Hybridan Small Cap Feast

A round up of the day’s news brought to you by the team at small-cap broker and advisor Hybridan.

Joiners: Northcoders (CODE.L), an independent provider of training programmes for software coding, has joined AIM. It offers a range of training and software development solutions to individual and corporate customers. The Company’s offering includes ‘bootcamp’ training courses, government funded apprenticeships and bespoke training courses and software development solutions. The Company operates a hybrid delivery model by providing its services in person at one of Northcoders’ regional office ‘hubs’, currently located in Manchester and Leeds, or digitally via its online platform. Gross proceeds for the company of approximately £3.5m at an anticipated Mkt Cap on admission of £12.5m.

Leavers: No Leavers Today.

Banquet Buffet

Advanced Medical Solutions 284p  £612.7m (AMS.L)

The surgical and advanced wound care specialist company, announced that on 9 August, Chris Locke will join the Group’s senior management team as Chief Technology Officer. In this role Chris will take full responsibility for all innovation, research, development and technology assessments for the Group. He will be responsible for delivering the increasing pipeline of high value innovation projects within our expanding portfolio, as well as identifying external technology opportunities complementary to the business. Chris joins AMS from Acelity, having spent 20 years as a senior manager within the $1.6 bn global KCI franchise, where he was instrumental in the development, creation and launch of their world-leading NPWT therapy range and other wound-care & surgical technologies. Most recently he was Acelity’s Chief Innovation Officer and prior to that held roles as Vice President, Research & Technology, Senior Director Global Innovation & Strategic Marketing, and Director, Engineering, Design & Technology. Chris is the named inventor on more than 500 US patent applications and 329 granted US patents.

Ergomed 1122.5p  £548m (ERGO.L)

The company focused on providing specialised services to the pharmaceutical industry, today announces a trading update for the first half of 2021.Total revenue growth of 38.8% over H1 2020 to £56.0m (up 48.1% in constant currency). CRO division delivered strong growth with revenue up 90.7% over H1 2020 to £27.2m, including the MedSource business acquired in 2020, with like-for-like growth of 16.1% (24.5% in constant currency). Total revenues and EBITDA for full year expected to be in line with recently upgraded market expectations. Net new sales awards in H1 2021 increased by 50.8% over H1 2020. Growth in order book maintained, up 18.0% since 1 January 2021, providing high visibility into H2 2021 and beyond. Continued international expansion with growing presence in the USA. Cash balance increased to £24.6m and debt free.

Directa Plus 111.5p  £68.4m (DCTA.L)

The producer and supplier of graphene nanoplatelets based products for use in consumer and industrial markets, notes that Annemiek van Vleuten of the Dutch National Cycling Team won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the road race wearing a shirt printed with the Company’s patented and proprietary technology, the Thermal Planar Circuit®. The shirts for the Dutch National Cycling Team at the games were made by premium cycling brand, Bioracer, using fabric supplied by Italian company, Taiana, with the unique and high performance print made using Directa Plus’s sustainable graphene. As a result of the Company’s G+® graphene’s thermal conductivity, TPC absorbs the heat produced by the human body, distributing it inside the garment and dissipating it by interacting with the surrounding environment.  This conductivity mechanism supports the natural thermoregulation of the body, providing athletes with a competitive advantage.

Horizonte Minerals 6p  £102m (HZM.L)

The nickel company focused in Brazil has today published its Sustainability Report for the year ended 31 December 2020. The report is an overview of the Company’s sustainability performance over the 2020 financial year, primarily focussed on the Araguaia ferronickel project and also includes data from the Vermelho nickel-cobalt project and corporate head office where appropriate. The following key achievements are noted within the Sustainability Report from 2020: Zero work-related Covid-19 transmissions. Zero environmental incidents. Zero lost time injuries and fatalities. Appointment of first female director to the Board. Development of an Integrated Stakeholder Engagement Plan. Receipt of final permits including energy and water to construct supporting infrastructure for the Araguaia Project.

Ince Group 67p  £45.9m (INC.L)

The international legal and professional services company, announced the appointment of Carol Ashton and Laurence Milsted as non-executive directors with effect from 26 July 2021. Both bring first class front line executive experience from significant law firms.  Previously the International HR Director at DLA Piper, Carol Ashton also holds positions with the Lord Chancellor’s Recruitment Advisory Committee, the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the General Dental Council. Having worked with the legal industry throughout his career, Laurence Milsted held the position as Global CFO at Freshfields from 1998 to 2018. Laurence will also become Chair of the Audit Committee. Peter Rogan, who has had a long and successful career with the former Ince business and has been a non-executive director of the Company since the Group acquired the UK business of the former Ince, has stepped down from the board with effect also from 26 July.

7digital  0.925p  £25m (7DIG.L)

The global leader in B2B end-to-end digital music solutions, announced two new customer wins for its music platform-as-a-service in the healthtech and wellness sector, further expanding the categories of companies that use 7digital’s services within fitness and health. These new contracts provide additional visibility over full year revenues and anticipated significant growth for 2021. The contracts, which are both for 24 months and consist of upfront set-up fees, recurring monthly fee and usage-based payments, have been signed with MedRhythms Inc. a US-headquartered digital therapeutics company that uses sensors, music and software to build evidence-based neurologic interventions to measure and improve walking. MedRhythms is developing direct-stimulation digital therapeutics where each therapy provides, via prescription music, direct stimulation to enable the mechanism of action among patients. The company has an active pipeline of prescription digital therapeutics targeting rehabilitation and prevention in areas of neurologic injury and disease, such as stroke patients. A second company, that is creating a music-based health application for people with dementia. The application is based on music therapy, an evidence-based treatment method that actively applies music in human interactions to improve health and quality of life. The platform is due to launch in Europe in 2022.

Kooth  345p  £114m (KOO.L)

The digital mental health platform, announces a trading update for the six-month period to 30 June 2021. All figures relate to this period, unless otherwise stated. Group revenue is expected to be comfortably in line with market expectations for the full year. The Group continues to make good progress against its strategic priorities: maintaining its leadership position in supporting children and young people via the NHS, and meeting demand from the NHS and Corporate adult market. Kooth is now contracted by more than 90% of NHS England CCGs to support the mental health needs of children and young people (FY20: 85%). This includes full coverage across London, expansion into two Health Boards in Wales, and our first two contracts in Scotland. For Kooth Adult (providing early intervention support to adults via the NHS), the Group’s focus on ‘whole population’ contracts is building momentum, adding five commissions in the first half of 2021 to the five that were contracted during 2020. Kooth Work (supporting corporates with employee wellbeing) continues to expand to help employees reach their full potential at work. As announced in April 2021, the Chartered Management Institute (“CMI”) has partnered with Kooth to provide free mental health support to their UK members. Kooth has maintained a robust balance sheet, with net cash at 30 June 2021 of £8.8m (FY20: £7.8m), underlining its strong cash generation and ensuring capacity to invest in the Group’s long-term growth. Kooth is investing in its talent and technology platforms to drive its growth strategy and meet increasing demand for digital mental health support and tools. The Group intends to accelerate this additional investment to capture the long-term market opportunity available both in the UK and internationally.

Palace Capital 260.5p  £120.6m (PCA.L)

The Main Market listed property investment company that has a portfolio of UK commercial real estate in the regions, with a focus on the office and industrial sectors today announces that after 11 years with the Company, Stanley Davis, Chairman & Co-Founder has advised the Board of his intention to retire on 29 October 2021. A search for his successor has commenced and a further announcement will be made in due course.  The Company also today announces further detail on its future strategy, which was highlighted in the annual results published on 8 June and in the announcement of 19 July. Stanley has served as Chairman of Palace Capital since 2010 when he and Neil Sinclair formulated a strategy to invest in the regional property market and in this time, he has orchestrated its transformation into a Main Market listed REIT with a £275m portfolio. Palace Capital is focused on its strategy for the portfolio to close the share price discount to NAV. Stanley believes this is the appropriate time to bring in a new chairman to work on the strategy with the Board and he remains completely supportive. The Company is in the process of repositioning the portfolio to ensure the appropriate balance of income and value-add opportunities, which provide a steady and consistent income to shareholders, whilst also providing capital growth. As stated in the annual results, rent collection in the last financial year averaged 95% and the Board expects to sustain this level throughout the current financial year.  At the same time, the Board will take steps to address the cost base to make it more efficient for the size of the Company. Palace Capital will prioritise investment in the office and industrial sectors in carefully selected locations outside of London. The team will continue to utilise its strong regional network and asset management expertise to identify, acquire, and refurbish assets where appropriate, to make the space fit for purpose, with a particular regard to the growing need for buildings to satisfy improving EPC ratings. Aligned to this, the Company will continue to execute its previously announced disposal programme with £9.4m of disposals secured since the start of the current financial year. Palace Capital is prioritising this disposal programme as well as the sale of the apartments at Hudson Quarter, York to recycle capital into new opportunities. The Company believes the next 12 months will provide the opportunity to release more value from its existing portfolio and build on the strong prospects for growth in the regions.

Redx Pharma 56.5p  £155.25m (REDX.L)

The drug discovery and development company focused on cancer and fibrosis, announces it has selected 2 mg once daily as the dose of RXC004 for the planned Phase 2 monotherapy, proof of concept clinical trials based on the safety profile observed in Phase 1. The studies are expected to start during the second half of 2021. RXC004 is the Company’s lead drug candidate and is a highly potent, orally active porcupine inhibitor being developed as a targeted therapy for Wnt-ligand driven cancer. Porcupine is a key enzyme in the Wnt pathway, well established as a key driver of both tumour growth and immune evasion.  

Uniphar 319p  £858m (UPR.L)

The international diversified healthcare services business servicing the requirements of more than 200 multinational pharmaceutical and medical technology manufacturers, today announces an unaudited trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2021. The strong momentum, highlighted in the recent AGM statement on May 12th, has continued throughout the period. The Group achieved organic gross profit growth of 11%. The strong organic growth was driven by continued outperformance in the Commercial & Clinical division complemented by strong performances in the Product Access and Supply Chain & Retail divisions. During the period, the Group continued to invest in additional operational overhead, at both divisional and Group level, to support future growth of the Group. Earlier this month Uniphar completed the acquisition of CoRRect Medical GmbH, a Germany-headquartered company that specialise in the commercialisation and distribution of medical device products in the interventional cardiology sector across Germany and Switzerland. This creates a strong presence for Uniphar in Germany, the largest Medtech market in Europe. Uniphar remains confident in delivering on current year expectations and the Group’s medium term organic growth targets at a divisional level remain unchanged. M&A will continue to play an important part in Uniphar’s growth strategy and will continue to manage an active pipeline of acquisition opportunities.

What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?

Quantum Exponential Limited, a company formed to identify investment opportunities in the quantum technology sector, to apply for admission of its Ordinary Shares to trading on the Aquis Stock Exchange Growth Market. Raising up to £5m targeted for August.

SigmaRoc (on AIM) to complete RTO of of Nordkalk Oy Ab, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rettig Group, for a total Consideration of EUR470m. Nordkalk was established in 1898 as a limestone developer in Finland and since expanded across northern Europe to become the leading limestone company in the area. The Company has raised £260m from the Placing and £1.6m from the Retail Offer. Based on the Placing Price, Mkt Cap on Admission is expected to be approximately £542m. Due Late August.

BiVictriX Therapeutics  to join AIM, a UK based drug development company which was incorporated in February 2016 and has developed its proprietary Bi-Cygni® technology. This technology utilises Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADC”s), an existing class of potent biological drugs, for the treatment of various cancers including Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, the first condition which BVX intends to treat.

Central Copper Resources, a company focused on delivering a high grade copper project into production and exploration of assets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and in the Republic of Zambia to join AIM. By 2022, CCR intends to be ready to commence the project financing of its Mbamba Kilenda copper project.  Offer TBA. Due early August.

Spinnaker Acquisitions to join the Main Market (Standard).  A company formed for the purpose of undertaking an acquisition or acquisitions of a majority interest in a company, business or asset. Due 28 July.

South West Brands the multi-brand cannabidiol consumer goods company  intends to float on the Main Market (Standard). Raising funds to continue to develop its existing portfolio of brand IP and pursue its strategy of adding brand IP assets to the portfolio over the course of the first 24 months following Admission. The Company expects Admission to occur in July 2021. Timing and offer TBA.

Big Technologies to join AIM. Big Technologies plc provides products and services to the remote and personal monitoring industry under a number of brand and trading names, with ‘Buddi’ being the most well known and used in respect of activities within the core criminal justice market. The Company’s criminal justice solution involves proprietary monitoring software combined with modular monitoring hardware being used to accurately track the location of tag wearers. Alongside this, the Company also offers monitoring services solutions for its customers. £16.1m via a placing of new ordinary shares. £185.6m via a sale of existing ordinary shares. Market capitalisation on admission based on an issue price of 200 pence of approximately £ 577.0m Due 28 July. 

HydrogenOne Capital Growth to IPO on the Premium Segment of the Main Market. HGEN is targeting a raise of £250m. First London listed investment fund dedicated to clean hydrogen. Due by the end of July.

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