(Alliance News) – Stocks in London are set to open marginally higher on Thursday as investors monitored developments around the Strait of Hormuz while assessing another busy slate of corporate earnings. Iran and Oman have agreed a route for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and are putting the final touches on arrangements for jointly managing the strategic waterway, Tehran’s foreign ministry said.
However, officials briefing Iranian media stressed that any reopening of the strait would depend on the US fulfilling what Tehran sees as its commitment to end its naval blockade of Iranian ports. According to state news agency IRNA, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said talks with Oman were progressing, but cautioned that even if an agreement is reached, it would not necessarily mean the strait was safe for all vessels.
Comment: Most equity indices have soared in recent days on hopes for a deal on Iran / Hormuz. This would normally be a great idea if any of the parties involved were in anyway seen as being reliable, or if one believed that whatever piece of paper was signed had any lasting value, or that the parties involved would benefit from an end to the conflict.
Wellnex Life Limited (WNX) announced it has entered into a formal binding agreement to sell its “Pain Away” business and assets to Mentholatum Australasia Pty Ltd. Mentholatum is ultimately owned by Rohto Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, a Japanese FMCG and pharmaceutical company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Comment: One of the reasons that WNX shares are up 100% today is because the shorting conspiracy / crackpot commentary brigade have got this one totally wrong. Having trashed the company from the start for “I don’t like Mondays” style psychotic reasons, today the obvious eventuality, selling “Pain Away” has happened. A victory of sorts for the small caps.
Corero (CNS), the distributed denial of service (“DDoS”) protection specialists and champion of adaptive, real-time service availability, provides the following trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2026. Revenue increased 42% to $15.5 million (H1 2025: $10.9 million). EBITDA expected to be approximately $2.6 million (H1 2025: loss of $1.4 million). Cash balance of $2.1 million (H1 2025: $3.1 million) and no debt. Notable contract win post period end.
Comment: I have clearly been on the CNS PR mailing list for quite some time, and have wondered why. I have also thought that this company was not going to be RNS Hotlist material. Instead, today we have a stellar update, a forthcoming swing to profit and attendant bells and whistles. One is suitably chastened.
Pensana (PRE) The Company has continued to work with Cascade Natural Resources Limited on the investment of US$165 million into Pensana and its subsidiaries for the continued development of the Longonjo rare earth mine in Angola. The Company has received US$15 million to date and is currently actively engaged in securing the US$150 million outstanding. Pensana Chairman, Paul Atherley commented: “We welcome the expanded Qatar backed Cascade investment, in particular the support for the U.S. Mine to Magnet strategy and the NASDAQ listing. Whilst we recognise that the delays in funds transfer are frustrating and will impact on the Longonjo project development schedule in the short term, the significant increase in support and strategic capacity that the backing of the State of Qatar affords cannot be underestimated for us to reach our mine to magnet ambitions.”
Comment: PRE shares have had a rather rocky ride, and we are reminded of why in today’s RNS. What happens next depends on one’s attitude towards the company’s Chairman, Paul Atherley. Does one believe that he is a man who can deliver or not? With the shares now a third of what they were in October, one might argue that even the end of the world is already in the share price, and that of course Paul is a wily old fox.
Shearwater Group (SWG), the cybersecurity, advisory, and managed security services group, announced that its subsidiaries Brookcourt Solutions and Pentest Limited, have both secured positions on G-Cloud 15, the UK Government’s enlarged procurement framework for cloud-based software, hosting and support services. The G-Cloud 15 offering includes solutions across a broad range of cybersecurity disciplines, including identity and access management, Zero Trust, cloud security, network security, threat detection and response, vulnerability management, data protection, security operations, managed security services and AI governance.
Comment: Although it took x years extra for SWG to get to the Promised Land, pipeline / orders Nirvana, now that it is there both the fundamentals and the share price are moving at pace. Do we dare to dream of 100p by Christmas? This seems rather more plausible than it did even a few weeks ago.
Thor Explorations Ltd (THX) announced that its ongoing diamond drilling program beneath the current Segilola Gold Mine open pit continues to intersect high grade gold mineralisation which remains open at depth.
Comment: Given the surge for gold this week, after a rather long hiatus, the latest news from THX is a decent reminder that the company is not only currently an ATM (no, not Andrada), but that it is set to be one for quite some time. The share pullback of nearly 50% from the January peak at 99.5p clearly seems overdone.
Jersey Oil & Gas (JOG), an independent upstream oil and gas company focused on the UK Continental Shelf region of the North Sea, is pleased to announce that the North Sea Transition Authority (“NSTA“) has approved an extension to the Second Term of the P2170 “Verbier” licence as part of aligning the duration with that of the P2498 “Buchan Horst” licence.
Comment: Presumably “Transition” within the acronym NSTA actually means “Termination”, something which was highlighted by new Prime Minister / holiday maker Andy Burnham, committing himself to the North Sea through gritted teeth. But hey, the North Sea Termination Authority has at least approved an extension to a license. But will there be any new ones, to be taxed at close to 80%?
Tekcapital plc (TEK), the UK intellectual property investment group focused on transforming university and corporate technologies into valuable products that can improve people’s lives, is pleased to announce its results for the six-month period ended 30 June 2026. TEK said, “H1 2026 has been the most consequential period in Tekcapital’s history. Net assets reached a record US$201.7m (31 December 2025: US$55.1m), with NAV per share of US$0.78 (31 December 2025: US$0.27) and portfolio valuation of US$191.4m. Profit after tax was US$144.8m (H1 2025: US$5.4m), whilst operating expenses were further reduced by 7.3% compared with H1 2025. The majority of this uplift is portfolio appreciation rather than cash returns, as is to be expected with early-stage technology companies; it nevertheless represents an independently assessed, IFRS 13-compliant measure. Shareholders attention is drawn to Note 6 of the interim results which provides further detail of the valuation of Versari Inc.”
Comment: There are a couple of points that I can get off my chest now that I am close to 60 years old and in the home stretch. The first is that no one regards NAV as being a low ball number in any way. Indeed, much of the time it is the maximum one can value a company. The second is that no one likes or has ever liked tech companies with multiple investments on the London market. In such circumstances a company is valued on the basis of the worst play in the portfolio. I give you TEK as an example.
Solvonis Therapeutics plc (LSE: SVNS), a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel small-molecule therapeutics for high-burden central nervous system (“CNS”) disorders, announced encouraging results from the initial in vitro cardiac ion-channel and broader off-target screening of SVN-015 under the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (“NIDA”) Addiction Treatment Discovery Program (“ATDP”). The Company previously announced SVN-015’s acceptance into the ATDP in December 2025. Following review of the initial screening results, NIDA has confirmed that SVN-015 will advance into further evaluation under the ATDP. This is expected to include confirmatory transporter studies and in vivo studies to characterise the onset and duration of its pharmacological activity.
Comment: Despite coming up with a “massive unmet needs” mantra, and everyone and their overweight mother seeing how this philosophy has worked for GLP-1, shares of SVNS have so far not had the love they deserve. If only George Best was available as a brand ambassador, or perhaps the company needs to deliver more assurances on funding its development / discovery programmes?
Helix Exploration PLC (HEX), the US based helium production and liquefaction company, is pleased to provide an update on continuous helium sales from the Rudyard facility in Montana and tolling of helium through the Keyes Helium Complex liquefaction facility in Oklahoma. Having commenced commercial operations in July 2026 with the filling of Helix’s first jumbo tube trailer, the Company is now filling a combination of customer-supplied and leased trailers on a continuous rotation basis to ensure uninterrupted supply, with the second tube trailer having been filled and departed Rudyard concurrently with the arrival of another tube trailer for filling.
Comment: One almost has to rub one’s eyes. A helium company actually producing helium / revenues. Surely this must be an early morning mirage? At the same time, with the shares nearly half their April peak, there is a case for suggesting that the market rates non-producing helium plays more highly than producing ones…
Pathos Communications plc (NEWS), the leading PR technology business, announced a trading update for the half year ended 30 June 2026, which highlighted a period of strong delivery, with revenue, profits and cash receipts all increasing as the Company benefited from the investment of the proceeds of its successful IPO. The Company is pleased to report that trading since then has continued to strengthen, with the Company delivering a record monthly revenue of over US$1.8m in July 2026 (unaudited). The growth has been driven by the enhanced Sales Team achieving new client sign-up rates that are 30% higher since its inception. This momentum further underpins management’s confidence in at least meeting market expectations for the current financial year.
Comment: Sorry, Pathos Communications, what is it that you actually do? PR you say…. Excellent update. Hopefully, the shares bounce from the lows, perhaps when more people are aware of the company. Just saying.
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.
