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(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Thursday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Gusbourne PLC - Ashford, England-based wine producer - Reports net revenue growth for the six months to June 30 of 63% to GBP1.5 million from GBP890,000 posted for the first half of 2020. Pretax loss widens to GBP1.9 million from GBP1.6 million year-on-year as administrative expenses increase to GBP2.1 million from GBP1.5 million. "Current trading continues to reflect strong sales growth, and we remain confident about the long term prospects for the business based on continued growth in direct to consumer sales, international expansion, and building direct relationships with key customers in the UK hospitality trade," says Chief Executive & Chief Winemaker Charlie Holland.
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Getech Group PLC - Leeds-based provider of geoscience data - Reports revenue up 16% year-on-year in the six months to June 30 of GBP2.4 million from GBP2.1 million. Pretax loss, however, widens to GBP634,000 from GBP561,000 posted in the first half of 2020, as administrative expenses increase to GBP2.0 million from GBP1.8 million. "The first half of 2021 has been a period of fundamental change and significant progress at Getech; gearing the group for growth in multiple facets of the Energy Transition," says CEO Jonathan Copus.
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Global Resources Investment Trust PLC - London-based investment firm - Concludes its preparations for its re-launch as a natural resources investment trust. For the first time in a number of years the company reports a profit GBP366,000 for the six months to June 30 compared to a loss of GBP288,000 posted for the first half of 2020. This was achieved largely as a result of the profit on the sale of the company's stake in Siberian Goldfields Ltd, but was assisted by the waiver of fees by directors and by advisers.
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Wishbone Gold PLC - Gibraltar-based precious metals trading and exploration company - Reports pretax loss of USD658,399 for the six months to June 30 compared to GBP350,136 posted for the first half of 2020. Throughout the half year the company continued its expansion in exploration, predominantly in Patersons Range area of Western Australia.
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Alien Metals Ltd - London-based exploration and development company - Reports pretax loss of GBP816,000 for the six months to June 30 compared to GBP416,000 loss posted for the first half of 2020. "The first 6-months of calendar 2021 have seen a number of positive developments for Alien. The company has continued to advance its understanding of the Hamersley iron ore projects in Western Australia, which has seen two successful drilling programmes executed at the Hancock DSO prospect, with the company having just released its maiden inferred JORC compliant resource with plenty of upside potential remaining on both tenements," says Chair Dan Smith.
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African Pioneer PLC - Isle of Man-based natural resources company - Reports widened pretax loss of GBP183,649 for the six months to June 30 versus GBP16,108 loss posted for the first half of 2020. Total income rises to GBP17,081 from GBP4,285. The company started trading in London in June. Since then its main focus is on evaluating and advancing the Namibian and Zambian projects as the Botswanan projects are subject to the conditional Botswana licence sale agreement.
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Thor Mining PLC - London-based exploration and development company - Reports widened pretax loss for the financial year to June 30 of GBP2.1 million compared to GBP922,000 posted the year before. The company says it is advancing its diversified portfolio of precious, base, energy and strategic metal projects across US and Australia. Its focus is on progressing its copper, gold, uranium and vanadium projects, while seeking investment or joint venture opportunities to develop its tungsten assets.
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Strategic Minerals PLC - minerals production & development company - Reports revenue decline to USD1.5 million for the six months to June 30 from GBP1.7 million posted a year ago. In September 2011, Strategic Minerals acquired the distribution rights to the Cobre magnetite tailings dam project in New Mexico, US, a cash-generating asset, which it brought into production in 2012 and which continues to provide a revenue stream for the company. The company's pretax profit rises to GBP388,000 from GBP261,000 year-on-year. "It is the board's view that the second half of the year will also prove profitable resulting in an overall profit for the 2021 financial year. This view is based on expected continued demand at Cobre, and the reduction in the charge for share-based payments which were reflecting the options which expired at June 30," says Managing Director John Peters.
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European Metals Holdings Ltd - Australian mineral exploration and development company - reports revenue for the financial year to June 30 of USD1.1 million, up from USD183,824 posted for financial 2020. Pretax loss narrows to USD4.0 million from USD4.6 million year-on-year. "As the lithium market moves into deficit, we anticipate the continuation of strong prices in the foreseeable future," notes Executive Chair Keith Coughlan.
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Bay Capital PLC - India focused investment manager - Reports pretax loss of GBP89,500 for the period to June 30 from its incorporation on March 31. The loss reflects operating expenses incurred during its admission to the main market of the London Stock Exchange.
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JPEL Private Equity Ltd - investment company - Reports net asset value per share as at June 30 of USD2.03 compared to USD1.61 posted the year prior. During the financial year to the end of June, the company's NAV was positively affected by two largest underlying portfolio company investments, being MBI Holdings and Milestone Investisseurs.
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Supply@Me Capital PLC - London-based fintech company - Reports revenue of GBP271,000 for the six months to June 30 versus none posted for the first half of 2020. Pretax loss narrows to GBP1.7 million from GBP2.8 million year-on-year amid continued investment in technology, operations and hiring new senior team members. ""While our efforts have not necessarily been borne out in this set of numbers, we have built a strong pipeline of new business, some of which we expect to come into play by year-end. We are poised to seize the multitude of opportunities available to us, including the first monetisation transactions on our platform, and more," says CEO Alessandro Zamboni.
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CIP Merchant Capital Ltd - closed-end investment management company - Reports swing to profit of GBP6.1 million for the six months to June 30 versus GBP4.9 million loss posted for the first half of 2020. During the period, the company invested in HSS Hire Group PLC, Ixico PLC and Vertu Motors PLC and secured an option with certain shareholders of 7Star Srl to potentially acquire a further equity interest of up to 42% for a nominal consideration. CIP reports NAV per share at 88.85p on June 30 versus 77.84p at the end of 2020.
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Savannah Energy PLC - African‑focused company - Reports revenue growth in the six months to June 30 to USD99.4 million from USD91.7 million posted a year prior. Pretax profit jumps to USD7.7 million from USD1.2 million year-on-year. Average realised gas price of USD4.2 million cubic feet of gas, up from USD3.9 recorded a year ago. Average realised liquids price of USD63.5 per barrel versus USD48.3 recorded for the first half of 2020. The company reiterates 2021 guidance, with revenue greater than USD205.0 million from upstream and midstream activities associated with the company's three active Nigerian gas sales agreements and liquids sales from the company's Stubb Creek and Uquo fields.
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Scirocco Energy PLC - Leeds-based investment company - Reports a swing to a pretax profit of GBP1.8 million from GBP1.3 million loss posted for the first half of 2020. The company partially exited its shareholding in Helium One realising GBP3.3 million in proceeds during the period. "Since we emerged from 2020 the board of directors has implemented a change of investment policy which targets assets within the European sustainable energy and circular economy markets. This policy will see Scirocco allocating capital in assets which support the energy transition and offer a stable, growing source of cash flow going forward," notes Non-Executive Chair Alastair Ferguson.
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Rockhopper Exploration PLC - Salisbury, England-based oil & gas exploration and production company - Reports revenue for the six months to June 30 of USD347,000 versus GBP2.5 million posted for the first half of 2020. Pretax loss narrows to USD3.3 million from USD226.8 million year-on-year. The company reports a sharp reduction in exploration and evaluation expenses to USD131,000 in the first half from USD223.6 million a year ago. Administrative expenses reduced to USD1.6 million from USD2.7 million year-on-year.
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Nostra Terra Oil & Gas Co PLC - London-based oil & gas exploration and production company - Reports revenue growth in the six months to June 30 to USD963,000 from USD417,000 posted for the first half of 2020. Pretax loss widened to USD269,00 from USD437,000 year-on-year. Nostra Terra reports 25% increase in total production for the period to 15,211 barrels oil from 12,152 barrels oil in the first half of 2020. Average production during first half stands at 84 barrels of oil equivalent per day net to Nostra Terra versus 67 a year ago.
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East Star Resources PLC - London-based investor in mineral resources - Reports pretax loss of GBP239,334 for the period to May 31 from incorporation in mid-November 2020. During the period, the company was primarily concerned with listing on the standard segment of the London Stock Exchange. The company started trading in London on May 4 and enjoyed 2 months of trading before entering a temporary suspension to facilitate a potential takeover transaction.
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Great Western Mining Corp PLC - company which operates mining concessions in the US state of Nevada - Reports pretax loss of EUR427,590 for the six months to June 30 compared to EUR487,441 posted for the first half of 2020. "We are focused on fast-tracking the exploitation of precious metals to achieve early gold and silver sales and are well funded both to extend our drill programme and to finance the first phase of a processing plant for spoil heap material," says Chair Brian Hall.
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Cizzle Biotechnology Holdings PLC - London-based company developing a blood test for the early detection of various forms of lung cancer - Reports pretax loss of GBP3.2 million for the six months to June 30 versus just GBP8,000 loss posted for the first half of 2020. During the period the company completed of the acquisition of CBL and admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange. "Our next steps will be to consider how we can broaden the use of our technology for widescale screening in doctor's office testing," says Chair Allan Syms.
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VPC Specialty Lending Investments PLC - investment company - NAV per share rises to 106.19p on June 30 from 89.78p posted the year before. The company reports share price as at the end of June of 84.00p, representing a 21% discount to NAV. VPC declares dividend of 2.0p per share for the half year to June 30, unchanged year-on-year.
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Bezant Resources PLC - London-based copper-gold exploration and development firm - Reports pretax loss of GBP510,000 for the six months to June 30, widened from GBP261,000 posted for the first half of 2020. The half-year has been very active in the company's mission to drive the company towards copper and gold, with a view to establish new positions, consolidating current positions and monetarising legacy positions. "We look forward to adding value to all of projects during the second half and will keep shareholders fully advised of our progress in this exciting new age metal arena," says Executive Chair Colin Bird.
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Panthera Resources PLC - London-based exploration and development company - Says pretax loss widens in the financial year to March 31 to USD2.3 million from USD1.1 million posted the year prior. During the year, the company has refocused itself towards its gold projects in West Africa while continuing its efforts to unlock the significant potential value of the Bhukia project in Rajasthan, India.
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Fragrant Prosperity Holdings Ltd - British Virgin Islands-based special purpose acquisition company - Reports pretax loss of GBP241,709 for the financial year to March 31 versus GBP191,778 loss posted the year before, which represents ongoing administrative expenses as well as any costs incurred in identifying potential transactions. The company says it continued to review a number of potential acquisition opportunities across the sector but none of which met the necessary criteria for selection as at the end of the year.
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Africa Opportunity Fund Ltd - Cayman Islands-based closed-end investment company - Reports NAV per share of USD0.988 as at June 30, up from USD0.551 posted the year ago. The company says NAV per share further rises to USD1.012 on September 17. The fund declares an annual dividend per share of USD0.0096 for 2020.
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By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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