(Alliance News) – Stocks were called lower in London on Monday, with US President Donald Trump professing a lack of concern over global market sell-offs as his aides reassured that negotiations were on the table.
Comment: Apparently according to social media sources, President Trump’s golf game went well over the weekend, so we should see a rebound in shares off the back of this as the market looks to him to blink. This is perhaps the first time ever when an administration has knowingly / willingly allowed the stock market to collapse.
Phoenix Copper (PXC), the AIM quoted, USA focused base and precious metals emerging producer and exploration company, announced a private subscription to one individual subscriber at 3.0 pence per share to raise gross proceeds of £300,000, representing 4.83% of the enlarged share capital of the Company. PXC said “Following the Subscription, the Company will continue to operate with minimal corporate overheads to ensure that it has sufficient working capital to allow it to conclude discussions with interested parties in the US and elsewhere regarding the issue of additional corporate copper bonds, to finance the ongoing construction of the Empire Mine.”
Comment: The market remains on the edge of its seat, waiting for the denouement in terms of the copper bonds. What has changed here in the recent past is the tariffs situation, something which makes PXC’s considerable US assets all the more strategically valuable, and therefore by implication funding that much easier.
Tirupati Graphite (TGR), the specialist flake graphite company and producer of this critical mineral for the global energy transition, announce that subscriptions for its placing of zero-coupon Convertible Notes have now surpassed £2.5 million. The placing remains open for additional subscriptions until 5pm on Friday 11 April 2025.
Comment: With new management, and the company clearly having sorted itself out, it is not surprising that the Convertible Notes have been a relative success. The impression here is that the worst is over / the dirty work already done.
Mendell Helium (AQSE:MDH) announced that the Company has raised approximately £796,000 by way of a placing and subscription at an issue price of 2 pence per New Ordinary Share.
Comment: We are told that MDH is actually the only producing helium company on the London market at the moment. This perhaps explains why all but £100,000 of the placing was done by the company itself.
Great Southern Copper (GSCU), the company focused on copper-gold-silver exploration in Chile, reported further exceptional assay results from Phase I drilling at the Mostaza Mine, Cerro Negro. Ø 33m of 1.96% Cu and 60.6 g/t Ag from 87m, including § 3.85m of 5.21% Cu and 318.2 g/t Ag from 88m, and § 5.0m of 5.90% Cu and 99.2 g/t Ag, from 115m, including 2.5m of 9.67% Cu and 175.4 g/t Ag from 116.4m.
Comment: Exceptional results indeed, with the chance that even in current stock market conditions GSCU shares will hold onto the bulk of recent significant gains.
Strategic Minerals (SML), an international mineral exploration and production company, announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Cornwall Resources Limited, has finalised grant funding of over £764k with the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Comment: It is good to see that the UK Government has so much cash that it can fund mining projects, rather than say, providing heat for old people. This perhaps makes SML’s achievement all the greater in gaining funding.
t42 IoT Tracking Solutions (TRAC), a provider of global shipping container tracking solutions, provided a business and strategic update for the financial year ended 31 December 2024 and outlook for 2025. The Company expects to report total revenues for FY 2024 of approximately $4.0 million (2023: $4.0 million), including around $2.0 million in SaaS revenue, representing approximately 50% of total revenue for the period (2023: 50%). TRAC said “We are pleased to note that over 75% of 2024 revenues were generated from products in the shipping container market.”
Comment: Although it has to be admitted that TRAC has traditionally been a jam tomorrow company, the latest update does give the impression that it may be possible to open the jar sooner rather than later.
EnSilica (ENSI), a leading chip maker of mixed signal ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), announced a trading update for the year ending 31 May 2025. ENSI said
“Over the first ten months of the current financial year we’ve secured six major new contracts, driving our total lifetime contracted supply revenues to over $250 million. This strong booking performance underscores EnSilica’s position as a leading ASIC supplier in Europe. That said, the delays to the two contracts are obviously disappointing, particularly as these are both material projects reducing our reported results for this year but importantly not the performance of the business over the medium term.”
Comment: ENSI has finally admitted that it has in the past rather shot itself in the foot over guidance, and hence will not be tying itself and its share price to the mast in this way. That said, the pipeline does seem well primed.
Catenai (CTAI), the AIM quoted provider of digital media and technology, updated on Klarian Ltd, a company to which Catenai provided a £450,000 unsecured convertible loan note facility as per the announcement of 25 April 2024. Klarian has advised Catenai that it intends to repay the CLN and relevant fees, in total amounting to £567,500, by the end of June 2025. The Company will explore the possibility of deploying these funds into new and exciting AI opportunities.
Comment: It must be very satisfying for a company to get paid back on a CLN plus extras, something which underlines the merits of the investee in its own right, and the loan in the first place. The question now is perhaps what CTAI is going to do with all the cash swilling around in its coffers?
Zinnwald Lithium (ZNWD), the European focused lithium company developing the advanced Zinnwald Lithium Project in Germany, announce that its 100%-owned subsidiary, Zinnwald Lithium GmbH, has been granted an additional exploration licence covering approximately 2,997 hectares in the Erzgebirge region of Saxony, Germany.
Comment: Perhaps against the flow of progress the company has been making in the recent past, the share price of ZNWD has been on the back foot until the past couple of weeks, perhaps looking forward to today’s news.
ATOME (ATOM), a developer of international green fertiliser projects, is pleased to announce the signing of the US$465 million fixed-price, lump-sum EPC with Casale for its 260,000 tonnes p.a. flagship green fertiliser plant at Villeta.
Comment: While it may be unfair to say that the deal announced today is a life-saver, it is certainly the kind of rabbit out of a hat that one needs to deliver in current stock market conditions, and when your stock has been down 30% over each of the past three years.
Vinanz Limited (BTC) the London Stock Exchange Main Market Listed Bitcoin company with US and Canadian Bitcoin operations, announced that it has engaged New York based Dominari Securities LLC (www.dominarisecurities.com), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dominari Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:DOMH), as its banker to work with the Company’s US lawyers at Lucosky Brookman LLP to seek a dual listing for its shares on the NASDAQ.
Comment: Hot on the heels of taking BTC to the main board of the LSE, there is an even bigger cue for a tech company, going to the NASDAQ, all of which means that Mr Lenigas is set to go out on a high as far as his stock market career is concerned.
Made Tech (MTEC) a provider of digital, data, and technology services to the UK public sector, announce continued robust sales booking momentum through the second half of FY25. Sales bookings in the year to date now total £68.2m. This represents an increase of £26.2m on the first half of the year (H1 FY25: £42.0m) and is 89% up on the prior full-year performance (FY24: £36.0m).
Comment: Getting on the government’s still considerable gravy train as far as contracts are concerned is a big breakthrough for the company, with such luminaries as the DBT and MoJ in the mix. The shares should continue to respond well.
Quartix Technologies (QTX), a supplier of subscription-based vehicle tracking systems, software and services, provided the following trading statement, covering the first three months of 2025. QTX said “The Group has made a very good start to the year, with new subscriptions, customer acquisition and growth in ARR showing very strong progress. Quartix is confident of achieving market expectations for the year1 and continues to make improvements in its financial performance. With the exception of the inflationary pay rise given to staff effective 1 January 2025, overhead levels are broadly in line with those for H2 2024. Free cashflow for Q1 is expected to have been £1.3m, and this has increased net cash to £4.4m.”
Comment: Given the lay of the land, it is just as well that there has been such a jump in net cash at QTX, to give it a decent cushion going forward, and not have to care about the ongoing slings and arrows of the stock market.
Smarttech247 (S247), a multi-award-winning provider of AI-enhanced cybersecurity services providing automated managed detection and response for a portfolio of international clients, is pleased to announce it has been appointed to a multi-year cybersecurity framework agreement with a major international airport in London. The Agreement has a total potential value of up to £7 million across all four suppliers over its five-year term, with a further one-year extension available.
Comment: Presumably, after recent electrical events, Heathrow was too embarrassed to be named in the RNS. Nevertheless, this announcement is a major coup for S247.
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.
