Avacta Group has raised £10 million through an oversubscribed placing and subscription, issuing 15.87 million new shares at 63p each, a discount of around 9.4% to the previous closing price.

Today’s placing follows another fundraise in October that raised £16 million, also at 63p.

The most recent £10 million fundraising was oversubscribed, with Zeus Capital acting as sole broker and bookrunner. Directors also participated, subscribing for just under 874,000 shares, representing roughly 3.6% of the company’s existing share capital.

The money will be used to fund Avacta’s R&D programmes through to early Q1 2027, with a particular focus on advancing AVA6103 (FAP-Exd), its second clinical programme using the proprietary pre|CISION® tumour-activated drug delivery platform.

Dosing on AVA6103, a peptide drug conjugate based on the potent topoisomerase I inhibitor exatecan, is expected to begin imminently.

The company said the cash runway is designed to take the company beyond the initial Phase 1a data readout for AVA6103, anticipated in late 2026, a milestone the board views as pivotal for commercial discussions.

Avacta is also pressing ahead with Phase 1b expansion cohorts for faridoxorubicin (AVA6000) across three cancer indications — salivary gland cancer, triple negative breast cancer, and soft tissue sarcoma, with additional data from both Phase 1a and 1b expected in the first half of this year.

“The Board’s decision to raise funds enables Avacta to continue to retain 100% ownership of our highly promising programs based on our proprietary pre|CISION®️ technology and provide us with a cash runway into early Q1 2027,” said Christina Coughlin, CEO of Avacta.

“We believe this decision to overwhelmingly be in the long-term interest of shareholders, such is the potential for our proprietary technology.

“The centers are now open for the Phase 1 trial of our second program AVA6103. This financing ensures an extended cash runway, as we move towards the preliminary results from this study in H2 2026, and other important development milestones expected later this year and early in 2027.”

The FTSE 100 fell on Thursday as fears of a drawn-out conflict set in, with conflicting messages from the US and Iran sending stocks lower and oil higher.

Brent Crude was back above $100 at $107 while the FTSE 100 fell more than 1% to 9,970.

Yesterday’s rally was abruptly sold into by traders on Thursday as they attempted to make sense of Iran’s denial of any dialogue with the US, and each side issued peace plans the other was unlikely to accept.

“Investors have eagerly awaited a ceasefire in the Middle East this week but once again there are mixed messages from the US and Iran, leaving markets confused,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

“Momentum has been lost across the main European stock indices and oil has edged higher, meaning it’s still a waiting game.”

Unsurprisingly, most FTSE 100 constituents were down at the time of writing on Thursday, with 3i Group leading the way after its core holding, Action, released softer sales.

3i Group shares were down 9% at the time of writing.

Ex-dividends weighed on the index, with names such as Aviva and Segro losing the right to their upcoming dividend payments.

Miners tumbled as risk-off trade took hold. Anglo American and Antofagasta lost between 4% and 5%. Precious metals miners Fresnillo and Endeavour were down as gold sank 2.5%. Silver was 6% lower.

Banks and housebuilders also resumed their declines.

Next has, on many occasions, been a beacon of light amid challenging conditions, and was so again on Thursday, when it released results that exceeded its own expectations. Next has a habit of under-promising and over-delivering. Pre-tax profits of £1.158bn, up 14.5% compared to last year, were welcomed by investors, and shares rose 5%.

“Next delivered its full-year results in style as pre-tax profit growth of 14.5% edged ahead of its recently upgraded guidance,” said Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“The strong performance was driven by better-than-expected UK sales and continued high double-digit growth in overseas markets. Quality over quantity is what consumers want, leading them to buy slightly fewer, higher-priced, better-quality items. With its wide range of customers, that’s playing into Next’s strengths, helping drive more sales across the board.”

Next shares rose on Thursday after the retailer once again defied the gloom surrounding the UK economy, with international sales growth matching the UK on a cash basis.

Next reported another strong year with group pre-tax profits of £1.158bn, up 14.5%, while earnings per share surged 17%, beating its own guidance by £8m thanks to strong full-price sales in January and better-than-expected clearance rates.

Full-price sales rose 10.9% across the year to January 2026, with total group sales up 10.8% to just over £7bn.

“Next lifted profit guidance five times during its financial year. So, in many ways, today’s results merely confirm what we already knew. International growth, online strength and steady brick-and-mortar sales delivered a 2025/26 ahead of anyone’s expectations,” said Freetrade analyst Duncan Ferris.

International sales produced the strongest growth on a percentage and cash basis, with overseas sales up 35% and contributing £297m in cash growth.

The UK still delivered growth, with domestic sales rising 7% and adding £254m in cash terms. Third-party brands and wholly-owned labels both grew strongly alongside the core NEXT brand.

Looking ahead, Next is guiding for full-price sales growth of 4.5% and pre-tax profit of £1.21bn in the current year, up £8m from its January guidance on the back of the stronger base. But if history is any guide, investors should expect Next to beat these forecasts. They have a form for under-promising and over-delivering.

“Looking to 2026/27, pre-tax profit growth was always likely to simmer from last year’s level. But add a global spike in oil prices, and Next only expects pre-tax profits to grow by 4.5% this year, below market forecasts heading into results,” explained Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“The Middle East accounts for around 6% of the group’s sales, and the conflict is likely to restrict growth in the region. For now, Next assumes three months of disruption, bringing £15mn of additional costs which it’s been able to offset elsewhere in the business. But if the conflict drags beyond this point, we could see higher prices passed on to consumers.”

The retailer returned £839m to shareholders through a combination of dividends, buybacks and its B Share Scheme capital distribution. The company expects to return £500m to shareholders in the year ahead.

Capita has agreed to sell its private sector contact centre business to Inspirit Capital for the nominal sum of £1, as the outsourcing group continues its push to simplify operations and focus on public services and pensions.

The business being sold generated adjusted revenue of £398.1m in 2025 but ran at an adjusted operating loss of £34.9m, including overhead allocations.

Capita shares were over 10% higher on Thursday as investors reacted to the move, which will help streamline the business and reduce costs.

While the headline price is £1, Capita could receive up to £61.5m in contingent consideration, payable in 2027 and 2028, depending on the performance of the divested business and cash availability under the new owner.

The deal is expected to unlock around £40m in annualised savings across 2026 and 2027, at a cash cost of £20m to achieve. Capita says this should deliver roughly 200 basis points of improvement in adjusted operating margin by 2027, against a current margin of 5.2%.

“The sale of the private sector contact centre business further simplifies the Group and will enhance our margin expansion,” said Adolfo Hernandez, Chief Executive Officer, Capita.

“It enables us to focus on Public Service and Pension Solutions and invest in our technology capabilities to improve our differentiation. This will enhance value creation in markets where technology-enabled transformation is accelerating and where Capita has deep expertise and strong demand.”

Strategic Minerals has delivered a major upgrade to its Redmoor tungsten-tin-copper project in Cornwall, with an updated resource estimate showing a 49% increase in tonnage to 17.4 million tonnes.

The new estimate, completed to JORC (2012) standards, grades at 0.65% tungsten trioxide equivalent and contains 85.8 thousand tonnes of tungsten trioxide, 29 thousand tonnes of tin and 76.3 thousand tonnes of copper. There’s also a sizeable silver credit of over 3.2 million ounces.

Investors cheered the update, and Strategic Minerals shares rose 4% on the news.

Compared to the previous 2019 estimate, contained tungsten is up 31%, tin up 55% and copper up 30% — driven by nine new drillholes completed in 2025, the incorporation of historical 1980s drilling data, and a revised geological model that picked up previously unmodelled mineralisation zones.

Perhaps most significantly for project economics, the potential mine life has more than doubled from 12 to 29 years at the production rate used in the 2020 Scoping Study.

The company also reaffirmed Redmoor’s status as Europe’s highest-grade undeveloped tungsten project, at 0.49% WO₃, among CRIRSCO-compliant resources.

Mark Burnett, Strategic Minerals’ Executive Director, said: “The significant increases in tonnages, contained tungsten and other metals, and the inclusion of silver have provided a transformational uplift in Redmoor’s MRE. Importantly, mineable tonnage has increased 2.4 times and presents the potential for a 29-year life of mine, at the 2020 Scoping Study production rates of 600 Kt/pa, as compared with a 12-year life of mine previously. The Company will now rapidly progress to prefeasibility study (“PFS”) to test these new production scenarios and optimise the model.

“Redmoor is Europe’s highest grade, undeveloped, tungsten resource compared to other CRIRSCO-compliant projects, and amongst the highest grade globally. The Company is committed to advancing Redmoor at pace, with today’s results highlighting the contained metal potential of the Project. A fully funded infill drilling campaign to increase resource confidence for the conversion of inferred to indicated mineral resources is commencing and expected to scale up before the summer through the addition of more drill rigs, with the Company fully focussed on the delivery of the PFS work programme.”

Helium One said its Galactica-Pegasus helium development project in Colorado has completed the first stage of its development campaign, with six wells now tied into the Pinon Canyon facility and initial helium sales agreed.

The AIM-listed explorer, which holds a 50% working interest in the project, provided the update following an announcement from operator Blue Star Helium.

The Jackson-2 and Jackson-4 wells have been installed, tested, and integrated into the facility’s gathering system, joining four other wells already connected. The plant has been producing gas intermittently into an on-site tube trailer during a maintenance and optimisation phase and is now transitioning to round-the-clock operations following the completion of automation and system upgrades.

First helium sales have been agreed at spot pricing, with a second tube trailer expected on site shortly. Helium One said they are working towards 24/7 operations soon, which should translate to steady cash flows.

The commencement of helium sales comes at a time when the global helium market is facing structural supply disruptions, particularly from instability in Middle Eastern supply routes, driving up demand for domestically sourced US supply.

Qatar is the second-largest producer of helium after the USA, and regional disruption has spurred predictions that prices will rise to $2,000 per thousand cubic feet if the conflict isn’t resolved soon.

Blue Star is pursuing a mix of spot sales and longer-term offtake contracts with multiple parties to maximise value as production ramps up.

On the CO₂ side, liquefaction remains on track for the first half of 2026. The tie-in of the Jackson-27 well, which has a CO₂ concentration of 98.3%, is being timed to coincide with the start of CO₂ sales, adding a second revenue stream to the project.

Ethernity Networks shares surged on Wednesday after announcing it is generating ongoing revenue from its Tier-1 US defence and aerospace customer, with additional work now expected to bring in between $0.8m and $1.0m across the current financial year.

Ethernity Networks shares were 44% higher at the time of writing.

The AIM-listed data processing semiconductor specialist completed its original $1.3m single-platform licence agreement with the customer back in August 2025 but has continued to pick up paid work through product enhancements.

It has already recognised $0.2m in revenue from the programme during the first quarter of 2026, with the remaining expected to be recognised in 2026FY. The company generated $598,599 revenue in the six months to June 2025. Full-year 2025 results are yet to be released.

Encouragingly, the customer has begun shipping its platform with Ethernity’s IP embedded and is now evaluating an expansion to a second platform. Any additional licence deal would be on top of the revenue guidance already outlined, though discussions are still in the early stages.

David Levi, CEO of Ethernity Networks, said: “This Tier-1 Customer continues to provide both near-term revenue visibility and potential for further platform expansion. The progression from initial deployment to ongoing enhancement work supports our strategy of deepening engagements with high-value customers.”