MediaZest, the audiovisual solutions provider, has delivered a marked improvement in trading for the six months to 31 March 2026, with management now targeting record revenues for the full year.

Revenue rose to £2.67m from £1.91m a year earlier, lifted by long-term project roll-outs for a roster of well-known names including Arc’teryx, Hyundai, KIA, Lululemon and Pets at Home.

The firm also installed several hundred digital currency boards for First Rate Exchange Services across the UK.

Gross profit climbed £225,000 to £1.35m, although the margin eased to 51% from 59% on a higher mix of lower-margin hardware sales.

EBITDA slipped to £120,000 from £197,000 as a result of investment in the engineering team and systems to handle rising demand, some of it one-off, as well as the seasonally quieter December and January window.

Profit before tax leapt to £754,000 from £56,000 due to a £529,000 interest write-off as part of a debt restructure, alongside other notional accounting gains with no cash impact. The restructuring leaves the remaining debt much reduced and interest-free at period end.

The cash position swung to £350,000 from a £7,000 overdraft, helped by a £215,000 fundraise in February that brought in Dr Graham Cooley as a notable new shareholder.

The reaction in shares on Tuesday was likley driven by a belief that strong trading will continue.

MediaZest expects a strong second half, with further roll-outs for First Rate Exchange Services and fresh wins across the UK and Europe, including Norway, Germany and Denmark.

As a result, the group is aiming to top £5 million of revenue for the first time and to deliver profit before tax above £250,000 for FY26, while continuing to weigh potential “buy and build” acquisitions.

“We are delighted with these results for the six-month period,” said Geoff Robertson, Chief Executive Officer.

“The increase in project revenues is generating profitability in the current year and also building recurring revenue streams for the future. Additionally, substantial improvement in the balance sheet from the debt restructuring and the fundraising puts the Group in an excellent position to continue to grow and invest in client services. 

“The Board continues to evaluate acquisition opportunities on this much stronger base, which is where we believe the Company’s AIM listing provides significant value in helping us deliver further growth and additional value for our shareholders.”

MediaZest shares were 14% higher at the time of writing.

Everyman Media Group, the premium cinema chain, looks set to leave London’s public markets as director-shareholders signal support for the cancellation of its AIM shares.

Everyman’s shares were down 21% at the time of writing on Tuesday.

Three substantial director shareholders, Adam Kaye, Charles Dorfman and Michael Rosehill, who together hold 45.6% of the issued share capital through direct and indirect holdings, have told the Company’s independent and executive directors that they would support the cancellation of trading in its ordinary shares on AIM.

The Everyman board also believes additional shareholders representing around 11.0% of the share capital would back such a move.

With such a level of support for delisting, the board now thinks it appropriate to sound out key stakeholders and reckons it is likely the company will proceed to propose delisting to all shareholders.

Existing support for a delisting means Everyman could be the latest company to leave the dwindling AIM market.

The delisting news comes alongside a healthy trading backdrop.

For the 21 weeks to 28 May, admissions rose 23.1% to 2.2m and revenue climbed 26.5% to £58.5m, with adjusted EBITDA up 45.2% to £9.4m and market share up 80 basis points to 6.7%. The directors expect full-year performance to be marginally ahead of 2025, while noting some uncertainty given the economic backdrop and a Q4 that remains material to the year as a whole.

Gulf Marine Services (LSE: GMS) has confirmed that all vessels temporarily pulled out of one Gulf country amid the recent geopolitical tensions are now back working on the same contracts they left.

The provider of self-propelled, self-elevating support vessels to the offshore energy sector said the return-to-hire has been completed in full. Importantly for investors, GMS is sticking with its 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance of $105 million to $115 million despite first-quarter revenue falling 10% to $38 million.

EBITDA was down 25% during this period, but the group is clearly confident it can make up for it during the rest of the year.

Gulf Marine Services said it is still working through the final financial impact of the disruption in talks with its clients, and has promised a further update in due course.

For now, though, the swift return of the fleet and the held guidance point to a business that has weathered the interruption without lasting damage to its outlook.

Mansour Al Alami, Executive Chairman of GMS, said: “We are very pleased to confirm that the fourth and final evacuated vessel has now returned to hire. This is a significant milestone, and we are encouraged by the positive momentum we are seeing both operationally and on the geopolitical front. The swift and safe return of all four vessels is a testament to the professionalism of our crews and the strength of our client relationships, which have remained robust throughout this period.”

“Looking ahead, we remain confident in the underlying performance of the business and are maintaining our adjusted EBITDA guidance for 2026 in the range of USD 105 million to USD 115 million. We believe GMS is well-positioned to capitalise on the strong demand environment across the Gulf, and we look forward to updating the market further in due course.”

Union Jack Oil (LON: UJO) has received a bid approach from Reabold Resources (LON: RBD). Talks are ongoing about an all-share offer.  Gas projects investor Reabold Resources resources may raise cash from the sale of its 42% stake in Daybreak Oil and Gas to Zenith Energy (LON: ZEN). The Union Jack Oil share price gained 25.4% to 4.2p, while Reabold Resources is unchanged at 88.5p.

Semiconductor wafer manufacturer IQE (LON: IQE) has secured a multi-year Indium Phosphide (InP) epiwafer supply agreement with Tower Semiconductor. The epiwafers will be used in data centre infrastructure. There is a minimum purchase commitment in the first year and minimum volume commitments after that. Tower will also provide a broad worldwide and royalty-free licence for porous silicon patents which have been the subject of an IP dispute between the companies. The share price increased 18.6% to 54.85p.

Acoustic insultation products suppler Autins Group (LON: AUTG) has appointed Nick Dashwood Brown as consultant head of investor relations and refreshed its investor website (www.investormeet.autins.com). The share price recovered 16% to 14.5p.

Quantum Helium (LON: QHE) has confirmed helium-bearing gas, reservoir connectivity and commercial oil production following the Sagebrush-1 extended production test in Colorado. The company has a 90% working interest. Helium concentrations of 2.5% have been confirmed and there is an unexpected oil discovery that could produce up to 40 barrels per day. The share price rose 15.6% to 0.026p.

Tap Global Group (LON: TAP) says that its Tap Earn product, which generates income on cryptocurrency, has more than $5m of assets under management. This has been achieved even though Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been weak. Stablecoin yields have increased to up to 8%. The share price is 12% higher at 1.4p.

Forgent (LON: FORG) has revealed assay results for the maiden field programme at the Green Rocks copper gold project in Western Australia. There were 22 samples reporting more than 5% copper and 25 samples with more than 0.3g/t of gold. Some copper grades are up to 29.4%. A drilling programme is being designed. The share price improved 11.8% to 0.019p.

FALLERS

Oil and gas companies are among the main fallers today following the announcement of an agreement between the US and Iran on ending their war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Empyrean Energy (LON: EME) slipped 13.6% to 0.0475p, Arrow Exploration (LON: AXL) declined 7.41% to 25p, Jadestone Energy (LON: JSE) lost 6.55% to 29.25p, Serica Energy (LON: SQZ) fell 5.34% to 251.6p and Kistos Holdings (LON: KIST) dipped 3.92% to 245p.  

The FTSE 100 leapt higher in early trade on Monday after the US and Iran announced a ceasefire agreement that would see the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

‘Let the oil flow!’ Donald Trump wrote in a social media post announcing the agreement that puts Iran and the US back on the same diplomatic terms they were on before the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran in March. 

At this stage, the war appears to be a failure from the US perspective, with Iran still in possession of what Trump calls a ‘nuclear dust’, which the US claims could be used to make weapons. 

But the objective of capturing the uranium ‘dust’ seems to have taken a back seat to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, as higher oil prices risk economically damaging consequences.

News that oil would start flowing from the Middle East again sent Brent sharply lower, trading at $83.10, down 4.8% for the session.

Lower oil prices translated into higher equity prices, and the FTSE 100 surged in the early minutes of trading before easing back.

“Markets have finally got the news they’ve longed for since the beginning of March as the end of the Iran war is more clearly in sight,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“The framework deal is a major step forward to ending the conflict, although it is still not officially signed and remains light on detail. Markets seem cautiously optimistic there won’t be any setbacks to getting it over the line, albeit investors are aware the narrative can change at the click of a finger. A full celebration is off the cards until the ink is dry on the deal.

“Asian and European markets enjoyed a bounce on the news, but the scale of the advance wasn’t as huge as one might have expected.”

Indeed, the FTSE 100 was clinging on to gains at the time of writing, trading just 0.1% higher.

The lacklustre response to the deal in the FTSE 100 can be attributed to losses in BP and Shell, which weighed on the index, as well as market caution ahead of the Federal Reserve and Bank of England interest rate decisions later this week.

BP and Shell fell 3.6% and 4.3% respectively.

Although oil is now ‘flowing’ from the Middle East, inflation still poses a risk, reflected in tepid gains for housebuilders. Persimmon rose 2.5% and Barratt Redrow 2.4%.

Larger gains came from mining companies that displayed the broader ‘risk on’ sentiment in markets sparked by a successful SpaceX IPO last week.

Fresnillo shot up 7% while Antofagasta added 6%.

Nasdaq futures were pointing to a 2% higher open later today. One would expect the mixed response to the US/Iran deal in London to fade into the background as US trading gets underway.

Seeing Machines (AIM: SEE) has won two fresh automotive programmes in Japan, further boosting its pipeline with tier 1 partners contract..

The advanced computer vision company, which specialises in transport safety, will supply its Driver and Occupant Monitoring System (DMS/OMS) technology to two separate Japanese car makers.

Both awards came through a leading European and Japanese Tier 1 supplier and together carry an estimated initial lifetime value of around US$11 million.

The software will run across multiple vehicle platforms, with production scheduled from 2028. The programmes cover both single and dual camera setups, spanning steering column-mounted and overhead console positions.

Seeing Machines said Japanese manufacturers are increasingly turning to in-cabin sensing to support semi-automated driving and to keep pace with tightening safety rules, including Euro NCAP requirements and other global assessment standards.

That shift is feeding directly into Seeing Machines’ order book and will drive the number of cars on the road using its technology even higher. This has increased by 67% to over 4 million cars in the past half-year.

Paul McGlone, CEO of Seeing Machines, said: “We are delighted to secure these new programs with Japanese automotive manufacturers, further strengthening our position as a global leader in Driver and Occupant Monitoring technology. These awards reflect the growing adoption of advanced in-cabin sensing as OEMs increasingly recognise its value in enhancing safety, meeting regulatory requirements and improving the driving experience.