The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Thursday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Altona Rare Earths PLC - Mining exploration company focused on the evaluation, acquisition and development of projects in Africa - Enters convertible loan agreement with clients of Optiva Securities Ltd for up to £275,000, available to draw down immediately. The loan is for a term of 15 months, at interest of 15% per annum over the loan’s term, payable each 6 months. Says that the funds will be used for urgent project requirements, specifically to complete the mineral resource estimate that will allow the company to increase its holding in Monte Muambe Mining Lda to 51%. In other news, Align Research Ltd has agreed to extend Altona’s loan facility repayment for £150,000 to April 30, with an additional 10% interest charge added to the original principal and rolled up interest. The total amount to be repaid to Align will be £189,750. On August 19, the company raised £1.1 million conditional on the admission of its shares to trading on the LSE main market. As the admission process has taken longer than expected, it did not complete the fundraise or receive the proceeds. As Altona now expects to complete the listing process shortly, it is now seeking to raise £1.25 million by way of a placing.
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International Biotechnology Trust PLC - London-based investment trust company focused in biotech and on other life sciences companies - Says there has been a material adjustment to the valuation of an investment from the unquoted portfolio managed by SV Health Managers LLP, in which it is invested. The net asset value of the company will therefore increase by £2.9 million, which corresponds to a 7 pence per share uplift.
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Kefi Gold & Copper PLC - Gold exploration and development company, focused on Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia - Says it remains focused on launching the Tulu Kapi gold project in Ethiopia ‘as soon as practicable’. Remains focused on achieving full production from the open pit operations in 2025 and from the combined open pit-underground operation a few years later for combined gold exports approaching 200,000 ounces per annum. Adds that it switched focus in the last quarter to Saudi Arabia while waiting for regulatory permission to reactivate its Ethiopian exploration. Notes that it has advanced both the Hawiah copper gold project and Jibal Qutman gold project in Saudi Arabia, and expects to make a financing submission for the latter in the second half of this year.
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Thor Explorations Ltd - Mineral exploration company focused on developing assets in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso - Announces amendment and rescheduling of senior debt facility. Says the amendments relate to the removal or relaxation of the more restrictive terms and conditions of the project facility. The changes remove the project finance cash sweep requirement and release restrictions on bank accounts, subject to a 20% distribution sweep to the project facility. They also release the company from restrictions regarding acquisitions, distribution of dividends and certain indebtedness covenants. Further, the amortisation schedule of the facility has been re-scheduled to reduce debt repayments in 2023, so that free cashflow generated from Segilola can be used to fund growth opportunities, including advancing the company’s Douta project, accelerating exploration and new business opportunities.
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Echo Energy PLC - Latin America-focused energy company - Confirms two new gas sales contracts for 2023 to 2024, with ‘materially improved terms’ compared with the contracts announced on May 3. The new agreements have an initial term of 12 months, with gas sales beginning in May 2023. They provide gross 6.8 million standard cubic feet per day of committed production at an increased average price of $4.48 per million British thermal units for the 2023 to 2024 period. In addition, an upfront gross cash payment of $1 million will immediately be paid and applied towards the working capital of the Santa Cruz joint venture. On a separate note, says it continues to focus on reducing creditor balances in controlled manner.
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PCI-PAL PLC - Global cloud provider of secure payment solutions for business communications - For the six months to December 31, reports revenue growth of 33% to £7.3 million from £5.5 million. Says adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation loss for the period was better than management expectations at a loss of £600,000, unchanged from a year prior. The company signed a 116 new customer contracts over the period, worth £1.5 million. 83% of the new contracts were new logos, up from 63% last year. As a result, total annual contract value has increased 29% to £14.7 million at end December 2022, from £11.4 million. Says its sales pipeline continues to grow with a strong outlook for the second half.
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