The Guardian: UK unemployment rises and wage growth slows as jobs market ‘weakens’ ONS data shows jobless rate climbing to highest rate since June 2021 with growth in average earnings slowing to 5%.
Comment: A perfect result for the Labour government. People who are out of work are more likely to vote Labour, so that they can get the handouts.
Empyrean Energy (EME), the oil and gas development company with interests in Australia, Indonesia, and the United States, advised that Conrad Asia Energy Ltd, operator of the Mako Gas Field, has signed a Gas Sales Agreement (“GSA”) for the sale and purchase of natural gas from the Mako Gas Field with PT PLN Energi Primer Indonesia (“PLN EPI”), a wholly owned subsidiary of PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero) (“PLN Persero”), which holds a BBB credit rating.
Comment: It must be a once in a lifetime experience to see EME at the top of the risers list, and with a 100% gain to boot. Screenshot it, it will not happen again. But at least it does illustrate that the company’s ship may finally have come in.
Technology Minerals (TM1), the first UK listed company focused on creating a sustainable circular economy for battery metals, announce that its 48.35% owned battery recycling business, Recyclus Group, through its 100% owned subsidiary LiBatt Recycling Ltd, has jointly secured £8.1m in funding via a consortium with Mint Innovation (“Mint”), Jaguar Land Rover (“JLR”) and WMG, University of Warwick. The investment is fifty percent funded by the Department for Business and Trade through the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK, and the balance by the project partners themselves.
Comment: Crackpot / sociopathic sources told us that TM1 was a zero, without looking at the facts, a balanced view, or anticipating new developments.. This was obviously for effect, and to scare people out of their shares to the benefit of the shorters, and for clickbait. However, the £8.1m should ensure the alleged day of reckoning is on ice.
Argentex Group (AGFX) announced that, as disclosed in the announcement of 26 June, its main trading subsidiary, Argentex LLP, had agreed with the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) to enter a Voluntary Requirement (“VREQ”). The VREQ allowed Argentex LLP to continue servicing clients under defined parameters and required it to satisfy a new Individual Liquidity Guidance (“ILG”) level by 15 July 2025. The Company expected that the ILG would be satisfied via the provision of an additional secured Revolving Credit Facility.
Comment: There have been so many VREQs in the recent past on small financial institutions / brokers, the last people that need one, that rather than a black mark, they have almost become a badge of honour.
Zenith Energy Ltd. (ZEN), the listed international energy production and development company, announces that its wholly owned subsidiary, Canadian North Africa Oil and Gas Limited (“CNAOG”), has received the decision of the Arbitral Tribunal in respect of the ICC-2 Arbitration regarding the Sidi El Kilani concession (“SLK Concession”) against the Republic of Tunisia (“ICC-2 “).The Arbitral Tribunal has issued a decision rejecting the entirety of the claims presented by CNAOG.
Comment: Clearly the government of Tunisia has friends in high places. Most people have zero belief in the integrity of arbitration processes, and just believe they are conducted at the whim of lawyers who come down on the most profitable outcome for their own purposes. Therefore, this is perhaps not a surprise. What will be interesting now is how ZEN moves going forward on the matter.
Orosur Mining (OMI), announced an update on the progress of exploration activities at the Company’s flagship Anzá Project in Colombia. OMI “The latest results at Pepas are exciting. Not only do we continue to expand the area of potential that will require drill follow-up, but the commencement of resource drilling has exceeded all expectations, with some of the thickest and highest grade intersections seen anywhere in the world. We have only just begun.”
Comment: Interesting that the company quotes Karen Carpenter. Shares of OMI have already been on the rebound this week, as some traders have successfully guessed today’s exceptional results. Shares of OMI should be back at the highs of the year near 14p already. It would be great to talk to CEO Brad George about OMI’s transformation, now he has hit the big time.
IXICO plc (IXI) a global leader in neuroscience imaging and biomarker analytics, using its AI-driven platform to help advance drug development in neurological disorders, today provides a trading update for the financial year ending 30 September 2025. The Company anticipates revenues to be at least £6.3 million, ahead of expectations and representing a 9% increase on 2024 revenues, thereby solidifying its stated return to growth. Further, it is expected that this revenue growth will continue into 2026, moving the Company towards medium term profitability. The Company expects to hold cash of at least £3.0 million at the end of the financial year.
Comment: It is always special when a company in a left field / difficult area starts to gather momentum, especially one that hardly anyone knows the ticker code for. That said, the shares are down from 100p plus four years ago, so plenty of ground to catch up from 11p.
MyHealthChecked (MHC), the consumer home-testing healthcare company, announces that it has signed a supply agreement with Boots UK Ltd (“Boots”) to supply a range of lateral flow self-tests and laboratory tests under the Boots’ Own Brand label. The contract, with an initial term of 12 months, covers a range comprising eight blood tests, one DNA test, and four lateral flow self-tests, which will be launched by Boots in August 2025.
Comment: Getting into bed with Boots is of course a big win, the biggest win that MHC can get. It would of course be nice to know what the numbers are on the deal, as little companies tend to get the short end of the stick (traditionally) when doing business when larger ones.
Alkemy Capital Investments (ALK), announced the entry into an exclusive negotiation period with Touchstone Capital Partners has now concluded a long-term binding feedstock agreement with Touchstone’s Chilean lithium project (“Project Llamara”), one of the world’s highest-grade lithium brine deposits. Up to 100,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent secured over an initial 5-year term.
Comment: While we are still some way from actually waking up and smelling the lithium carbonate, this offtake agreement certainly underlines the merits of the TVL project, and more importantly, the demand for the product, especially as we do not want to rely on China (“Chai-na”) where COVID 19 was made and they did the export ban they were always. And they spy on the West as well.
Ocado Group (OCDO) interim results for the 26 weeks ended 1 June 2025 are available at: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4624R_1-2025-7-17.pdf . The interim results will also be available on the Ocado corporate website www.ocadogroup.com/investors/results-and-presentations, and the results have been submitted in full unedited text to the Financial Conduct Authority’s National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.
Comment: Funding for OCDO has been so generous over the years, that even a Labour government would not run out of cash if it had the sums involved. That said, there was a loss after tax of £24.9m, so it is not all a bed of roses.
Audioboom (BOOM), the leading global podcast company, announced that Stuart Last, CEO, and Brad Clarke, CFO, will provide a live presentation relating to the interim results for the period ended 30 June 2025 and the acquisition of Adelicious Ltd via Investor Meet Company on 18 July 2025 at 10:30 a.m. The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. Questions can be submitted pre-event via your Investor Meet Company dashboard up until 17:00 p.m. on 17 July 2025 or at any time during the live presentation. Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add to meet Audioboom via: https://www.investormeetcompany.com/audioboom-group-plc/register-investor
Comment: Ironically shares of BOOM have reacted better to the prospect of an investor presentation than they did to the recently announced results. That said, unless Apple Podcasts are going to take BOOM over, it is difficult to imagine what sizzle the company can up with to even get the shares back to February’s 660p highs.
Avacta (AVCT), a life sciences company developing innovative, targeted oncology drugs, is pleased to announce that it has raised gross proceeds of £3.25 million from long term, high net worth investors at a price of 30 pence. The net proceeds of approximately £3.1 million from the Placing will effectively be used to settle the July quarterly repayment of the unsecured convertible bond which is due to be paid on 21 July 2025.
Comment: It would appear that AVCT has got a sugar daddy / mummy to pay its running expenses, something which is not an insignificant amount, as we await its cure for cancer. With such ongoing outgoings it is difficult to see how the share price can really take off apart from in the wake of some very good news.
Blencowe Resources (BRES) announced the successful completion of its Stage 7 drilling program at the Orom-Cross Graphite Project in Uganda. This campaign, the largest in the project’s history, was a core milestone for the ongoing Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), both in terms of upgrading and expanding the JORC Resource and fulfilling the requirements for the US$5.0 million Technical Assistance Grant from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
Comment: It is not surprising that the US Government sent more cash to BRES given the prospects for expanding Orom-Cross, and now in the wake of tariff wars. Yes, that US government, with Donald Trump as President, providing a grant to a £13m UK listed company.
Catenai (CTAI), the AIM quoted provider of digital media and technology, announces that, following shareholder approval for the share allotment authorities to complete the fundraise announced on 26 June 2025, it has completed the second tranche of £450,000 investment into Alludium Ltd as per the announcement of 11 April 2025.
Comment: Given the recent Bitcoin Treasury Strategy move and funding, one could argue that CTAI with its mix of AI and BTS is perfectly positioned according to the current stock market zeitgeist.
Iofina (IOF), specialists in the exploration and production of iodine and manufacturers of specialty chemical products, today provided an update to the market regarding its activities during H1 2025 and the commissioning of IO#11. The Company is pleased to report that following a strong second quarter, Iofina Resources produced 305.5 metric tonnes of crystalline iodine in the Period, an increase of 10.6% (H1 2024: 276.1 MT). This figure was both a record H1 production total and slightly higher than the Company’s revised production guidance for the Period of c.300 MT, as stated in the Q1 2025 update.
Comment: CEO Dr Becker is a class act, and it shows as far as the progress that IOF has made in the recent past. The prospect of further record production is by definition a reason for following the company.
Westminster Group (WSG), a leading supplier of managed services and technology-based security solutions worldwide, announced that it has secured an extension contract award valued at an additional circa £1.15 million. The contract is an extension to the contract previously announced on 30 June 2025 to provide a Parliamentary Broadcast System for the parliamentary debating chamber of an East African Parliament.
Comment: WSG continues to underline it is experiencing a purple patch as far as contract wins, and a serious inflection point as far as the fortunes of the business. We should see this reflected, belatedly, in the market cap of the company over the rest of the summer.
Eurasia Mining (EUA), the iridium, osmium, palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium and gold mining company announced an update on Astana International Exchange (AIX) trading. EUA said “The Directors are delighted that the dual listing has been successfully completed. We are looking forward to the trading to commence on AIX, once our market makers buy Eurasia’s shares on AIM and transfer them to AIX later this week or next week at the latest”.
Comment: It is helpful to be told that a serious buyer will be looking for stock as far as EUA’s AIM listing. It will be interesting to see how this affects the recent rebound in the share price.
Wise (WISE) announced its Q1 FY26 Trading Update. Quarterly cross-border volume grew +24% YoY (+27% YoY on a constant currency basis), to £41.2bn, and Wise customer holdings grew by +31% to £22.9bn. 9.8m active customers used Wise in Q1, representing active customer growth of +17% YoY.
Comment: As can be seen from the above metrics, WISE is just the type of company that a flourishing London stock market can have as a poster child. This is of course precisely why it is moving its main stock listing to the US. Given how much cash the government has for spurious causes, what does it not pay WISE to stay?
KEFI Gold and Copper (KEFI), the gold and copper exploration and development company with projects in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is hosting its 2025 Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) today at 10.00 a.m. BST in the UK. KEFI will say, “Regardless of the final details of the project funding packages, the vast majority of development finance can already be seen as having been structured at subsidiary levels. This is what we have always focused on. The prize for KEFI shareholders is the theoretical value of KEFI’s development projects on a per share basis. This measure already stands at circa 8 pence per existing KEFI share on issue, based on existing Reserves and Resources, NPV 5% at $3000/oz for Tulu Kapi Gold Mine and US$100/oz Resource at Jibal Qutman and Hawah.”
Comment: One can see from both the body language of HAA (Exec Chairman) and his words, that KEFI is over the line as far as Ethiopa is concerned, something which should quite rightly be celebrated. The share price is starting to stir once more.
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.
