the existing cash reserves could last until September. However, if the potential sales do not close in the next month the cash would only last until the end of July. The share price slipped 11.8% to 0.75p.

Deutsche Bank has changed its recommendation for Uniphar (LON: UPR) from buy to hold. The share price is 3.53% lower at 328p.

Helix Exploration (LON: HEX) has commenced drilling at the Inez#1, the fourth production well at the Rudyard helium project in Montana. A processing plant should be mobilised before the end of July. The share price fell 3.03% to 24p.

FTSE 100 steady after US strikes Iran

UK Investor Magazine
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FTSE 100 steady after US strikes Iran

The FTSE 100 was steady on Monday as investors reacted to US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend that mark a major escalation in the Middle East conflict.

Oil prices rose and equities fell on Monday. However, with Iran yet to respond militarily, the gains in oil were limited, and stock declines were contained. London’s leading index reversed early losses to trade flat at the time of writing.

The big risk for markets is Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of the world’s oil passes. Some analysts have predicted that the closing of the channel between Iran and the UAE would send oil prices above $100.

The US has reportedly asked China to intervene and help prevent Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz. China receives a huge amount of oil from the region and would be hit economically by higher oil prices and supply disruption.

“There is a tense mood on financial markets as investors assess the potential repercussions of the US attack on Iran. Investors had breathed a sigh of relief on Friday as it appeared a two-week window had opened when a diplomatic solution could be pursued, so the weekend’s military action has knocked sentiment,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.

Investors’ major concern is that further escalation will lead to higher oil prices and energy bills that will stoke inflation and weigh further on slowing economies.

“At a time when there were signs that inflation was becoming a little less troublesome, the geopolitical situation has added a slick of fresh uncertainty into the mix, pushing up energy prices.” Streeter said.

BP and Shell were again higher. No surprise there.

Convatec was the top riser after being added to JPMorgan’s ‘positive catalyst watch’. Shares were 2% higher.

Bargain hunters stepped into Berkeley Group after a poor session on Friday, sending shares 1% higher.

JD Sports shares were the FTSE 100 top faller with a 1.7% decline. The threat of higher household bills as a result of rising oil prices will do no favours for retailers that are already contending with tariff uncertainty. JD Sports couldn’t be more exposed to Trump’s tariffs or fluctuations in discretionary spending.

Halfords – the transformation from a cycling and motoring retailer to an ‘omnichannel’ motoring services super-specialist continues, finals due on Wednesday

Mark Watson-Mitchell
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Halfords – the transformation from a cycling and motoring retailer to an ‘omnichannel’ motoring services super-specialist continues, finals due on Wednesday

Since its mid-April Trading Update, the shares of Halfords Group (LON:HFD) have risen over 38%, from 124.20p to 172p currently – the big question asked by investors is whether that rise will be sustained. 
We should get significant indications on Wednesday of this week, 25th June, when the motoring and cycling products retail group reports its Final Results for the 52 weeks to 28th March this year. 
Like nearly all participants in the retail sector, the last couple of years have seen the group suffer significant cost pressures, which have been difficult to cope with and look to recov...

Spectris agrees £3.8bn private equity takeover

UK Investor Magazine
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Spectris agrees £3.8bn private equity takeover

The Spectris board has recommended a £3.8 billion cash takeover by private equity group Advent International.

The offer comprises £37.35 in cash plus a 28p interim dividend. Shareholders will also receive the final dividend for 2024 without any reduction to the cash consideration.

The bid represents a premium of 84.6% to the 2,038p closing price on 6th June 2025, the last trading day before the offer period began. The bid is also an 82.9% premium to the one-month volume-weighted average price of 2,058p.

Spectris shares have traded as low as 1,877p this year.

The deal follows a bidding war involving another private equity group, KKR, which is still circling Spectris and could make a bid.

Spectris have opted to go with the original offer from Advent, which was announced in early June.

Advent’s offer values Spectris at an enterprise value of approximately £4.4 billion, equating to 18.5 times Spectris’ adjusted EBITDA and 21.8 times adjusted EBIT for 2024.

This is a valuation the company would struggle to achieve as a London-listed company, and is yet another example of private equity seeing more value in UK companies than the market is prepared to attribute to them.

Advent highlighted Spectris management’s business repositioning since 2018 as a key driver for their acquisition. Spectris recently said it expected ‘strong progress’ in 2025 despite slow Q1 trading conditions.

Advent has over $91 billion in assets under management with a portfolio of 430 investments across 44 countries.

ITM Power’s hydrogen orderbook continues to grow

UK Investor Magazine
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ITM Power’s hydrogen orderbook continues to grow

ITM Power’s hydrogen project order book continues to grow after the group was awarded a design contract for 120 MW project.

ITM Power has signed a Front-End Engineering Design contract for Uniper’s 120MW Humber H2ub project, which was shortlisted in the UK’s Hydrogen Allocation Round 2.

ITM, selected as the electrolyser supplier in May, will provide six 20MW POSEIDON electrolysis modules for the project, which is scheduled to become operational in 2029 pending final investment approval.

 “The Humber project represents exactly the kind of scale, ambition and strategic alignment the green hydrogen sector needs right now,” said Dennis Schulz, CEO of ITM.

“Signing the FEED contract is not just another milestone – it is a signal that industrial decarbonisation in the UK is moving from concept to reality. ITM’s technology and expertise are at the forefront of that transformation. We look forward to working with Uniper to progress this landmark project through FID.”

ITM Power’s awards for the Humber project comes amid a raft of new wins for the company, including the deployment of two of ITM’s core electrolysis process modules, announced in June, and their selection to deliver a 300MW project in Asia.

ITM Power shares were down 2% at the time of writing.

Small Cap Awards 2025 winners

Andrew Hore
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Small Cap Awards 2025 winners

The 2025 Small Cap Awards were held in London on 19 June. The winners were:

Company of the year

Cohort (LON: CHRT)

Executive director of the year

Andrew Thomis, Cohort

Defence equipment and services provider Cohort says trading in the year to April 2025 was in line with expectations. Pre-tax profit is forecast at £25.6m and it is expected to rise to £34.1m in 2025-26. The order book is worth £230m and provides 80% cover for current year expectations. Net cash was £5m at the end of April 2025 and since then the £8m sale of the transport division has been agreed.

Cohort won a five-year contract with Thales UK to provide waterfront support maintenance and inspections at Royal Navy dockyards.

Acquisitions have also been important when it comes to broadening the product range and increasing exposure to international markets. At the beginning of the year, Cohort completed the acquisition of Australia-based satellite terminals supplier EM Solutions.

Andrew Thomis has been on the board since 2009. Cohort joined AIM in March 2006. The shares have risen by 474% over the past decade.

Aquis company of the year

Oberon Investments (LON: OBE)

Oberon Investments Groupis a broker, wealth manager and investment manager, which also manages the Oberon AIM VCT. Hiring experienced investment mangers and corporate broking people have been taken on and acquisitions have supplemented that growth.  

Earlier this year, Oberon raised £2.5m in an oversubscribed placing at 4.5p/share. The cash will be used to accelerate growth, particularly in the broking business, which is expected to increase revenues by more than 50% in the current year. Mergers among larger broker provide potential to add to clients. There are also opportunities to add further teams of investment and wealth managers.

IPO of the year

Applied Nutrition (LON: APN)

Fully listed Applied Nutrition formulates sports nutrition and health products and manufactures them at Knowsley, Liverpool. The company has been trading for a decade. The UK is the main sales region, but it is an international business. The founder Thomas Ryder continues to lead the business.

There was no new money raised at the time of the flotation on 29 October 2024 because of its strong cash position even after investment in increasing capacity. The introduction price was 140p. Existing shareholders sold 112.5 million shares at 140p each. The indicative price range was 136p to 160p.

The latest interims show better than expected revenues of £47.6m and full year revenues of £100m are expected. There is strong growth in direct to consumer revenues. A full year pre-tax profit of £28.4m is forecast.

ESG of the year

Good Energy (LON: GOOD)

Energy and energy efficiency services provider Good Energy was eligible for this award even though it was taken over. There was a 490p/share recommended bid from Esyasoft. That valued Good Energy at £99.4m.

Starting out as a green electricity supplier, Good Energy moved into energy services, such as Zapmap, which collects data on electric vehicle chargers and provides updated information to drivers, and solar installers.

Transaction of the year

The Property Franchise Group (LON: TPFG)

At the beginning of 2024, The Property Franchise Group merged with its main AIM-quoted franchised lettings and property sales rival Belvoir. Growth has been via acquisitions and organic expansion. Lettings is a resilient market with strong recurring revenues and there is potential for recovery in the sales market.

In 2024, with a contribution from Belvoir, revenues jumped from £27.3m to £67.3m, while underlying pre-tax profit doubled to £22.3m. Even earnings improved from 28.4p/share to 31.4p/share. The dividend was raised from 14p/share to 18p/share. Net debt was £9.1m at the end of 2024.

This year there will be 12 month contribution from the 2024 acquisitions, including Belvoir, and revenues could rise to £82.3m, while pre-tax profit should reach £30m.

Technology company of the year

Filtronic (LON: FTC)

RF components and systems developer Filtronic is increasingly winning business in the space sector, particularly with its partner and warrants holder SpaceX. New orders have led to multiple forecast upgrades over the past year.

Investment in new products has helped Filtronic to grow. There have been recent orders for Cerus32 solid state power amplifier modules. This includes a £24m order from SpaceX.

In the year to May 2025, pre-tax profit is expected to be £14.1m. Currently, the 2025-26 pre-tax profit forecast is £7.85m, but given the record of upgrades it could be much higher.

Dividend hero

MP Evans (LON: MPE)

MP Evans operates oil palm plantations in Indonesia. In 2024, revenues increased from $307.4m to $352.8m, while pre-tax profit jumped from $73.5m to $111.7m. The dividend was raised from 45p/share to 52.5p/share. This continues the record of growing the dividend.

There was a 13% increase is crude palm oil sales prices to $823/tonne, and they are currently $870/tonne. The company’s own production rose, but crop processed was slightly lower at 1.61 million tonnes because less third-party crop was bought in and processed at the six mills.

A 2025 pre-tax profit of $93.3m is forecast, rising to $97.3m in 2026. Net cash could increase from $46.3m to $77.7m the end of 2025. MP Evans has launched a £12m share buyback programme. Up to £2m can be used to purchase shares in the market, while the other £10m can be used in limited circumstances, such as when a large stake comes on the market.

Investor relations success

Concurrent Technologies (LON: CNC)
Ruggedised plug-in cards developer Concurrent Technologies has grown strongly in recent years as the chief executive’s strategy begins to pay off. Miles Adcock has been chief executive for four years.

He reduced the time to develop and launch new products and also moved into supplying systems, which generate higher margins. He also acquired a business in the US to make it easier to supply that market. A new facility is being built in the UK. Defence and aerospace generates 87% of revenues.

There were 22 design wins in 2024 and ten of them have the potential to generate total revenues of $100m over the lifetime of the product they are part of.

Profit initially fell, but it is growing rapidly. In 2024, revenues increased from £31.7m to £40.3m, which is more than double the 2022 figure. Pre-tax profit improved from £3.7m to £5.2m. Net cash was £13.7m at the end of 2024. Revenues of £43m are forecast with pre-tax profit of £6m. Next year, pre-tax profit could improve to £7.7m.

Workplace excellence

MJ Gleeson (LON: GLE)

Analyst of the year

Julie Simmonds – Panmure Liberum

Broker of the year

Cavendish Capital Markets

Lifetime achievement

Alasdair Haynes

Director deals: Cordel chairman buys following trading disappointment

Andrew Hore
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Director deals: Cordel chairman buys following trading disappointment

Transport analytics services provider Cordel (LON: CRDL) chairman Ian Buddery bought 358,150 shares at 6.9655p each following the recent disappointing trading statement. He owns 4.53%. That makes him the fifth largest shareholder
His previous purchase was at the end of June 2023, when he bought 490,000 shares at 7p each.
Executive director Aaron Hoye is the largest shareholder with 12.8%. Prior to the trading statement. Maven Capital Partners raised its shareholding to 7.6%.
Business
Cordel provides SaaS-based rail inspection services using LiDAR (Light Distance and Ranging) technology, as wel...

AIM weekly movers: RC Fornax slumps below placing price

Andrew Hore
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0
AIM weekly movers: RC Fornax slumps below placing price

AI-based services provider to smaller businesses Pri0r1ty Intelligence Group (LON: PR1) has announced a formal Bitcoin treasury management policy. The company can retain Bitcoin, but not other cryptocurrencies. No more than 50% of surplus cash can be retained in Bitcoin. Karen Lewis-Hollis has resigned from the board. The share price jumped 230% to 7.75p.

Tiger Royalties and Investments (LON: TIR) says the recently acquired Tiger Alpha Bittensor Subnet is producing six TAO, Bittensor’s cryptocurrency, after one month. The monthly run rate is equivalent to almost $70,000. TAO has a total market value of $3.4bn. Tao Alpha will manage and accelerate the Tiger subnet infrastructure in return for 20% of the revenues. The share price soared 207% to 0.33p.

There was no new from Active Energy Group (LON: AEG) but there was a spurt of trading late on Friday and 21.5 million shares were traded. There were hardly any shares traded to 1.30pm. This was the largest number of shares traded in one day sine 34.9 million shares were traded when the shares returned from suspension on 18 December 2024. The suspension had lasted since 2 July. The share price rebounded 156% to 0.55p.

Directa Plus (LON: DCTA) chief executive Giulio Cesareo has acquired a further 23,500 shares at 18p each in the graphene products developer. This follows the previous purchases of 25,000 shares at 8.15p and 50,000 shares at 11.25p/share. That takes his stake to 4.21%. Chairman Richard Hickinbotham bought 25,000 shares at 8.17p each.  This sparked a share price rise of 121% to 18.75p. That is the highest the share price has been for nearly one year.

FALLERS

Defence services provider RC Fornax (LON: RCFX) has issued a trading warning weeks after joining AIM. There have been delays in spending due to the Strategic Defence Review. The disruption related to the flotation on AIM is also blamed for a lack of new orders. Co-founder Dan Clark is stepping down. Cavendish has slashed its forecast revenues for the year to August 2025 by nearly two-thirds to £4m, down from £6.5m last year. That means that there will be a £1m loss. The share price had soared from the February 2025 placing place of 32.5p. Chair Mark Fahy, who bought his initial shares in the placing, acquired a further 38,173 shares at 26.95p each. Finance director Rob Shepherd bought an initial 93,000 shares at 26.8p each. The share price slumped 41.7% to 30p, having been as low as 21.5p.

Frasers Group (LON: FRAS) has decided not to make an offer for cosmetics supplier Revolution Beauty (LON: REVB). There is continued engagement with other parties interested in a deal, as well as with shareholders about the alternative of a fundraising. The share price fell by two-fifths to 4.85p, which is just above the all-time low.

Litigation Capital Management (LON: LIT) has lost a case that it co-funded. It invested £3.4m directly and its Fund 1 invested £8.2m. Total realisations for this year are A$55m, which excludes the Queensland Electricity and Quintis claims where there are appeals. Economic conditions mean that marketing for Fund III has been delayed. Cavendish forecast a A$41.7m loss in the year to June 2025. The share price lipped 37.5% to 28.45p.

Karelian Diamond Resources (LON: KDR) is rising £185,000 at 0.75p/share. This will provide cash to help to exploit the recently granted mining concession for the diamond deposit at Lahtojokii in Finland. There will also be spending on further exploration of the historic Cappagh copper mine and the surrounding area. The share price declined 32% to 0.85p.

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