(Alliance News) – Stocks in London are set to open lower on Monday, ahead of incoming UK prime minister Andy Burnham entering 10 Downing Street, and following further fighting in the Middle East. The US conducted a new round of airstrikes early on Monday targeting Iran after announcing the death of another American service member.
Iran responded by launching an attack targeting Bahrain, the home of the US Navy’s fifth fleet. Andy Burnham will enter 10 Downing Street promising to give people “breathing room” against the rising cost of living.
Comment: It would appear that President Trump’s latest efforts to shore up the crude oil price are being successful, even though we are still some way off the best levels of the spring at $100. That should not be long. At home the coronation of another big tax, big immigration, nanny state politician is under way. Obviously, he will bottle a snap election….
The Times: The low-cost airline Ryanair (RYAI) has reported lower than expected first-quarter profit, as it was forced to cut fares during the peak summer travel season. Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers reported an after-tax profit of €538 million for the three months to the end of June, down from €820 million over the same period last year and short of analyst forecasts for profits of €579 million. Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, said first-quarter fares “required stimulation as the Middle East conflict led to consumer hesitancy, concerns about EU jet-fuel shortages, economic uncertainty and later bookings”.
Comment: Given the lay of the land it could have been much worse for Ryanair, and indeed, therein lies the interest in this company. It is always good to see the normally smug, brash O’Leary having to take himself down a peg or two after bad results. Still making money had over fist though.
InSig AI (INSG) has made it first digital asset investment: in ATM Labs B.V., trading as 4Mica, a Belgium based, early-stage AI agent micropayments solutions provider. Insig AI has committed to invest an immediate €300,000 (in aggregate) with completion expected within 45 days. The investment is to be satisfied in cash structured by issuance of a convertible loan instrument from Insig AI to 4Mica. The Convertible Loan has a zero interest rate and maturity date of 31 August 2027. Should the Convertible Loan be converted, this will equate to a 2.94 per cent fully diluted interest in 4Mica. Additionally, Insig AI has committed to invest €1 million conditional upon 4Mica securing a substantial fundraising round within 16 months of completion of the Convertible Loan. Richard Bernstein has indicated to the Board of Insig AI, that should it be required, he intends to underwrite such investment into Insig AI. 4Mica is building a non-custodial clearing layer for AI agent micropayments to provide a stablecoin-first cryptography-based payment rail. Creating a clearing layer between the payment protocol and the settlement layer, 4Mica believes that its clearing technology can be delivered at 99% below the cost of current transactions, while supporting significantly higher volumes.
Comment: It would appear that INSG is going all in on its digital asset investment strategy, and what is not to like when everyone these days when everyone is in love with non-custodial clearing layers, especially in relation to AI agents.
Helix Exploration PLC (HEX), the US based helium production and liquefaction company, is pleased to provide an update on helium sales and the departure of the Company’s first high-pressure jumbo tube trailer loaded with high-grade helium produced from the Rudyard facility. This milestone represents the Company’s first physical helium sale and marks Helix’s transition into a revenue-generating producer, achieved just over 24 months after the Company’s IPO, a significant milestone for a company that has progressed from exploration through development, commissioning, production and now commercial sales in little over two years.
Comment: People have grown old and died waiting for the stock market’s coterie of helium plays to produce helium. However, with HEX it would appear that the waiting game is over. We have reached the Promised Land of production, perhaps with one or two more fundraises than expected.
Oracle Power PLC (ORCP), an international project developer, provide an update on progress of the Native Vegetation Clearing Permit (NVCP) and the Mine Development and Closure Proposal (MDCP), covering the Northern Zone Gold Project (M25/389), part of the Company’s Kalgoorlie Gold Project, which is located 25 km east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. ORCP said “The team has been working in parallel to the recent granting of M25/389 to progress all the inputs required for the submission of the NVCP and MDCP, which will then provide the operating permit for the start of mining operations This work has been progressing well. A significant number of the major inputs for the submission of the NVCP have now been completed, with final deliverables (reports) nearing completion for submission. The MDCP submission will follow as we finalise inputs. We continue to get much closer to turning dirt at Northern Zone and I look forward to updating shareholders on progress as we move forward.”
Comment: Any and every RNS from ORCP that does not contain a fundraise has to be regarded as a win. Although the longer the time period since the last one does spark some concerned. The key phrase here is “turning dirt,” something which given the history of the company would be quite a breakthrough.
Sealand Capital Galaxy Limited (SCGL) announced that it has been appointed to provide advisory services, supporting the development of a computing infrastructure programme, to ITC Properties Group Limited (HKEX: 00199) . ITC is a company listed on the Main Board of The Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The advisory mandate represents an important milestone in the commercial development of Sealand’s expertise in computing infrastructure, and the revenue will be recognised in this quarter.
Comment: It has been quite a rocky ride as far as SCGL has been concerned, both in terms of the share price trajectory and the newsflow. It would appear that with the word “revenue” in the RNS, bulls of the stock have a chance of salvation.
Kazera Global plc (KZG), the AIM-quoted investment company, announce that it has received the initial advance payment of US$750,000 from South Africa AT Investments (Pty) Ltd (“SAI”), as provided for under the long-term Mining Cooperation and Production Sharing Agreement between SAI and the Company’s South African subsidiary, Whale Head Minerals (Pty) Ltd (“WHM”) which was announced on 9 July 2026. Receipt of the payment represents the first commercial milestone under the strategic partnership and demonstrates SAI’s commitment to the long-term development of WHM’s Heavy Mineral Sands (“HMS”) assets.
Comment: It is never easy for money to come into a company, particularly in the small cap space, and particularly when it comes to jurisdictions which could be described as sub-optimal. But nevertheless, KZG has managed to get money into the kitty, something which should add to the post April share price bounce yet further.
MedPal AI plc (MPAL), the AI-native digital health and pharmacy group, announced the acquisition of Solid State Technologies Ltd, trading as eMARx (“eMARx”), a UK provider of electronic medication administration record (“eMAR”) software to care homes and pharmacies. MPAL said, “This is the deal that completes our Health OS. Medication is the heartbeat of every care home, and with eMARx we now own the digital layer where it actually happens: at the bedside, dose by dose, in real time. Combine that with robotic dispensing at Sarus Court, our supply relationships and Juno, our agentic AI companion, and MedPal can offer Britain’s care homes something we believe nobody else can: one integrated service that gets the right medicine to the right resident at the right time, every time, with families able to trust that their loved ones are safe.”
Comment: It would appear that in many ways MPAL is actually helping bolster the UK patient experience, and also taking health into the 21st century, something which the NHS itself really needs to do. Clearly, MPAL’s exposure to the all important care home space is very significant going forward.
Sunrise Resources (SRES) announced that it has established a new copper-silver-gold project in Nevada, USA, which it has named the Lake Copper-Silver-Gold Project after its location in the Lake Mining District in Churchill County, Nevada, USA. SRES said “This exciting acquisition follows on from our recently announced decision to focus on precious and base metal projects and I am delighted to be announcing our first copper exploration project in Nevada. Copper is a critical metal in the energy transition and has seen its price increase significantly in the past few years. Nevada is host to a number of large copper mining and development projects.”
Comment: It would appear that we have another bright hope / contender in terms of UK listed stocks with exposure to Nevada, one of the finest mining postcodes in the world. Guardian Metal (GMET) led the way, then Great Western (GWMO), and now the newbie, SRES.
Zenith Energy Ltd (ZEN), announce that it has entered into a binding Letter of Intent and Exclusivity (the “Contract“) for the acquisition of 100% of the issued share capital of an Italian biogas development company (the “Target“), which owns the rights to develop a fully permitted and engineered biogas production facility in Italy, subject to completion of the proposed acquisition. The Project is fully permitted, fully engineered and construction-ready, with all material permits, licences and engineering approvals already obtained. Once operational, the Project will produce approximately 3 million cubic metres of methane gas per annum, for injection into the Italian gas network, sold at Italian gas prices and benefiting from 15-year government incentives.
Comment: ZEN has certainly got the bit between its teeth in terms of its renewable energy strategy in Italy, something which already appear to be a serious campaign in terms of the counterparties and the rollout. As has been said here before, the market continues to give the company rather less credit than it deserves given the moves being made.
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.
