(Alliance News) UK gross domestic product is estimated to have grown by 0.7% in the quarter from January to March, according to data from the Office for National Statistics on Thursday. This is accelerated from a 0.1% growth in the prior quarter and outperforms an FXStreet-cited consensus for 0.6% growth. This was driven by a 0.7% rise in the services sector and a 1.1% increase in production, noted the ONS.
Comment: It would appear that the Labour government has managed to defy the laws of both economics and perhaps physics in its taxing for growth strategy, where the more its spends, the more wealth it creates. Spiffing stuff. Both Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes take note.
Catenai (CTAI), the AIM quoted provider of digital media and technology, announces that Alludium Ltd has launched its early access program for its new AI Agent builder at Interrupt, LangChain’s AI Agent conference in San Francisco held on 13-14 May 2025. Alludium is a company in which Catenai has entered into a subscription agreement to acquire an initial shareholding of approximately 8% as announced on 12 May 2025.
Comment: CTAI continues to finesse its shareholding in Alludium, a deal which certainly inspired the market in share price terms, and should continue to do so.
United Oil & Gas (UOG), the oil and gas company with a high impact exploration asset in Jamaica and a development asset in the UK is pleased to announce that it has formally submitted the permitting application for the piston core survey to the National Environmental and Planning Agency (“NEPA”) in Jamaica. The application marks a key milestone in United’s forward work programme.
Comment: 2025 could and should be the year that shares of UOG go up and stay up. But as has been the case historically, the direction of travel remains a three steps forward, one step back affair.
Aptamer Group (APTA), the leading developer of next-generation synthetic binders delivering innovation to the life science industry, announced new data on its Optimer therapeutic delivery vehicle for liver fibrosis. The data, developed through Aptamer’s internal programme and in collaboration with AstraZeneca, highlight the delivery platform’s potential for broad therapeutic application. The latest results presented at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA (13-17 May 2025) show the Optimer targets fibrosis in multiple tissue types and is compatible with mouse and rat animal models, which makes the transition to preclinical animal studies a simpler and faster next step. APTA also announced two new fee-for-service development contracts with existing customers, with a combined value of up to £231,000.
Comment: A big day on the news front for APTA, and one that reminds us yet again of the quality of its counterparties, and the credibility of its offer, on an international scale.
Genflow Biosciences (GENF), the only publicly listed longevity company in Europe, announces that the Japanese Patent Office has advanced its SIRT6-related patent application (Application No. JP 2024515284) to the national examination phase.
Comment: Although recent newsflow from GENF has been significant, it is clear that for now the stock market still regards the company’s fountain of youth activities as a rather quaint science experiment. More efforts need to be made to address this perception.
Ondine Biomedical Inc. (OBI), a global leader in light-activated antimicrobial technologies, announced its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2024. Revenues increased by 70% to $2.0 million (2023: $1.2 million), driven by an 81% increase in hospital deployments and higher per-hospital revenue year-over-year despite a 40% reduction in sales and marketing spend. In the UK, Steriwave® became the first light-activated antimicrobial listed on NHS Supply Chain, enabling streamlined access for hospitals across England and Wales.
Comment: It may be a surprise to some that OBI is actually producing revenue, over and above the progress it is making with key health services providers around the world. All of this is also being underpinned by recent director share buying.
Cykel AI (CYK) announced the launch of Deep People Search, a tool that harnesses neural search technology to identify optimal candidates from over 300 million professional profiles. This addition to the Company’s portfolio further reinforces Cykel’s position as a pioneer in AI-powered recruitment solutions. Deep People Search uses meaning-based search powered by vector embeddings, rather than relying on traditional keyword matching. The tool enables businesses to locate hard-to-find profiles that would otherwise remain undiscovered through conventional search methods.
Comment: One wonders if Deep People Search could find a new markets editor of The Times, or a new presenter of the Today Programme on Radio 4, as it would be Zak Mir. That said, we are seeing how real life and practical uses of AI are starting to come forward.
Unigel Group plc (AQSE: UNX), the manufacturer and distributor of materials used in the manufacture of telecommunication fibre optic cables announces its audited final results for the year ended 31 December 2024. The turnover for the year for the Group was £29,172,801 ( 2023: £28,465,064) and the profit after tax was £1,663,181 (2023: £608,806). The gross profit percentage was 20.2% (2023: 14.4%).
Comment: Given that the company is on Aquis and making money, it deserves a mention, although one doubts if even the month of the CEO of the company is familiar with its name.
Eco Buildings Group (ECOB), a modular housing company, announces that it has raised gross proceeds of £670,000 through a firm placing of 16,750,000 new ordinary shares at a price of 4 £250,000 was placed directly with one new subscriber, with the balance placed with existing shareholders. ECOB said “This fund raise enables us to deploy additional manufacturing lines to satisfy the demand that Eco is seeing as a result of its abilities to produce inexpensive housing of high quality and at speed. We anticipate announcing updates to this deployment throughout the year and the subsequent sales of housing as a result.”
Comment: We are still waiting for ECO to build buildings one can actually walk around in a indeed, live in. Given there are supposed to be the Ikea of modular housing, the waiting game by definition should not be long. Obviously, the recent bump in the share price was the opportunity for a rather small fundraise.
Asiamet Resources (ARS) announced that it has received the final completed Independent Technical Expert (“ITE”) Report on the BKM Stage 1 Optimised Feasibility Study, marking the completion of a key technical input required for the project financing lender due diligence process. ARS said “”Receiving the final ITE Report so soon after the release of the BKM Stage 1 Feasibility Study marks a major milestone for Asiamet and reflects the high level of engagement with the ITE over the last five months to bring this work to completion.”
Comment: It is perhaps a tad disappointing that despite recent significant news we have not yet been treated to a proper rally for ARS through the 1p level. One wonders what the block on progress is on a proper re-rate given RNSs such as today’s.
Oriole Resources (ORR), the AIM quoted gold exploration company focused on West and Central Africa, updated on its 90% owned Bibemi orogenic gold project in Cameroon, including an increased JORC Code Mineral Resource Estimate (‘MRE’) for the Bakassi Zone 1 (or ‘BZ1’) prospect and an additional JORC Exploration Target range, highlighting the significant upside potential of the wider licence area.
Comment: ORR has been understandably excited regarding its recent achievements, with the only missing ingredient being that the market has not been as gung-ho, yet.
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) announced a FY25 Trading Update for the 52 weeks to 27 April 2025. WOSG said “In H2 FY25 we returned to growth in both the UK and US, delivering Group revenue of +12%, driving a full-year performance of +8% (constant currency). Full year Adjusted EBIT2 is expected to be in line with market expectations. “In the US, we experienced strong momentum, delivering +19% revenue growth in H2 FY25 and +16% for the full year (constant currency). In the UK, we were pleased to see the external environment stabilise in line with our expectations, supporting revenue growth of +6% in H2 FY25 and +2% for the full year.”
Comment: Apparently: “Investing in watches has particular tax benefits. In the UK any gifts, including watches, made more than seven years before death are not liable for inheritance tax.
Filtronic (FTC), the designer and manufacturer of products for the aerospace, defence, space and telecoms infrastructure markets, announced a new contract win to develop and supply advanced filter and diplexer assemblies to Airbus Defence and Space, for the supply of additional satellites to Eutelsat OneWeb.
Comment: FTC remains a contract winning machine, and with serious international counterparties. Last month’s tariff fears dip for the stock to below 75p versus 124p now was clearly a bargain basement buying opportunity. One would anticipate 150p plus well before the end of the summer.
East Star Resources (EST), which is exploring for copper and gold in Kazakhstan, announced the results of the induced polarisation (“IP”) survey from the Talovskoye high priority drill target area in East Kazakhstan. EST said “”The Talovskoye target area is hosted within the Talovskaya suite, is the same geological unit that hosts the high-grade Irtyshsky mine (30Mt @ 2.2% Cu, 5.1% Zn 0.7% Pb and 0.4 g/t Ag) 39km to the southeast, along the Irtysh shear zone. The Eastern Target sits within the boundaries of the historic mining operations and has mineralisation consistently reported in drill results along the flanks and at the surface of the anomaly. The larger Western Target anomaly shows both scale and shape, consistent with regional VMS deposits with potential for a large depth extent. We look forward to drilling the high impact Talovskoye and Rulikha targets in the coming weeks.”
Comment: EST has started to make the right noises as far as its recent RNS updates, something that has started to be reflected in the share price. That said, the stock at 1.5p is still well off where it was even this time last year.
Bluebird Mining Ventures (BMV), a pan Asian gold project development company, is pleased to provide a further update following the announcement on 6 May 2025 with regards to the permit renewal at its flagship Philippine project. The Company’s local partner has, post the renewal of the permit, expressed an interest in acquiring all of Bluebird’s remaining project interest.
Comment: Given the long lead in and efforts made by the company in the Philippines, combined with the rising gold price, it all fits that there should be a potential buyer waiting in the wings. The shares are 0.75p, still over a penny lower than this time last year.
DSW Capital (DSW), a profitable, mid-market, challenger professional services licence network and owner of the Dow Schofield Watts and DR Solicitors brands, announces the following trading update, ahead of the Group’s Final Results for the year ended 31 March 2025, which will be released on 8 July 2025. Following the transformative, earnings-enhancing acquisition of DR Solicitors and a significant upgrade to FY25 guidance, resulting from supernormal levels of ‘Beat the Budget’ M&A activity, announced earlier in the Year, the board is delighted to report that FY25 revenue and Adjusted EBITDA are ahead of current market forecasts.
Comment: Shares of DSW are still under half what they were just a couple of years ago, which given the upbeat RNS delivered today may merit a re-rate in coming weeks.
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.
