(Alliance News) – Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) said like-for-like sales continued to “outperform the market across all segments”, helping offset pressures of rising labour and food costs.
The Birmingham, England-based restaurant and pub operator said pretax profit jumped 20% to GBP238 million for the 12 months that ended September 27 from GBP199 million the year prior, with basic earnings per share up 19% to 29.7 pence from 25.0p. Operating profit increased 7.3% to GBP322 million from GBP300 million with an operating margin of 11.9%, improved from 11.5%.
Comment: Another stock market example of a pubs group proving the doomsters wrong. True, economies of scale work well, especially on a national basis, but it does appear that Rachel Reeves permitting, things are not quite as bad in hospitality that they have been portrayed as.
WeCap PLC: A Retail Look at a Company Suddenly in Focus
Serabi (SRB), the Brazilian focused gold mining and development company, released its unaudited interim results for the three and nine-month periods ended 30 September 2025. Gold production for the first nine months of 2025 of 32,634 ounces (corresponding nine-month period of 2024: 27,499 ounces), positioning the Company on track for full year guidance, with record Q3 production of 12,090 ounces. Cash held at 30 September 2025 of $38.8 million (31 December 2024: $22.2 million). Net cash at quarter-end (after interest bearing loans and lease liabilities) of $33.0 million (Q2-2025: $24.6 million). EBITDA for the nine-month period of $48.2 million (corresponding nine-month period of 2024: $24.7 million).
Comment: Clearly, the present environment means that companies like SRB are enjoying life in a significant way. Indeed, every day that gold is above $4,000 mean that it is in cash flow heaven. The only question is how long the good times can roll?
Mila Resources Plc (MILA), the post-discovery gold exploration accelerator, provided an update on exploration activities at its Queensland Gold and Copper Portfolio in Australia. MILA said “The completion of our diamond drilling programme at Yarrol in early Q4 marked an important milestone for Mila as we accelerate towards the development of an MRE. Initial visual inspections of the core reinforced our confidence in our preliminary geological interpretations and as a result, we made the decision to increase the amount of samples to assay so that we can fully understand the newly defined mineralisation observed in the core.”
Comment: MILA has been one of the several winners of both the gold revival and the fallout from China’s export ban / tariff wars. The current position is that the market seems happy with the drilling journey here, if not the results. A 3p share price target for Q1 2026 on a technical basis does not seem optimistic.
Upland Resources Limited (UPL) announced that it has been notified of the following purchases of ordinary shares of no par value in the Company by Directors and senior management. Bolhassan Di, Chairman – 1,000,000 ordinary shares. Professor Andrew Hurst, Non-Executive Director – 603,030 ordinary shares. Dr. Razak Damit, Non-Executive Director – 300,000 ordinary shares. Gerard Murray, Chief Operating Officer – 302,142 ordinary shares. Josh Galloway, Head of Drilling Services – 299,401 ordinary shares.
Comment: Shares of UPL have risen over 50% in the past month, on decent news, although it has been clear that the breakout in the share price is flagging something rather more transformational. This is something certainly underlined by the latest broad based director buying underlines.
Galileo Resources Plc (GLR) announced the signing of a conditional Co-Operation and Project development agreement on 27 November 2025 with Jubilee Metals Group (JLP) in relation to the Molefe Project in Zambia Colin Bird Chairman & CEO said: “We believe that this collaboration agreement provides a unique skill set to explore the smaller mining opportunities well beyond concept but sub-definition. We feel that there are many opportunities within the conventional copper belt geology to discover small to medium-sized mining propositions to assist tomorrow’s high demand for copper. We look forward to working with Jubilee and providing our expertise to the total solution”.
Comment: GLR continues to make decent progress, with the latest announcement underlining that it is in a strong position to work with other familiar players in the market, in this case JLP, effectively one of the Colin Bird family of companies ono the stock market.
European Metals Holdings Limited (EMH) announced that, subject to completion of administrative processes, Geomet s.r.o. has been informed it has been awarded a grant of up to EUR 360 million (c.GBP 315 million) under the “Strategic Investments for a Climate-Neutral Economy” programme, administered by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic for the development of the Company’s flagship Cinovec Lithium Project.
Comment: We now have the answer as to why EMH shares have been on the front foot in the recent past, especially since the beginning of October. Obviously, someone, somewhere has a very effective crystal ball. Ideally, the shares can spike close to the March 22p peak in the near future.
Hydrogen Utopia International (HUI), a company holding the right to negotiate access to exclusive licenses for the deployment of InEnTec’s proven PEM Melter technology and developing its own technology to convert non-recyclable plastic waste into hydrogen and other low-carbon fuels, updated investors on its engagement with the Saudi Investment Recycling Company, as SIRC is undertaking the validation of InEnTec’s Technology, represented by HUI in KSA. SIRC is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s national authority for waste management, recycling, and circular-economy development, wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Comment: Despite HUI’s ongoing validation of its strategy and its prospects, such as today’s announcement, the market remains loathed to acknowledge in share price terms the progress made here. One wonder’s why?
Atlas Metals (AMG), the natural resources and energy company, announced, further to the Company’s announcements on 17 June 2025 and 10 September 2025, regarding the Company’s proposed acquisition of Universal Pozzolanic Silica Alumina Ltd that an updated Competent Person’s Report has been published. AMG said “We are making good progress with the proposed acquisition of UPSA. The updated CPR demonstrates even more potential within the PSA resource at Warialda. In addition, UPSA already have work underway that is targeted on uplifting resources from the inferred category.
Comment: It will be interesting to see whether the positive noises today from AMG are enough to excite the market as it clearly was at the turn of the month. The tone of the RNS suggests that the company would like the market to get re-enthused.
Tern Plc (TERN), the AIM‑quoted investment company, provided the following update regarding its capital commitment to Sure Valley Ventures Enterprise Capital Fund LP. As announced on 2 March 2022, Tern committed to invest up to £5 million in SVV2 over the fund’s 10-year life and is required to provide capital to SVV2 from time to time, often at short notice. As at 30 June 2025, the unaudited fair value of Tern’s shareholding in SVV2 was approximately £0.8 million. To date, Tern has invested approximately £1.3 million into SVV2.
Comment: After not being able to pick enough winning tech investments in recent years, even during one of the greatest tech booms in AI, it would appear that TERN is looking to outsource the investment selection process to someone who knows what they are doing.
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.
