Helix Exploration encounters strong helium concentrations in Montana

Helix Exploration has reported significant helium discoveries within the ‘Montana Helium Fairway’. The company said it had identified elevated helium levels in two key formations during its ongoing drilling operations.

While drilling the Amsden formation at a depth of 3,885 feet, Helix detected helium concentrations an astounding 50 times above background levels. This discovery, coupled with low gamma readings, suggests the presence of a clean reservoir teeming with helium.

As Helix’s Clink #1 well went deeper into the Charles Formation, multiple gas shows from 4,860 feet downwards revealed helium concentrations at a bumper 130 times above the background level.

The company, however, has warned that high levels of helium do not automatically constitute an economically viable resource, and further evaluation is required.

As drilling continues, Helix Exploration remains focused on reaching its primary target in the Flathead Formation, approximately 7,410 feet below the surface. With a planned total depth of around 8,000 feet, the company reports that operations are progressing smoothly and on schedule.

When the drilling is complete, Helix will progress to wireline logging to evaluate the project further before a discovery can be confirmed.

Helium is used in a wide range of industrial and medical applications and has experienced shortages in recent years, although there have been reports the supply shortage has rectified itself through 2024.

Director deals: Latest disappointing trading statement is a buying opportunity

Gooch & Housego (LON: GHH) published another disappointing trading statement last week. Following the trading statement, Elaine Sullivan, who is associated with chairman Gary Bullard, acquired 2,000 shares at 456p each and 5,000 shares at 463p each.
That takes Gary Bullard’s stake to 54,200 shares. Previous purchases earlier in the year were at higher prices.
Odyssean Investment Trust increased its stake from 10.1% to 11.1%, while Canaccord Genuity reduced its shareholding from 6.2% to 4.9%.
Business
Gooch & Housego says destocking is coming to an end, but delays in business mean that ...

Opportunities in contextual advertising

It sems to have been talked about for years, but it appears that third-party cookies are going to be a thing of the past in the near future. This will make it more difficult to collate data to enable the personalisation of advertising. It means that advertisers will look for other ways of gaining value for money from their advertising spending.
Third-party cookies are used to track users over different websites to form an understanding of their online behaviour and interests. This information is sent to a server to analyse the data and monitor the success of campaigns.
Some organisations have ...

Aquis weekly movers: ProBiotix Health China deal

ProBiotix Health (LON: PBX) has secured a commercial agreement for InstaMelt with DanCare Health. InstaMelt is a food supplement dosage format that offers innovative features for health brands. DanCare will launch the supplement in China in the fourth quarter under its own brand. The share price jumped by three-fifths to 4p.

Fenikso (LON: FNK) has invested up to $250,000 in a six-month secured convertible loan note issued by AIM-quoted Coro Energy (LON: CORO). This loan provides an annualised coupon of 40%. The loan is secured on the shares of Coro Asia Renewables, which owns renewable assets in the Philippines. Fenikso has more than $5m in cash left in the bank. The share price rose 18.7% to 1.425p.

Phoenix Digital Assets (LON: PNIX) is buying back up to 140 million shares and it can spend up to £7.5m. The programme lasts until 23 July. So far, nearly £10,000 has been spent on 500,000 shares. The share price improved 15.5% to 4.1p.

Ormonde Mining (LON: ORM) has appointed Steve Nicol as a non-executive director. He has been working with the company for many years. The share price edged up 10% to 0.275p.

FALLERS

St Mark Homes (LON: SMAP) shares continue to decline ahead of the departure from Aquis on 2 September. The price fell by one-quarter to 6p.

Valereum (LON: VLRM) is using Fireblocks’ technology as part of its infrastructure. It will enable secure sending and storing of digital assets. The Fireblocks advanced wallet security technology will be integrated in the platform. A subsidiary has been set up in El Salvador. The share price fell 13.7% to 3.15p.

Coinsilium Group (LON: COIN) chief executive Eddy Travia bought 300,000 shares at 1.6p each and executive chairman Malcolm Palle has acquired 300,000 shares at 1.62p each. The share price declined 2.86% to 1.7p.

AIM weekly movers: Artemis Resources talks up discovery

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Artemis Resources (LON: ARV) reports high grade gold in veins at the Titan prospect. As well as significant grades of copper. A 10.4 ounce gold bar has been produced from metal extracted from the Titan prospect. A tenement review of the Carlow project area has led to mapping of further gold veins. These are parts of the Karratha gold project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. This could be a large scale regional discovery. The share price jumped 68.4% to 0.8p.

Medical imaging technology developer IXICO (LON: IXI) says figures for the year to September 2024 will be ahead of expectations. Revenues will be between £5.5m to £5.9m, compared with expectations of £5.2m. Cash levels will improve. A new contract has been won to provide imaging biomarker services for phase 1 / 2 clinical trial for patients with Huntington’s Disease.  The share price is one-third higher at 9.5p.

Kazera Global (LON: KZG) has received certification in South Africa that will enable the Whale Head Minerals project to commence mining of heavy mineral sands in the next few weeks. There are talks with potential off takers. Dr John Wardle has been appointed executive chairman. The share price improved 27.3% to 0.7p.

Orcadian Energy (LON: ORCA) has entered into binding licence agreements for its three new North Sea licences. One of these is the Earlham licence in the UK Southern North Sea, where a farm out deal for the potential gas field is being targeted. The gas could be used to generate power. The share price increased 27.2% to 10.625p.

FALLERS

Cannabis-based medicines developer Celadon Pharmaceuticals (LON: CEL) continues to make progress, but it has not received all the cash from the fundraising earlier this year. An investor that was going to subscribe £1m in four tranches and it has only paid £600,000 so far. This leaves the company short of funds. The expiry date of the £7m committed credit facility provided by a high net worth investor has been extended to 30 November 2025, but an initial attempt to drawdown £1m has led to £100,000 being received and £900,000 being delayed until a property has been sold.  Celadon Pharmaceuticals is in talks with other potential lenders. The company has £49,000 in cash. The share price slumped 47.7% to 27.5p.

Shareholders in semiconductors designer Sondrel (LON: SND) have voted to cancel the admission to AIM on 21 August. The share price dived 43.3% to 1.475p.

Biome Technologies (LON: BIOM) is raising £950,000 at 5p/share and offering retail shareholders the opportunity to invest up to £80,000 more. The same share price will be used for the conversion of £1.28m of convertible loan notes. The cash is required for short-term working capital for the RF division, plus the financing of additional stock for Bioplastics. Allenby expects revenues to improve from £6.98m to £7.82m in 2024, mainly due to Bioplastics, and a reduced loss of £862,000, from £1.2m. The share price declined 41.9% to 12.5p.

Drug discovery company BiVictriX Therapeutics (LON: BVX) believes leaving AIM is the best way of progressing the business. Management believes that the current valuation undervalues the company due to lack of liquidity and becoming a private company will help access to further funding. The share price is hampering partnership discussions. There are plans to appoint JP Jenkins to provide a matched bargains facility. This comes almost exactly three years since the company joined AIM and raised £7.5m at 20p/share. The share price slipped 30.8% to 9p. There were 2.72 million options granted to management at 13p each.

FTSE 100 fails to follow storming US equity session

The FTSE 100 looked set to finish the week with a softer tone despite a sterling session for US equities overnight.

Although London’s leading index was down 0.4% at the time of writing on Friday, it was still up over 1.5% on the week amid a surge in global stocks, driven by the US.

The sheer scale of the rally in US stocks since last Monday’s sell off in terms of value created is almost as breathtaking as the 12% drop in the Nikkei that sparked the global equity rout. 

Very few people would have predicted such a sharp turnaround in global equities after last week’s volatility. Those who did and acted on it have been handsomely rewarded. 

Alas, the majority of the gains have been in US stocks and although the FTSE 100 has rallied, the gains are rather disappointing when compared to the rip-roaring rally experienced in US mega cap names. 

While investors have been filling their boots with AI-related stocks at knock down prices and helping the S&P 500 back to within a few percent of all time highs, the FTSE 100 has meandered along, hardly reacting to promising inflation data and robust GDP growth. 

London’s exposure to China can be blamed for that. Soggy Chinese industrial data took the wind out of the miners’ sails this week and capped gains despite some fairly encouraging updates from Admiral and Entain’s peer Flutter.

On Friday, the losses were broad, yet contained, as a bumper session in the US failed to lift London.

Rightmove was the top faller, down 2%, while miners dragged and housebuilders slipped.

Entain was the top gainer as investor interest in the stock persisted after a strong update from its peer Flutter Enterainment this week.

AIM movers: LungLife AI nearer to commercialisation and Biome Technologies improves balance sheet

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Lung cancer diagnostics developer LungLife AI (LON: LLAI) says that the finalised Local Coverage Determination issued by the Medicare Administrative Contractor Noridian Healthcare Solutions, which has jurisdiction over the company’s California laboratory, enables it to apply for coverage to receive payment. A price of $2,030 has been fixed for each LungLB test. The next step is obtaining coverage from public and private payers. The share price improved 14.3% to 14p.

Commercial property services provider Fletcher King (LON: FLK) increased full year revenues from £3.08m to £3.83m, while pre-tax profit more than trebled to £504,000. The final dividend is trebled to 2.25p/share. There was £3.8m in cash at the end of April 2024. Working on rating appeals helped income to improve. Management says that there are signs of recovery in the commercial property market, particularly at the higher quality end. The share price rose 5.26% to 50p.

Yesterday evening, Zambeef Products (LON: ZAM) says that the Zambian authorities have not bought Chiawa Farm despite media speculation, although it is considering a purchase. If there is a successful offer the market will be informed. The share price moved ahead 4.65% to 5.625p.

SIMEC Atlantis Energy (LON: SAE) has been awarded the Green Economy Mark by the London Stock Exchange. The share price increased 4.65% to 5.625p.

Energy services provider Inspired (LON: INSE) is on course to meet full year forecasts, but it will need to win significant optimisation contracts. The timing of the contracts is uncertain and there should be more information about the progress when the interims are published. There will be no more deferred consideration payable by the end of the year. The ESG and software businesses continue to grow. The share price edged up 1.43% to 71p.

FALLERS

Biome Technologies (LON: BIOM) is raising £950,000 at 5p/share and offering retail shareholders the opportunity to invest up to £80,000 more. The same share price will be used for the conversion of £1.28m of convertible loan notes. The cash is required for short-term working capital for the RF division, plus the financing of additional stock for Bioplastics. Allenby expects revenues to improve from £6.98m to £7.82m in 2024, mainly due to Bioplastics, and a reduced loss of £862,000, from £1.2m. The share price slumped 41.9% to 12.5p.

Diagnostic testing company Abingdon Health (LON: ABDX) completed the acquisition of CS Lifesciences yesterday for up to £3.2m. The company plans to launch a retail offer to shareholders at 9.75p/share. A placing has already raised £5.225m. The share price fell 4.41% to 9.75p.

Berenberg has cut its share price target for ITM Power (LON: ITM) from 60p to 59p. The share price slipped 3.03% to 52.8p.

Windward Ltd – Steering A Course To Early Breakeven And With A Potential For Outperformance – Interims Due Next Tuesday 

Next Tuesday morning (20th August) Windward Ltd (LON:WNWD), a leading Maritime AI company, will announce its Interim Results for the first six months of the current year. 

I would expect it to significantly improve its first-half performance and its prospects, which could be sufficient to boost the current year and future estimates. 

The Business 

Windward is a leading predictive intelligence company, fusing artificial intelligence and maritime expertise to digitalise the global maritime industry. 

The company provides an all-in-one platform to accelerate global trade – a comprehensive tool for risk management and maritime domain awareness. 

Its AI-powered decision support and exception management platform offers a 360° view of the maritime ecosystem and enables stakeholders to make real-time, predictive intelligence-driven decisions to achieve business and operational readiness. 

The AI-powered software solution provides real-time information and insights on major seafaring vessels at sea. 

With advanced technology and extensive industry expertise, it helps organisations to overcome maritime challenges, to predict future events, and to drive success. 

Windward AI leverages proprietary algorithms, customer data and systems to ensure secure, smarter, frictionless global trade decision-making in real-time, on every level from sea to port to warehouse. 

Its Maritime AI supports companies across a number of industries, with over 200 clients ranging from oil supermajors, freight forwarders, and port authorities, to banks, commodity traders, shippers, insurers, and governmental agencies. 

Analyst Views 

There are three analysts following the group – all of whom rate its shares as a Buy. 

The lowest Price Objective is 137p a share, the highest 172p, while the average is 150.7p. 

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets rate the group’s shares as a Buy, with a 137p Price Aim. 

On an adjusted EBITDA basis, the brokers go for the current year to end-December to see a substantial reduction in the group loss to $1.8m ($5.0m loss), on the back of $36.2m ($28.3m) of sales. 

For the 2025 year, they have estimates of $43.4m sales and a positive EBITDA of $0.4m. 

Jumping forward to 2026 they see $52.1m revenue and an adjusted EBITDA of $2.2m. 

In My View 

With some 90% of international trade being carried by sea, it is easily understood why Windward is aiming at the right market and one with so much growth potential. 

It has taken time and money to build up its platforms, but now the group is very close to breaking even, possibly by the end of this year, before starting to ramp up its profitability. 

The £88.65m capitalised group’s shares are currently trading at around the 100p price level, having been up to 125p in late February this year – which I believe is an easy direction in which to aim. 

UK retail sales add to increasingly encouraging economic outlook

UK retail sales for July came in at 0.5%, signalling the underlying health of the UK consumer after a questionable June reading raised fears of a slowdown in activity.

The data adds to a raft of encouraging UK economic data, which suggests that the UK economy is very much on the front foot.

UK GDP rose 0.6% in the second quarter as the economy continued its rebound from a shallow recession late last year. In addition, the latest round of inflation data hinted that the Bank of England would cut rates twice again this year.

The UK economy is far from booming, but it’s much better than the doomsayers would have you believe.

“Retail sales volumes were bang in line with expectations in July, bouncing back from a worse than expected June,” said Wealthclub’s Charlie Huggins.

“Department stores and sports equipment grew particularly strongly, boosted by summer discounts and the European football championship. Online spending was all strong across the board.

“Labour’s landslide election victory, the recent interest rate cut and falling mortgage costs have likely all played their part to support UK consumer spending.

“Overall, the UK economy appears to be chugging along, with little sign that consumers are significantly cutting back. With inflation moderating, paving the way for further interest rate cuts, retailers can look ahead to the rest of the year with a degree of optimism.”

GSK receives Zantac litigation boost

After the Illinois state court recently found GSK not liable for a case of cancer supposedly linked to its Zantac drug, the FTSE 100 pharmaceutical company announced another favourable ruling on Friday in the ongoing litigation against them.

A Florida State Court has ruled to exclude a plaintiffs’ testimony in a case against GSK regarding the alleged link between ranitidine and prostate cancer. The court deemed the expert testimony unreliable, failing to meet the Daubert standard for scientific evidence.

This ruling mirrors a similar decision made in December 2022 by Judge Rosenberg in the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL). In that case, all expert evidence presented by the plaintiffs was rejected, leading to the dismissal of MDL cases alleging various types of cancer, including bladder, esophageal, gastric, liver, and pancreatic.

GSK has announced its intention to seek dismissal of this case following the court’s ruling.

GSK emphasised that this ruling ensures that “unreliable and litigation-driven science” will not be permitted in the courtroom. The company maintains its stance and continues to “defend itself vigorously” against all remaining claims in other jurisdictions.

This latest development marks another victory for GSK in the ongoing litigation surrounding ranitidine, reinforcing the company’s position that the scientific evidence does not support claims of a causal link between the drug and cancer.