In a coup for the small caps, The Times reported that Sri Lankan cricket hero Aravinda De Silva has joined the board of mineral sands group Capital Metals (CMET). Capital Metals intends to begin constructing the Taprobane Minerals project in an eastern province of Sri Lanka next year.
CMET announced today that it has received subscriptions for approximately the first ~US$825,000 of investments pursuant to the US$2 million Ambeon Option as announced on 29 May 2025. CMET said,”We have been working effectively with Ambeon to ensure the US$2 million option is exercised in full to achieve the total US$4 million strategic investment as announced in late May. We look forward to finalising the Ambeon Option and working together towards the development of the Project, cementing a funding path to positive cash flow.”
Comment: It is always pleasing to see small caps get a mention in the papers, especially given that it is one of the scandals of our age that growth companies on the stock market do not get the coverage they deserve in the mainstream media they used to have until a couple of decades ago. That said, it would appear that Aravinda De Silva has joined CMET at exactly the right time in terms of the company’s path to production.
Sundae Bar (SBAR), the unified marketplace for AI Agents, announce the appointment of Damian Player as Chief Agent Officer, effective immediately. With over 20,000 followers on Twitter/X (@damianbplayer), Damian joins sundae_bar as one of the most prominent young voices in the rapidly expanding AI agent ecosystem. He is a thought leader and proven developer who has built his reputation at the forefront of AI agent innovation.
Comment: It is interesting that the RNS does not say what an AI Agent actually is. Apparently it is the following: “An AI agent is an advanced artificial intelligence system that can autonomously perceive its environment, reason, plan, make decisions, and take actions to achieve specific goals, often with minimal human intervention.” Presumably an AI Agent could have been hired as Chief Agent Officer.
Orosur Mining Inc. (OMI), announced an update on the progress of exploration activities at the Company’s flagship, 100% owned, Anzá Gold Project in Colombia. OMI said it is “currently focussed on three prospects within the Anzá Project – Pepas, APTA and El Cedro. All three prospects are within the same granted exploration title that is broken into two, non-contiguous pieces. Drilling is currently being undertaken at the Pepas prospect in the northern extent of the Anzá Project (pre-acquisition) over 10km north of the central base camp at APTA. In parallel, mapping and sampling is being undertaken over the El Cedro porphyry system in the south of the project area.
Comment: Today’s good results notwithstanding, shares of OMI have cooled off somewhat as 2025 has progressed, despite the way that the newsflow remains encouraging. Presumably investors are waiting on further revelations as far as the three Anzá prospects.
CyanConnode Holdings (CYAN), a global provider of IoT communication and smart metering solutions, announced that it has received a follow-on order worth over AED 5.8m (£1.2 million) for cellular gateways in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Comment: It will probably still take a while for shares of the company to recover from the confession in April that Indian orders were not up to par. That said, the 50% share price fall at the time was probably overdone given the latest positive news.
Smith+Nephew (SN.), the global medical technology company, reports results for the second quarter and first half ended 28 June 2025: Strong revenue growth, trading margin expansion and free cash flow; full year guidance unchanged; $500 million share buyback announced. SN. said it was “pleased with our strong performance in the first half of 2025. We are delivering sustained higher revenue growth, increased profitability and better cash generation. As expected, revenue growth accelerated in the second quarter, with all regions and business units contributing. We saw a quarter-on-quarter improvement in our Orthopaedics business, and this was the fourth consecutive quarter of sequential improvement from US Reconstruction & Robotics on an average daily sales basis.”
Comment: Shares of S+N have been in a rather volatile range, even though the fundamentals remain strong. Indeed, the improvement in the second quarter suggests that a break to the upside could be on the cards, after a couple of years of consolidation.
CAP-XX Limited (CPX), a global leader in supercapacitor technology, announced a design win with a leading multinational company. This achievement marks another key milestone in the Company’s strategic growth, validating CAP-XX’s innovation and deepening its penetration into high-growth sectors. CPX said “This is an exciting validation of our technology by a global industry leader. Our ability to deliver high-performance energy solutions in challenging conditions continues to set us apart. We look forward to expanding this relationship and driving further adoption of CAP-XX supercapacitors in high-value industrial applications.”
Comment: Dr Graham Cooley becoming Chairman here has clearly coincided with a significant change of fortune in the company, as its scales up its customer base / order book. The shares are up 90% so far this year, and deserve to be up much more in the wake of today’s announcement.
Fusion Antibodies (FAB), specialists in pre-clinical antibody discovery, engineering and supply for both therapeutic drug and diagnostic applications, is pleased to announce that the Company’s patent application no. 17/287,441 has been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “U.S. Patent Office”). The grant of the Patent follows the receipt of a notice of allowance in respect of the Patent from the U.S. Patent Office, details of which were announced by the Company on 22 May 2025.
Comment: One did not have to be a Professor of Therapeutics to work out that the recent share price rise of FAB was based on speculation that today’s RNS was on its way. Ideally, the shares continue their recent positive momentum, now that the cat is out of the bag.
BP (BP.) announced its Q2 results. This revealed a “Strong operational performance: 2Q25 underlying RC profit $2.4bn; 2Q25 operating cash flow $6.3bn; 2Q25 refining availability 96.4%; 2Q25 plant reliability 96.8%.” BP said it was “Enhancing our portfolio and progressing divestments: 5 major project* start-ups and 10 exploration discoveries year-to-date; agreement to sell Netherlands integrated mobility business and US onshore wind business.”
Comment: Given that shares of BP are currently only mid-range, we are yet to see the shares celebrate either yesterday’s massive discovery, or the strength of today’s Q2 update. The new share buyback programme to the tune of $750m should help the cause in this respect.
Diageo (DGE) announced its Preliminary Results. Reported net sales of $20.2 billion declined 0.1% due to unfavourable foreign exchange of (0.6)% and acquisition and disposal adjustments of (1.1)%, partially offset by hyperinflation adjustments and organic net sales growth. Organic net sales growth of 1.7% was driven by organic volume growth of 0.9% and positive price/mix of 0.8%. Excluding the impact of the Cîroc transaction, organic net sales growth was 1.5%, with 0.8% volume growth and 0.7% price/mix. Diageo grew or held total market share in 65% of total net sales in measured markets, including in the US.
Comment: Shares of DGE still seem to be suffering the blowback of the company not selling off Guinness earlier this year, when there was something of a mania in the brand. One might suggest that the former CEO lost her bottle on this front. The rest of the metrics here suggest that this is a company running to stand still.
Zotefoams (ZTE), a world leader in supercritical foams, is pleased to announce its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2025. Record H1 sales performance, with Group reported revenue up 9% to £77.4m (HY 2024: £71.1m), representing constant currency growth of 10%. Profit before tax up 37% to a record £11.4m (HY 2024: £8.3m). ZTE said “”I am pleased to report a record first half performance for Zotefoams, as we embark on a refreshed strategy. Our commercial transformation into market-focused verticals continues to progress well, with our pipeline of opportunities growing across all three sectors.”
Comment: Given the strength and relative consistency of the company, one might have thought it would have a market cap of rather more than £160m. This may be explained by the way that the £100m – £500m market cap zone of the London market tends to be a dead zone in terms of liquidity, or that the company itself likes to come across as boring (not necessarily a bad thing) and under the radar.
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.
