Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) Dublin-based budget airline – Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary and a pension scheme connected to him sells 899,893 shares at EUR23.33, worth EUR21.0 million, in Dublin on Tuesday.
Ryanair doesn’t say how many shares O’Leary continues to hold; however he had 44.1 million as of March 31, according to the company’s annual report, a 4.1% stake. O’Leary became CEO of Ryanair in 1994 and group CEO in 2019, having been chief financial officer since 1988. (Alliance News)
Comment: Having sold €21m worth of shares our Micheal can afford not only an infinite amount of carry on luggage, but also as many mouth burning Cheese and Ham Paninis as his heart desires. Although, presumably, the cabin staff would have allowed him to do so even before he cashed in.
Avacta Therapeutics (AVCT), a life sciences company developing next generation peptide drug conjugates (PDC) targeting powerful anti-tumor payloads directly to the tumor, announced that the preliminary results for year ended December 31, 2024 will now be published on June 6, 2025 as the Group’s auditors very recently requested some additional time to finalise their audit work. There is no impact to Avacta’s financial position and cash runway.
Comment: Just a reminder that the audit process is one of the many reasons that most sensible companies would choose not to be listed, the costs of the process notwithstanding, and the fact that most people do not believe the paper audits are printed on anyway for small caps.
New Frontier Minerals (NFM) advised that it has received firm commitments to subscribe for 144,477,270 new fully paid ordinary shares (New Shares) from institutional and sophisticated investors at an issue price of $0.011 per share to raise $1.59m, with strong support from new and existing sophisticated and institutional investors.
Comment: NFM has kind of gone invisible since changing its name from Castillo Copper. But at least the share price has held up, and it has been able to get away a decent fundraise.
[embedpress] https://x.com/Share_Talk/status/1930170921546891288[/embedpress]The Government of Ghana, Tullow Oil (TLW), Kosmos Energy (Kosmos), PetroSA, Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC) and Explorco are pleased to announce that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to extend the West Cape Three Points (WCTP) and Deep Water Tano (DWT) licences to 2040, which cover the Jubilee and TEN fields in Ghana. The MOU includes approval to drill up to 20 additional wells in the Jubilee field, representing investment of up to $2 billion in Ghana over the life of the licences. As a result of the extension the JV partnership expects to realise a material increase in gross 2P reserves.
Comment: For those who might have got the impression that not much goes on in Ghana in the oil and gas industry, we have confirmation that there are plenty of big wigs in the space, and at least for the next 15 years, this will continue to be the case.
European Green Transition (EGT), a company which aims to capitalise on the opportunities created by the green energy transition in Europe, announced its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2024. EGT said “2024 was a foundational year for the business, during which we achieved many significant milestones including EGT’s IPO on the London Stock Exchange, and the successful execution of our low-cost drill programme at the Olserum REE project in Sweden. The work performed at the Olserum REE project has proved the district scale potential for REEs at Olserum and will support the potential sale or partnership of the project.”
Comment: Although EGT went into a decent space, it is certainly not an easy one, and arguably one where investors in the London market are already spoiled for choice. Hence we see founder, and stock market heavyweight Cathal Friel, step up to the plate here.
GenIP (GNIP), a technology business providing Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) solutions to help research organisations and corporations commercialise their innovations, announced its inaugural audited results for the period from incorporation on 23 February 2024 to 31 December 2024. GNIP said “GenIP has made strong progress in the short time since incorporation in February 2024 and listing in October 2024. The Company has secured multiple new orders and contracts for delivery in 2025 and cultivated strong relationships within the technology transfer and innovation community, paving the way for sustained growth.”
Comment: While Bitcoin Treasury has all of a sudden become the new rock and roll, it should actually be the case that companies such as GNIP are flavour of the month and see their respective share prices rocket. This is something which should and could still happen for GNIP, if the company made the right noises to the market.
Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd. (EOG), a leading independent oil and gas exploration company focused on the Atlantic Margin, announced that, further to the Farm-In Agreement announced on 5 June 2024, formal approval has been received from the South Africa Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources for both the Exploration Right and Section 11 transfer. Accordingly, Eco has now secured a 75% Working Interest and full Operatorship of Block 1 offshore South Africa – one of the most strategically positioned assets in the highly prospective Orange Basin.
Comment: If there was a news story which would finally get the long stagnant share price of ECO going, it is what we have been treated to today. Indeed, there has already been a decent basing for the shares from under 10p, and we can expect more from the now fully laden Orange Basin play.
Ocado Group (OCDO) today announced that it has agreed to (i) repurchase £80 million in aggregate principal amount of its 0.875% senior unsecured convertible bonds due 2025 at a purchase price of 97.375% and (ii) to issue via private placement £100 million in aggregate principal amount of newly issued 11% senior unsecured notes due 2030 at par.
Comment: If all companies in the UK had access to the kind of and substance of funding that OCDO has had over the years for its latter day meals on wheels service, no companies in the UK would ever go bust. Sorry, does the company make a profit yet?
CAB Payments (CABP) announced that its subsidiary, Crown Agents Bank Limited has received approvals from The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and The New York State Department of Financial Services to operate a representative office in New York. The New York representative office will act as a regional business hub for CAB, enabling the Group to continue to serve its existing clients while driving new client business in the region. A licensed presence in the United States will also help to build stronger relationships with our US Dollar clearing partners and to further support FX & payment flows from clients across South and Central America.
Comment: Although many people have come and gone looking for CABP to finally be a buy all the way down, to this day it has merely been a value trap / falling knife. What are the odds of the situation being any different after today’s news.
Disclaimer & Declaration of Interest:
The information, investment views, and recommendations in this Zaks Traders Cafe interview are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this interview should be construed as a promotion or solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or referred to or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engage in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the commentator but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. The commentators may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.
