Source: Sharecast
Equity view
Europe-focussed gas and power project developer Prospex Energy has repaid a total of £18,764.70 in scheduled capital repayments due on the loan note issued in December 2018, it announced on Friday. The AIM-traded firm said it had also paid a total of £22,742.87 in interest due on the 2018 loan note and the note issued in 2021, in addition to the final interest payments due under the convertible loan note instrument dated 23 December 2020.
Oncimmune announced the publication of a paper arising from the research collaboration with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Friday, focusing on the sex-specific autoimmune reactivity to SARS-CoV-2 - the virus which causes Covid-19 - following mildly symptomatic infection. The AIM-traded firm said the paper also looked at the prolonged effects of Covid-19 “well beyond” the initial infection and recovery phase.
Griffin Mining announced on Friday that mining and milling operations ceased on the night shift last night and, as was customary practice for the Caijiaying Mine, would remain closed during the Chinese New Year holiday period. The AIM-traded firm said the cessation would extend into the first quarter of 2022 as well, however, due to the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Advance Energy announced on Friday that the Valaris JU-107 jack-up drilling rig had started operations at the Buffalo-10 well location, offshore Timor-Leste. The AIM-traded firm said the operator, Carnarvon Petroleum Timor, advised that the drilling rig successfully concluded the ready-to-operate process, and had drilled the surface hole and installed the surface casing.
Harbour Energy said it had completed the drilling of the Dunnottar exploration well in licence P2399 in the UK North Sea. The well reached a total measured depth of 15,639 feet and found hydrocarbon-bearing intervals in the Palaeocene, Jurassic and Triassic. The commerciality of these marginal accumulations will be assessed. In the meantime, the well will be plugged and abandoned, Harbour said on Thursday.
Secure Income REIT announced on Thursday that, in return for a cash payment of £33.45m to Merlin Entertainments to be paid from its own resources, Merlin has agreed to extend its lease terms on Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Warwick Castle and Heide Park in Germany by 35 years. The AIM-traded real estate investment trust said that it would extend the leases to 55.5 years without break, from 20.5 years.
Santander was reportedly scrambling on Wednesday night to recover £130m accidentally paid out to tens of thousands of people and businesses on Christmas Day. According to The Times, about 75,000 people and companies in receipt of normal one-off or regular payments from 2,000 businesses with accounts at the high street bank were inadvertently paid a second time. This included employees of the businesses and their suppliers.
President Energy shares plunged on Thursday afternoon, following the admission of Atome Energy to trading on AIM and completion of the dividend in specie in relation to Atome. Atome's shares were admitted to trading on AIM as an independent company on Thursday morning, with an initial market capitalisation of £26m.
Galileo Resources has entered into a joint venture agreement with private Zambian company Statunga Investments, it announced on Thursday, which holds the Luansobe Project. The AIM-traded firm said the project consists of small-scale exploration licence 28340-HQ-SEL, covering an area of 918 hectares and granted on 16 February, with an initial four-year term expiring on 15 February 2025.
Ironveld announced on Thursday that it has entered into loan facility agreements with directors Giles Clarke and Nick Harrison for up to £0.2m, to allow it “flexibility” in meeting its operating costs before the planned investment from Grosvenor Resources completed. The AIM-traded firm had announced an enlarged planned investment in the group by Grosvenor on 21 December.
Eastern Europe and India-focussed shopping centre operator Plaza Centers announced a further diminishing in the ownership of its major shareholder Elbit Imaging on Friday. The London-listed firm said that since its last announcement on the shareholding of the Israeli holding company on 4 August, Elbit had sold another 124,000 shares in Plaza Centers held in escrow.
Tufton Oceanic Assets has agreed to acquire a product tanker for $30.9m and a handysize bulker for $23.6m, it announced on Thursday. The company said the product tanker was being acquired at about 85% of its depreciated replacement cost.
Early-stage software venture capital fund Sure Ventures announced a series B funding round for portfolio company Mysafedrive on Thursday, which trades as CameraMatics. The firm has exposure to CameraMatics via a 25.9% stake in Sure Valley Ventures (ICAV).
Generic drug manufacturer Beximco Pharmaceuticals announced the launch of the world's first generic version of Pfizer's Covid-19 treatment ‘Paxlovid’, or nirmatrelvir and ritonavir tablets co-packaged for oral use, on Thursday. Paxlovid was granted emergency use authorisation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on 22 December.
The owners of challenger bank Shawbrook are reportedly exploring plans to list it on the London Stock Exchange less than five years after taking it private. According to Sky News, private equity firms BC Partners and Pollen Street Capital - which each own 50% of Shawbrook - are holding talks with investment banks about a potential initial public offering.
Anglo American and Brazil’s Vale have started preliminary talks on the potential to jointly develop Vale's Serpentina iron ore resource, the two companies confirmed. The deposit neighbours Anglo American's integrated Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil.
AstraZeneca said on Wednesday that it has closed a global development and commercialisation agreement with California-based Ionis Pharmaceutical for eplontersen, a medicine used in the treatment of transthyretin amyloidosis. The companies will jointly develop and commercialise eplontersen in the US, while AstraZeneca will develop and commercialise it in the rest of the world, except Latin America.
AIM-listed online retailer MySale said on Wednesday that chief financial and operating officer Mats Weiss has resigned with immediate effect for personal reasons. The board will begin a formal process to identify and appoint a successor. In the meantime, group financial controller Winky Sarwana will take on the duties as interim CFO.
Language, content and intellectual property technology and services company RWS Holdings announced on Wednesday that its current chief financial officer Des Glass has resigned, to take up a position as CFO of a privately-held business in a different industry. The AIM-traded company’s board said it would commence an external search process for a successor to Glass, who has a six-month notice period, and would provide an update on the transition of roles as soon as it could.
Iodine and specialty chemicals manufacturer Iofina updated the market on its trading on Wednesday, reporting that it was set to meet its second half crystalline iodine production target of 260 to 275 metric tonnes, although it did flag a Covid-related delay to the IO9 project. The AIM-traded firm said it would provide further details in an update in January, once numbers were finalised.
Cadence Minerals has entered into a binding settlement agreement with the secured bank creditors of DEV Mineração, the owner of the Amapa iron ore project in Brazil, it announced on Wednesday. The AIM-traded firm said the agreement’s execution was “the last major precondition” for Cadence to vest its initial $2.5m for 20% of the large-scale Amapa iron ore mine, beneficiation plant, railway and private port.
Marine service provider James Fisher and Sons reiterated its full-year profit guidance on Wednesday as it said it has received all outstanding funds relating to its suspended liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique. The funds will reduce net debt and provide further headroom against the company’s year-end banking covenant tests.
Sound Energy has entered binding conditional agreements over $18m of phase one Tendrara LNG development loan note financing, it announced on Wednesday. The AIM-traded firm said that as a result, with the other remaining conditions precedent to the phase one LNG gas sales agreement announced by the company on 29 July now waived by the parties, the LNG gas sales agreement was now unconditional.
UK gas and infrastructure operator IOG updated the market on Southwark drilling operations on Wednesday, having expected the first Southwark development well to spud by the weekend of 19 December, following the repair of the Noble Hans Deul rig. The AIM-traded firm said that, having initially expected a minor delay due to repeated technical issues with the underwater remotely-operated vehicle, it had not yet been possible to safely spud the well.
United Oil & Gas updated the market on the drilling of the Al Jahraa-13 development well in the Abu Sennan licence, onshore Egypt, on Wednesday. The AIM-traded firm said the well encountered 17.5 metres of net pay in the oil-bearing Upper and Lower Bahariya reservoir targets, and reached total depth several days ahead of schedule and under budget.
Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust has invested £2.5m and agreed to provide up to a further £7.5m in development funding for nine newly-formed joint venture onshore wind farm development companies, it announced on Wednesday, with specialist UK onshore wind developer Wind 2. The London-listed infrastructure investment trust said the joint ventures would initially target the development over the next five to 10 years of up to nine onshore wind farms in Scotland and Wales, with a potential combined capacity of around 570MW.
Honey and craft spirits producer British Honey Company confirmed on Wednesday that the extended collaboration agreement with Florida-based List Distillery, first announced in June last year, ended on 28 December. The Aquis Stock Exchange-traded firm said its main focus was on its growing domestic operations within the UK.
Oil and gas exploration and production company Pharos Energy announced on Wednesday that the Egyptian Parliament has approved the third amendment to its El Fayum Concession Agreement. The London-listed firm said the amendment would encourage investment into the concession to increase production rates, for the mutual benefit of Egypt, Pharos and its partners.
Mill commissioning at Fresnillo's Juanicipio joint venture in Mexico has been delayed by six months after the state electricity company said it could not give the go-ahead for connection to the national power grid due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The silver and gold project is operated with MAG Silver Corp. Mexico’s Comisión Federal de Electricidad said staff shortages meant it could not review the existing installation; supervise physical connection to the active power grid; and approve required blackout prevention devices.
Economic news
UK house prices recorded a bigger-than-expected rise in December and marked their strongest year since 2006, but there could be a cooling next year, mortgage lender Nationwide said on Thursday. Prices in December increased by 1% month on month - compared with forecasts of 0.5% - driven by strong demand, the stamp duty tax break, and a shortage of homes on the market.
Customers renewing their home or motor insurance from 1 January will be charged no more than new customers under rules being implemented by the Financial Conduct Authority in the new year. The FCA said on Thursday that the new rules are expected to save consumers £4.2bn over the next 10 years. The reforms follow a review during which the FCA found that many insurers were increasing prices for renewing customers year-on-year - a practice known as price walking.
International events
US weekly jobless claims came in at 198,000 for the week to December 25, according to data published by the US Department of Labor on Thursday and below expectations of 208,000. This reading followed last week's print of 206K (revised up from 205K) and came in below market expectations for 208K.
US pending home sales unexpectedly fell in November, according to data released on Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors. The NAR’’s monthly index came in at 122.4, down 2.2%. Analysts had been expecting a 0.5% increase.
Vaalco Energy filed a $150m shelf registration statement on Thursday, with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The New York- and London-traded firm said that, if and when declared effective by the SEC, the statement would give it the flexibility to offer and sell up to $150m of common stock, preferred stock, depositary shares, warrants and units in offerings on a registered basis in the United States.
Globaltrans announced on Thursday that it has extended its service contract with global producer and supplier of HBI and iron ore products Metalloinvest for a two-year period. The FTSE IOB-traded company said that under the contract, which comes into effect on 1 January, Globaltrans would provide around 70% of Metalloinvest's freight rail needs, up from 50% in 2021.
Lukoil announced on Wednesday that it had concluded a sale and purchase agreement with Gazprom Neft for a 50% equity share of Gazprom Neft’s wholly-owned subsidiary Meretoyakhaneftegaz. The FTSE IOB-traded company said the contract was signed to create a joint venture, which would develop a large oil and gas cluster in the Nadym-Pur-Tazovsky area of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District.
Round Hill Music Royalty Fund has acquired a “significant share” of the publishing rights of American country singer-songwriter Niko Moon, it announced on Wednesday. The music intellectual property investor said the acquisition comprised 29 compositions, including songs performed by Zac Brown Band, Avicii, and Sir Rosevelt.
Apple supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry was put on notice by the consumer technology giant on Wednesday, amid growing concerns over working conditions at its plant in southern India. Protests were reported among the 17,000-strong workforce at the iPhone assembly plant near Chennai earlier in December, after more than 250 women working there were treated for food poisoning.
