Avacta Therapeutics (AVCT), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing pre|CISION®, a tumor-activated oncology delivery platform, announced that it has raised gross proceeds of approximately £9 million from institutional investors and existing shareholders, with one institutional cornerstone investor representing the majority of the funds.
The Company has conditionally placed 12,792,859 new ordinary shares of 10 pence at a price of 70 pence per share. AVCT said “This Placing enables Avacta to retain the value of our equity while further reinforcing our financial position by reducing the outstanding debt in the Convertible Bond. Our cash runway provides sufficient funding to progress both clinical drug candidates from our industry-leading pre|CISION® technology through major clinical milestones and to move our Gen Three molecule into IND-enabling studies.”
Comment: It is still the case that the cure has been worse than the disease as far as AVCT’s Convertible Bond. It would have been better just to raise a shed load of money in one go. Instead we have these periodic “surprise” fundraises, which everyone knows is coming. What is amazing is how forgiving and indeed, understanding the market is towards this company. This is reflected on a price action basis by the way that the shares have remains almost entirely above their rising 200 day moving average now at 66p since last July.
Imaging Biometrics Limited (IBAI) updated shareholders on the EAF151 Phase II clinical trial results presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting on 31 May 2026, and to outline the Board’s plans to drive revenue growth from its IB Neuro platform. EAF151 is a prospective, multicentre Phase II study conducted across 33 centres and 146 patients, sponsored by ECOG-ACRIN, part of the US National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN). The study evaluated whether dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) MRI-derived cerebral blood volume, computed using IB Neuro, could provide an early and objective biomarker of response to bevacizumab in recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM).
Comment: Things are starting to move well as far as IBAI is concerned on the newsflow front, with the missing ingredient to date being the way that the shares are still near the low end of the range, even after today’s initial 25% mark up. Clearly, the prospect of revenues could be transformational, and quickly.
Defence Holdings PLC (ALRT), the UK’s software-led defence technology group, confirmed the publication today of a UK Government Transparency Notice relating to a proposed contract award involving the Company. The Transparency Notice, published on GOV.UK , relates to the testing of an integrated capability designed to fuse open-source and classified intelligence into a single analytical platform, generate Courses of Action and support rapid, human-controlled deployment of authorised effects across cyber, information and supply-chain domains. The Transparency Notice states that the proposed engagement carries a value of approximately £226,000 over a three-month term and covers testing phase of the capability.
Comment: The market certainly loved ALRT in the autumn, pushing the share price to dizzy heights. Although not so dizzy now, there will have to be rather more of these 226k contracts to bolster the still chunky £26m market cap.
Kendrick Resources (KEN) provided an update on the Kieshhe Project. Initial assessment confirms Kieshöhe has the potential to emerge as a major rare earth discovery alongside Kendrick’s flagship Teufelskuppe Project within the Bonya Rare Earth District, Namibia. Systematic pXRF analysis completed on seven previously untested historical drill holes inherited from Bonya. Average TREO grade of 1.51 wt%, dominated by high-value light rare earth elements including neodymium and praseodymium. KEN said “These results mark an important milestone in the development of the Bonya Rare Earth Project and significantly enhance our view of the potential scale of the district. Historically, Teufelskuppe was considered the dominant discovery within Bonya. However, our ongoing assessment of Kieshöhe increasingly indicates that this view may prove to be overly conservative.”
Comment: KEN is the small cap stock of the year by quite some margin. In the wake of today’s update it would appear that this will remain the case, not only in share price terms, but with what the company continues to reveal it has under ground. The recent push through 10p is likely to be repeated in coming weeks.
Bluebird Mining Ventures Ltd (BMV), the gold streaming, mining and treasury company, updated regarding the continued execution of its streaming and treasury strategy, including operational progress across its streaming activities, treasury accumulation, and deployment of mining infrastructure. BMV said “Having become revenue generating in April, we are thrilled to have delivered our first full month of revenue generation in May. This milestone strongly validates the success of the restructuring activities we have been undertaking to date in supporting our transition into a focused gold streaming, mining and treasury company, and the business case for this transition.”
Comment: One can be sure that the character assassination squad (purely for malicious reasons of course) will be rather disappointed at today’s revenue laden RNS, as their efforts at destroying the company may have to be put on ice. Let’s see if the restructuring can move further forward.
Raspberry Pi (RPI), a leader in low-cost, high-performance computing, reported that trading in the first half of the year (six months ending 30 June 2026) has been strong, with profitability materially ahead of the comparable period in FY 2025. Units for the first half are expected to be over 4 million and Adjusted EBITDA at least $38m. Performance has been supported by continued growth in unit volumes, a favourable product mix, and the ongoing utilisation of low-density DRAM inventory accumulated throughout FY 2025. Despite DRAM related price increases, the Company has seen continued robust demand for its products from OEMs and other customers. In the second half, the Company will focus on the strategic opportunity to gain market share and further strengthen customer relationships. Unit economics are expected to moderate in H2 as inventory of memory procured at a lower cost in earlier periods is depleted.
Comment: It is pleasant that RPI has actually done better as a listed company, despite the recent headwinds, which arguably it did not need to mention. The key here is the combination of strong demand, and an even stronger product. The near 2x rally in recent months speaks for itself.
Iofina plc (IOF), specialists in the exploration and production of iodine and manufacturers of specialty chemical products, announced that it has signed an agreement with a new brine water supply partner to provide additional brine water to its IOsorb® plant, IO#11, located in Central Oklahoma, which became operational in July 2025. IOF said “We are pleased to announce this new agreement, which increases the production potential of our most recently opened plant, IO#11, in Central Oklahoma. By adding an additional brine water source to an existing facility with available capacity, we will be able to deliver incremental iodine production. Iofina is optimising production at IO#11 concurrently with the construction of our first plant in the Permian Basin.”
Comment: Not perhaps the most ground-breaking announcement from IOF, but enough to remind followers of the company of the scaling progress the company is making, and the wake that at long last the share price is responding, still up over 60% YTD.
Forgent plc (FORG), the technology-led energy transition company, provided an operational update on its Peak Hills gold-copper drill programme in Western Australia following the recent approval of the Programme of Work. FORG said “With the permitting and drilling programme planning now complete, we are delighted to be moving at pace, with drilling scheduled to start within two weeks, reflecting the supportive regulatory framework. The programme is primarily targeting seven priority areas associated with some of the most encouraging historic gold and copper results across the project. As the Company’s first drilling campaign, Peak Hills represents an important milestone in our journey.”
Comment: Anyone of a rather squeamish disposition would perhaps be better off not looking at the share price chart of FORG, especially if they were thinking that the company may have joined the ongoing party in the explorer developer area, of indeed, that of energy transition peers.
CleanTech Lithium PLC (CTL), an exploration and development company advancing sustainable lithium projects in Chile, announced its intention to raise approximately £4.5 million by way of a placing of new ordinary shares and a retail offer to raise approximately £0.25 million. The net proceeds receivable by the Company pursuant to the Fundraising will be used to fund licence acquisition costs at Laguna Verde, commence crucial environmental impact assessment (“EIA”) works which are now critical path, support ongoing refinement of direct lithium extraction (“DLE”) processes, engineering configurations and trade-off analysis for CAPEX and OPEX optimisations, ASX dual-listing costs, as well as for working capital needs whilst a strategic partner is selected.
Comment: Not exactly a bolt from the blue at CTL as far as the fundraise is concerned. The share price has recently stabilised, and we know that the company has a lot going on as far as Laguna Verde, as well as the run up to the ASX dual listing. Ideally, the market starts to see more value than the current £16m.
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.
