Belluscura has received an 89.6p ($1.09, GBP/USD: 1.2164) midpoint valuation from Stonegate Capital in a research note issued last week.

Stonegate Capital used a blended approach to their valuation, encompassing EV/Sales, EV/EBITDA, and BV/Share ratios, and comparing Belluscura to a group of their peers.

The peer group includes Axonics, Inc, Penumbra, Inc, and Glaukos Corporation.

“We are using a comparison analysis to help frame valuation. Given the current stage of the product life cycle we are looking forward to 2025 for our valuation metrics. When comparing Belluscura to its peers we look at it through a EV/Sales, EV/EBITDA, and a BV/Share lenses. By averaging these valuations, we arrive at a valuation range of $0.72 to $1.10, with a midpoint of $1.09.”

Belluscura shares were 2% higher at 27.5p at the time of writing on Monday.

After receiving orders, securing a royalty agreement and announcing further indications of orders totalling $85m, Belluscura has recently announced a funding package including the takeover of TMT Acquisitions, and an equity and convertible loan note issue.

MISSION Group shares tanked on Monday after the marketing company said it now expects full-year profits to be “materially below market expectations,” as challenging trading conditions persist.

The marketing communications group forecasts headline pretax profits of no more than £3.1 million for 2023. This includes £1.2 million in costs from a business to be divested.

MISSION Group shares were down 67% at the time of writing.

The downgraded guidance comes as key clients in consumer, property and automotive sectors reduce or defer ad spending. Recent trading has been “more challenging than anticipated.”

While full year revenue is still expected to grow 8-9%, MISSION has commenced an operational review to cut costs. This includes headcount reductions to benefit 2023 and 2024.

The group also cancelled its 0.87p interim dividend to preserve cash. Net debt jumped to £25.5 million in October from £14.9 million in June.

MISSION remains in talks with NatWest bank regarding a covenant waiver, as higher debt pushes leverage ratios above current limits.

The board said it is “extremely disappointed” by the change in trading. But it believes MISSION is positioned to benefit as markets improve given continued investment in capabilities.

AFC Energy’s next-generation ammonia cracker technology has successfully achieved 99.99% hydrogen from single reactor testing, meeting international standards for fuel cell applications, new test results show.

AFC Energy shares were 4% higher at the time of writing on Monday.

Independent analysis by the UK’s National Physical Laboratory confirmed the hydrogen derived from AFC Energy’s ammonia cracker and purifier contains ammonia at levels below limits in the ISO 14687:2019 standard for fuel cell grade hydrogen.

The results highlight AFC Energy’s ammonia cracking technology can deliver fuel cell grade hydrogen on a modular, scalable basis.

The ability to meet the ISO standard for residual ammonia “parts per billion” in hydrogen is a key milestone for the cracker technology. It demonstrates potential to support growing “ammonia to power” uses in stationary and maritime applications.

Cracking ammonia into hydrogen also enables use for refueling heavy duty hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. This provides an alternative to small scale electrolysis for distributed hydrogen production.

The ammonia cracker converts ammonia into discrete hydrogen and nitrogen molecules. The trace ammonia presence can damage fuel cells if not removed.

Meeting the ISO standard was tested based on individual ammonia cracker reactors. Independent analysis by the UK’s National Physical Laboratory confirmed the residual ammonia results.

The FTSE 100 was set to close lower on Friday and end a week many investors will be pleased to see the back of. The tragedy unfolding in the Middle East and nagging concerns around interest rates have hit sentiment, sending major global equity indices lower.

London’s leading index was down 1.1% at the time of writing on Friday.

Only 16 of the 100 FTSE 100 constituents gained on the week as investors choose to sell cyclical sectors and those exposed to interest rates.

Defensive names were the best performers on the week. However, gains were limited with only one share, Endeavour Mining, gaining more than 2%.

“The FTSE 100 is on track to end the week nearly 2% lower, the result of a challenging period for investors worried about war in the Middle East, interest rates potentially staying higher for longer and mixed messages from large corporates in the US,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

There was little in the way of major corporate news on Friday, with InterContinental Hotels standing out after providing a Q3 trading update.

“InterContinental Hotels echoed the positive sentiment seen earlier this week from Whitbread,” said Russ Mould.

“Hotels are in rude health as demand is strong which enables operators to push up room rates. InterContinental has been busy buying back shares and it looks as if shareholders will get an update next February on future plans to spend surplus cash.

“However, the key sticking point for investors is the rate of growth for revenue per available room, which slowed in the third quarter versus the first-half period.”

InterContinental Hotels was down 3.7% at the time of writing.

Rentokil Initial had another bad session, losing 4%, after issuing a warning on their North American business yesterday.

Ocado was the FTSE 100 worst performer as the food distribution company lost 5%.

On Friday, Australian-listed Lynas Rare Earths, which operates only in Malaysia and Australia, said in a press release that it was temporarily shutting down all of its Malaysian operations as the country’s government continuously expressed concerns over the radiation levels emitted during Lynas’s extraction process.

All of the operations, except for the mixed rare earth carbonate processing plant, are to be shut down temporarily.

During the interim shutdown, the mixed rare earth carbonate processing plant will continue to process a minimal amount of the raw materials.

Lynas shares were flat in Australian trade.

During the shut-down of Malaysian operations, the working crew based in the country will be deployed to Australia, where they can continue to work on a rare-earths processing facility start-up in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.