Greatland Gold, Geopolitics, and Technology Minerals with Alan Green

Alan Green joins the Podcast for our weekly instalment of UK equities and key market themes.

As the Ukrainian-Russia crisis subsides, we look at whether the crisis was ever a real crisis and what it could mean for markets going forward.

With rampant inflation and the uncertainty surrounding a Russian invasion providing what should be the perfect recipe for a flight to the safe haven of gold, we explore what has happened to the yellow metal and why it has barely moved over the past two years and gained only 4% in the past decade.

Greatland Gold has discovered a world-class gold asset in the Haverion project but positive update after positive update has not been enough to see any sustained move in Greatland shares. Why look at what needs to happen to get the Greatland Gold share price moving.

Technology Minerals has received a bullish 7p price target in a research note by Arden Partners. With shares trading at 3.7p, we dig into the business and their circular economy operations.

Register for the UK Investor Magazine Metals & Mining Virtual Investor Conference.

SulNOX reveals plans to help reduce motorsport emissions

SulNOx provides responsible solutions towards the decarbonisation of liquid hydrocarbon fuels and has expanded its mission to the motorsports industry with a strategic partnership.

SulNOx has partnered with the Legends Cars National Championship 2022 with all cars racing in the championship using SulNOx solution to reduce their emissions.

The SulNOx brands and products will also be promoted at the events through a liveried car during the coming season.

“This is our first foray into motorsport, and we are very excited about it. Our products have a huge potential to significantly reduce the environmental impact of the sport, and we hope other parts of the motor racing industry will sit up and take notice,” said Ben Richardson, Chief Executive at SulNOx Group.

SulNOx Green Technology

Despite an EV boom reducing emissions from cars in the developed world, there will continue to be high levels of emissions emitted by countries that can’t quickly afford a shift to electric vehicles, as well as the freight and travel industries.

It will take a monumental effort over decades to markedly reduce emissions across all industries and SulNO is well placed to help companies reach Net Zero targets during this period.

SulNOx is setting about tackling this problem and reducing emissions with additives that emulsify water and increase lubricity and oxygen, therefore making fuel burn cleanly and more efficiently. Their technology also has applications in the food industry.

The company is listed on the AQUIS exchange having floated in 2022.

Average UK house prices reaches £274,000

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The average cost of a house in the UK has reached £274,712 according to the Office for National Statistics.

House prices continue to grow as the cost of a home increased by 0.8% between November and December and 10.8% over the whole year.

Experts are now suggesting the rate of growth is likely to slow over 2022.

“While the scales of supply and demand remain firmly tipped in favour of the nation’s home sellers, there’s a good chance that the high rate of house price growth seen during the pandemic will now subside, replaced by more incremental gains during the year ahead,” said Michael Bruce, CEO and founder of Boomin.

Fuel hits record highs in the UK

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Fuel prices have hit record highs in the UK.

According to the AA, diesel hit 151.57p a litre last week, which is a new record while petrol hit 148.02p a litre.

RAC’s fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “With the oil price teetering on the brink of $100 a barrel and retailers keen to pass on the increase in wholesale fuel quickly, new records could now be set on a daily basis in the coming weeks.”

 “On a positive note, retailer margins – which were the reason drivers paid overly high prices in December and January – have now returned to more normal levels of around 7p a litre.”

Oil prices hit their highest level since 2014 on Monday and reached $95.56 a barrel. Oil prices may continue to rise if the situation in Ukraine continues to worsen.

As well as fuel, other household goods are also soaring as UK inflation is now at a 30-year high of 5.4%. 

Nyetimber posts record sales

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Nyetimer has reported record sales for the past year.

The sparkling wine giant posted a 55% growth in sales. The group is on a positive trajectory and hopes to produce 2m bottles by 2030. Nyetimber growth in Europe surged by 89%.

“Demand for Nyetimber continues to grow not just in the UK but internationally as well,” said Eric Heerema, CEO of Nyetimber.

“It is so satisfying to see the ever-increasing number of enthusiastic consumers appreciating the expertise, hard work and commitment that goes into making each and every bottle of our wine. 

“I am delighted to see Nyetimber, and the industry, continue to grow with such encouraging momentum.”

Cash raised by private companies doubled in 2021

Deal values doubled in 2021, according to the latest report from consultancy Beauhurst. The Deal 2021 covers equity investment in private UK companies, and it says that there was £22.7bn raised in 2022 from 2,679 deals and there are still unannounced deals that could increase the figures.
The combined amounts raised in 2019 and 2020 is only slightly more than the total for 2021. The 2020 figure was boosted by investments by the government’s Future Fund, which was managed by the British Business Bank and closed in January 2021. There was no specific mention of this fund in the 2021 report.
Ther...

LoopUp debt problem

There is no sign of any upturn in trading at cloud-based conferencing services provider LoopUp (LON: LOOP). The 2021 trading outcome was in line with previously downgraded expectations, but cash continues to flow out of the business with bank covenants potentially coming under pressure later this year.
Last year £8.85m was raised at 25p a share, some of which went to finance the acquisition of SyncRTC. That was a one-third discount to the market price at the time, and the price has subsequently slumped to 8.4p, down 4.6p on the day. That values LoopUp at £8.1m.
Last year’s revenues were £19.5m...

FTSE 100 gains on Russia de-escaltion hopes

The FTSE 100 rose on Tuesday as London’s leading index bounced back from heavy selling on Monday sparked by Russia- Ukraine tensions.

Just as Monday’s selling was a consequence of developments in Russia-Ukraine tensions, Tuesday’s rally represented a shift in sentiment after signs of de-escaltion.

The FTSE 100 rose after Russia said they were ordering some troops back to their barracks in stark contrast to event comments from Western officials an attack was imminent. Russia had always maintained they had no intention of invading Ukraine.

The FTSE 100 was 0.74% higher at 7,585 going into the close on Tuesday as European indices also gained.

“Today marks something of a calm after the storm, as the FTSE 100 recovered some ground lost yesterday – when the market saw its biggest losses of 2022 to date,” says AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson.

“The moves higher reflect some modest easing of tensions at the Ukrainian border, with Russian troops apparently returning to base for the time being. Oil prices retreated and shares across Europe were higher as investors breathed a sigh of relief.

“It remains a highly tense and uncertain situation though and the US and UK appear to still be warning of an imminent invasion which would likely create even more pronounced volatility in the markets.”

Evraz was among the top risers after the Russia-focused miner crashed more than 30% on Monday. Evraz shares were 4% stronger but no where near recovering yesterday’s drop.

Mining peer Glencore alway enjoyed the support of investors after it’s announced a rebound in profits for 2021 helped by stronger commodity prices. Earnings per share rose to 38 cents per share compared to a 14 cents per share loss in 2020.

“Against the strong commodity backdrop, and leveraging the unique combination of our transition and energy commodities, along with the global reach and scale of our marketing business, the Group delivered an 84% increase in Adjusted EBITDA to $21.3 billion,” said Glencore’s Chief Executive Officer, Gary Nagle.

“Marketing delivered another robust performance, with Adjusted EBIT up by 11% to $3.7 billion, while multi-year or record high prices for many of our commodities, underpinned the 118% jump in Industrial Adjusted EBITDA to $17.1 billion. Net income attributable to equity holders was $5.0 billion.”

National Milk Records revenue grows as genomics expands

National Milk Records (LON:NMR), the dairy-focused gri-tech information services provider, saw revenue rise 6.1% in 2021 as revenue from their core diary information business rose alongside expansion in recently introduced offerings.

National Milk Records recorded revenues of £11.4m driving a 19% increase in EBITDA to 19.5% to £1.145m.

Through a network of milk-recorders, NMR collects and tests milk and diary for approximately 50% of the UK’s two million cows.

NMR’s core testing business was a central driver behind revenue growth, with revenues from Johne’s testing growing by 8.5% compared to the yer prior.

Genomics revenues rose by 17% while Surveillance revenues, which includes NMR’s surveillance tool for Anti-Microbial Resistance monitoring, rose 23%.

National Milk Records present at the UK Investor Magazine Virtual Conference 8th February

“I’m pleased to present a positive set of results for NMR which begins to demonstrate our emergence from the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic in good health with higher revenues, higher EBITDA, increased levels of investment, no increase in net debt, and higher returns to shareholders. The increase in EBITDA is particularly encouraging as it includes the early stages of the additional investment we are making in our IT team to improve resilience and speed of delivery,” said Andy Warne, Managing Director, National Milk Records.

“In the first half of the year, we continued to invest in line with our strategic plan, focusing on our core services, and pursuing opportunities for step-change. We are enjoying the first revenues from our new genomics facility and are moving closer to the commercial launch of Genocells, a disruptive technology that will enable NMR to target sectors of UK dairy farmers that hadn’t previously adopted NMR’s traditional recording service.”

Glencore posts 84% jump in earnings

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Glencore has posted an 84% jump in earnings thanks to a growth in global commodity prices.

The group announced earnings of $21.3bn compared to 2020 levels.

“In spite of the ongoing challenges of Covid-19, 2021 was an extraordinary year for Glencore, reflecting rising demand for our metals and energy products, record Adjusted EBITDA and the transition to new leadership,” said boss, Gary Nagle.

“Against the strong commodity backdrop, and leveraging the unique combination of our transition and energy commodities, along with the global reach and scale of our marketing business, the Group delivered an 84% increase in Adjusted EBITDA to $21.3 billion.”

“Marketing delivered another robust performance, with Adjusted EBIT up by 11% to $3.7 billion, while multi-year or record high prices for many of our commodities, underpinned the 118% jump in Industrial Adjusted EBITDA to $17.1 billion. Net income attributable to equity holders was $5.0 billion.

Nagle also said that the jump in earnings reduced debt at Glencore and would allow a $4bn payout to shareholders.