During a week of turbulent market conditions, natural resources companies in the small-cap category were among the ones to suffer losses.
On Friday, Predator Oil & Gas Holdings PLC (LSE: PRD) experienced a 20% decline, as anticipated, following the announcement of a conditional placement of 15.5 million new ordinary shares, with a placement price of 5.5p per share. The group’s aim was to raise £2mln to provide complete funding for their MOU-3 well project, which focuses on Morocco.
MC Mining Ltd, which focuses on metallurgical coal assets in South Africa, ended the week down 16% to 8.4p. The majority of the losses occurred on Thursday, following the release of its latest interim report.
Although the company’s losses per share decreased slightly (from 0.54 US cents to 0.5 US cents), much of the report focused on the necessity for additional funding, which could be obtained through either debt or equity rounds.
The Gym Group PLC (LSE: GYM) experienced a 25% drop in its share price over the week, as it warned that increasing costs would counteract improvements in full-year revenues. In a statement issued alongside the results for the 12 months ending on December 31, 2022, the operator of no-contract gyms stated that it anticipates the current challenging macroeconomic environment and its impact on consumer demand to persist throughout the year. Consequently, fitness may be on the chopping block when it comes to cost-of-living expenses, although gym enthusiasts could take advantage of the warmer weather that is hopefully on the way.
Meanwhile, Virgin Wines UK shares fell 12% on Tuesday morning, as investors picked up on the indications of tough trading conditions for the group in its latest interim report. In the six months ending on December 31, the direct-to-consumer wine retailer’s profit before tax plummeted to £100,000, a 97% drop from £3.2mln the previous year, while revenue declined by 17%.
Metal Tiger PLC (AIM: MTR, ASX: MTR) experienced a 17% decline to 7.64p, primarily due to its impending delisting from the AIM. CEO Michael McNeilly stated that this was not a decision taken lightly.
However, Metal Tiger will continue to trade on the Australian Stock Exchange, with current shareholders receiving a one-to-one share swap.
On a positive note within the AIM market, Verditek PLC (AIM: VDTK), a clean energy group, rose over 30% on Friday after declaring an exclusive three-year supply agreement with Lindab Profil for the provision of solar panels.
In a completely different sector, Blue Star Capital PLC (AIM: BLU) closed the week with a 33% increase following the announcement by Pendulum, a company incubated by Blue Star’s investee company SatoshiPay, about the launch of a blockchain protocol for bridging the popular Polkadot and Stellar blockchains.
In addition, Quantum Blockchain plc experienced a 23% increase over the week, as investors responded positively to a litigation win for its subsidiary, Clear Leisure, in the blockchain industry.
4imprint Group Plc (AQSE: FOUR), a specialist in direct marketing products, was also sought after as it announced a special dividend after a successful year.
Additionally, the AIM All-Share Index fell by almost 3% to 813.27 as of midday Friday, a better performance than the FTSE 100, which dropped by more than 4%.
