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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Ceiba Investments Ltd - investment firm dedicated to investing in Cuba, with interests in the commercial and tourism real estate sectors - Net asset value per share on December 31 is $1.03, down from $1.16 a year earlier. Net loss to shareholders of parent company in 2022 is $14.3 million, narrowed from $28.8 million. To internalise investment management and end abrdn Fund Managers Ltd agreement. Says lead fund manager Sebastian Berger to move to Ceiba from abrdn and become Ceiba chief executive officer. Says Berger will move with existing management.
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Mobile Tornado Group PLC - Harrogate, England-based communications company - Pretax loss in 2022 widens to £1.4 million from £861,000 a year earlier. Revenue falls to £2.3 million from £2.6 million. Predicts ‘material uplift’ in 2023 financial performance.
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Asia Dragon Trust PLC - Edinburgh, Scotland-based investor in Asian equity markets - NAV per share at February 28 is 469.24 pence from 513.32p on August 31. Says second half NAV total return is negative 7.2%, underperforming the MSCI AC Asia (ex Japan) Index, which had a total return of negative 5.7%. Half-year loss on investments narrows to £44.9 million from £53.5 million a year earlier. Expects improved earnings for its portfolio companies, arguing the ‘end of China’s strict ’zero-Covid’ policy raised hopes of the start of an economic recovery and Asia continued to be supported by strong, long-term structural drivers’.
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Cizzle Biotechnology Holdings PLC - London-based diagnostics developer - Pretax loss in 2022 narrows to £963,000 from £4.0 million in 2021. Recognises no revenue in 2022, unchanged from 2021. Executive Chair Allan Syms says: ‘The group has continued throughout 2022 in developing a blood test for the early detection of lung cancer [...] The board intends for the group’s initial product to be a diagnostic immunoassay that can be readily performed by hospitals and reference laboratories, but a potential follow-on product could be a point of care test provided by a primary health care provider. Throughout 2022, the company continued to work with external expert partners and suppliers to develop and supply of proprietary key monoclonal antibodies and other detector proteins for its assay platform.’
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Panther Metals PLC - Canada and Australia-focused mineral exploration company - Pretax loss in 2022 widens to £952,896 from £126,269 in 2021. Reports no revenue in 2022, unchanged from 2021. Non-Executive Chair Nicholas O’Reilly says: ‘We are advancing various strategies to add value to the portfolio, such that component parts may achieve self-sustainability and in which Panther will retain a significant position, through joint ventures, partial divestment in subsidiaries or even project sales. Your board is committed to finding ways to add maximum value within the shortest possible time frame and accordingly is forever on the lookout for opportunities to develop and enhance the project pipeline of the company.’
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Mosman Oil & Gas Ltd - New South Wales, Australia-based oil exploration, development and production company - Secures 78% working interest in lease next to its Cinnabar lease in Texas, US. Will pay $36,000 plus 25% royalty on gross production for the 18 month lease. Says lease can be extended by drilling and production of a well.
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Mattioli Woods PLC - Leicester, England-based wealth and asset manager - Acquires 50.1% majority stake in White Mortgages Ltd for £425,000. Also enters into an option agreement with the seller Mark Sutton and Robert White to acquire the remaining 49.9% of White mortgages. The call option is exercisable via payment of £2.6 million at any time within the two years following April 27, 2026. Mattioli Woods Group Managing Director says: ‘Our investment in White Mortgages is an exciting extension to our existing client proposition and is another step forward for Mattioli Woods as we continue to expand our operations. Over the past six-months we have seen significant changes in the economy, none more so than immediately after the government’s mini-budget last September and the impact it had on the mortgage market, with a leap in mortgage interest rates, the withdrawal of many mortgage products and a rapid tightening in lenders’ underwriting criteria.’
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Seed Innovations Ltd - AIM-listed investor in the medical cannabis, health, and wellness space - Says portfolio company Little Green Pharma Ltd has cash receipts at the end of the quarter on March 31 of $6.7 million, up from $6.0 million from the previous quarter. Seed Innovations Vice President of Investment Analysis Alfredo Pascual says: ‘[These results] are worth highlighting, especially when compared to other non-North American cannabis operators. Moreover, having A$12.4 million cash in the bank (prior to post quarter Canopy loan repayment) and a now unencumbered Danish facility positions the company in a unique opportunity to capitalize on the growth of medical cannabis markets in Europe and Australia.’
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Galantas Gold Corp - owns Omagh open pit gold mine in Country Tyrone, Northern Ireland - Completes a shares-for-debt transaction with several ‘arm’s length’ creditors of the company, settling around C$750,000 of indebtedness through the issue of 2.1 million shares at a price of C$0.36 per share.
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Resolute Mining Ltd - Perth, Australia-based gold miner, developer, and explorer with more than 30 years of experience across Australia and Africa - Says gold poured in the first quarter of 2023 up 1% to 92,259 ounces from a year earlier. Gold sold falls 6% to 88,151 ounces, while ore processed is down 4% to 1.5 million tonnes. Chief Executive Officer Terry Holohan says: ‘’I am pleased to report another solid quarter for Resolute, recording a sixth consecutive increase in production with 92,259 ounces of gold poured, underpinned by improved productivity at all three mines (Syama Sulphide, Syama Oxide and Mako). This is a significant achievement especially given the pre-planned seven day downtime for roaster maintenance at the Syama Sulphide operations, towards the end of the quarter [...] the company’s focus for the remainder of 2023 at Mako is on the planned pit extension, with mining for the remainder of the year through a lower grade section. The company expects the June and September quarterly production levels to decrease marginally as the operations move through this section of the pit. Once the extension is complete, operations at Mako will return to the higher grade ore and benefit from lower stripping ratios, thus enabling higher production for the remainder of the mining life, out to 2025.‘
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Driver Group PLC - Lancashire, England-based professional services consultancy to construction and engineering industries - Expects pretax profit in the first half that ended March 31 of £650,000, up from £400,000 a year earlier. Expects revenue of £24.2 million, narrowly down from £24.4 million. Chief Executive Officer Mark Wheeler says: ’Our staff around the world have worked tirelessly with management to move the business forward, in line with the plans we set out for FY23. As we move into the second half of FY23, we are encouraged by the opportunities and progress made, building on the sound foundations we have established.‘
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