(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers on AIM in London on Thursday.
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AIM - WINNERS
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OnTheMarket PLC, up 53% at 107.99 pence, 12-month range 50.00p-108.98p. The property portal says it has agreed on the terms of a takeover offer from a UK subsidiary of US commercial property group CoStar Group Inc. The offer is for 110p for each OTM share, valuing the firm at around GBP99 million. The price is a premium of 56% to OTM's closing price of 70.50p on Wednesday. The deal already has the support of 29.5% of OTM's share capital, including its six largest shareholders. For CoStar, the deal is an "attractive strategic entry point" to enter the UK residential property market. OTM also reports interim results for the six month period to July 31, with revenue little changed year-on-year at GBP16.9 million from GBP16.8 million, as the firm swings to a pretax loss of GBP79,000 from profit of GBP92,000. "The macro-economic backdrop remains challenging, particularly for the property market, with lower transaction volumes, stubborn inflation, high cost of living, higher interest rates and a reduction in average house prices," OTM warns. With the backing of CoStar, OTM could emerge as a more serious rival to Rightmove PLC, with the FTSE 100 firm's shares dropping 12% in morning trade.
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Capital Metals PLC, up 9.6% at 5.15p, 12-month range 0.90p-5.79p. The Sri Lanka-focused mineral sands company receives favourable ruling from Sri Lanka's Ministry of Environment concerning the reissue of its heavy mineral sands licenses. This follows almost a year of legal and lobbying efforts. "Having considered the written and oral submissions, the secretary determined that the cancellation of the [industrial mining licenses] was not correct and ordered the [Geological Survey & Mines Bureau] to reissue the IMLs to the company’s Sri Lankan subsidiary, Damsila Exports (Pvt) Ltd", the firm explains. The development "clears the path" for Capital to finalise its offtake and financing agreement with LB Group, for which it first announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding back in May. "It will be a pleasant change to be working on these value adding initiatives rather than fighting against the injustice we suffered at the hands of a few over the last 12 months," says Executive Chair Greg Martyr.
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AIM - LOSERS
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SkinBioTherapeutics PLC, down 11% at 19.18p, 12-month range 11.00p-27.00p. The skin health-focused life sciences firm agrees an extension to its collaboration contract with Sederma SAS, which is the cosmetics arm of Croda International PLC, for another 12 months. Says the extension is so Sederma can compelte and assess further studies on SkinBiotix to look at "previously unseen beneficial properties", which could "significantly enhance commercial opportunities". Sederma will cover any costs of SkinBioTherapeutics concerning the supply of SkinBiotix for the studies. In-vitro and ex-vivo studies are complete, with clinical (in-vivo) trials set to conclude early next year.
"We are confident that this can lead to a wider commercialisation of our SkinbiotixTM technology into new products, which can make a great difference to consumers with a wide array of skincare needs," says CEO Stuart Ashman.
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By Elizabeth Winter, Alliance News senior markets reporter
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