Filtronic secures €7m multi-year contract with leading European aerospace manufacturer

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Filtronic secures €7m multi-year contract with leading European aerospace manufacturer

Filtronic plc has landed a €7 million contract to supply RF assemblies for a major Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation programme.

The three-year deal with a leading European aerospace manufacturer marks another milestone for the UK-based RF solutions specialist after announcing a string of new wins this year, including several with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Filtronic will produce complex RF assemblies in-house, specifically designed for the harsh conditions of the space environment.

The LEO satellite constellation market is experiencing rapid growth as companies race to provide global broadband coverage. Multiple operators are launching thousands of satellites to create these constellations, creating substantial opportunities for specialised suppliers like Filtronic.

“This contract highlights our increasing diversification across customers within the space markets and reflects the trust placed in Filtronic’s capability to deliver at scale for the most demanding space applications,” said Nat Edington, Chief Executive Officer.

“As demand for satellite connectivity continues to grow, this is another milestone in Filtronic’s mission to support the growing satellite market for Non-Terrestrial Networks, Mobile Satellite Services, and Direct-to-Device connectivity.”

AIM movers: OPG Power Ventures buyback and Velocity Composite held back by Airbus 350 production

Andrew Hore
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AIM movers: OPG Power Ventures buyback and Velocity Composite held back by Airbus 350 production

Power generator OPG Power Ventures (LON: OPG) is launching a tender offer of up to 182 million shares at 6.27p/share. This is part of the plan to leave AIM. The proposal will be put to shareholders at a general meeting on 3 December. The share price has rebounded 10.1% to 6p.

Cybersecurity services provider Corero Network Security (LON: CNS) had a better third quarter and the order intake was $7.4m. There was an expanded renewal with the largest customer. The total contract value is $6.8m and only $800,000 is included in the third quarter intake. Full year revenues are still expected to be $24m-$25.5m. The share price increased 7.43% to 9.4p.

Leak detection services provider Water Intelligence (LON: WATR) has increased nine months revenues by 9% to $69.3m and EBITDA is $13.9m. his covers more than 80% of the full year forecast. A further $900,000 has been spent on buying back shares and this will enhance earnings. The share price rose 4.92% to 277p.

Workplace optimisation software provider Checkit (LON: CKT) chief executive Kit Kyte has bought a further 117,646 shares at 17p each. The share price improved 5.88% to 18p.

Grocery distributor Kitwave (LON: KITW) says 12 month figures to October 2025 are in line with the previously downgraded forecasts. The year end is being changed to December. Two depots have been closed and there could be further rationalisation. Gross margins should start to recover following a period of reduced margins to retain customers. The share price recovered 4.61% to 215.5p.

FALLERS

Aerospace composite components manufacturer Velocity Composites (LON: VEL) has been hit by lower than expected Airbus A350 production. This is due to supply chain issues at Airbus. There have also been delays in programme transfers in the US. Dowgate has cut its full year revenues forecast from £23m to £20.7m. This means that the loss would be £900,000. The share price decreased 20.5% to 17.5p.

Union Jack Oil (LON: UJO) has a 53% interest in the Sark well in Oklahoma and a production test failed to identify commercial hydrocarbons. The share price slipped 11.8% to 3.35p.

Mongolia-focused Petro Matad (LON: MATD) says the Gazelle-1 well is producing and the daily production has more than doubled to 350 barrels of oil. Heron-2 could further increase production. The company is in talks with PetroChina to end the withholding of 30% of invoiced sales. Shore maintains the fair value of 6.1p/share. The share price fell 15.9% to 1.325p.

FTSE 100 stablises after US tech selloff

UK Investor Magazine
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FTSE 100 stablises after US tech selloff

The FTSE 100’s defensive attributes were on display on Wednesday after tech shares sent US indices sharply lower overnight.

The S&P 500 closed 1.1% lower, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ sank 2.2%.

US tech names, including Nvidia, Tesla, Micron Technology, Uber, Dell, and Palantir, were all heavily hit by concerns about lofty valuations throughout the sector.

“The AI-investment boom that has fuelled the rally in 2025 has created exceptionally high expectations for continued earnings growth, but recent signs of cooling demand, rising costs, and tighter policy conditions have prompted investors to question whether those valuations are still justified,” said Daniela Hathorn, Senior Market Analyst at Capital.com.

Europe lacks significant exposure to tech shares, especially those that have been bid up to eyewatering valuations, so there was minimal fallout in London on Wednesday.

“Market jitters around US tech stocks might have put investors on the edge of their seats, but yesterday’s sell-off wasn’t severe enough to cause widespread panic,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“A 2% decline in the Nasdaq index and a 10.7% jump in the Vix fear gauge were like a sharp bout of turbulence on a flight – unpleasant, but just for a moment. The fact a major sell-off didn’t occur across the whole of Asian and European markets following Wall Street’s wobble implies that we’re not at the start of the correction many people have feared. Futures prices point to a less dramatic day in the US when trading opens later today.”

The FTSE 100 was trading down around 0.1% at the time of writing, but is less than 1% away from all-time highs.

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners was the FTSE 100’s top riser, up 1.9%, after the drinks firm reaffirmed guidance after steady growth in its European business.

Damian Gammell, Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, said: “2025 continues to be a solid year for CCEP, reflecting our great brands, great people, great execution and strong relationships with our brand partners and customers. We’ve delivered another quarter of volume growth in Europe, despite softer consumer demand. We continue to drive underlying growth in APS, excluding portfolio changes in Australia, and despite macro driven challenges in Indonesia.

Barratt’s was also among the gainers after releasing a trading statement that pointed to resilience amid concerns about the upcoming budget. Shares were 1.7% higher at the time of writing.

Weir Group was the FTSE 100’s top faller, dropping 2.3%, as investors took the release of a Q3 trading update as a cue to book profits. There was nothing overtly negative about their update with guidance maintained.


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Marks & Spencer confirms cyber attack hit to profits

UK Investor Magazine
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Marks & Spencer confirms cyber attack hit to profits

Marks & Spencer has confirmed the cyber attack led to £100m in costs, ravaging the group’s operating profit for the 26-week period ended 27th September.

Operating profit for the period fell to £184.1m from £413.1m in the same period last year despite sales rising 22% to £7.9bn.

The jump in revenue, however, was entirely due to the introduction of Ocado Retail revenue, accounting for around £1.5bn.

Stripping out Ocado Retail, M&S sales were flat. Ocado Retail, incidentally, is still loss-making.

Shares were little changed on Wednesday, with much of the bad news priced in. M&S had previously warned that the cyber attack could cost £300m.

“It had all been going so well at Marks & Spencer,” said Mark Crouch, market analyst for eToro.

“But as chief executive Stuart Machin put it, the first half of this year was “an extraordinary moment in time for M&S”, and that’s putting it mildly. The retailer’s underlying profit slumped 55%, laid low by the fallout from April’s cyberattack that crippled its website and halted online clothing orders for seven weeks. Click-and-collect services were down for nearly four, and food operations weren’t spared either.

“The damage shows most starkly in fashion and home, where profits collapsed by more than 80% to £46.1 million, and sales tumbled 16.4% to just under £1.7 billion.”

“It’s a bitter blow for a brand that had been flying high, finally shaking off its dowdy image and delivering the kind of retail renaissance investors had only dreamed of. That the share price has held up so resiliently is testament to the strength of the turnaround before the hack, but 2025 now looks like a year of what-ifs.”

Wetherspoons sales growth outperforms pub industry average

UK Investor Magazine
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Wetherspoons sales growth outperforms pub industry average

The struggles of the hospitality industry are well-documented. Wetherspoons, however, is outperforming the wider industry and making the best of a bad situation.

In the first 14 weeks of the financial year, like-for-like sales rose 3.7% year-on-year. Bar sales climbed 5.7%, whilst food grew a modest 0.9% and slot machines jumped 8.9%. Hotel room sales fell 6.3%.

Total sales increased 4.2% year-to-date.

“J D Wetherspoon’s sales growth has slowed in the first fourteen weeks of the financial year to 3.7%. At the last check, that number stood at 3.2% for the first nine weeks, so investors should take some comfort in the pub chains continued resilience,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown.

The CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker, which monitors monthly like-for-like sales across multi-site pub and restaurant operators, reported industry sales of 0.2% in September. Investors will take some solace in the fact that Wetherspoon posted 3.4% growth for the same period.

The pub chain has now outperformed the industry tracker for 37 consecutive months.

But, arguably, the most interesting part of today’s trading update was the criticism of the UK government by the Wetherspoons Chairman:

“In our recent annual report, it was stated that a “main lesson of the 1970s (is that) if energy prices go up… inflation results and almost everyone is poorer,” said Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin.

“The point was also made that the proposed development of “standby” nuclear power, for periods when wind and solar energy were unavailable, would require the UK to approximately match France’s 59 nuclear reactors.

“However, the UK has only nine nuclear reactors today, most of which are due to be decommissioned by 2030.

“So far, the logic of the points made in the annual report has not been questioned and more detailed arguments, emphasising the need for wider public debate, are advanced in the most recent edition of Wetherspoon News.

“A second point made in the annual report is the startling fact that none of the chairmen of the mega-successful US technology companies (Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Amazon, Nvidia etc) comply with UK corporate governance guidelines, which include, for example, a ludicrous “nine-year rule”.

“As a matter of common sense, few sensible technology entrepreneurs would envisage a London flotation for this reason alone.

“Perhaps the UK powers-that-be don’t feel we need to try and attract these sorts of companies. However Nvidia, alone, is apparently worth nearly one and a half times the capitalisation of the entire London stock market.

“I have written about the absurdities of corporate governance for many years- for example in this article from 2014. Strangely, almost no one has ever contradicted the points made- yet nothing much has changed either.

“A final and related point concerns wages and taxation. The average price of a pint in pub is about £5.16 and labour is about 35% of the ex-VAT sales price (Mitchells & Butlers 36.2%, FY24), about £1.50 per pint.

“A supermarket pint costs about £1.50 and labour is about 12% of the ex-VAT sales price (Tesco 12.0%, FY24), about £0.15 per pint.

“Therefore, it can be seen that a 10 per cent wage rise will increase the cost of a pint by about 15 pence in a pub versus about 1.5 pence in a supermarket.

“Increased labour costs are, consequently, dramatically widening the pricing differential between pubs and supermarkets, to the anger and consternation of customers. 

“A further widening of the differential results from pubs paying 20% VAT on food sales, whereas supermarkets pay nothing.

“As investment bank Morgan Stanley pointed out in recent research, pubs have lost 50% of their beer volumes to supermarkets since the year 2000- price is surely the main culprit.

“It is important to emphasise the above points since it’s not clear that they are fully appreciated by legislators, economists or the public.

“The company is pleased with the continued sales momentum but is mindful of the Chancellor’s Budget statement later this month and, as a result, is slightly more cautious in its outlook for the remainder of the year.”

Barratt Redrow shakes off budget-induced uncertainty

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Barratt Redrow shakes off budget-induced uncertainty

Barratt Redrow has shaken off concerns about the budget over the past 17 weeks, enjoying increased completions and an increased orderbook.

Although the group pointed to tough market conditions caused by the UK government’s fiscal policies, Barratt completed 3,665 homes in the period to 26 October, up 7.9% year on year.

There were some signs of weakness, however, with weekly private reservations slipping to 0.57 from 0.59. The group is now operating an average of 402 sales outlets, down from 433 previously.

The forward order book stood at 10,669 homes valued at £3.28bn, marginally ahead of last year’s £3.21bn.

Chief Executive David Thomas said the firm remained “uniquely well positioned” with three strong brands and a high-quality land bank. The group is targeting 22,000 completions annually over the medium term.

The integration of Redrow continues to deliver cost benefits. The firm confirmed cost synergies have reached £80m of a £100m target, up from £69m in June.

“Barratt Redrow continues to build on strong foundations, despite pre-Budget uncertainty weighing on the Autumn market for housebuilders,” said Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Nerves about potential incoming changes to taxes, both in the property market and wider economy, have led to a slight slowdown in sales rates over the 17 weeks to 26 October. Helping to ease the pressure, robust house prices and a favourable sales mix have seen the order book swell slightly higher to £3.3 billion. The integration of Redrow is continuing at pace, expected to deliver another £45 million of cost-savings this financial year,”

Barratt Redrow maintained its full-year guidance of 17,200 to 17,800 completions, with around 40% expected in the first half. The company is 60% forward sold for the year.

“Achieving this target relies on normal trading patterns over its financial year, as well as the potential impact from the Chancellor’s Budget later this month,” Chiekrie said.

“With speculation swirling that manifesto-breaking tax rises are on the cards, it could weigh on affordability for house buyers and profits for housebuilders, proving particularly unpopular among the masses.”

Healthcare sector at an inflection point: The investment case for Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust

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Healthcare sector at an inflection point: The investment case for Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust

Investors find the healthcare sector at a potential inflection point. After years of delivering steady and attractive growth driven by several long-term trends, cutting-edge innovation, and favourable market conditions, the industry has recently struggled with poor investor sentiment, weighed down by political uncertainty.

Yet according to the specialist team behind Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust (PCGH), the fortune of the sector may be about to turn. Their trust presents an attractive opportunity for long-term investors willing to look beyond near-term noise.

Despite recent softness in the healthcare sector, deft stock selection and a structure that allows the managers to invest across the full spectrum of healthcare companies means PCGH’s net asset value has grown over 80% since 2017, when the Trust was reconstructed as Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust plc. The sector is now trading at very compelling valuations, well below recent highs.

PCGH benefits from one of the most experienced healthcare investment teams in the industry.  The broader team comprises eight dedicated healthcare specialists with nearly 150 years of combined industry experience, managing £3.5 billion in team assets as of 30th September 2025, invested across all healthcare subsectors and market caps.

Why Healthcare?

First, we must address the question of why investors should consider the Healthcare sector. The Healthcare sector presents a unique opportunity for investors. It’s one of the few sectors that combines defensive characteristics with substantial growth potential, driven by strong demand dynamics and near constant innovation.

Underpinning the favourable characteristics of the sector, global demographics provide a significant tailwind for the industry. The US senior population is expected to climb from approximately 55 million in 2020 to around 83 million by 2050. There is a similar trajectory in Europe which will likely also be observed in many emerging markets in years to come. Aging populations naturally translate to higher demand for treatments, diagnostics, hospital services, and long-term care. 

The sector is supported by innovation that is accelerating with the introduction of AI. Breakthroughs in gene editing, immuno-oncology, precision medicine, and AI-driven diagnostics are transforming how diseases are treated and prevented.

Clinical studies are exploring how newly developed drugs can manage cardiovascular risk, kidney disease, and even Alzheimer’s, while weight-loss drugs continue to capture industry and investor interest.

The explosion of weight loss drugs from companies like Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly has reshaped the pharmaceutical landscape, creating a multi-billion-dollar global market almost overnight. Both companies were held by the Trust as the market developed. Eli Lilly was the top holding as of 30th September 2025.

Beyond weight loss therapies, there is a strong pipeline of new drugs and innovations that will provide future opportunities for the trust and its investors.

The long-term performance of the sector reflects the innovation it produces. Global Healthcare is projected to deliver earnings growth of 7.3% annually between 2007-2026 – comfortably ahead of the MSCI All Country World Index’s 6.5%. This lower earnings volatility is underpinned by those long-term growth drivers, making healthcare an attractive proposition during periods of market uncertainty.

Healthcare is out of favour

Despite these compelling fundamentals, healthcare has been out of favour.

The sector has underperformed significantly. In Q2 2025, the S&P 500 Healthcare Index experienced one of its worst quarters relative to the broader market in recent history –  a performance only comparable to when the Clinton administration threatened sweeping policy changes back in 1993.

This time around, it was again the threat of changes in US policy that drove the sector downwards, but on multiple fronts. Investors grappled with the Trump administration’s announcement of pharmaceutical industry-specific tariffs and the threat of a ‘most favoured nation’ (MFN) drug pricing plan for US government-funded healthcare.

There was also continuing fallout from the controversial appointment of Robert F Kennedy Jr as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

However, the team at Polar Capital believe we have likely hit peak fear, and the sector could be about to turn, highlighting the valuation discount between the sector and the wider market.

Relative valuation

Healthcare’s relative valuation compared to the S&P 500 is in line with lows seen only three times in the past 36 years.

Importantly, the S&P 500 Healthcare Sector’s relative forward P/E ratio has shrunk to levels that historically preceded strong recovery phases. Although this by itself is not a predictor of an imminent rally, such dislocations rarely last for long, especially for a sector the size of the healthcare sector.

Looking at a past dislocation as an example and the 2015 biotech correction, when valuations contracted sharply, the Nasdaq Biotech Index rebounded by more than 60% over the following five years.

Indeed, after two of the previous three major healthcare de-ratings over the past 36 years, a bull market ensued.

Supporting the case for a recovery in the sector, Polar Capital highlights thatHealthcare sector ETF’s have experienced outflows on a rolling 1-year basis for a prolonged period going back to 2023.  They see this as a ‘powerful contrary indicator’.  

In addition to market pricing, the macro environment is showing signs of improvement.

In September, greater detail emerged on Donald Trump’s tariff plans for the sector and MFN pricing issues.

President Trump did as he promised announced a 100% tariff on branded pharmaceutical imports, but crucially, the tariff will not apply to companies building or expanding manufacturing facilities in the US.  Most large pharmaceutical companies have already announced significant investments in US capacity. The UK’s AstraZeneca, for example, plans to invest $50bn in US manufacturing.

More significantly, on the final day of September, the US government and Pfizer reached an agreement adopting MFN pricing for certain channels in exchange for a three-year moratorium on tariffs.

This agreement reflects a willingness on both sides to negotiate in a way that preserves the sector’s ability to invest in innovation.

While uncertainty remains about whether further concessions will be required, we mustn’t underestimate the clarity recent developments give the sector.

Fundamental growth drivers remain firmly intact

Despite all the negativity, the sector is in a strong position with higher utilisation and new product launches being key drivers for growth.

With a few exceptions, the Q2 2025 results season underlined this strength and provided reassurance.

As Gareth Powell, Head of Healthcare at Polar Capital, notes: “Valuations have now been pulled down to such an extent that the potential returns from here for healthcare stocks look extremely compelling. As evidence of this, despite the concerns over US government policy, M&A activity is starting to pick up again.”

Investment approach and strategy

PCGH’s investment objective is straightforward: to generate capital growth by investing in a diversified global portfolio of healthcare stocks.

The Trust invests primarily in listed equities issued by healthcare companies involved in pharmaceuticals, medical services, medical devices, and biotechnology, diversified by geography, industry sub-sector, and investment size.

Healthcare is an extraordinarily diverse and rapidly evolving sector. It is far more complex than simply buying and holding a few large-cap pharmaceutical stocks and this is reflected in PCGH’s approach.

The portfolio structure is designed to balance defensive growth with emerging innovation.This approach allows PCGH to combine the stability and cash generation of established healthcare leaders with exposure to the high-growth potential of smaller innovative companies.

This is a combination difficult to achieve through passive or single-strategy approaches. PCGH’s active closed-ended approach is something that sets them apart from other vehicles and adds an enviable dimension to its proposition.

Six Investment Themes

The team focuses on six key investment themes that they believe will drive returns over the next 5-10 years:

  1. Healthcare Delivery Disruption – Telehealth, robotics, ambulatory surgery centres, and home health are shifting utilisation to lower-cost settings
  2. Innovation – Gene and cell therapy, targeted oncology, novel vaccines, and rare disease treatments addressing high unmet medical needs
  3. Consolidation – M&A activity that is accretive to growth and returns, bringing complementary technologies and pipeline assets
  4. Emerging Markets – Accelerating investment and regulatory flexibility creating strong growth prospects among 5 billion people with increasing wealth
  5. Outsourcing – Contract Research Organisations, manufacturing, and real-world data driving productivity improvements
  6. Prevention – Diagnostics, vaccines, remote monitoring, and co-ordinated care representing the best healthcare strategy

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are being adopted across all these themes to drive efficiencies and superior outcomes.

Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust

In addition to the strength of the portfolio and attractiveness of current healthcare valuations, Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust has another allure in the upcoming tender offer and changes to its charging structure.

The Trust will remove its fixed-life structure and replace it with a rolling five-year tender offer mechanism, starting with an initial 100% tender offer to all shareholders in November, and repeating every five years thereafter.

Other proposals that will benefit investors include removing the performance fee, adopting a tiered management fee structure, and implementing active discount management through share buybacks.

The investment strategy remains unchanged. However, there is a notable tweak to the Trust’s allocation policy that allows up to 30% to be invested in small and mid-cap companies.

Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust presents an opportunity for investors who want to secure the stable and growing cashflows of the world’s largest healthcare firms, but also want to employ the specialist support of managers who have the ability to identify those smaller companies that may well become the world’s next pharma or healthcare giant.

And we believe the timing for the sector couldn’t be much more attractive.

The case for high-quality UK smaller companies with Rights & Issues Investment Trust

UK Investor Magazine
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The case for high-quality UK smaller companies with Rights & Issues Investment Trust

In this episode, we sit down with Matt Cable, Fund Manager at Rights & Issues Investment Trust, to explore his investment strategy and approach to UK smaller companies.

Find out more about the Rights & Issues Investment Trust here.

Matt discusses what sets his fund apart from peers, the practical implications of being style agnostic, and his views on the UK economy and emerging opportunities.

We look at the trust’s dividend and whether its 3% yield is by design or a byproduct of selecting high-quality UK small and mid-cap companies.

We also cover his confidence amid the recent wave of IPOs, allocation themes within the portfolio including recent additions, and what it means to manage a UK smaller company fund in today’s market environment.

Smiths News announces special dividend

Andrew Hore
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Smiths News announces special dividend

Swindon-based newspaper and magazines distributor Smiths News (LON: SNWS) is paying a special dividend of 3p/share on top of the increased final dividend of 3.8p/share. Underlying operating profit was flat at £39.1m, but that was better than expected.

In the year to August 2025, revenues fell 4% to £1.06bn. Cost cutting enabled operating profit to be maintained even though the contribution from newer activities was lower due to increased investment. Lower finance costs meant that pre-tax profit improved from £33.2m to £35.8m. Net cash was £3.3m at the end of August 2025.

The core newspaper and magazines distribution business is likely to continue to decline, although there could be another strong year for collectibles, because of the upcoming men’s football world cup. The rises in cover prices for newspapers and magazines help to partly offset the lower sales of publications. Most of the business for this part of the company is contracted to 2029 or 2030.

The newer activities are still in their early stages, so it will take time for them to become more significant for the group. Trials with Hallmark and other potential clients are progressing. The recycling business is extending its client base outside of the core retail customer base.

The total dividend, excluding the special dividend, is 5.55p/share, up from 5.15p/share in the previous year. The share price rose 2.4p to 65.5p, which means that the ongoing yield is 8.5%.

The current year pre-tax profit forecast has been trimmed slightly to £34.3m, which means that the shares are trading on less than seven times forecast earnings.

AIM movers: Kore Potash formal sale process and URU Metals fundraising for Zeb nickel project

Andrew Hore
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AIM movers: Kore Potash formal sale process and URU Metals fundraising for Zeb nickel project

A trading update from RUA Life Sciences (LON: RUA) for the 18 months to September 2025 shows revenues of £6.2m, of which £5.1m were in the most recent 12 month period. A 12 month loss of £1.2m is expected and that should fall sharply this year. The share price rebounded 8.33% to 13p.

In the year to June 2025, Dotdigital (LON: DOTD) increased revenues 6% to £83.9m, after the loss of a contract, while pre-tax profit was £19m. Net cash is £36m. Canaccord Genuity has edged up its 2025-26 pe-tax profit forecast to £19.9m. Dotdigital is well placed to take advantage of growing marketing spending and use of its AI tools. The share price rose 6.32% to 72.3p.

Potash project developer Kore Potash (LON: KP2) has commenced a formal sale process to enable engagement with parties interested in acquiring the company, which is seeking finance for the Kola potash project. The review may decide that Koe Potash should continue as an independent company rather than being acquired. The share price increased 6.45% to 3.3p.

Aptamer Group (LON: APTA) has gained a new contract with an existing top 5 pharma customer. This the third project and it is to develop Optimer binders against three key drug targets and provide support for assay development. Aptamer retains the IP. Aptamer has a signed total contract value of £1.75m. The share price improved 6.25% to 0.85p.

FALLERS

URU Metals (LON: URU) has raised £1.1m from an oversubscribed placing at 7p/share. This will finance development of the recently awarded mining licence for the Zeb Nickel project in South Africa, including important groundwork to prepare for a drilling programme. The mining right has a 30 year term. The share price fell 9.72% to 8.125p.

Digital media company Catenai (LON: CTAI) has repaid a £100,000 working capital loan and 33.3 million warrants exercisable at 0.3p each were issued to the group of lenders. The share price dipped 8.33% to 0.33p.

Cellbxhealth (LON: CLBX) says experts predict that CTC testing will become routine within five years. They provide distinct and impactful information that is not captured by circulating tumour DNA. Two-fifths of the experts identified Parsortix as the most promising next generation technology. The share price declined 5.88% to 2.4p.

Pulsar Helium Inc (LON: PLSR) has signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Aquis-quoted Oscillate’s subsidiary Quantum Hydrogen, which holds non-hydrocarbon gas rights in Minnesota. The initial 80% will be bought for $400,000 in shares and the other 20% will be acquired in 18 months for an additional $400,000 in shares. The share price decreased 5.68% to 41.5p.

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