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Bushveld Minerals 4.75p £61.1m (BMN.L)

The integrated primary vanadium producer announces that Ms Jacqueline Musiitwa will stand down from the Company’s Board effective immediately, having accepted a role with the U.S. Agency for International Development.  Ms Musiitwa served as Chair of Bushveld Minerals’ ESG Committee and as a member of the Remuneration Committee. David Noko has been appointed as Chair of the ESG Committee, no changes have been made to the Remuneration Committee. The Company will commence the search for a replacement Independent Non-Executive Director in due course.

Nostra Terra 0.265p £2.0m (NTOG.L)

The international oil & gas exploration and production company with a portfolio of production and development assets in Texas, USA,  announces a significant expansion in its Senior Lending Facility, along with an increase in the Company’s asset value. WAFD, the provider of the Facility, estimate of Future Net Income has increased by 6% whilst Net Present Value (at a 10% discount rate) has increased by 18% since the prior redetermination in March 2022. The Borrowing Base of the $10m Senior Facility has been increased to US$4,350,000 based on improved production during the first half of 2022, hence an additional US$1,000,000 is available for utilisation compared with 28 March 2022 . As at 30 June 2022, the Company had drawn down $3,235,000 under the Senior Facility. The current interest rate on the facility is 6.5%.

Oxford Biodynamics 17.48p £25.6m (OBD.L)

A biotechnology company developing precision medicine tests for immune health based on the EpiSwitch® 3D genomics platform announces the initial results from an interim analysis conducted for the REFINE-ALS prospective trial. The results from a subset of data, highlight the blood-based EpiSwitch prognostic stratification of patients with fast progressing Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. The Phase 4 REFINE-ALS trial (NCT04259255)is a prospective, multicentre study sponsored by Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America designed to identify biomarkers that could serve as quantifiable, biological and non-clinical measures of Edaravone’s pharmacodynamic effect in ALS. 

Real Good Food 1.5p £1.5m (RGD.L)

The diversified food business announces its half year results for the six months ended 30 September 2022. Revenue decreased by 20.1% to £15.9m (2021: £19.9m) due to macroeconomic headwinds. EBTIDA loss of £2m (2021: EBITDA of £0.7m). Loss before tax for was £3.8m (2021: loss of £1.2m (continuing operations)). Reduced volumes and the lag effect of passing cost increases through to customers reduced gross margins to 34% (2021: 43%). A radical reform programme has been launched to return the business to profitability. The reform programme is well underway and is expected to deliver sustainable EBITDA of between £2m and £4m for the year to 31 March 2024.  Further details will be announced in early 2023.

Redx Pharma 60p £200.9m (REDX.L)

The clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing novel, small molecule, highly targeted therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and fibrotic disease, announces that the Company has entered into a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with MSD (Merck & Co., Inc.,  Rahway, NJ, USA ), for the supply of KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), MSD’s anti-PD-1 therapy, to be used in the combination arm of Redx’s ongoing PORCUPINE2 Phase 2 clinical study evaluating RXC004 as a potential treatment for patients with biliary cancer. RXC004, Redx’s lead oncology asset, is being developed as a targeted treatment for Wnt-ligand dependent tumours and is being investigated both as a monotherapy treatment and in combination, where RXC004 will be combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Sareum Holdings* 75p £51.1m (SAR.L)

A biotechnology company developing next generation kinase inhibitors for autoimmune disease and cancer publishes an update on operational activities and pipeline progress ahead of its AGM today. Following the announcement on 8 November 2022 that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will not be approving the Clinical Trail Authorisation, the MHRA has indicated  it requires an additional review by the UK Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) Monitoring Authority of part of the pre-clinical data included in the application to approve the clinical study. Sareum is also assessing regulatory opportunities in other countries. Sareum continues to work on the translational studies for SDC-1802. Following the announcement Sierra Oncology intends to return the rights for SRA737, Sareum is evaluating the potential development opportunities for this asset with its co-development partner, CRT Pioneer Fund LP,  and will provide further updates as appropriate.

SkinBio Therapeutics 16p £25.1m (SBTX.L)

A life sciences company focused on skin health announces the results of the conditional placing announced on 15 December 2022. The Placing has raised gross proceeds of £2.5m, at a price of 16 pence per Placing Share. The Placing Price of 16 pence per Placing Share represents a 7.2 discount to the closing middle market price of 17.25 pence per Ordinary Share on 14 December 2022. An additional £1m is planned to be raised from a Retail Offer closing 20 December 2022. The primary purpose of the fundraising is to fund the continued roll-out of Axis-PS into Europe and Rest of World, accelerate development and commercialisation of acne treatment, build out in-house formulation and scientific capabilities, as well as general working capital.

Time Finance 20.7p £19.2m (TIME.L)

The independent specialist finance provider provides a trading statement in respect of the Group’s performance for the six-month period ended 30 November 2022 (H1 2022/23) and ahead of the scheduled release of the Group’s H1 2022/23 unaudited interim results on 26 January 2023. Revenues increased 12% to £13.2m (H1 2021/22 £11.8m). Gross lending-book at 30 November 2022 of £152.7m, an increase of 27% over the H1 2022/23 comparative (30 November 2021: £120.5m) and a 12% increase over FY 2021/22 (31 May 2022: £136.8m). Own-Book lending origination of £36.6m, an increase of 27% over the previous year (£28.9m). Profit before tax increased 67% to £2m (H1 2021/22 £1.2m).

Uniphar 260p £674.4m (UPR.L)

Uniphar announces that the Irish Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has not cleared the proposed acquisition of Irish-headquartered pharmacy services group Navi Group. Following the proposal to acquire Navi, which was announced on 23 December 2021, both Uniphar and Navi have engaged extensively with the CCPC and supported them in their review of the proposed transaction. However, the transaction will now no longer proceed to completion. Navi has been a longstanding partner of Uniphar and both parties will continue to work closely together to support its shared customer base of independent community pharmacies.

Vast Resources 0.18p £4.1m (VAST.L)

The AIM-listed mining company announces an interim production update regarding its Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine in Romania. Production to date for Q4 2022 is 15% more than production for Q3 2022 and the Board is expecting a total increase of 30% or more over Q3 2022 by the end of this month. The average copper grade of 24%, being achieved this quarter represents an increase of 40% against Q3 2022. The Company expects production figures to continue to increase in Q1 2023 and beyond. Concentrate sales in Q4 2022 potential increase of more than 350% versus Q3 2022 on the basis of 335 WMT shipped to date and a further 180 WMT booked to be shipped before the end of this month. The Company has engaged a third-party technical contractor to review and reprofile the mine resources in order to report an updated Resource report for Baita Plai to be incorporated into a new independent competent persons report in H1 2023.

What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?

Celsius Resources intends to join AIM. Currently ASX listed, Celsius is a natural resources exploration and development company principally seeking to explore and develop potential world-class copper-gold assets in the Philippines and a cobalt asset in Namibia. Amount planning to raise and anticipated market cap TBC. Expected late December 2022. 

Conviction Life Sciences, a newly established closed-ended investment company managed by Plain English Finance Limited, is seeking to list on Premium Segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, to invest in a conviction portfolio of life sciences and medical technology businesses, primarily in the UK, Europe and Australasia. The Company will invest in both Publicly Traded and Private companies – c. 70% and c. 20% of the total portfolio value respectively. The Company will target an annualised Total NAV Return of 20% over the long-term. Targeting to raise c.£100m. Delayed to 3rd February 2023.

Kistos Holdings intends to join AIM. The Company was incorporated to act as a new holding company for the group companies 0f Kistos plc (KIST), a holding company with the objective of creating value for its investors through the acquisition and management of companies or businesses in the energy sector. Anticipated Market Cap £327m. Expected 22 Dec 2022.

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