Hybridan Small Cap Feast

A round up of the day’s news brought to you by the team at small-cap broker and advisor Hybridan.

Dish of the day

Cornerstone FS (CSFS.L) has joined AIM, an SME focused, cloud-based provider of international payment, currency risk management and electronic account services focused on removing the complexity of international payments for customers. Raising £2.2m. Mkt Cap £12.3m.

Off the menu

Hydrodec has left AIM

Banquet Buffet

Redcentric 137.5p £214.6m (RCN.L)

The UK IT managed services provider, today announces a trading update for the year ended 31 March 2021 and the sale of a non-core business unit.

The Company’s performance throughout the year ended 31 March 2021 has been excellent with revenues growing, healthy profitability and exceptional cash flows.  Our strong recurring revenues, resilient business model and diverse customer base have enabled us to not only weather the Covid-19 storm but also flourish in these difficult times.

Revenue and adjusted EBITDA for the financial year ended 31 March 2021 are expected to be in line with the board’s expectations, with net debt of approximately £15.6m (including £16.5m of IFRS-16 liabilities & supplier loans) being better than the board’s expectations.

Has also agreed sale of non-core assets and knowhow required for the provision of maintenance services to four EDF nuclear power stations.  Under the terms of the agreement, Thales will pay Redcentric a fixed consideration of £5.75m, payable in two instalments: £3.5m on 30 April 2021 and £2.25m on 30 September 2021.

Ncondezi Energy 3.55p £13.2m (NCCL.L)

Update on its maiden Commercial and Industrial 400kWP solar and 912kWh battery storage project in Mozambique and the proposed US$500,000 bridge loan previously announced on 1 March 2021:

· All material equipment including solar panels and Tesla Power Pack have cleared Mozambican customs and are awaiting final transportation to site

· Construction site has been cleared with solar panel installation set to start in early April 2021

· Target Project commissioning on track for June 2021

· US$500,000 bridge loan full form agreement between wholly owned renewables subsidiary, Ncondezi Green Power, and certain Directors of the Company at an advanced stage and due to be finalised in the coming weeks

· Bridge Loan being provided to finance the balance of construction costs to commission the Project.

· Bridge Loan expected to constitute an AIM Rule 13 related party transaction and further updates will be provided in due course

Primorus Investments 5p £7m (PRIM.L)

Investment Update Engage Technology Partners , the end-to-end workforce management platform provider, has recently completed an equity fundraising resulting in the conversion of loan notes which investors, including the Company, subscribed for last year as part of the Government’s Future Fund initiative. Following the conversion, which was completed at a discount of 20 per cent. to the equity fundraising, Primorus now holds 92,374 ordinary shares in the capital of Engage, equating to approximately 4 per cent. of its fully diluted share capital.

Update on Zuuse Limited , a leading global software provider operating in the construction and building operations sector. Despite 2020 being a challenging year due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, Zuuse’s revenue for the 12 months ending 31 December 2020 was up by 15 per cent. versus the comparable period last year and despite falling 7 per cent. during Q2 2020. The business was also EBITDA and cashflow positive throughout the period, which has provided a strong base moving into 2021 to increase the investment in the business to drive sales and revenue growth. Zuuse enjoyed record sales in December 2020.

Notes the announcement by TruSpine Technologies plc  on 1 April that it has completed a share subscription to raise £585,000. Whilst the Company did not participate in the subscription, it is hoped the fundraise will further advance TruSpine through its FDA application process and commercial launch of its Cervi-LOK™ device.

Oriole Resources 0.875p  £14m (ORR.L)

Oriole has secured a controlling position in Reservoir Minerals Cameroon Sarl (RMC Sarl), a former subsidiary of Bureau d’Etudes et d’Investigations Géologico-minières, Géotechniques et Géophysiques SARL (BEIG3), for its early-stage exploration licences in Cameroon.

· The Company has acquired 51% ownership of RMC Sarl, the holding company for the Bibemi and Wapouzé orogenic gold projects in northern Cameroon;

· 51% ownership of the Mana, Dogon and Sanga licences in central Cameroon have also been acquired at no additional cost. These licences are contiguous with the Company’s 90%-owned licences in central Cameroon, which together form a 3,592 square kilometre (“km2”) district-scale land package;

· Completion of the ongoing maiden drilling programme at Bibemi is expected to satisfy Oriole’s second earn-in commitment to acquire a 90% interest in all five licences.

In the Style 230.5p £121m (ITS.L)

In The Style, the fast-growing e-commerce womenswear fashion brand with an innovative influencer collaboration model, announces a new collaboration with influencer, singer and TV personality Stacey Solomon. The collaboration represents one of the largest announced by the brand during its seven-year history.

 Stacey has a highly engaged Instagram following of more than 4.1m, as well as 1.5m followers on Twitter and 1.5m on TikTok. She is also a regular on ITV’s award-winning and hugely popular daytime TV show Loose Women.

The Stacey Solomon x In The Style collection will launch on 27th April 2021, initially comprising 40 products, and will be available in sizes 4-28 and include petite and tall options.

Avacta Group 246.5p  £625m (AVCT.L)

The developer of innovative cancer therapies and diagnostics based on its proprietary Affimer® and pre|CISION™ platforms, has entered into a global distribution agreement with ABCAM plc (AIM: ABC; NASDAQ: ABCM) to sell the Group’s recently developed SARS-CoV-2 research ELISA Affimer® reagents.

Totally 31p £56.5m (TLY.L)

The Group’s Urgent Care division has been awarded a number of contract extensions worth a total of c. £17.8m .

Of the Contracts, six are for the continued provision of a number of Urgent Treatment Centres located in North West London for 6 months from 1 April 2021 until 30 September 2021 and equate to c. £12.5m. The Contracts have been awarded to Totally’s wholly owned subsidiaries, Vocare Limited and Greenbrook Healthcare (Hounslow) Limited, which together form the Group’s Urgent Care division.

Renalytix AI 925p £666m (RENX.L)

RenalytixAI plc announced today that KidneyIntelX™  more accurately predicted progressive kidney function decline and kidney failure in a multi-center, diverse cohort of 1,146 type 2 diabetes patients with early-stage (stages 1, 2, and 3) kidney disease versus the current standard of care. The results of the study, which is the second peer-reviewed clinical validation study on KidneyIntelX, have been published in Diabetologia , the official journal of the  European Association for the Study of Diabetes  (EASD).

Caledonia Mining 1158p  £140m (CMCL.L)

Caledonia’s Central Shaft, which is the deepest shaft of any gold mine in Zimbabwe, is fully operational. Caledonia can now start to hoist rock, men and material on a daily basis, which will solve our hoisting constraints and facilitate the planned expansion in mine capacity targeting 80,000 oz of gold production per year.

Arricano Real Estate 0.3p £31m (ARO.L)

Arricano announces that the Zaporizhzhia local government itself announced on 2 April, in response to the continuing COVID pandemic, temporary restrictions on customer access to retail shopping centres from 3 April until further notice. As a result, stores, other than hypermarket, pharmacy and some other essential stores, in Arricano’s City Mall shopping centre in Zaporizhzhia will be closed over this period. A further announcement will be made when businesses are allowed to re-commence.

What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?

NFT Investments plc is an investment company that specialises in non-fungible tokens (NFT). Has applied for admission to the Access segment of the AQSE Growth Market. No funds being raised. Due 16 April.

Thor Explorations (TSXV:THX) seeking a secondary listing on AIM. The Company is targeting Admission during Q2 2021.   Segun Lawson, President & CEO, stated: “Thor Explorations has advanced significantly, in both project development and capitalisation since the acquisition of Segilola in 2016. This year, the Company is well positioned to achieve two major milestones with the commencement of gold production at Segilola in Nigeria and a maiden resource at Douta in Senegal, as well as continuing to progress our highly prospective Nigerian exploration portfolio on the Ilesha Schist belt.”

MAST Energy Developments (MED) is to IPO on the Standard List on 14th April 2021 under the ticker MAST.  The company has raised £5m giving a market capitalisation on listing of c. £23m.  MED is currently a 100% subsidiary company of AIM quoted, Kibo Energy*.   MED was established to acquire and develop a portfolio of flexible power plants in the UK and become a multi-asset operator in the rapidly growing Reserve Power market.

PensionBee has confirmed its intention to float on the High Growth Segment  of the Main Market of LSE.  The online pension provider had approximately 130,000 Active Customers and £1.5bn of assets under administration, in each case as at 28 February 2021.  The Offer will comprise new Shares raising gross proceeds of approximately £55m and existing Shares to be sold by certain existing small minority  shareholders of up to £5m. None of the founders, directors or members of senior management of PensionBee are selling any existing Shares. Expected in April.  

Imperial X (AQSE:IMPP) to join the Main Market (standard). It is also proposed that on Admission to the Official List, the Company will change its name to Cloudbreak Discovery Plc.  With effect from Admission, Imperial X will hold equity positions and royalties in a variety of projects in the natural resources sector across multiple jurisdictions, primarily in the Americas and Africa. The Company is proposing to raise up to £1.5m by way of placing of new Ordinary Shares to support further prospect acquisitions. Current Mkt cap £4.7m Expected April 2021.

Proposed move to AIM from the main market (standard)  by Emmerson (EML.L)  to provide Emmerson with access to a market and environment which is more suited, in the Board’s view, to the Company’s current size and strategy ahead of pivotal period for the Company with the commencement of mine construction at the Khemisset Potash Project expected by end of 2021. Follows recent award of Mining Licence granting Emmerson exclusive right to develop and mine the potash deposit and £5.5m raise to fund ongoing project development work.  

NextEnergy Renewables  to launch an IPO on the Main Market. NREN is a differentiated renewables investment Company that aims to capture the most attractive private renewables and energy transition infrastructure investment opportunities globally.  Targeting a £300m raise.   NREN is targeting total returns of 9-11 per cent. per annum (net of all fees and expenses but including the Target Dividend and capital appreciation) . The Company’s target dividend yield for the first full financial year to 31 December 2022 is 5.5 pence. Due Early March 2021.

Digital 9 Infrastructure launch an initial public offering  on the Specialist Fund Segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, by way of an initial placing and offer for subscription for a target issue £400m. Digital 9 Infrastructure plc is a newly established, externally managed investment trust. The Company will invest in a range of digital infrastructure assets which deliver a reliable, functioning internet. The IPO Prospectus is expected to be  published in March 2021.

Fix Price announces its intention to float on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.  Fix Price is one of the leading variety value retailers globally and the largest in Russia, with more than 4,200 stores. Fix Price has revenues of RUB 190.1bn, RUB 142.9bn and RUB 108.7bn for 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA for the same years was RUB 36.8bn, RUB 27.2bn and RUB 14.2bn, respectively. The Offer would consist of an offering of GDRs by certain existing shareholders of the Company.

Great Point Entertainment Income Trust PLC announced its prospectus has been approved by the FCA.  Great Point Entertainment Income Trust PLC is a newly established, externally managed closed-ended investment company. The Company will provide project finance to content makers and commissioners in the global television and film production industry via senior loans secured against pre-sold intellectual property (IP) rights. GPEIT’s investment objective is to provide Shareholders with dividend income and modest capital growth through exposure to media content finance.

*A corporate client of Hybridan LLP

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