Hybridan Small Cap Feast

Joiners: Probiotix Health plc has  joined the Access Segment Aquis Stock Exchange Growth Market. ProBiotix develops probiotics (live microbes that, when ingested, can alter the composition of the microbiome, and improve human health) to tackle cardiovascular disease and other lifestyle conditions which are affecting growing numbers of people across the world. £2.5m raised at 21p. Mkt Cap c. £25.5m.

Leavers: No Leavers Today.

Banquet Buffet

Brickability Group 93.5p  £279.13m (BRCK.L)

The construction materials distributor, announced the acquisition of Beacon Roofing Limited for a consideration of £6.5m. Beacon, founded in 1993, is a Surrey based roofing contractor that provides a full range of roofing services across the South East of England, predominantly for national house builders and developers. For the 12 months to 31 January 2022, Beacon reported unaudited revenue of £8.9m and normalised EBITDA of approximately £1.1m. The consideration is being satisfied by an initial cash payment of £4.5m and deferred consideration of £2.0m payable in cash over the next three years (the Performance Period), subject to adjustments to deferred consideration payments for performance against target performance criteria during the Performance Period. The acquisition will be funded from the Group’s existing resources and is expected to be immediately earnings accretive post completion. Brickability will release a trading update for the twelve months ending 31 March 2022 in the second half of April 2022.

Destiny Pharma 50p  £36.65m (DEST.L)

The clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel medicines to prevent life threatening infections, today announces that an abstract providing data on the antimicrobial activity of XF-73 against bacteria within biofilms has been accepted for presentation at Europe’s premier antimicrobials congress, the 32nd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), to be held 23- 26 April, 2022. The data were generated as part of a research collaboration with Aston University. Presentation Title: Antibacterial efficacy of XF-73 via two mechanisms of action against Gram-positive microorganisms in biofilm mode of growth.

Emmerson 7.45p  £68.2m (EML.L)

Emmerson, which is developing the world class Khemisset Potash Project in Morocco, updated on its corporate and operational activities for Q1 2022. War in Ukraine has highlighted the importance to global food security of bringing on new sources of potash for fertilizer production, particularly in reliable well-situated locations such as Morocco; Continued work to advance the Khemisset Project towards construction, including a programme of drilling to provide further information for the design of the declines and other underground structures, and to provide more data on the orebody; Basic Engineering Package awarded to Reminex SA, a respected Moroccan engineering company that is part of the Managem SA group; Environmental approval process continues to progress towards the final awarding of the permit; Discussions with financing partners progressing well, with strong interest on both debt and equity; Appointment of Mr Jim Wynn as Chief Financial Officer; and Continued engagement with Moroccan authorities to enhance the strong relationship between Morocco and the UK and to underline the benefits of the Khemisset project to local and national stakeholders.

Feedback 0.67p  £18m (FDBK.L)

The specialist clinical communication company, announces that its cloud TB screening service is now live at the Evangelical Hospital Khariar in Odisha, India. The service sees digital X-rays securely transmitted via mobile networks to the cloud where the images are analysed by Feedback’s partner Qure.ai, before being shared with clinicians. Using Bleepa’s pioneering capabilities a screening result can be available within minutes of an X-ray being acquired, almost anywhere in India. The impact of this technology means that TB screening can now be expanded to rural areas where digital imaging was difficult to deliver. This enables current TB screening services to reach more people and grow the number of their existing screening contracts. The pilot, run in partnership with Qure.ai and Amazon Web Services will now move into an evaluative stage where the system benefits will be measured as patients come through. In parallel the Company will pursue a number of opportunities to commercialise the system, leveraging the evidence generated by the pilot.

GYG Group 32.5p  £15.2m (GYG.L)

The market leading superyacht painting, supply and maintenance company, announced that terms have been agreed on both of the Nobiskrug New Build projects that were suspended in 2021. One of these projects will re-commence at the Nobiskrug shipyard (under new ownership), and the second will be completed in another Northern European Shipyard representing a new opportunity for the Group. The works are scheduled to recommence on both projects in Q2 2022. Geopolitical Exposure: Current industry estimates place the wider Russian superyacht ownership at 7-10% of the global market and the Directors believe the Group’s current exposure is in line with these figures. To counter any possible disruption, the team are focused on leveraging GYG global capabilities with operations across the Mediterranean, Northern Europe and the USA and have built a solid pipeline of prospective work, spanning over 185 projects amounting to approximately EUR200m potential revenue. As announced on 2 March 2022 at the Group’s Full Year Trading Update, the Total Order Book as of February 2022 stood at EUR55.4m and remains stable at this level today. The Group will announce its Final Results for the year ended 31 December 2021 on Wednesday 27 April 2022.

NWF Group 230p  £113m (NWF.L)

The specialist distributor of fuel, food and feed across the UK, today announces a further trading update for the current year ending 31 May 2022. Following the positive trading update announced on 8 March 2022, which noted the Board’s increased expectations for the full year, the Group has continued to outperform and as a result the Board now anticipates full year results will be significantly ahead of the revised expectations. This has been led by the Fuels business as a result of exceptional circumstances, with the very significant short-term volatility in oil prices and a supply constrained UK fuel market.

Polarean Imaging 63.5p  £131m (POLX.L)

The medical imaging technology company, with an investigational drug device combination product using hyperpolarised 129 Xenon gas to enhance magnetic resonance imaging in pulmonary medicine, announces that the Company has filed the resubmission of its New Drug Application with the US Food and Drug Administration. The filing follows the Company’s receipt of a Complete Response Letter from the FDA on 6 October 2021 . Following detailed discussion in the Type A meeting with the FDA, these issues have now been addressed by Polarean in the resubmission. It is currently expected that the FDA review period will take six months. The Company is making full use of this time with regards to commercialisation and launch preparation and will further update the market once material information is received.

Poolbeg Pharma 7p  £35m (POLB.L)

Poolbeg has signed a Clinical Trial Agreement with the Centre for Human Drug Research (CHDR) in the Netherlands for the completion of a bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) human challenge study of POLB 001, which is due to commence in June 2022. First results are expected before the end of 2022 at which point the Company aims to rapidly monetise by partnering or out licensing the asset to pharma / biotech for further development. As part of this study, which is being completed in line with the Company’s capital light approach, researchers will stimulate the immune systems of healthy volunteers with LPS in a safe and controlled clinical environment. LPS emulates a robust immune response acting as a simulant for the hyperinflammatory effects associated with severe influenza infections which CHDR will use to measure the efficacy of POLB 001 as its mode of action is to block this hyper-immune response. This differs from existing treatments because it targets the host immune response rather than the virus itself and is therefore unaffected by viral variance. Poolbeg has defined and formulated the oral administration of POLB 001 and already has sufficient grade and quantities of the drug to utilise immediately in the forthcoming human challenge study.

Sovereign Metals  33.5p  £144.9m (SVML.L)

Potential for Sovereign to become an important supplier of low carbon footprint natural graphite to the UK presented at a Roundtable on behalf of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Critical Minerals organised by the Critical Minerals Association. The Company showcased how its natural graphite and rutile products could help tackle climate change and bring significant benefits to Malawi through job creation, community initiatives and fiscal benefits. The Company showcased how its natural graphite and rutile products could help tackle climate change and bring significant benefits to Malawi through job creation, community initiatives and fiscal benefits. China currently produces over 75% of the world’s natural graphite, almost 80% of the world’s synthetic graphite and 100% of the world’s natural graphite anodes used in lithium-ion batteries. Each tonne of graphite produced from Kasiya is expected to have a Global Warming Potential of only 0.2 tonnes CO2e which represents 80% lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to natural graphite produced in the Heilongjiang Province, China. Recent peer-reviewed independent studies published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology estimate Global Warming Potential of synthetic graphite at 20.6 tonnes CO2e i.e., 103x that of Kasiya’s natural graphite. Kasiya’s graphite characterisation shows a coarse flake, high purity and highly crystalline product which should be suitable for lithium-ion batteries and wider industrial uses.

VAST Resources 0.75p  £2.6m (VAST.L)

The mining company announced an update regarding its withdrawal from the acquisition process of Gem Diamonds Botswana (pty) Ltd (GDB), a wholly owned subsidiary of Gem Diamonds Ltd  which owns the Ghaghoo Diamond Mine in Botswana. Further to the previous announcement regarding the Company informing Botswana Diamonds PLC (BOD) & Gem Diamonds of its intention not to proceed with the acquisition of GDB, as announced on 23 August 2021, the parties continue working together to ensure a mutually beneficial outcome and in the interim an agreement has been reached to extend the longstop date by 40 days from 31 March 2022 to 10 May 2022 to allow BOD to secure an alternative joint venture partner.

What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?

First Tin plc, a tin development company with advanced, low capex projects in Germany and Australia, intends to list on the Main Market. First Tin is led by an experienced team of tin specialists, committed to the environmentally sensitive and low carbon development of advanced hard rock tin projects in conflict free, low political risk jurisdictions. The Company has raised £20m to execute its plan to bring its two 100% owned tin mines into production before the end of 2025 so that it can provide provenance of supply to support the current global clean energy and technological revolutions. Expected 8 April 2022.

Asimilar Group plc, currently listed on AIM, intends to the join Aquis Stock Exchange Growth Market. The Group invests in the technology and software sectors and aims to focus primarily on opportunities in the Big Data, Machine Learning, Telematics and Internet of Things areas. Whilst the Directors are principally focused on making investments in private businesses, they do not rule out investments in listed businesses if this presents, in their judgment, the best opportunity for Shareholders. Expected 4 April 2022.

Anglesey Mining, a UK mining company currently listed on the Main Market (Premium) intends to move to AIM. Anglesey’s principal asset is a 100% interest in the Parys Mountain copper-zinc-lead-gold-silver project on the island of Anglesey in North Wales. Anglesey is currently exploring and developing the property, which has a high potential for the discovery of additional mineral resources through the development of a new, modern mine in an environmentally sustainable manner. Anticipated Mkt Cap TBC, current capitalisation c£8m. Expected 8 April 2022.

Cordiant Global Agricultural Income plc intends to float on the Main Market (Premium). The Company’s investment objective will be to seek to provide an attractive yield, with potential capital growth, by providing secured medium-term finance to the global agricultural sector. The Company will seek to promote more sustainable crop production and help address a capital solutions gap which exists in the agricultural sector in select regions. The Company will provide finance for crop inputs and for capital investment in new technologies and infrastructure which help increase crop yields and have a sustainable benefit. Mkt Cap and Capital to be raised TBC.

Shellraise plc, to join AQSE Growth Market. The Company will focus on identifying investment opportunities in companies operating in the viticulture sector which require funding to increase output. Mkt Cap and Capital to be raised TBC.

Recycling Tech Group to join AIM, a UK-based engineering, research and manufacturing company that has developed a modular and mass producible machine, the RT7000, which processes hard to recycle plastic waste into a synthetic oil that can be sold back to the petrochemicals industry as a chemical feedstock to make new plastics. Mkt Cap and Capital to be raised TBC. Due early April 2022.

*A corporate client of Hybridan LLP

This document has been prepared by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as an offer to sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument, nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. This document has no regard for the specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs of any specific entity and is not a personal recommendation to anyone. Recipients should make their own investment decisions based upon their own financial objectives and financial resources and, if any doubt, should seek advice from an investment advisor. The information contained in this document is based on materials and sources that are believed to be reliable; however, they have not been independently verified and are not guaranteed as being accurate. This document is not intended to be a complete statement or summary of any securities, markets, reports or developments referred to herein. No representation or warranty, either express or implied, is made or accepted by Hybridan LLP, its members, directors, officers, employees, agents or associated undertakings in relation to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the information in this document nor should it be relied upon as such. Any and all opinions expressed are current opinions as of the date appearing on this document only. Any and all opinions expressed are subject to change without notice and Hybridan LLP is under no obligation to update the information contained herein. To the fullest extent permitted by law, none of Hybridan LLP, its members, directors, officers, employees, agents or associated undertakings shall have any liability whatsoever for any direct or indirect or consequential loss or damage (including lost profits) arising in any way from use of all or any part of the information in this document. This document is sent to you as market commentary only. As market commentary this document does not constitute any of (i) investment research and financial analysis or other forms of general recommendation relating to transactions in financial instruments for the purposes of the UK retained version of section B of annex I to Directive 2014/65/EU (“MIFID II Directive”); or (ii) investment research as defined in the UK retained version of article 36(1) of Commission Delegated Regulation 2017/565/EU made pursuant to the MIFID II Directive; or (iii) non-independent research (as such term is defined in the Financial Conduct Authority’s Conduct of Business Sourcebook).