(Alliance News) – US and European allies will join their UK and Ukraine counterparts in London for the latest peace talks on the war-torn nation’s conflict with Russia. Wednesday’s gathering comes as Donald Trump’s administration continues to drive efforts to find peace between Russia and Ukraine. US President Donald Trump has suggested he is hopeful the warring parties “will make a deal this week”.
Comment: After The Telegraph’s extensive coverage of the financial markets on the doom and gloom side, we have the FTSE 100 up some 300 points. This has clearly been helped along by the prospect of Russia getting to keep its ill gotten gains in Ukraine. But will anyone be brave enough to suggest that the remainder of Ukraine becomes part of Nato?
Caracal Gold (GCAT), the East African focused gold company, announced further key strengthening of its Board of Directors, with a number of immediate appointments. The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms Noreen Kidunduhu as its new Independent Non-Executive Chair and the appointments of Mr Kevin Warrington, Mr Martin Westerman, Ms Hannah Wang’ombe, and Mr Edward Ruheni, each as Independent Non-Executive Directors.
Comment: Presumably, the arrival of a flotilla of new people to the company signals that there is not only enough cash to pay for them, but also the prospect of the company coming back from suspension and eventually producing some gold.
THG (THG) notes the recent media speculation surrounding Myprotein and confirms that it received and rejected a wholly unsolicited, largely unfunded, highly conditional and non-binding proposal from Selkirk to acquire Myprotein. The Proposal ascribed a headline value to Myprotein of £400m – £600m on a cash-free, debt-free basis.
Comment: What THG seems not to have grasped is that given the somewhat chequered history of the company on the London stock market, there is nothing sweeter than a wholly unsolicited, largely unfunded, highly conditional and non-binding proposal, which it should have welcomed with open arms.
CleanTech Lithium (CTL), an exploration and development company advancing sustainable lithium projects in Chile, has been informed by the Chilean Government that the Company’s Special Lithium Operating Contract (“CEOL”) application under the simplified procedure for the Laguna Verde project has been rejected.
Comment: Understandably, CTL cannot say that the Chilean Government has lost its mind, but this would appear to be the case. The hope would of course be that things are resolved as quickly as possible. This is especially the case given that the new CEO would not have turned up unless the ultimate destination of the company was to be a leading player in the lithium field.
Firering Strategic Minerals (FRG), an emerging leader in quicklime production and critical mineral exploration, reported significant progress in the commercial ramp-up of its Limeco quicklime project in Zambia. The Project is well-positioned to become a key supplier of high-quality quicklime (“CaO”) to the rapidly expanding copper production sector in the Central African Copperbelt.
Comment: FRG really has made decent progress with regard to Limeco, with the only thing missing being a share price to reflect this, given it has been undermined by fundraises. Presumably, now this aberration can be corrected.
Avacta Therapeutics (AVCT), a life sciences company developing innovative, targeted oncology drugs, today announces it has issued and allotted a total of 9,384,366 new ordinary shares of 10 pence each in the Company. The New Ordinary Shares are being issued in settlement of the quarterly principal of £2.55 million and interest repayment of c. £0.456 million in respect of the Company’s unsecured convertible bond.
Comment: AVCT’s newsflow has not been able to be more than a fig leaf as compared to the ongoing repayment of its convertible bond. Not surprisingly, the company’s usual online allies seem to have gone rather quiet.
Ethernity Networks (ENET), a supplier of data processing and PON semiconductor technology for networking appliances, announces an update on trading for the year ended 31 December 2024 and on the potential ASIC business. An EBITDA loss of approximately US$2.79 million (2023: EBITDA loss of US$3.86 million).
Comment: ENET have initially been marked up some 70%, which given the ongoing losses may signal to some that the small cap London market is now entering a bull market. That said, given the £0.1m market cap, the downside could have been argued to be limited.
First Property Group (FPO), the property fund manager and investor, is pleased to provide a trading update for the year ended 31 March 2025. The Board expects the Group’s profit before tax (on an unadjusted basis) for the year to significantly exceed market expectations.
Comment: Given that the CEO here is political heavyweight / Reform Party giant Ben Habib, one might consider that he should stick to his day job, given the rosy outlook from the company. That said, there has been no interview with the company here since Mr Habib hit the big time and became a national figure.
Mindflair (MFAI), the company investing in next-generation technology focused on AI, is noted the announcement by Sure Valley Ventures (“SVV”) of a new investment in Agent Runner AI Limited (“Capably”) by the Sure Valley Ventures UK Software Technology Fund in which Mindflair has an investment.
Comment: Although the jury is still out on whether small cap listed companies are attractive as multi-investment vehicles, given that they tend to keep tapping shareholders for more cash, and tend to be valued at the lowest value of the worst investment, it can be seen that MFAI is still trying to keep the dream alive. Oh yes, these investment companies always invest in the flavour of the month. 180 years ago it was railways, 25 years ago it was Dotcoms and today it is AI.
Northcoders (CODE), a market leader in technology training in the UK, is pleased to announce its Final Results for the year ended 31 December 2024. Group revenue increased by 24% to a record £8.8 million, (FY23: £7.1 million) driven by continued success in diversifying revenues and rolling out new course in high growth areas.
Comment: Given that CODE is a direct beneficiary of this countries Soviet style government gravy train, and politician attempting to grandstand how much they are doing to help employment, one would have thought the shares would have been a one way bet. Alas in the past year the opposite has been the case. Perhaps until now.
Great Southern Copper (GSCU), the company focused on copper-gold exploration in Chile, announce that drilling has commenced on its Viuda Negra prospect located within the Especularita project.
Comment: GSCU has quickly become one of the most reliable explorers around, so reliable that one could set one’s watch by its expertise in drilling and discovery. One would hope this state of affairs continues apace.
Finseta (FIN), a foreign exchange and payments solutions company offering multi-currency accounts to businesses and individuals through its proprietary technology platform, announced its final results for the year ended 31 December 2024.
- Underlying revenue grew by 26% to £11.3m (2023: £8.9m) and reported revenue increased by 19% to £11.4m (2023: £9.6m)
- Gross margin improved to 65.7% (2023: 63.4%)
- Adjusted2 EBITDA of £2.0m (2023: £1.7m), an increase of 18%
- Profit before tax of £1.4m (2023: £1.3m)
Comment: Although FIN has delivered a decent set of numbers, one gets the feeling that the market was and is probably looking for more of a hockey stick jump in performance, rather than just a decent consolidation. This may explain why the stock has rather come off the boil so far in 2025.
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.
