Lift Global Ventures (AQSE:LFT), an investment company focused on financial media and the energy sector, announced that the company has subscribed for £750,000 of unsecured convertible loan notes in Trans-Africa Energy Limited, a UK private company focused on the development, financing, construction and operation of energy infrastructure projects located in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Directors of Lift said they believe this will bring real change in terms of environmental, economic and social benefits for the people in the these jurisdictions.
Comment: Just over a month since the change of board, and the broadening of its remit to energy, Lift serves up its investment in the energy infrastructure space.
LifeSafe (LIFS), a fire safety technology business, provided the following trading update for the year ended 31 December 2022. The company said revenue for FY22 is expected to be approximately £3.9 million which is above its previous expectation of between £3.5 million and £3.8 million, and above current market guidance of £3.65 million.
Comment: LIFS makes it second upgrade in terms of sales since it came to market, with its flagship fire extinguisher going great guns in the U.S.A. This brings the prospect of the company being EBITDA positive later this year.
ValiRx (VAL), a life science company, announced the signature of a lease for laboratory space at MediCity (Nottingham). It also confirmed the permanent appointment of Dr Cathy Tralau-Stewart as Chief Scientific Officer. The company said the signing of the laboratory lease enables it to build the lab team, accelerate development of our internal programmes at reduced cost and initiates the launch of the external tCRO service offering.
Comment: There has been a notable bump higher in the share prices of the small cap life sciences groups so far in 2023. It will be interesting to see whether with its new lease and permanent CSO, ValiRx can benefit from improved sentiment in this space.
Tissue Regenix (TRX), the regenerative medical device company, updated for the year ended 31 December 2022, saying it was reflecting a strong year of trading. The company experienced 20%+ revenue growth (on a constant currency basis) across all three key business segments resulting in a positive adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2022.
Comment: For any company to flourish in the current environment with revenue growth up by a fifth is outstanding. For TRX to do this despite the headwinds in its space is all the more impressive.
Microlise Group (SAAS), a provider of transport management software to fleet operators, provided a full year update on trading for the year ending 31 December 2022. The group said it expects to publish its full year results for the Period in late March 2023. Group revenue grew 5% to £63.2m1 (2021: £60.3m). Adjusted EBITDA was slightly ahead of market expectations.
Comment: Another company pushing ahead despite current economic conditions, with revenue growth and EBITDA slightly ahead of market expectation. But perhaps the key positive metric here is the 10% growth in ARR and the strong cash position.
Kromek Group (KMK), a developer of radiation and bio-detection technology solutions, announced its interim results for the six months ended 31 October 2022. Revenue increased by 44% to £6.8m (H1 2022: £4.7m). Adjusted EBITDA* was £2.7m loss (H1 2022: £0.6m loss), primarily reflecting FX impact and inflation related costs. The company said it expects to be EBITDA positive and broadly cashflow neutral in H2, and announced it has been awarded funding for c. £2.5m Breast Cancer Screening Solution Developments
Comment: Perhaps a slightly bittersweet update from Kromek. The key here will be the degree of comfort provided by the call it will be EBITDA positive in H2, to offset the loss at the H1 stage.
Celsius Resources (CLA) provided a summary of the company’s activities for the Quarter ended 31 December 2022. The company said it will now conclude its London Stock Exchange, listing is by the end of January 2023. It noted there has been strong interest from UK and European investors, as well as Institutional support which may now under pin additional funding for both the company and its projects.
Gusbourne (GUS), the English sparkling wine producer, reported an unaudited trading update for the 12 months to 31 December 2022, saying this reflected another strong year of performance for the company. Net revenue for the year ended 31 December 2022 is expected to be up by 48% (2021: 95%) to c. £6.2m (2021: £4.2m, 2020: £2.1m and 2019: £1.7m), reflecting continued robust sales growth across its three main channels.
Comment: It would appear that the heatwave of 2022, and harsh economic conditions have not prevented Gusbourne from putting in a solid performance. Perhaps both of these factors have caused people to hit the bottle?
Northcoders (CODE), a provider of training programmes for software coding, provided a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2022. The company said revenue visibility for the forthcoming year currently stands at £5.4 million, an increase of 79% compared to the same time last year. Contracted revenue represents 57% of the market expectation for the FY23.
Comment: While there is doom and gloom from sources as varied as the mainstream media and the IMF, it is evident that small cap niche players like Northcoders can grow and flourish, and provide places for investors to park their cash relatively safely.
Venture Life (AIM: VLG), a developer of products for the self-care market, announced a trading update for the year ended 31st December 2022. The Group said it expects to report revenues for the year of £44.0m (2021: £32.8m), an increase of 34% over the reported revenues in the previous year and slightly ahead of market expectations. On a proforma basis, assuming the acquisitions in 2021 had been in place for the whole of 2021, the Group delivered 17% revenue growth.
Comment: Yet another company in today’s RNS Hotlist which has shown its resilience, after nearly a year or exceptional conditions governed by the aftermath of the pandemic, and the war in Ukraine. Given the state of the NHS one might expect self care to be increasingly important…
Oracle Power (ORCP), a developer of green hydrogen production, provided an update on developments during Q4 2022. The company said the fourth quarter of 2022 proved to be an extremely busy and fruitful finish to what was a momentous year for Oracle Power. It not only acquired the land for Oracle Energy’s proposed 400MW Green Hydrogen Project in Sindh – a renowned wind power corridor in south-east Pakistan – but we also appointed industry leader, thyssenkrupp Uhde, to lead the technical and commercial feasibility study for its potentially game changing green energy project.
Marula Mining (MARU) an African focused mining and development company, updated the market on mineral processing activities at the Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum Mine in South Africa. The company said the work that has been completed by its contractors Southern Metals Processing is a credit to them and their management team on site. To have achieved what they have in the past four months is a tremendous effort and to have commenced the reprocessing activities in late November 2022 and already be in a position with material bagged and ready for delivery under the $5 million Lithium Prepayment Facility that was secured in October 2022.
Andrada Mining, formerly Afritin Mining, (ATM) an African technology metals mining company, announced further results from the lithium and tantalum infill drilling programme at the Company’s flagship operation, the Uis Mine. The company said it was pleased to announce exploration drill results which are once again in line with its high expectations for the V1/V2 pegmatite ore body. It was particularly encouraged by the lithium grades intersected in drill holes V1V2041 and V1V2056, up to 1.34% lithium oxide.
Comment: It would appear that there is good momentum in Andrada’s drilling programme, with the latest hopefully capable of moving the share price, which has perhaps been treated rather unfairly since the start of Q2 2022.
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