Mindflair has announced that Sure Valley Ventures (SVV) led a £1.5 million investment round in AI defense technology company Vizgard, with Midwich Ignite and Focal also participating. The investment comes through SVV’s UK Software Technology Fund.

Mindflair has an investment in Sure Valley Ventures and the fund.

Vizgard, founded in 2021 by former Royal Navy submariner Alex Kehoe, develops AI-enhanced camera systems for defense and public safety through its FortifAI platform. The technology combines computer vision with Deep Learning to provide real-time threat detection and privacy features on commercial processors.

The company has secured contracts with the Ministry of Defence, HMGCC Co-Creation, and a major UK transport organization. Its customer base includes British camera manufacturer Sesanti and multiple police departments. Vizgard is also participating in a £12 million Innovate UK consortium.

Nicholas Lee, Director of Mindflair, explained how the investment fits with their long-term strategy: “We are pleased to see another investment led by SVV, particularly in a company as innovative as Vizgard. This aligns perfectly with our strategy of investing in AI-focused technologies, and we look forward to seeing Vizgard’s growth and its contribution to the sector.”

Immersive technology developer Engage XR (LON: EXR) is unveiling its education offering at the EdTech conference Bett 2025 in London. The package has been developed for kindergarten up to 18 years old. Engage XR will be a partner with Meta for Education. The share price jumped 180% to 1.925p, which is the highest it has been for nine months.

Alaska-focused oil and gas explorer Pantheon Resources (LON: PANR) anticipates a resource upgrade in the Ahpun Eastern Topset area with at least four well tests planned for Megrez-1. The tests will start in the first quarter and should be completed by the end of June. There could be an increase in resources of up to 50% in the four reservoirs, which were estimated at 609 mmbbls prior to drilling. The executive order to proceed with the gas pipeline means that the required infrastructure should be available. The share price increased 28.8% to 50.5p.

Greatland Gold (LON: GGP) says processing plant input is ahead of plan with gold production of 30,000 ounces, which was better than expected, as was copper production of 1,189t. Cash was A$145m at the end of 2024. Guidance for 2025 will be provided in April. The share price improved 9.92% to 6.65p. The recent fundraising was at 4.8p/share.

Risk management software provider KRM22 (LON: KRM) reports annualised recurring revenues were 22% higher at £6.6m at the end of 2024 and since then it has reached £6.8m. The 2024 loss will be lower than expected at around £600,000. Net debt was £4.5m at the end of 2024. The share price rose 9.09% to 30p.

FALLERS

Bars operator The Revel Collective (LON: TRC) had a good Christmas, but it faces higher costs because of the National Living Wage and National Insurance increases. Annualised costs will rise by £4m. This has led to forecasts of larger than expected losses. Like-for-like Christmas revenues were 1.6% higher. Net debt is expected to be £24m at the end of June 2025. The share price slumped 31.3% to 0.275p.

Bradda Head Lithium (LON: BHL) is in a position to hopefully define a maiden NI 43-101 resource for the San Domingo lithium project. Approvals for drilling will help to define a bigger resource. The current lithium carbonate extract estimate is 2.8 million tons. Production via open pit mining is being targeted for early 2027. The share price declined 9.09% to 1.05p.

Quiz (LON: QUIZ) leaves AIM on Thursday. The share price slid 9.09% having been higher earlier in the day.

Mosman Oil & Gas (LON: MSMN) plans to sell its EP (A) 155 rights for A$350,000, including A$300,000 on grant of a licence by the Northern Territory government, and a 2.5% royalty. There is no value put on the asset in the balance sheet. This cash will finance helium exploration in the US. Due diligence is continuing for the acquisition of the Sagebrush oil and helium project, which is already producing. The share price fell 5.36% to 0.0265p.

Mindflair (LON: MFAI) has granted 41.5 million options exercisable at 0.25p each. Two directors and an employee are receiving the options. This compensates for the waiving and reduction of cash remuneration. The share price slipped 4.55% to 1.05p, which is still near the five-month high.

Ariana Resources (LON: AAU) produced 20,900 ounces of gold from its 23.5% owned Zenit mining operations in Turkey. Revenues were $54.7m. Mining is building up at the new Tavsan mine. A resource estimate is expected from Dokwe in Zimbabwe after further drilling analysis. The share price dipped 2.86% to 1.7p.

The FTSE 100’s defensive attributes helped propel the index to fresh intraday highs on Wednesday as investors settled into the new narrative created by Donald Trump’s second term in the White House.

London’s leading index was 0.3% higher at the time of writing after printing all-time intraday highs above 5,580.

Donald Trump seems to be taking a similar approach to his first term by firing off sweeping remarks on possible measures but taking time to implement them, allowing markets to digest and react to changes.

Trump said he would end the war in Ukraine in one day, yet has so far only threatened Russia with the weaponisation of the oil price. This would be a process that could take months, even years, to have its desired effect on the Russian economy and Putin. 

The lack of major economic action by Trump is something of a comfort to markets. The new president has satisfied his base with proposed measures to remove illegal immigrants and close the southern border but has so far held off slapping 20% tariffs on Canada and Mexico. 

This could all change, but for now, Trump’s softer approach is being welcomed by markets.

“Investors are batting away concerns about the impact of President Trump’s policies on the global economy,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“The make up of the FTSE 100 also offers resilience in an uncertain world, with pharma, consumer staples, and utility stocks offering the prospect of stable returns whatever the economic weather. Although Chinese stocks fell back after POTUS pledged to hit China with an extra 10% tariff on goods imported into the US, there are hopes a tit-for-tat retaliation won’t materialise.”

Intermediate Capital Group surged to the top of the FTSE 100 leaderboard after reporting strong capital raising during the last quarter which will set the group up for higher management fees in the years to come. Asset under management rose 5.1% quarter-on-quarter. Intermediate Capital Group shares jumped 6%.

Easyjet was one of the FTSE 100’s biggest casualties after releasing a soft trading statement that raised questions about their outlook.

“EasyJet’s update lacked pizzazz. Saying that current booking trends are ‘supportive’ of full-year market expectations doesn’t exactly instil confidence. It’s woolly language which doesn’t go down well with investors,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“Admittedly the airline is only one quarter into its financial year, but the market needs reassurance that everything is going swimmingly for the business given the fragile economic backdrop and weakening consumer confidence. The fact the share price fell on the update suggests investors are disappointed.”

J D Wetherspoon has reported a 5.1% increase in like-for-like sales for the 25 weeks leading to 19 January 2025, demonstrating resilient performance across most of its business segments.

The company witnessed particularly strong growth in its gaming operations, with slot and fruit machine revenue surging by 11.7%. Food sales showed healthy growth at 5.6%, whilst bar sales rose by 4.5%. However, the hotel division experienced a decline, with room sales falling by 6.5%.

The Christmas period proved especially encouraging for the pub chain, with like-for-like sales climbing 6.1% during the three weeks from 16th December 2024 to 5th January 2025. The second quarter of the financial year maintained momentum with a 4.6% increase in like-for-like sales.

However, while rising sales are an encouraging sign for the group, the Wetherspoon chairman, Tim Martin, took aim at the new Labour government and the impact of their plans to increase national insurance and the VAT treatment of supermarkets compared to pubs will have on the business.

“From 1 April 2025 labour-related costs at Wetherspoon will increase by around £60 million per annum,” Tim Martin said.

“Government-mandated wage increases have a significantly bigger impact on pub and restaurant companies than supermarkets.

“As previously highlighted, supermarkets pay no VAT in respect of food sales, whereas pubs pay 20%. This tax advantage allows supermarkets to subsidise the price of beer they sell.”

In terms of expansion, Wetherspoon has embarked on an ambitious growth strategy, with plans to open nine new establishments this year. The company has already launched two new venues in Marlow, Buckinghamshire and at London Waterloo station. Additional locations are scheduled to open at prominent transport hubs, including London Bridge station and Manchester Airport.

The pub operator is also strengthening its presence in the leisure sector through franchise partnerships with Haven Holiday Parks. Four new franchised establishments are set to open across popular holiday destinations, bringing the total number of franchised venues to seven.

Despite selling six properties during the period, which generated £4.1 million in cash, the company’s total sales grew by 4.0%. The slight difference between total and like-for-like sales growth reflects these property disposals. Wetherspoon currently operates 796 pubs across its estate.

“Wetherspoons have served up a lukewarm trading update this morning after rising food and drink sales during the Christmas period were all but watered down due to the rising cost of operations,” said Mark Crouch, market analyst at eToro.

“Despite coming off the back of a record year, the pub operator is facing significant pressure from increasing expenses which has led Wetherspoons’ chairman, Tim Martin, to publicly call out Sir Keir Starmer in the latest trading update, urging a resolution to the “tax discrepancy” surrounding the 20% VAT on food sales.”

Greatland Gold has revealed an impressive start to its operations at Telfer, with gold equivalent production exceeding expected monthly rates by approximately 33% in its first partial month of ownership.

The mining company, which completed the consolidation of 100% ownership of Telfer and Havieron in December, reported production of 29,864 ounces of gold and 1,189 tonnes of copper, equivalent to 33,882 ounces of gold, during just 27 days of ownership in December.

Operations commenced immediately upon completion of the acquisition, with dual train processing operations resuming on the first day. The company processed 1,466 thousand tonnes of ore during the period, with mining activities yielding 639 thousand tonnes from the West Dome Open Pit and 95 thousand tonnes from Telfer Underground.

“We are really pleased with the start we have made to our ownership of Telfer and Havieron,” Greatland Managing Director, Shaun Day.

“Transforming overnight from an explorer and developer to the owner and operator of Australia’s third largest gold-copper processing operation is a substantial achievement and a credit to the hard work and quality of our team.

“The successful production of 33,882 ounces gold equivalen¹ during Greatland’s ownership in December was an excellent achievement and is testament to our team’s ability to maintain operational discipline whilst in parallel advancing the integration process.”

Greatland is conducting a site-wide mine plan extension review to potentially extend Telfer’s current mine life.

While the December production results are encouraging, the company noted that the period was relatively short and benefited from higher-than-average mill grades compared to the Telfer mine plan.

A more comprehensive assessment of cost metrics, including All In Sustaining Cost (AISC), will be reported for the full March 2025 quarter, along with production and cost guidance for the remainder of FY2025.

Investors will also be pleased to hear that the work on the Havieron Feasibility Study is progressing as planned, with completion targeted for the second half of 2025.

Havieron is Greatland’s flagship asset and one of the most significant gold discoveries of recent times.

The FTSE 100 was trading broadly flat on Tuesday as investors digested the first executive orders by Donald Trump and attempted to gauge the course of action for the first 100 days of his presidency.

London’s leading index had started the day in positive territory and flirted with all-time intraday highs before the rally faded. The FTSE 100 was trading higher by just 2 points at the time of writing.

“Donald Trump is the master of unpredictability. Just as markets think they’ve sussed his next move, he either does something different or nothing at all,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. 

“It only took a few hours into the new presidential term for this situation to arise, hence markets have been up and down like a yo-yo as investors try to separate speculation from fact. 

“The big surprise was a lack of immediate action on trade tariffs as part of Trump’s initial list of executive orders. For someone who has talked repeatedly about wanting American companies to buy American goods and to deter foreign countries from profiting from the US, it was a surprise to see tariffs take a back seat as Trump put his new powers to use.”

The challenge for investors in the early days of Trump 2.0 is working out the extent to which he will deliver on his campaign rhetoric. The implementation of tariffs will have a deep impact on global trade, and there is an argument that markets have already priced tariffs into some markets. This could create an opportunity should Trump hold off on implementing the most damaging measures.

This uncertainty was reflected in UK markets, with roughly half of the FTSE 100 trading positive. Miners were among the losers, offsetting bank gains and some consumer-facing stocks.

Lloyds was the top riser after positive developments in the car finance litigation case investors fear could lead to substantial customer redress.

“The UK government’s backing in the motor finance case is a clear positive for Lloyds, the bank most exposed to the issue, with shares popping 5% as a result,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“By urging the Supreme Court to adopt a fair and measured approach, the Treasury is helping to ease fears of hefty penalties, potentially softening the financial blow for lenders. While Barclays has less exposure and NatWest none, the government’s bank-friendly stance should help lift confidence across the sector.”

BP and Shell were weaker as oil prices fell on reports Donald Trump intends to weaponize the oil price to attack Russia’s economy should they not conform to his demands to end the war in Ukraine.