Hybridan Small Cap Feast

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C4X Discovery 24.6p  £56.4m (C4XD.L)

The drug discovery company announces a proposed placing of shares with institutional investors to raise up to £5.7m in aggregate before expenses at the issue price of 25 pence per ordinary share. The Company intends to use the net proceeds to: strengthen the balance sheet as partnering discussions progress; continue to develop its portfolio of early-stage, high-value small molecule programmes; and continue to apply C4XD’s technologies to validate the next generation of commercially attractive targets and programmes.

CheckiT 27.5p  £29.7m (CKT.L)

The intelligent operations platform for the deskless worker, provides an unaudited trading update for the six months ended 31 July 2022 (H1 FY23). Total group revenue of £5.4m, a decrease of 31% (2021: £7.9m). Recurring Revenue accounted for 82% of total revenue (H1 FY23: 39%), demonstrating Checkit’s transformation into a subscription business. However, additional bookings growth has been flat year-over-tear, reflecting the impact of market conditions on pipeline progression.

Eight Capital Partners 0.025p  £0.4m (AQSE:ECP)

The financial services operating company, announces that Mr David Bull is stepping down from the Board as Chief Executive Officer. He joined ECP as a Non-executive Director in June of last year and was appointed CEO in September. The Board is in the process of appointing a new Chief Executive Officer. Additionally, Mr Luciano Maranzana has been appointed as a Non-executive Director. He joins ECP from Negentropy Capital Partners Italia, a London-based alternative investment management and advisory company.

Empresaria 61.5p  £30.7m (EMR.L)

The global specialist staffing group, announces its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2022. Revenue of £129.8m remained unchanged vs 1H 2021. Thanks to 15% increase in the net fee income, operating profit increased by 41% to £4.5m (2021: £2.7m). Despite the macroeconomic uncertainties, the company is optimistic about the year ahead as the demand for talent is strong. Management expects profits for the full year to be in line with market expectations. 

Ironveld 0.3p  £8.8m (IRON.L)

The exploration and development company announces that, following the completion of the recent placing of £4.5m, its team of specialist contractors has commenced work at the FCF Smelter site in Rustenburg, South Africa. The focus in the initial weeks will be site clean-up, security and checks. This will be followed with refurbishment and upgrades across the facility over a period of 6 to 9 months, in order to bring the first of the three furnaces to commence production.

Jaywing 10p  £9.3m (JWNG.L)

The marketing and data science business specialising in integrated marketing and risk and data consulting, announces an unaudited trading update for the 12 months to 31 March 2022. Net revenue for the year is expected to increase 16% to £23.3m (2021: £20.2m) and adjusted EBITDA to be broadly in line with market expectations. The company  is in discussions with the shareholders of Midisi, regarding its potential acquisition of Midisi. Midisi owns the intellectual property rights for the “Decision” software which Jaywing currently sells under a licence agreement.

Marks Electrical 72p  £75.6m (MRK.L)

The online electrical retailer provides a trading update for the four months ended 31 July 2022, ahead of the AGM to be held today at 11:00 a.m. Revenue grew 13.7% to £27.7m (4m FY22 £24.3m), due to market share gains of both Major Domestic Appliances and Consumer Electrics. Given a robust balance sheet and strong cash position, the Board is proposing the final dividend of 0.67p per share, subject to shareholder approval at today’s AGM

Mirriad Advertising 7.75p  £21.6m (MIRI.L)

The in-content advertising company announces the unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2022. Revenue was £577k, down by 48% (H1 2021: £1.1m). Revenue grew in the US by 57% to £418k, while China revenue declined 85% to £120k. Operating loss was £8.5m (H1 2021: loss of £5.9m). Cash at the end of the period was £17.7m (30 June 2021: £29.8m). As previously guided, the company expects higher revenues towards the year end. Meanwhile, the cost control programme is underway to deliver a total of £2.5m annualised savings, with vast majority to be achieved in 2023

MJ Hudson Group 28.3p  £48.2m (MJH.L)

The end-to-end solutions provider to the US asset management industry, announces that it has raised £9m (before expenses) through the issuance of 30m Placing Shares at the Issue Price. The company has also raised £0.22m (before expenses) through the subscription of 742,463 Retail Offer Shares under Retail Offer following the closing of the offer on 10 August 2022. According to the RNS dated 10 August 2020, the Retail Offer Price of 30 pence per share represents a 4% discount to the closing mid-market price on 9 August 2022.

Roquefort Therapeutics* 8.5p  £6.1m (ROQ.L)

The biotech company focused on early-stage opportunities, provide an update on the progress of its proprietary Midkine (MDK) antisense oligonucleotide pre-clinical drug development program, on its patent portfolio and on the Oncogeni transaction. The in vitro experiments have been completed with its proprietary oligonucleotides, successfully reducing high MDK levels in cancer cells by generating a truncated form of the MDK protein. The switch to the truncated MDK correlated with the >90% efficacy at the mRNA level previously reported. The Company has recently updated its filed patent in Australia and has also filed a UK patent to protect the composition of the truncated MDK, mRNAs and antisense oligonucleotides. The company is working on publishing a prospectus, completing the acquisition of the entire issued capital of Oncogeni.

What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?

Unigel Group, intends to join the Aquis Growth Market.  Unigel Group is a pioneer in the field of thixotropic gels for the fibre optic cable industry. The Company is also a supplier of laminated steel tapes to the fibre optic cable industry in the US. Thixotropic gels and laminated steel tapes are essential components to the rapidly growing global fibre optic cable market. The Group exports to over 40 countries and is a key supplier to almost every leading fibre optic cable manufacturer worldwide and is the industry’s only organisation with multiple manufacturing facilities spread across 3 continents. The Company acts as the holding company for its wholly-owned operating subsidiary, Unitape Limited and its 60% owned operating subsidiary, Unigel (UK) Limited. Delayed, timing TBC.

Georgina Energy, an early-stage resource company with a strategy of actively pursuing the exploration, commercial development and monetisation of helium, hydrogen and hydrocarbon interests located in the Amadeus and Officer Basins in Northern and Western Australia intends to join AIM. Georgina Energy has two principal onshore interests. The first, the Mount Winter Prospect is located in the Amadeus Basin in Northern Australia, which the Company has a right to earn an initial 75% interest. The second interest, the Hussar Prospect is 100% owned by the Company and is located in the Officer Basin in Western Australia. Expected late September.

Mise En Place**

US inflation figures slowed during July which has lead to some market commentators suggesting that the Fed may raise rates by 50bps vs the previously forecast 75bps. Spread betting and CFD trading broker CMC Market’s Chief Market Analyst Michael Hewson said that:

“The Federal Reserve is likely to want to see further evidence of an inflation slowdown, and even then, they will also want to see it fall back to half the level it is now.

This would suggest that any talk of rate cuts is premature, and in all likelihood for the rest of this year. Ultimately any slowdown in inflationary pressures needs to be viewed through a prism of whether we see rate hikes of 50bps or slower, post the September meeting.”

He said that today’s PPI figures would be another key indicator on future monetary policy with a fall of roughly 100bps expected, but weekly jobless claims are forecast to rise further.

*A corporate client of Hybridan LLP

** Content not provided by Hybridan LLP

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