(Alliance News) – Stocks in London are set to open higher on Wednesday, ahead of the UK releasing its consumer, producer and retail price inflation data for June. Single bus fares across England will be capped at GBP2 from January, Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced. The nationwide cap is currently set at GBP3 until the end of March 2027 although some areas – including London and Greater Manchester, where Burnham set a GBP2 limit as mayor – have lower top rates for single tickets.
Comment: Giving the long suffering general public a few crumbs, in this case in the form of capping bus fares at an already high level, is almost certainly a forerunner of a snap general election. What else are we going to be treated to, 0.1p a litre off petrol, a halfpenny off a pint of beer, and an extra crisp in a packet? Overall, one wonders who is going to pay for all this, and how much we are all going to pay for this latest Prime Minister?
ImmuPharma plc (IMM), the specialist drug discovery and development company, is announced that, following a competitive tender process, it has selected Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, as its drug product (“DP”) and contract development and manufacturing organisation (“CDMO”) for its Kapiglucagon program. Thermo Fisher’s Patheon pharma services is a leading global pharmaceutical development and manufacturing organization, supporting pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies from early-stage development through to commercial supply.
Comment: Anyone waiting on the “big one” in terms of announcements from IMM, might be a tad disappointed by today’s news. Nevertheless, reading between the lines as far as recent RNS updates are concerned, it could be said that we are getting nearer as far as the flagship P140 asset is concerned.
IntelliAM AI plc (AQSE: INT), a leading provider of AI-driven software solutions for the manufacturing and engineering sectors, announced its final results for the year ended 31 March 2026. Group revenue increased by 64% to £5.26m (FY25 reported: £3.21m) and by 35% on an organic basis. Reported Platform subscription revenue increased to £098m (FY25: £0.19m). At 31st March 2026 Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) doubled to £1.65m (FY25: £0.81m), reflecting continued adoption of the IntelliAM platform and expansion across customer sites. Gross profit increased to £2.33m (FY25: £1.51m), with gross margin of 44% (FY25: 47%), reflecting the mix of deployment, services, hardware and subscription revenue. Adjusted EBITDA loss was £0.91m (FY25: loss of £0.16m), reflecting planned investment in product development, sales and customer support, together with the effect of longer sales cycles for larger customer opportunities. Loss before tax was £1.95m (FY25: loss of £0.95m) and loss for the full year was £1.61m (FY25: loss of £0.823m). Cash at 31 March 2026 was £0.10m (FY25: £1.97m), with trade receivables of approximately £1.4m at the year end.
Comment: Lots of metrics here in the mix, most of which have a “we are getting there” message. However, the shares are down some 50% since the autumn, there is hardly any cash in the bank – a placing has been announced. Therefore, if INT is going to get there, we will have to wait another year or two. Not a company one would invest in yet, unless there was a compelling reason. Oh wait, hang on.
Harena Rare Earths plc (HREE), the rare earths company progressing the Ampasindava ionic clay project in Madagascar, announced that it has signed a Project Development Funding Agreement (the “PDFA”) with the United States International Development Finance Corporation (“DFC”), the U.S. Government’s international investment arm, which invests across strategic sectors including critical minerals, modern infrastructure and advanced technology in support of secure, allied supply chains. DFC has committed up to US$4.84 million towards the agreed project development budget for the Ampasindava Project.
Comment: Always a great prospect, since coming to market, with a very dynamic Executive Chairman. HREE has managed to garner the $5m starter pack from the DFC, suggesting it really likes what it has seen under the bonnet. It is a shame the company likes being interviewed by people with no followers or journalistic experience, although in the end this has not mattered.
Oriole Resources (ORR), the AIM quoted exploration and development company focused on Central and West Africa, is pleased to announce that a maiden drilling programme has recently been completed at its 85%-owned Wapouzé limestone project in north-eastern Cameroon. The samples are being prepared for analysis and a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for the Project is anticipated in late Q3-2026.
Comment: We all love the run up to a maiden MRE, and this is what ORR has been treating up to in recent months. This also explains why the ORR share price has been rather more consistent than many of its peers in recent months.
EnSilica (ENSI), a leading fabless microchip maker with a growing portfolio of reusable IP, serving the Space and Communications, Industrial, and Automotive markets, announced follow-on chip orders worth €1.1 million from a European satellite communications customer. The orders are for EnSilica’s ENS92040 distributed digital beamformer Application Specific Standard Product (‘ASSP’) for the satellite communications user terminal market.
Comment: Given the crisis of supply in the chip world, it should be the case that the massive April – May rally in ENSI shares continued to this day. Perhaps the latest orders will remind the market that were are probably only at the foothills of what ENSI is going to achieve over the next couple of years?
M.P. Evans Group (MPE), a producer of sustainable Indonesian palm oil, is pleased to announce the following crop and production information for the six months ended 30 June 2026. The total crop of ffb harvested by the Group in the first half of 2026 from the areas managed by it was 705,400 tonnes, 14% higher than in the same part of 2025. The Group has enjoyed crop increases across almost all its estates during the first half of the year, whilst at the same time benefiting from an encouraging yield from the areas acquired at Bumi Mas in the second half of last year. Excluding the newly acquired areas, the Group’s own harvest increased by 9%.
Comment: Even if one is not an expert in terms of the vagaries of the palm oil production, the fact that most of the key metrics here have jumped significantly can be regarded as a decent win for the company, and presumably the share price over the near future.
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.
