Crypto firm Molde releases results after ‘transformational year’

Liam Roche
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Crypto firm Molde releases results after ‘transformational year’

Molde’s Bitcoin under management grew by 327%

Mode Global Holdings (LON:MODE), the fintech company, on Tuesday confirmed its unaudited results for the six months ended 30 June 2021.

Mode leverages Bitcoin and Open Banking to deliver on its mission, offering people a one-stop
app for growing wealth and spending smarter, as well as providing businesses with a cheaper,
safer and smarter alternative to card payments and boosting loyalty amongst customers.

The crypto firm moved into a gross profit margin of 19% following a H1 2020 gross loss, while its balance sheet had £5.7m cash and liquid assets of £8.3m (FY 2020: £6.2m).

Revenues increased more than twenty-fold to £0.8m (H1 2020: £0.03m) reflecting 3,200% growth in trading volumes and increased payment volumes of Global Services.

Its Bitcoin under management grew by 327%.

Mode successfully completed of a materially oversubscribed placing to raise £6m to support the continued growth of its financial ecosystem.

Ryan Moore, Mode CEO, said: “Our half-year results mark a significant milestone for Mode. 2021 has been a transformational year and, after a successful period of investing in our people and products, we are now moving at pace. We have successfully built a strong platform of regulated and innovative products to drive growth. I continue to be impressed by our team at Mode and their ability to deliver a disruptive financial ecosystem where exchanging value can be seamless for all.”

Low Carbon Innovation Fund 2 invests in Outfield Technologies

Liam Roche
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0
Low Carbon Innovation Fund 2 invests in Outfield Technologies

The investment in Outfield Technologies is part of a £576,000 round that also includes Cambridge Agritech and Amadeus.

Turquoise, the UK merchant bank specialising in energy, environment and efficiency, has announced its 12th deal for the Low Carbon Innovation Fund 2 (LCIF2).

Outfield provides a yield measurement and orchard management system for high value fruit crops.

Its growers on four continents are deploying inexpensive, off-the-shelf, drone systems to quickly survey orchards and gather high resolution images.

Outfield then uses machine learning to analyse this imagery, providing detailed maps of tree condition and fruit loading to help growers visualise and track the parameters in their orchards, informing precision management to increase yields, and sales forecasts to prime the supply chain.

Axel de Mégille, director at Turquoise, commented: “Outfield technology will enable growers to improve yields on their production as well as decrease CO2 emissions associated with the use of chemical fertilisers.  We were impressed by what the Outfield team has built so far and are proud to be part of the next step of their journey.”  

Jim McDougall, Co-Founder of Outfield added: “We are delighted to welcome LCIF2 as an investor in Outfield. This investment will enable us to develop the customer base as well as adding new functionalities to the platform. LCIF2 will also enable us to strengthen our links with local and national government.” 

LCIF2 is funded by European Regional Development Fund, with the UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as the Managing Authority. 

FTSE 100 dips despite oil reaching $80 a barrel

Liam Roche
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FTSE 100 dips despite oil reaching $80 a barrel

The FTSE 100 is down by 0.37% on Tuesday to 7,039 as the price of oil soared.

“Brent Crude smashed through the $80 per barrel level as the energy crisis worsened. While energy shortages are likely to have a negative impact on economic growth, strength in the oil price was good news for Royal Dutch Shell and BP,” says Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

Shell and BP are among the biggest constituents of the FTSE 100 and so their share price performance has considering weighting on the direction of the overall index.

“Their stocks advanced by approximately 2% on Tuesday, making them the top performers after Smiths Group which jumped 3.6% on an update regarding the sale of its medical division,” said Mould.

Despite Shell and BP moving up, it wasn’t enough to lift the FTSE 100 overall as the index was fighting negative movements from miners, pharmaceuticals and financials.

“A firm takeover offer has finally come for robotic process automation group Blue Prism and it’s less than the market anticipated, leading to a near-3% drop in the share price. A bid battle cannot be ruled out as the company admits it has received multiple proposals in recent months and, as we’ve seen with many other takeovers this year, once the first bid is made then other interested parties start to up their game.”

“While considerable investment is required in the business, a would-be suitor taking a long-term view of the sector’s growth prospects might see Blue Prism as a cheaper way to get a foot in the door, given how its US-listed rivals have historically traded on much higher ratings,” says Mould.

FTSE 100 Top Movers

Smiths Group (2.58%), Shell (2.2%) and BP (1.98%) make up the top three during the morning session on Tuesday.

At the other end, Sage Group (-4.33%), Intermediate Capital Group (-3.24%) and Segro (-3.26%), are the bottom three on the FTSE 100.

Card Factory posts strong half-year results but still reports loss

Liam Roche
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0
Card Factory posts strong half-year results but still reports loss

Card Factory optimistic heading into Christmas period despite supply issues

Despite seeing growth in its revenue levels in H1, Card Factory ended up making a loss.

EBITDA grew by 202.6%, climbing as high as £23.6m in the first six months. Revenue surged by 16.3% compared to the year before, getting to £116.9m.

However, despite positive performance, the firm lost £6.5m, meaning its debt came in around £100m.

Darcy Willson-Rymer, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “the delivery of the growth strategy set out in July 2020 – and the broader retail environment itself – has obviously been impacted by Covid-19. However, it is clear that the right way forward is to transition Card Factory from being a store led card retailer into a market leading, omni-channel retailer of cards and gifts.”

Card Factory’s intention is to move towards the complementary gifting and party markets.

The company also confirmed a target of over £600m of sales by FY 2026, with the expectation that approximately 20% of revenue will come from the online store and through retail partnerships.

Nonetheless, Card Factory said it was optimistic about the coming months as it nears the Christmas season, even amid supply chain disruption and labour shortages.

Government to take control of all Southeastern rail services

Liam Roche
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0
Government to take control of all Southeastern rail services

Move follows a breach of franchise agreement

The UK Government is set to take control of Southeastern rail services.

The news comes after a “serious breach” of its franchise agreement according to Grant Shapps, the transport secretary.

After finding evidence that £25m of taxpayer funding had not been declared, Shapps ordered the company to be taken over by the Government’s Operator of Last Resort following an investigation by the Department for Transport.

The transition will begin as of 18 October while the government says it will have no impact on fares or services.

Mr Shapps said: “There is clear, compelling and serious evidence that LSER have breached the trust that is absolutely fundamental to the success of our railways. When trust is broken, we will act decisively.”

“The decision to take control of services makes unequivocally clear that we will not accept anything less from the private sector than a total commitment to their passengers and absolute transparency with taxpayer support.”

Exscientia set to propel Frontier IP NAV

Andrew Hore
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Exscientia set to propel Frontier IP NAV

Frontier IP (LON:FIPP) investee company Exscientia has filed an amended registration statement ahead of a planned Nasdaq listing. If that goes ahead then Frontier IP will have a much more valuable investment than the current portfolio valuation.
Exscientia could account for a significant proportion of Frontier IP’s portfolio of investments, and the total value will substantially exceed the level at the end of 2020. The June 2021 accounts have not been published yet.
Oxford-based Exscientia is a spin-out from the University of Dundee and uses artificial intelligence to help drug discovery. Exsc...

Tip update: Holland deal opens up market for Maestrano

Andrew Hore
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Tip update: Holland deal opens up market for Maestrano

Maestrano (LON: MNO) has secured a partnership with US rail inspection company Holland and this will enable the Cordel platform, that collates and analyses infrastructure geospatial data for rail, access to additional customers in North America.
In just over one month the share price has risen from 12.5p to 14.25p, although the bid/offer spread is 13.5p/15p. It is still early days, but this deal makes it appear even more certain that Maestrano can be profitable in the year to June 2023.
Maestrano already has contracts in the US, but this deal could accelerate expansion in the region. As pointe...

Demand recovers for Medica radiology services

Andrew Hore
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0
Demand recovers for Medica radiology services

Levels of elective surgery are still lower than before the pandemic, but emergency work has recovered at radiology services provider Medica Group (LON: MGP). Volumes continue to recover, and international businesses are contributing.
The recovery and initial contributions from recent acquisitions enabled interim revenues to improve by 56% to £26.4m, while underlying pre-tax profit doubled to £3.98m. Net debt is £35,000 although there is also contingent consideration payable on acquisitions. The interim dividend was raised by 5% to 0.89p a share.
There are two main parts to the UK business. Nig...

New standard listing: Alkemy Capital seeks technology metals buy

Andrew Hore
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0
New standard listing: Alkemy Capital seeks technology metals buy

Alkemy Capital Investments offers investors a team of directors with experience in the minerals sector and of securing deals. The focus is mining and technology metals. In other words, it is another company seeking a project that can supply metals required for battery technology.
Management is the important thing at the moment. Alkemy Capital is less than one year old and there is no trading history. Annual overheads are £179,000 before any acquisition activity occurs.
The company has placed just under 50% of its share capital at 50p a share. The share price started and ended the first day of ...

Trident Royalties share price dips as company posts loss

Liam Roche
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0
Trident Royalties share price dips as company posts loss

Trident Royalties provides update on transactions completed

Trident Royalties on Monday confirmed a loss of $930,000 for the half-year ending in June 2021.

It came in above last year’s loss of $550,000, which was down to a slowdown in activity on the Trident tenement at Koolyanobbing.

Over the six-month period the firm completed on three transactions, amounting to a total of eight royalties.

Trident acquired a 60% interest in a gross revenue royalty over the Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada, USA, of three net smelter royalties over the Pukaqaqa copper project in Chile and a portfolio of four gold royalties over exploration and development stage projects in Western Australia.

Additionally, Trident also provided an update on progress at the Rebecca gold project, which contains over 1.1m ounces of gold and over which it holds a 1.5% net smelter return royalty.

The Trident Royalties share price is down by 2.06% at the time of writing on Monday.

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