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(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Monday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Circle Property PLC - London-based buyer, developer and manager of regional office assets in UK - Grows pretax profit to GBP1.3 million for half-year ended September 30, swung from a GBP700,000 loss a year earlier. Grows net asset value per share to GBP2.74 from GBP2.83 in 2020. Notes "good progress" in the period with "very active" first half for the company in terms of asset management. Expects to have completed on the sale of One Castlepark in Bristol for GBP20 million by the end of December, Circle Property says. Proposes an interim dividend of 3.5 pence per share, up from 2.5p a year before. "Our regional office portfolio has performed resiliently in the period," comments Chief Executive John Arnold. "As increasing numbers of workers have returned to their offices, the importance of having an environment to meet, collaborate, mentor and train employees is clear."
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Serinus Energy PLC - oil and gas projects in Tunisia and Romania - Swings to a pretax profit of GBP782,000 for the nine months ended September 30 from a GBP15.4 million loss a year before. Revenue climbs 41% to GBP25.7 million from GBP18.2 million. Serinus partly attributes strong commodity prices for the improvement. Total production is down by a quarter to 1,810 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 2,415 a year earlier. The company's production volumes reduced through "natural well declines as well as Covid-related workover delays".
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Southern Energy Corp - North American gas-weighted producer focused on growth - Swings to net earnings of USD5.5 million for the third quarter ended September 30, from a USD3.0 million loss a year before. Generates average production of 2,040 boepd, a 7% decrease from the same period in 2020. Posts petroleum and natural gas sales of USD6.6 million, an increase of 85% annually. "This quarter has been defined by robust operational performance from our core asset base amidst significantly increased cash flow realisation," explains Chief Executive Ian Atkinson. "The period ahead will include the drilling of three high-impact, low-risk horizontal wells in the Gwinville gas field, expected to begin production in the first quarter of 2022, on which work will commence imminently."
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CareTech Holdings PLC - London-based social care services provider - Group company Smartbox is buying Rehavista and its subsidiary LogBUK in a EUR10 million deal. Bremen, Germany-based Rehavista is a provider of augmentative and alternative communication products and services. The deal is expected to close November 30. CareTech Executive Chair Farouq Sheikh says: "We have been delighted to support Smartbox in achieving significant organic growth since it joined the group in October 2020. This acquisition is a natural but exciting next step for our Digital Technology division." Caretech completed its purchase of a 70% majority stake in Smartbox in October last year for GBP10.6 million.
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Harvest Minerals Ltd - Arapua fertiliser project in Brazil - Enters deal to buy BF Mineracao Ltda for USD800,000. BF Mineraçao owns the Miriri Phosphate project in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. The purchase will complement Harvest's existing Arapua fertiliser project and expand its profile into the northeast region of Brazil, company says. Chair Brian McMaster comments: "We are excited to be expanding our activities to other agricultural regions of Brazil and leveraging our in-house experience on direct shipping ore project implementation. Given the substantial work already completed, we are confident that we can replicate the success seen at Arapua and fast-track the project to production."
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Cloudbreak Discovery PLC - Vancouver, Canada-based natural resource project generator - Buys Stateline Property in conjunction with Alianza Minerals, as part of its Southwest US Copper Alliance. Stateline Property consists of 22 unpatented mining claims from local prospectors and is located in Colorado and Utah in the US. The Stateline project was purchased for USD20,000 in cash and a further USD40,000 payment in the form of cash and or shares. Cloudbreak said in its partnership with Alianza it would continue to "identify, acquire, and advance copper projects" in the southwestern US states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. Cloudbreak Chief Executive & President Kyler Hardy reflects: "This target presents an opportunity to drill test multiple horizons of favourable mineralisation. Mineralisation outcrops at the surface and we are looking forward to gaining a better understanding of the geological setting at Stateline."
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Power Metal Resources PLC - London-based exploration and development company - States that subsidiary company Golden Metal Resources has huge potential ahead of possible float. Golden Metal is an exploration firm focused on Nevada, USA and which is currently seeking an independent listing on the London markets. Power Metal Chief Executive Paul Johnson comments: "It is abundantly clear from our exploration work to date that the Golden Metal project portfolio hosts several underexplored, highly prospective, gold, tungsten, copper and silver exploration targets. Golconda Summit, positioned in a neighbourhood of dramatic scale Carlin-type gold deposits, has the potential for another major gold discovery."
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Eastinco Mining & Exploration PLC - Aquis-listed Musasa tantalum and tin metal project in Rwanda - Hires Quiver to manage and operate the gravity separation wash plant on the Musasa project in western Rwanda. The Musasa project is restarting operations from December 1, after a six-month shutdown due to Covid-19 restrictions. Quiver is an African focused specialist mineral processing consultancy. Under the agreement, Quiver will provide a plant manager, who will be based on site to control and manage the daily operations around the wash plant.
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Rockfire Resources PLC - gold and base metal exploration company - Assay results for the first diamond drill hole at its Copperhead porphyry project in north Queensland, Australia signal an "excellent result". The tonnage potential for Copperhead has been significantly upgraded as a result. "This is an outstanding result for Rockfire. The first drill hole into Copperhead for more than 50 years has hit visible copper veins along its length, over 500 metres downhole," says Chief Executive David Price. "This increases the tonnage of copper mineralisation immensely."
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Hummingbird Resources PLC - gold production, development and exploration focused on West Africa - Confirms that its Yanfolila mine in Mali is currently offline amid unrest in the region. In recent days there has been unrest and illegal road blocks in the region, impacting the company's ability to safely continue operations at the mine. The interruption to operations is impacting production and as a result Hummingbird downgrades full year production to below the bottom end of the 2021 forecast range. Says the government of Mali is aware of the situation and is actively engaged in resolving disruptions.
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Franchise Brands PLC - Manchester-based owner of ChipsAway, Willow Pumps and Metro Rod brands - Buys franchise management software system developer Azura for GBP1.0 million. The GBP1.0 million comprises GBP850,000 in cash and GBP150,000 in shares. Franchise believes the acquisition will be earnings enhancing in the first full year following completion. "I am delighted to announce the acquisition of Azura, which represents an important step in the group's digital journey," notes Executive Chair Stephen Hemsley. Franchise Brands has partnered with Azura since 2018 to develop its works management system.
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By Will Paige; willpaige@alliancenews.com
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