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(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Martin Currie Global Portfolio Trust PLC - investor in sustainable listed growth companies - Net asset value total return for year ended January 31 is 2.9% compared to benchmark total return of 16%. NAV per share increases 1.8% to 364.6 pence at year-end, from 358.2p a year before. Proposes final dividend of 1.5p, bringing total to 4.2p, unchanged from the prior year. "Most of the underperformance occurred in January 2022 at the end of what was a year of high volatility in stock markets when at times more cheaply rated value stocks have at times led the market," the company explains.
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Gore Street Energy Storage Fund PLC - London-based fund investing in energy storage assets - Raises GBP150 million via issue of 136.4 million new ordinary shares at 110 pence each in initial placing, initial offer for subscription and initial intermediaries offer. " Institutional and retail investor demand was considerable and substantially more than GBP150 million was raised in the initial issue and was therefore subject to scale back," the company says. Net proceeds will be used towards Gore Street's pipeline of 1.3 gigawatt projects.
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Power Metal Resources PLC- London-based metals exploration company focused in North America, Africa and Australia and Red Rock Resources PLC - natural resource development company with interests in gold and base metals in Africa and Australia - Announce that joint-venture subsidiary New Ballarat Gold Corp PLC's first phase of diamond drilling is complete at Victorian Goldfields, Australia. "Initial results received confirm that two gold-bearing lode structures have been intersected at the O'Loughlin's Prospect, including 0.4 metres at 12.34 grams per tonne gold from 75.7 metre downhole, and 0.5 metres at 1.44 grams per tonne gold from 50.6 metre downhole from hole OL21D002," the companies say. Preliminary molybdenum and bismuth results from Mount Bute suggest bigger targets for intrusive related gold mineralisation than first thought, they say.
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MJ Hudson Group PLC - London-based asset management consultancy - Reshuffles leadership as Geoffrey Miller, current senior independent director to become non-executive chair from May 1, with current Chair Charles Spicer replacing Miller as senior independent director. Until recently, Miller was chair of Globalworth Real Estate Investments Ltd. Odi Lahav, the company's chief operating officer joins the board.
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Boku Inc - London-based mobile payments - Its M1ST platform launches real-time payments for PromptPay and K Plus in Thailand, reaching over 100 million consumer accounts in the country. "Allowing business customers to pay for their digital advertising directly from their banking app is already demonstrating the B2B use cases that exist for real-time mobile payments," explains Chief Executive Officer Jon Prideaux.
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Intercede Group PLC - cybersecurity software firm with offices in Virginia, US and Leicestershire, England - Names Nitil Patel as new chief financial officer from next Tuesday. Patel was previously interim CFO at D4t4 Solutions PLC, and CFO of Merit Group PLC. Before those appointments, he served as CFO of Zinc Media Group PLC. Outgoing Andrew Walker will remain as a director until June to ensure a smooth transition, Intercede says.
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Pathfinder Minerals PLC - Mozambique-focused natural resources explorer - Considers options regarding its legal dispute with the Mozambique government, including conventional litigation funding arrangements, through to a full acquisition of the claim via disposal of its wholly-owned subsidiary IM Minerals Ltd. "Whether the company pursues a claim itself or disposes of IMM, the board intends to pursue other opportunities within the minerals sector which are under detailed review," says Chief Executive Officer Peter Taylor.
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PureTech Health PLC - Boston, Massachusetts-based clinical-stage biotherapeutics - Says founded entity Akili Interactive Labs Inc publishes findings from Stars-MDD clinical trial for AKL-T03 depression treatment in the American Journal of Psychiatry. "Results of the study demonstrated that the addition of AKL-T03 to antidepressant therapy significantly improved sustained attention in adults diagnosed with MDD compared to the control," Puretech says. Also announces publication of research from collaborators demonstrating its Glyph platform enhances oral absorption of Buprenorphine, a drug used for pain management and opioid replacement therapy. The paper is published in the Frontiers in Pharmacology journal.
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Calnex Solutions PLC - provider of test and measurement solutions for the telecommunications sector - Acquires iTrinegy Ltd, a developer for software defined test networks technology, for GBP2.5 million cash on completion, with a further GBP1.0 million due on milestones. Acquisition will be accretive to earnings in financial 2023, Calnex says. Says it has shipped all orders scheduled for March as planned, despite ongoing component shortages. Says results for year ended March 31 will be slightly ahead of current market expectations, and will be announced on May 24.
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Novacyt SA - Surrey, England-based biotechnology company - Receives approval for PROmate Covid PCR test in UK under Coronavirus Test Device Approvals regulations.
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Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd - British Virgin Islands-based gold development company focused on Korea - Secures funding package with initial debt tranche of USD500,000 at 10% interest, repayable on April 15 2023. Refinances existing loan of GBP250,000 on the same terms. Funding has the support of Southern Gold, it notes. Board of directors agree to 12-month lock-in on their shareholdings. As part of the new funding solution, a total of 13.0 million shares are issued at an average price of 2 pence per share and warrants over 25.3 million shares with an exercise price of 2.5 pence per share and three-year life, Bluebird says.
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Burford Capital Ltd - London-based asset management firm - Closes private offering of USD360 million of 6.9% senior notes due in 2030 by its wholly-owned subsidiary Burford Capital Global Finance LLC. Says proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including the potential repayment of debt.
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Zinc Media Group PLC - UK-based TV and multimedia content producer - Launches new television label Rex "to address the growth in popular factual and documentaries genre", to be led by BAFTA-award winning programme maker Lana Salah as creative director.
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SulNOx Group PLC - London-based supplier of fuel conditioners - Signs new distribution agreement in Chile with Comercial Neo Energy Spa.
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Advanced Oncotherapy PLC - London-based proton therapy system provider - Announces equity fundraises of GBP1.7 million via direct subscription of 6.9 million ordinary shares at 25 pence each. Issue price is a premium of 6.4% to closing middle market price on Monday. Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.
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MGC Pharmaceuticals Ltd - Perth, Australia-based medicinal cannabis - Says Chief Financial Officer Daniel Kendall ends role, with Chief Executive Officer Roby Zomer to assume the CFO responsibilities while a new London based replacement can be found.
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CEPS PLC - Bath, England-based investment company focused on the industrial sector - Says 75% owned subsidiary Aford Awards Ltd purchases business and related assets of Impact Promotional Merchandise Ltd for GBP1.0 million with GBP558,000 on completion and a deferred consideration of GBP450,000 payable in instalments until March 2025. IPM supplies products such as trophies, glass awards, medals, as well as customisable items. "The acquisition of IPM furthers AA's goal of increasing market share and consolidating a fragmented retail market whilst providing economies of scale and improving AA's website technology," CEPS says.
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By Elizabeth Winter; elizabethwinter@alliancenews.com
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