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Biome Technologies 85p £3.2m (BIOM.L)

A bioplastics and radio frequency technology business, provides an unaudited pre-close trading update for the financial year ended 31 December 2022. The Group revenues for the year ended 31 December 2022 were in line with current market expectations at £6.2m and 10% ahead of the previous year (2021: £5.7m). The Group had a cash balance at the year-end of £0.8m, ahead of those expectations (2021: £1.0m), which was supported by a reduction of working capital in the Group’s supply chain. The Board anticipates that, subject to audit, the Group will generate a loss for the year ended 31 December 2022 that is in line with current market expectations.

Corcel 0.26p £2.1m (CRCL.L)

The natural resource exploration and development company, with interests in battery metals, announces it has completed the sale of a 100% interest in the Burwell Energy Storage project outside of Cambridge to Burwell AL Ltd., for cash proceeds of £200k, plus a reimbursement of Corcel’s grid deposit of £50k to Burwell AL Ltd. Corcel intends to utilise a portion of the proceeds to retire the remaining balance of its corporate debt. Following these payments, the outstanding balance of the Company’s corporate debt is £672.94k (consisting of £619.2k of principal and £53.4k of accrued interest) which was last refinanced on 14 December 2021. The remaining proceeds of the sale of the Burwell project will be used for working capital.

eEnergy Group 3.35p £11.8m (EAAS.L)

The net zero energy services provider, provides an update on trading for the six months ended 31 December 2022. H1 revenue increased 58% to £15.1m (H1 2022: £9.6m) and adjusted EBITDA increased 87% to £1.5m (H1 2022: £0.8m). The Group holds cash as of 31 December 2022 to £1.1m (30 June 2022: £1.4m) excluding £0.4m of restricted cash balances (30 June 2022: £0.2m). The Group has contracted forward revenues of £26.4m over 4 years, of the Forward Order Book,£8.8m is expected to be recognised in H2 FY23 and £6.8m recognised in FY24.

Epwin Group 76p £110.8m (EPWN.L)

The manufacturer of energy efficient and low maintenance building products, announces its year-end trading of the year 31 December 2022 (FY 2022). Company revenues increased by 8% to approximately £355m (2021: £329.6m). The Group expects to report covenant net debt as at 31 December 2022 of c. £18m (2021: £9.4m), an improvement on current market expectations. In December 2022 the Group acquired Hampton Decking Limited for a net cash consideration of c.£4m. The Group remains confident of executing the strategy in the medium and long term success.

Fonix Mobile 220p £220m (FNX.L)

The mobile payments and messaging provider, provides an update on trading for the 6 months ended 31 December 2022. The Group has continued to grow comfortably in line with management’s expectations. Gross profit in the period grew by 12% to £7.8m (H1 FY22: £7.0m) and adjusted EBITDA grew by 12% to £6.2m (H1 FY22: £5.5m). Fonix continues to generate underlying cash flows and intends to pay an increased interim dividend in March 2023. The board remain confident in Fonix’s growth.

Gresham House 757p £289.7m (GHE.L)

The specialist alternative asset manager, announces a pre-close trading update for the 12-month period to 31 December 2022. The Group has continued to make progress towards delivery of their five-year plan GH25: AUM is up 20% and expected to be £7.8bn as of 31 December 2022 (2021: £6.5bn). FY 2022 adjusted operating profit is expected to be at top end of market expectations, in excess of £26.5m (2021: £20.2m). Post period, the Group announced the launch of the Irish Strategic Forestry Fund targeting EUR200m including a cornerstone investment by Ireland’s sovereign development fund. The Group forecasts to continue providing successful investment solutions.

hVIVO 17.1p £114.7m (HVO.L)

A specialist contract research organisation and world leader in testing infectious and respiratory disease products using human challenge clinical trials, provides a trading update for the period ended 31 December 2022. The Group expects to report record full year revenues of £50.6m (2021: £39m), a 30% increase. EBITDA margins are expected to be not less than 17% (2021: 7.4%), ahead of previous guidance of 13-15%. The Group has entered 2023 well capitalised, debt free, and with record visibility.

Keywords Studios £26.60 £2,077.2m (KWS.L)

The technical and creative services provider to the video games industry, provides the following unaudited trading update for the year ended 31 December 2022. The Board expects revenue and adjusted profit before tax to be marginally ahead at c.EUR690m and c.EUR112m, respectively. As of 31 December 2022, the Group had net cash of approximately EUR80m (EUR121.3m at 30 June 2022 and 31 December 2021: EUR105.6m) after cash spend on acquisitions during the year amounting to EUR118m. The Group’s cash balance leaves them well placed to pursue both organic and acquisition growth strategies.

OnTheMarket 77p £58.0m (OTMP.L)

The company which operates the onthemarket.com property portal, announces a pre-close update on trading for the year to 31 January 2023 (FY23). The Group has continued to deliver strong growth and expects to report revenues of between £34m and £34.5m (FY22: £30.4m) and has maintained its operational cost discipline to report increased operating margins, with adjusted operating profit for the year expected to be between £4m and £4.5m (FY22: £2.7m). OnTheMarket cash at 31 December 2022 of £10.4m and no borrowings. The Group has planned the launch of the OnTheMarket 2.2 website upgrade in H1 FY24, to increase engagement and the Board remains confident in the outlook.

Watkin Jones 106.4p £272.8m (WJG.L)

The UK’s developer and manager of residential for rent, with a focus on build to rent, student accommodation and affordable housing sectors announces annual results for the year ended 30 September 2022 (FY22). Revenues decreased 5.4% to £407m, despite record forward sales of £900m. Adjusted operating profit decreased 4.5% to £54.7m. The Group currently holds net cash of £82.6m. The Group retains very good visibility over its development pipeline, has low levels of asset exposure and strong liquidity.

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. £2.4m to raised. Anticipated market cap £14.8m. Expected 30th January 2023.

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.

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