The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers on AIM on Friday.
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AIM - WINNERS
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Quantum Blockchain Technologies PLC, more than doubled at 1.725 pence, 12-month range 0.475p-1.725p. The blockchain sector-focused investor announces a ‘breakthrough achievement’ for Method C AI Oracle, its predictive Bitcoin artificial intelligence model mining tool. The tool is now performing live Bitcoin mining of current blockchain blocks, Quantum said, in a ‘significant milestone’ which gives the company a ‘material competitive advantage’. Chief Executive Officer & Executive Chair Francesco Gardin comments: ‘Following almost three years of research & development efforts, the AI team working on Method C has delivered its first irrefutable result, with a new version of Method C AI Oracle, which can now be used to mine the current blockchain blocks in real-time with an approximate 30% improved performance...We believe this has the potential to be a major breakthrough for the entire Bitcoin mining industry, as QBT has developed an AI Oracle which can either reduce the energy cost of mining or increase the speed of mining at current energy costs, by approximately 30%, which it can prove through live demonstrations.’
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M&C Saatchi PLC, up 6.5% at 188.5p, 12-month range 167.5p-216p. The London-based advertising agency says net revenue for 2024 is up by around 3.5% on a like-for-like basis, with reported net revenue totalling around £243 million. It also expects full-year pretax profit and the operating margin to meet market expectations, ‘with progress in delivering group-wide efficiency programmes enabling second half organic reinvestment into group capabilities and talent’. Says second-half trading maintained the momentum of the first half, ‘supported by the company’s diverse portfolio and strong growth in Issues, Media and the UAE’. Also, its balance sheet ‘remains strong’ with around £16 million in net cash at December 31 and ‘available facilities of £36 million in place to take advantage of strategic opportunities’. ‘Additionally, with the ongoing settlement of put options and increased cash management focus, there are expected to be significant cash tailwinds into 2025 and beyond,’ M&C Saatchi says. Chief Executive Officer Zaid Al-Qassab adds: ‘Whilst we remain mindful of ongoing macro volatility, we are confident we are putting the foundations in place to achieve our ambition of long-term profitable growth and delivering strong sustainable returns for shareholders.’ Also, Panmure Liberum on Friday raises the company to ’buy’ from ’add’, with a 210p price target.
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AIM - LOSERS
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IG Design Group PLC, down 61% at 55.5p, 12-month range 55.5p-235p. The designer and manufacturer of celebration products says ‘challenging market conditions and retail trends’ continued into its second half year, and have ‘more than offset’ the benefits of its cost-saving initiatives. Consequently, it expects revenue for the year ending March 31 to be around 10% lower on-year and to miss expectations, while adjusted profit will be ‘significantly impacted, with profit delivery for the full year around break-even, and well below last year, as well as being significantly below current market expectations’. Also, following the end of 2024, ‘a number of our retail customers in the very competitive US retail market have experienced considerable distress, and have in recent weeks entered protective arrangements or bankruptcy procedures’. Chair Stewart Gilliland says: ‘We have been making good progress throughout our turnaround...However, the continuing challenging retail backdrop, especially in the US market has undoubtedly impacted the performance, position and confidence of many of our customers - with clear winners and losers emerging. Whilst we do work with a significant proportion of the winners, our exposure to some of those finding things more challenging means that we are exposed to changing fortunes in the retail space.’
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