GSTechnologies (GST), the fintech company, is pleased to announce an offer to its existing retail shareholders to raise gross proceeds of up to £250,000. In addition to the Retail Offer, the Company has also conducted a placing to raise gross proceeds of £2,000,000/ The price of the Fundraising Shares is 1.90 pence.
GST said the funds raised from the Placing and the Retail Offer will be principally used to accelerate the implementation of the Group’s GS Money strategy, including the advancement of the recently acquired CAKE business and Bake Cryptocurrency Platform, and potentially via further acquisitions.
Comment: Full marks to GST for waiting / allowing the shares to really head higher – more than 5x since October, before choosing to raise cash. That said, it might be appreciated by some as to a reminder of what GS, CAKE and Bake actually are.
Funding Circle Holdings (FCH), the UK’s leading SME lending platform, provided a trading update for the full year ended 31 December 2024. Building on the strong half-year results published in September 2024, the Group delivered a good performance in the second half of the year, consistent with the Board’s expectations. Accordingly, it expects to deliver positive Group profit before tax for the full year in line with the upgraded guidance as set out in September 2024 and it remains on track with our medium term guidance. FCH said it enters 2025 well-placed to make further progress against our medium-term plan and help get finance to even more SMEs.
Comment: Shares of FCH more than doubled last year, and so they should have given the stated focus on funding SMEs. Indeed, the only block on business in 2025 could be how many SMEs will be left to fund after the next wave of Marxist taxation from the Labour Government.
LifeSafe Holdings (LIFS), a fire safety technology business with innovative fire extinguishing and prevention fluids and fire safety products, has received a purchase order for 1000 litres of its Wildfire Pro fluid from its North American Distributor, Fire Suppression Solutions LLC, to support the response to the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. LIFS said although it’s early days, it is convinced that its fluid can make a real difference and impact in the fight against wildfires globally and more importantly save lives and property.
Comment: The market has been happy to sweep aside LIFS innovations in fire safety over the past couple of years, something which it has managed even in relation to battery fires. But perhaps the disaster in LA will be enough to focus minds in the wake of the latest 1000 litres order, especially given the prevalence of empty fire hydrants.
CleanTech Lithium (CTL), an exploration and development company advancing sustainable lithium projects in Chile, said that further to “Pilot-Scale Lithium Carbonate Production” RNS on 21 November 2024, it announces the production of a high purity lithium carbonate sample from the Company´s pilot plant downstream process. CTL said it was pleased to report the production of high grade lithium carbonate with a purity of 99.78% from an initial batch of concentrated eluate from its Laguna Verde project. This phase of work has focused on fine-tuning the process and preparing to scale up pilot plant output. Its collaborative efforts with Conductive Energy and Forward Water on the downstream process are advancing its aim to produce signifigant quantities of battery grade product to introduce to potential strategic partners and off-takers.
Comment: CTL is making decent / very decent progress operationally, and in terms of the kind of milestone that market will appreciate even more once there is line of sight on the ASX listing.
Trellus Health (TRLS), a healthcare company delivering Trellus Elevate™, announced it has entered into an agreement with Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc. to support a pilot in the US to assess the potential for the Trellus Elevate program to support patients with moderately to severely active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). TRLS said it identified the pharmaceutical sector as a key strategic vertical in its September interim results and are excited to announce our first major collaboration in this vertical. Trellus Elevate™ provides a seamless, end-to-end solution from clinical trials to commercialisation, leveraging its proprietary resilience-based approach to drive trial and patient support success.
Comment: Shares of TRLS received a decent mention in the Bulletin Board Heroes charting video here at Zaks Traders Café, something which does not get picked up in the mainstream media, or indeed, anywhere else other than the cognoscenti. But with today’s news it would be surprising if the technical target at 0.8p is not taken out with room to spare in the wake of the J&J announcement today.
Savannah Resources (SAV), the developer of the Barroso Lithium Project in Portugal, Europe’s largest spodumene lithium deposit, announced that it has made significant progress in the remaining study works and licensing process to bring the Barroso Lithium Project into production. SAV said it expects 2025 to be its busiest year to date at the Project with major progress made and significant news flow generated. It was excited and proud to be executing it with a growing team of excellent professionals, now already predominantly based in the region.
Comment: Shares of SAV have rebounded sharply over the past year, rather putting more high profile lithium plays to shame. Perhaps being the strong, silent type in terms of market comms has done the company a favour.
Ocado Retail (OCDO), a joint venture between Ocado Group plc and Marks & Spencer, today announces its trading statement for the 13 weeks to 1st December 2024. OCDO said Q4 Retail revenue grew by 17.5% to £715.8m as it continued to deliver on its strategy of unbeatable choice, unrivalled service and reassuringly good value; enabled by Ocado’s technology and automated Customer Fulfilment Centres. Topline growth, as well as continued focus on cost and efficiency, has resulted in strong EBITDA growth.
Comment: With the shares down 60% last year, and already down 10% in 2025, it would appear that there is a disconnect between the sweetness and light reported by OCDO today, and what is going on away from the RNS. Intuitively, one would guess that only senior Royals, celebrities and Labour cabinet ministers would be able to afford the OCDO offering currently, replaced items, sell by dates, and green bananas not withstanding.
MyHealthChecked (MHC), the consumer home-testing healthcare company, announced that the Company’s phlebotomy test kits have been registered in the UK and EU. This is a key step in enabling MyHealthChecked to launch and commercialise its phlebotomy service. MHC said registration of its phlebotomy tests in the UK and EU is a great achievement for the team and brings it one step closer to commercialising our phlebotomy tests. It is on track to launch its phlebotomy service in the first half of 2025 and looks forward to providing an update to shareholders in due course.
Comment: Of course, none of us need to look up what a phlebotomy test is. But at least today’s news should be enough to support the stock while we wait for the phlebotomy test service to start later in the year.
Tern (TERN), the investment company specialising in supporting high growth, early-stage, disruptive Internet of Things technology businesses, reported that Progressive Equity Research has published its latest research report on the Company which can be accessed at: https://progressive-research.com/research/
Comment: Anyone who steps up to the plate to write a research note on TERN deserves a pat on the back, and looking at the “Who We Are” page on the Progressive Equity Research website, there are a “15-strong team of experienced analysts and a dedicated investor engagement team” all of whom one would hope will be fighting the TERN cause in 2025.
Oriole Resources (ORR), the AIM-quoted gold exploration company focussed on West and Central Africa, provided an update on its activities and investments, including the Bibemi and Mbe gold projects in Cameroon, where BCM International is spending a total of US$8 million on exploration.
Comment: With BCM as the sugar daddy, it is difficult to see how ORR cannot fail in its stated mission, especially in Cameroon. One would suspect that one year share price support at current levels will hold.
Lexington Gold (LEX), the gold exploration and development company with projects in South Africa and the USA, announced the establishment of a maiden Exploration Target (JORC, 2012) for the group’s Bothaville Project in the Free State Province, South Africa. Total independently estimated JORC Exploration Target of approximately 16 – 30 million tonnes (Mt) for the combined A and B Reefs with an average grade range of approximately 3.26 – 6.03 g/t Au, equivalent to 1.7 to 5.8 million ounces (Moz) of gold.
Comment: It should be party time for the share price of LEX given the latest JORC update, and certainly the time for the company to get on the mic and sing its praises, especially from current low end of the range levels.
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.
