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
Wickes (WIX.L) demerged from Travis Perkins and listed on the Main Market (premium).
Off the menu
No leavers today.
Banquet Buffet
ADM Energy* 3.65p £5.65m (ADME.L)
The natural resources investing company has completed its acquisition of a controlling interest in a Risk Sharing Agreement for the development of the large-scale Barracuda Field in OML 141, an existing discovery and near-term production asset in swamp/shallow waters offshore Nigeria. ADM acquires a 51% interest in K.O.N.H. UK Limited, which holds a 70% indirect interest in the rights, benefits and obligations under the RSA relating to the Barracuda area of OML 141. ADM will provide technical and financial support to the RSA Consortium in return for favourable accelerated economics and a 15% Net Profit Interest in the Field. New work programme to be produced by the RSA Consortium and joint operators. New CPR on the Field expected to be completed in the coming months. ADM’s internal estimate suggests that first oil of 4,000 barrels of oil per day (“bopd”) may be possible in H2 2021. ADM considers that there may be an opportunity to further increase Field productivity from further drilling. Following the receipt of the CPR and further technical appraisal work, it may be possible to: Increase production to ca.23,000 bopd by drilling six wells by 2026 and develop a 12km pipeline to Brass Export Terminal, reducing operating expenditure to US$12/bbl (from US$20/bbl).
Beximco Pharma 74.75p £616m (BXP.L)
The fast-growing manufacturer of generic pharmaceutical products and active pharmaceutical ingredients, provides an update on the supply of COVID-19 vaccine in Bangladesh. As previously announced, Beximco Pharma’s agreement with the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) and the Serum Institute of India Private Limited (SII) required SII to deliver a total of 30m doses to GOB in monthly instalments, with all deliveries to be completed within six months of the vaccine’s regulatory approval (which, as announced by GOB, was on 7 January 2021), with Beximco Pharma to receive a separate fee for its role in storage and nationwide distribution of the vaccine. SII has so far delivered 7m doses to GOB. However, following the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in India, the Indian Government has put temporary controls on vaccine exports. As a result, Beximco Pharma anticipates some delays in vaccine supplies as SII will be unable to make its planned monthly deliveries. Beximco Pharma also, therefore, does not anticipate that SII will be able to supply all of the remaining 23m doses before the planned date at the end of June 2021. The Company will collaborate with SII to provide a revised supply schedule once the temporary export controls are relaxed. The expected positive impact on the current financial year, as outlined in the announcement on 5 November 2020, may therefore be mitigated.
The British Honey Company 117p £19.3m (AQSE:BHC)
The producer of premium British Honey, Honey-infused spirits and alcohol sanitiser products, provided an update covering the first three months’ trading of the current financial year ending 31 December 2021. Continuing the strong performance achieved in the last quarter of FY2020, total revenues from operations in Q1 2021, excluding hand sanitiser sales, rose to approximately £1.33m. This figure represents a 26 per cent. increase over the £1.05m of sales for the corresponding period in 2020. Sales of the Company’s own brands, including Keepr’s and the “Two Birds” which is a key brand of the recently acquired Union Distillers Limited, represented 29 per cent. of total revenues with third-party sales comprising the remaining 71 per cent. Strong growth in online sales has continued with 22 per cent. of branded sales being online. Sales of non-alcoholic and low-alcohol products (NO-LO) also continue to rise and are expected to be meaningful contributors going forward. Both increases reflect a noticeable change in consumer purchasing and lifestyle habits. The Company is exploring a range of new products to enhance its B2C proposition which will continue to drive sales of our own brands. Net cash as at 31 March 2021 was £3.3m. Notwithstanding the anticipated continued easing of lockdown restrictions, the combined Order Book at 31 March 2021 stood at £4m. Further investment in production and warehousing capacity totalling £500k, is being made, including a new bottling line which is expected to be operational before the year end. This line will increase capacity to c. 4m bottles p.a. A new 5cl bottling line is also being installed which will allow the production of 10,000 miniatures per hour. The Company has already received its first order for 5cl miniatures and production is expected to begin in June.
Frontier IP Group 82.5p £45.38m (FIPP.L)
FY June 2021 trading update. As outlined in the Group’s interim results statement released on 24 March 2021, the Group enjoyed a strong first half to the financial year with the Group’s portfolio continuing to show strong commercial and technical progress. A growing number of the Group’s portfolio companies are approaching inflection points, reflected by the increased flow of equity fundraisings across the portfolio. As outlined in the interim results statement, this progress has continued in the second half of the Group’s financial year with further fundraising and commercialisation activity across the portfolio. In addition, Frontier IP announced earlier today that Exscientia, a clinical stage pharmatech company using artificial intelligence to design patient-based drugs, has raised US$225m through a Series D funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. This is expected to result in an uplift in Frontier IP’s book value for its holding which will be reflected in the Group’s results to 30 June 2021. As a result of overall trading across the portfolio in the year to date, the Group anticipates that the outcome for the year ending 30 June 2021 will be materially ahead of management expectations with a significant contribution to the outcome being the increase in the book value of the Group’s interest in Exscientia.
FIH Holdings 82p £45.1m (FIH.L)
The international group which owns essential services businesses focused on retail, transport and logistics announced the appointment of Stuart Munro as Chief Financial Officer with effect from 28 April 2021. Stuart qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young and has worked as a divisional finance director in a number of UK companies since 2000 including; Balfour Beatty, Alfred McAlpine Infrastructure Services and FirstGroup as well as Transport for London. Since 2015, Stuart has provided strategic, financial and operational consultancy to a number of medium sized Private Equity backed services companies across a variety of sectors. This recent role has included extensive acquisitions experience.
OKYO Pharma 7.65p £51.5m (OKYO.L)
OKYO Pharma Announces positive data and results in an Animal Model using topically administered OK-201 to treat Neuropathic Ocular pain. Importantly, OK-201 demonstrated a reduced corneal pain response similar to that of gabapentin, a commonly used oral drug for neuropathic pain. These observations demonstrated preclinical ‘proof-of-concept’ for the topical administration of OK-201 as a potential non-opioid analgesic for ocular pain. Current treatments for corneal pain are limited to short term NSAIDs, steroids, and oral gabapentin and opioids in severe cases. Side effects and the risk of addiction to opioids is a serious concern.
SolGold 26.95p £561.67m (SOLG.L)
Completion of the Placings and Retail Offer announced yesterday at 25.5p. The Placing and Retail Offer have raised gross proceeds of approximately US$73.8m for the Company (£53.1m before expenses). The net proceeds of the Placing and Retail Offer are intended to fund (i) a minimum of 40,000 meters of diamond core drilling, (ii) related technical services and staff expenses and (iii) CSR initiatives work related to the Company’s Regional Portfolio. Excess cash will be used for the DFS and related workstreams related to the Alpala Project and be available for general corporate purposes and working capital.
Redx Pharma 27.1p £564m (REDX.L)
The drug discovery and development company focused on cancer and fibrosis, announces that it has successfully initiated dosing of the first patient cohort with a combination of RXC004, the Company’s lead drug candidate, and nivolumab (OPDIVO® – Bristol Myers Squibb, an anti-PD-1 antibody). RXC004 is also currently being evaluated as monotherapy in a Phase 1 clinical study, from which top line results are expected by mid 2021. The primary objective of the Phase 1 combination study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of RXC004 in combination with nivolumab in patients with advanced malignancies (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT03447470).
Ixico 100p £48m (IXI.L)
The AI data analytics company delivering insights in neuroscience , announces that it has executed a contract to provide neuroimaging services for a new clinical trial for acute ischemic stroke with its largest pharma client. The contract win reflects a further broadening of IXICO’s neurological footprint into a new therapeutic area with this client and demonstrates that the Company continues to build momentum in its growth strategy of further diversification into new therapeutic areas. Ischemic stroke is caused by a blockage cutting off the blood supply to the brain. This is the most common form of stroke and accounts for approximately 85% of cases. The new Phase II acute ischemic stroke trial, will be conducted across 50 sites in North America and Europe and is worth in excess of US$0.5m over 35 months.
Brandshield Systems 24.5p £28.9m (BRSD.L)
The online threat hunting company specialising in monitoring, detecting and removing online threats, today unveiled its External Threat Protection Test, the first free platform of its kind to help companies uncover cyber vulnerabilities. Combining decades of cybersecurity expertise along with proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, the risk assessment platform is designed to help Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and any online company understand their risk exposure in seconds.
What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?
Alphawave IP Group is considering an IPO on the standard listing segment of the London Stock Exchange. Alphawave IP is a leading semiconductor IP company focusing on the hardest-to-solve connectivity challenges created by the exponential growth of data. Funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, and Janus Henderson, have each entered into cornerstone agreements with the Company to subscribe for, subject to certain conditions, in aggregate, c. USD 510m of Offer Shares at an offer price representing an equity value of up to USD 4.5b for the Group at Admission. During the year ended 31 December 2020, the Group generated revenue of USD 32.8m, exhibiting robust growth and delivering a CAGR of 161 per cent. since the year ended 31 May 2018.
Watchstone Group plc (LON:WTG) intends to apply for admission of its Ordinary Shares to trading on the Access segment of the AQSE Growth Market operated by the Aquis Stock Exchange (AQSE). It is expected trading will commence on 30 April 2021.
Catena Group (CTNA.L) to complete reverse takeover and be renamed Insig AI and is acquiring the remaining shares of Insight Capital Partners. Insight, which is based in the UK, is a data science and machine learning solutions company that provides bespoke web-based applications, advanced analytical tools and modern technology infrastructure to make machine learning accessible to investment professionals. Insight has developed five products specifically aimed at accelerating an asset manager’s data science and machine learning strategy. Capital to be raised on Admission approximately £6.1m. Mkt cap c. £66.4m. Due 10 May.
Dispersion Holdings PLC, an investor in the high growth FinTech sector within the UK, the USA and Canada, has announced its intention to IPO on the Access Segment of the Aquis Stock Exchange Growth Market. The Board intends to deploy the majority of the Company’s cash resources in the acquisition of minority interests in a number of different, yet to be identified, companies in the broad FinTech sector, and to apply expertise to the business operations and strategic plans of these companies. Target Admission Date of 30 April.
Darktrace plc. Intends to float on the main market of the London Stock Exchange (premium). Darktrace was founded in 2013 with a mission to fundamentally transform the ability of organisations to defend their most critical assets in the face of rising cyber threats. Darktrace is a world-leading provider of AI for the enterprise, with the first at-scale in-the-enterprise deployment of AI in cyber security. Due early May.
Thor Explorations (TSXV:THX) seeking a secondary listing on AIM. The Company is targeting Admission during Q2 21. 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.”
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.
*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).