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(Alliance News) - 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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Franchise Brands PLC - Manchester-based owner of ChipsAway, Willow Pumps and Metro Rod brands - Declares a final dividend of 1.1 pence per share for 2022, which will be paid on May 12 subject to approval at its annual general meeting.
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EnSilica PLC - Oxfordshire, England-based semiconductor designer and supplier with design centres in India and Brazil - Raises GBP2.0 million before expenses through a placing and subscription of 2.9 million shares and with a retail offer shares at an issue price of 70 pence per share. Plans to use the net proceeds to support the company in responding to additional sector and contract momentum. Plans to capitalise on the strong market fundamentals by leveraging equity capital to execute on its sizeable business pipeline. Expects that the admission will become effective and that dealings in the shares will start on AIM at on March 14 at 0800 GMT.
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Castillo Copper Ltd - Australia and Zambia-focused base metal explorer - Says its board approved plans to update and enhance its 2017 inferred JORC mineral resource estimate. Updates JORC estimate to 107,589 tonnes of contained copper metal. Says its Cangai copper mine has "material exploration potential". Says six down-hole electro-magnetic surveys identified two untested off-hole bedrock conductors. "Cangai copper mine's underlying geology is impressive, but more work is required to fully understand the system. As such, the board sees considerable potential to create incremental value for shareholders by updating the 2017 mineral resource estimate for subsequent drilling campaigns and geophysical surveys," Geologist and Director David Drakeley says.
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Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd - Toronto-based oil and gas exploration company - Gets a new competent person's resource report for Block 3B/4B in South Africa. Says an analysis by its advisory firm RISC Advisory UK Ltd found that the licence bears total unrisked gross P50 prospective resources of roughly 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent. "We are working closely with our joint venture partners on a potential farm out of up to a 55% gross working interest in the block, which will help accelerate the commencement of a two-well drilling program on the licence. We believe that this is a highly prospective block with multiple exciting exploration prospects. We look forward to updating the market on further developments of Block 3B/4B as exploration activity continues to accelerate in this basin," Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer Colin Kinley comments.
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Gelion PLC - Anglo-Australian battery storage company - Acquires Johnson Matthey's battery materials IP portfolio for GBP4.3 million payable in cash. Says the consideration will be funded from its available resources. Says that the acquisition "significantly" strengthens its position to meet the growing demand for sustainable and efficient energy solutions. "The acquisition of this highly valuable IP portfolio strengthens our own Lithium Silicon Sulfur technology and gives us a broad horizon to be able to mature the technology toward scaled production at a faster rate. It also positions Gelion at the forefront of the global battery technology effort for the next generation of safe, high energy density Lithium batteries," Chief Executive John Wood says.
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Baronsmead Second Venture Trust PLC - London-based investment firm - Closes to raise an initial GBP20 million as part of its subscription for GBP40 million that it announced on December 16. Says that the pipeline for prospective investments during 2023 is "currently strong." Plans to use its over-allotment facility and raise an additional GBP5 million.
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PetroTal Corp - Calgary, Canada-based, Peru-focused oil and gas development and production company - Says that its production since the last week of February averaged 20,000 barrels of oil per day. Notes that production prior to that was "constrained" in January and February, where production averaged 7,600 bopd and 8,000 bopd. Expects production to average between 11,000 bopd and 12,000 bopd during the first quarter of 2023, below the guided 13,500 bopd for the first quarter. Expects to make up the production shortfall in the first quarter in the second quarter of 2023, thus maintaining its 2023 full-year production guidance of between 14,000 bopd and 15,000 bopd.
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Law Debenture Corp PLC - investment trust with professional services business - Says its wholly-owned subsidiary Law Debenture Trust Corp bought 125,000 shares at GBP8.397728 per share. Explains that under the terms of a trust deed from April 23, the business was appointed trustee of its employee share ownership trust.
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By Abby Amoakuh, Alliance News reporter
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