Audio visual services provider MediaZest (LON: MDZ) moved into profit in the six months to March 2025. Revenues improved from £1.17m to £1.91m, while a loss of £141,000 was turned into a profit of £56,000. Management is confident of a full year profit thanks to project wins. Repaying the invoice discounting facility should save £30,000/year. Acquisitions are being evaluated. The share price jumped 36% to 0.085p.

ActiveOps (LON: AOM) is buying fellow workforce optimisation software provider Enlighten Operational Excellence for £6m, plus two further payments of up to £6m and £4m respectively depending on customer renewals. ActiveOps has net cash of £21m. Annual sales of the Australian company were $15.3m. This deal will double US revenues, which has been a focus of growth, and should enhance 2026-27 earnings by 15% to nearly 3.5p/share. The share price is 9.8% higher at 140p.

Kodal Minerals (LON: KOD) has signed an offtake agreement for the Bougouni lithium project in Southern Mali. This is with Hainan Mining, which owns 51% of the project. It will buy 100% of the product from the DMS processing plant. There will be a floor price. The initial agreement lasts four years. The share price rose 7.84% to 0.275p.

Engineer Amcomri (LON: AMCO) has won a £12.9m contract to supply a developer of renewable energy facilities in 2025 and 2026. Cavendish has upgraded its forecasts for 2025 and 2026 by 4% for each year. This year’s pre-tax profit is expected to by £5.2m. The share price improved 6.9% to a new high of 108.5p, which is 16 times prospective 2026 earnings.

FALLERS

Chemotherapy drug delivery technology developer CRISM Therapeutics (LON: CRTX) is raising £800,000 at 12p/share and a retail offer could raise up to £100,000 more. This will finance the manufacture of a batch of ChemoSeed for evaluation of safety and efficacy in glioblastoma patients in a Phase 2 registration grade clinical trial, plus setting up of clinical trials. The share price slumped 40.5% to 12.5p.

Celadon Pharmaceuticals (LON: CEL) will not report its 2024 results today, so trading in the shares will be suspended on 1 July. Celadon is continuing with plans to leave AIM> The final £250,000 of the May 2024 placing of £2.1m is not going to be received. A further £1m of debt funding has been secured. A proposal has been received for a convertible loan note investment of up to £20m. The share price fell 21.7% to 9p.

Trinidad-focused oil and gas producer Touchstone Exploration Inc (LON: TXP) says that it has still not received £10.3m of the £15.4m raised in a recent placing, including £10m from Portillion Capital Asset Management. The extended deadline for the placing has passed so £5.05m has been raised. The other placing shares have been cancelled. Drilling activity will be deferred. Touchstone is required to raise at least $18m from share issues by the end of 2025 as part of its loan agreement. The share price slipped 21.3% to 15.75p.

MS International (LON: MSI) reported a record pre-tax profit of £20.1m in the year to April 2025, up from £15.7m the previous year. Cash has fallen by around one-third to £27.8m. Delays in contracts in the defence sector mean that the order book has fallen slightly. Defence accounts for 70% of revenues, but delays will hamper this year. Demand for forgings improved in the second half of last year, while the petrol station superstructures business will benefit from redevelopment programmes. The plan is to focus on defence and buyers were sought for the other businesses, but no realistic offer was made. The share price declined 14.3% to 1165p.

The FTSE 100 was marginally lower on Monday as the UK/US trade deal came into force and investors readied themselves for developments in other key trade negotiations.

London’s leading index had started the week higher, but gains turned to minor losses as Monday’s session progressed. The FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at the time of writing.

Canada is thrashing out a deal with the US, making concessions on tech taxes, while Trump has said he’d like the EU to boost spending on US defence products.

Markets are likely to be dictated by trade negotiations in the coming sessions, and there was a very minor sense of nervousness in the UK markets, while US equity markets looked set to break record highs.

“There is a lot going on to influence markets before the summer lull and investors’ animal spirits continue to fuel the equities space,” says Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.

“Investors seem confident trade deals will be struck, geopolitical tensions ease, and a major economic slump is avoided. The big unknown is whether investors are correct or are simply being too complacent.

“Futures prices imply another robust session for Wall Street when it opens later today, with the S&P 500 indicated to open 0.4% ahead.

“The FTSE 100 was flat in early trading. Investors were tempted back to previously strong areas of the market such as defence and utilities, while pharmaceuticals were out of favour.”

Engineering firms, especially those with a weighting towards defence, are benefiting from a double whammy of optimism around trade and higher defence spending.

Rolls Royce was among the gainers as defence-related stocks continue to march higher after NATO’s pledge to boost defence spending. Rolls Royce shares were 2% higher at the time of writing.

Babcock and BAE Systems were also higher on the session.

UK-centric sectors such as retailers and housebuilders were weaker on the session. Marks and Spencer lost 2%, while Persimmon dropped 1.8%.

Intermediate Capital Group was the FTSE 100 top faller, losing 3%.

Defence technology group Chemring has announced the conditional acquisition of Landguard Systems for up to £20 million. The deal will see Chemring pay £14 million in cash upon completion, with additional earnouts of up to £6 million tied to performance targets.

Landguard, based in Fareham, Hampshire, specialises in software-defined radio systems and security products for defence, government, and law enforcement clients.

The company reported revenues of approximately £7 million in the year ending 31 January 2025.

The acquisition bolsters Chemring’s Roke division with market-leading products and intellectual property and 30 additional specialist engineers.

“The acquisition of Landguard further enhances Roke’s significant operational capabilities and is further evidence of Chemring delivering its strategy of delivering growth through a combination of organic investment and bolt-on acquisitions in high-priority defence and national security markets,” said Michael Ord, Chief Executive of Chemring.

Landguard’s current owner-managers are expected to remain with the company following completion.

Chemring said that the combination of Roke’s cyber and electromagnetic activities expertise with Landguard’s modular technologies will create what the company describes as a “unique UK sovereign portfolio” of defence and security capabilities. The group will hope that they are beneficiaries of the UK government’s defence spending boost.

Landguard’s systems enable customers to protect critical operational assets through high-performance tracking products operating across satellite communications and cellular networks. The company also produces software-defined radio transceivers that provide flexible, reprogrammable capabilities, incorporating the latest interoperability standards.

Chemring recently announced a 25% increase in its orderbook, and the Languard deal will add a further £300m sales pipeline to the group.

Aquis-listed e-waste recycler Majestic Corporation is building a head of steam. Revenues surged and EPS jumped in 2024 as the company continued expanding its circular economy recycling operations through organic growth and an acquisition.

MCJ shares recently hit all-time highs following the release of preliminary 2024 results, and final results underscore the progress the Wales-based company is making.

The company returns valuable critical minerals and precious metals, including copper, graphene, gold, platinum, and nickel, back to the supply chain through extensive global recycling operations.

Majestic processes discarded e-waste such as mobile phones, laptops, data centre chip boards, batteries, catalytic converters, and solar panels.

The UK produces around 2 million tonnes of e-waste per year alone, representing a huge opportunity for Majestic.

Rapidly growing operations propelled MCJ’s revenues 67% higher to US$49.3 million compared to US$29.4 million in the previous year.

Stronger revenues drove a 6% Earnings per share increase to 4.42 cents, up from 4.17 cents in 2023.

Majestic Corporation’s continued growth necessitated the expansion of operational capabilities, leading to the successful acquisition of TeleCycle in the UK, which was completed in early 2025. The strategic move addresses the company’s need for larger operational facilities to support higher volumes of e-waste.

The acquisition is expected to enhance the company’s processing and streamlining capabilities for physical recycling, positioning Majestic for additional future growth while establishing stronger operational foundations.

Majestic said it grew its customer base during the last year, including the addition of several key clients such as large government-linked entities and multinational corporations.

“We’re delighted with Majestic’s progress in FY24 and I’m pleased to report significant revenue growth and increased profits,” said Peter Lai, Chairman, CEO and Founder of Majestic Corporation.

“Since 2018, Majestic Corporation’s mission has been clear; to pioneer sustainable resource recovery, reduce reliance on environmentally harmful mining, and drive innovation across critical industries. Through the dedication of our team and partners, we continue to turn that vision into reality. 

“In today’s complex world, our team’s ability to pivot quickly – to localise, to innovate, and to execute – continues to be one of our most valuable assets. Looking forward, we are ready to scale our model globally, unlocking new markets through a combination of organic growth, targeted acquisitions, and strategic partnerships. We look forward to further delivering on our objectives in the year ahead.”