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(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of trading updates by London-listed companies, issued on Wednesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Neometals Ltd - London-based battery materials producer - Says in the first quarter of 2024, it received a final purchase order worth EUR18.8 million from Mercedes-Benz Group AG for the refinery hub section of the integrated recycling plant built by Primobius in Germany. Says cash balance at March 31 is AUD14.0 million, or GBP7.3 million, down 29% from AUD19.6 million. Also adds that it has begun evaluating third-party technology for recovering precious metals from industrial waste streams in the US.
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ActiveOps PLC - Reading, England-based management process automation software provider for back-office operations - Expects revenue for the year ended March 31 of GBP26.8 million, up 5.1% from GBP25.5 million the year before. This reflects a healthy software as a service performance, it says. As for adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, it expects an increase of at least GBP2.2 million, tripled from GBP700,000 a year prior. Looking ahead, says operationally, it has made good progress, securing new customer wins, strong customer retention and encouraging expansion within the existing customer base. Chief Executive Officer Richard Jeffery says: "[Financial 2024] has seen another solid year for ActiveOps, expanding our customer base while launching exciting innovations within our offerings. Having achieved continued progress in profitability and with a strong balance sheet, we are well-placed to invest in the management structure and sales teams to drive further organic growth across all our key markets. We are excited by the uptake of ControliQ Series 3 and the forthcoming release of Series 4, which with AI and ML technologies at their core are primed to make a real difference for our customers and create more value from their service operations. With a strong leadership team in place and market leading offering, we look forward to the year ahead with confidence."
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Creo Medical Group PLC - Chepstow, Wales-based medical device company focused on minimally invasive surgical endoscopy for pre-cancer and cancer patients - Says UK National Health Service data shows that its Speedboat technology for bowel submucosal dissection procedures has provided significant cost and operational savings. "This is in addition to life changing patient outcomes previously identified by the company and the ability to positively impact NHS waiting lists", the company adds. Chief Executive Officer Craig Gulliford says: "For NHS Supply Chain to recognise Creo's Speedboat technology as one of just a handful of cutting-edge technologies from so many indications across the NHS is great recognition in itself. The clinical data clearly demonstrates the level of value Speedboat can bring to the NHS and its patients, in-line with our own previous estimates, which is both gratifying and hugely significant. With this data, no longer based on modelling, but gained by looking at every aspect of a comprehensive data set of real cases, we look forward to working closely with NHS Supply Chain to ensure that the successes seen in East Kent University Hospitals with Speedboat are replicated in healthcare settings across the UK. This will enable us to continue to impact on patients and also reducing waiting lists significantly with the level of efficiency improvements this data demonstrates."
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Sancus Lending Group Ltd - London-based alternative financial services provider - Says it has pro forma loans under management of GBP208 million at the end of 2023, up 23% annually from GBP169 million. It says this reflects growth in its Irish loan book. During the year, Sancus increased its turnover by 24% to GBP12.4 million from GBP10.0 million. "This growth reflects progress in our UK and Irish businesses in particular," it says. It expects to report an operating loss of between GBP9.5 million to GBP10.0 million for the year, widened from GBP4.7 million. "This primarily reflects the estimated impact of anticipated IFRS9 write-downs on legacy loans written prior to the current senior management team joining the business," it explains.
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Atlantic Lithium Ltd - Lithium development company, currently focused on developing the Ewoyaa project on the Ghanaian coast, set to become the country's first lithium-producing mine - Has AUD17.1 million cash on March, or GBP8.9 million, up 76% from AUD9.7 million on December 31. Adds that in the first quarter of 2024, it completed and submitted the Ewoyaa Feldspar study and downstream conversion study to Ghana's minerals commission, as agreed under the terms of the grant of the mining lease for the project. Also says it completed reverse circulation and diamond core resource growth drilling at the Dog-Leg target in the first quarter of the year, with assays pending. Also says that the results of drilling completed in 2023 and results pending for 2024 will be incorporated into a mineral resource upgrade, targeted during the second half of 2024. Chair Neil Herbert says: "Looking forward, we have a number of other major catalysts in the months ahead of us. These include the conclusion of the competitive offtake partnering process for a portion of Ewoyaa's remaining offtake available, which will serve as a major funding milestone for the Company, the ratification of the Mining Lease by parliament and, in line with the ongoing permitting process, the grant of the final permits; namely the EPA permit and mine operating permit, which are required by the company to enable the commencement of construction at Ewoyaa."
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By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter
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