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(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers on AIM in London on Wednesday.
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AIM - WINNERS
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Clontarf Energy PLC, up 59% at 0.12 pence, 12-month range 0.045p - 0.80p. Announces a heads of agreement around the potential formation of a 50:50 joint venture with NEXT-ChemX Corp. The joint venture will cover the testing, marketing, and deploying of NCX's patent pending direct lithium ion extraction technology in Bolivia. Clontarf will contribute USD500,000 towards the pilot plant construction and testing as an exclusivity fee for the use of the NCX technology. Formation of the joint venture is subject to final due diligence and the parties entering into formal documentation, Clontarf says. This is expected within the next 30 days.
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Bidstack Group PLC, up 11% at 1.87 pence, 12-month range 1.50p - 5.10p. The advertising agency appoints Thomas Bullen as chief financial officer for the group. Bhavesh Hirani, current interim CFO, will resume his role as head of finance. Bullen's appointment follows Bidstack's appointment of Jude O'Connor as chief revenue officer and Camila Franklin as chief operating officer to accelerate its global growth and revenue strategy. The company says it will appoint Bullen to the board "in due course".
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AIM - LOSERS
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Gattaca PLC, down 8.8% at 82.50 pence, 12-month range 53.00p - 94.00p. Warns that permanent hiring showed signs of weakness since the turn of the year. Looking ahead, Chief Executive Matthew Wragg explains: "As we enter the second half, we are conscious of softening in some external sectors, and perm is likely to be impacted by a level of restraint around hiring, shifting candidate sentiment and, as such, slightly longer hiring cycles." The recruitment services provider expects group net fee income to be GBP22.7 million in the six months ended January 31, up 5.1% from GBP21.6 million a year ago. NFI is calculated as revenue less contractor payroll costs.
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ECR Minerals PLC, down 3.2% at 0.75 pence, 12-month range 0.56p - 1.70p. The Australia-focused gold explorer sells its Bailieston property within its 100%-owned Bailieston licence area for AUD670,000 in cash, around GBP382,805. The funds will be used for ECR's ongoing 2023 exploration programme. Completion is expected on or around April 27. Chief Executive Andrew Haythrope says: "Once the sale completes, the proceeds will significantly bolster our cash position, ensuring that ECR can maintain all scheduled exploration and drilling activities. Discussions over further asset disposals are continuing and I look forward to providing further updates in due course."
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By Heather Rydings, Alliance News senior economics reporter
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