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TRADING UPDATES: Begbies buys finance broker; Amino Tech makes US bid

Mon, 10th May 2021 13:37

(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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Mincon Group PLC - Shannon, Ireland-based engineering firm - Seeing "good order levels" in most markets and says revenue is higher annually in first four months of 2021. "Sea freight lead times remain challenging due to the pandemic, and we are using air freight where necessary to overcome these freight challenges. We curtailed other overheads to compensate for any increased freight costs," Mincon adds. Says manufacturing has recovered with production levels now ahead of 2020, despite Covid-19 hit in early part of 2021.

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Begbies Traynor Group PLC - Manchester-based corporate restructuring specialist - Buys Midlands-based finance broker MAF Property Ltd, or MAF Finance Group, for initial GBP3.0 million. Says GBP2.0 million of initial sum to be paid in cash, remainder in shares. Notes potential earn out of up to GBP8.8 million, contingent on "material growth in profits over the four years post completion". "Finance broking complements the group's existing services and deepens relationships with banks and other lenders," Begbies explains.

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TP Group PLC - Farnborough, Hampshire-based consulting, digital solutions and engineering services provider - Awarded deal with UK Ministry of Defence worth GBP1.1 million. Will provide consulting and digital services. "TP Group will be working on the MOD's GBP3.2 billion Morpheus Programme to scope the next generation of applications that will be used by military personnel deployed around the world to exploit information faster and enable better decision making," company says. "This contract win is not material in the context of the financial performance of the group."

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Duke Royalty Ltd - London-based provider of alternative capital solutions to businesses in Europe - Says cash revenue in fourth quarter ended March 31 totals GBP2.5 million, in line with expectations. "This represented a small like-for-like increase from the previous quarter once the positive effects of redemptions premiums are removed," Duke says. Expects to report first quarter cash revenue of GBP2.8 million.

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Amino Technologies PLC - Cambridge, England-based media technology - May acquire MobiTV Inc and MobiTV Services Corp. MobiTV is a US television platform provider that is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Amino has submitted an acquisition bid to bankruptcy court in the US. "Whether Amino's bid is successful will be decided by the court following an auction process to be held on 11 May 2021," company adds. Says deal would be funded by existing cash and credit resources, bolstered by an equity raise.

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Water Intelligence PLC - London-based provider of precision, minimally invasive leak detection and remediation solutions - Seals third insurance national account win of year. "The company's latest business-to-business account reinforces the sustainability of Water Intelligence's growth trajectory for its insurance channel," company adds. Executive Chair Patrick DeSouza adds company is looking to "capture more and more of the USD13 billion insurance market for water-related claims".

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Gresham Technologies PLC - London-based financial software and services for data integrity, banking integration, payments, and cash management- Says year "has started well" amid promising demand for its Clareti software platform. "Five new Clareti customers have been signed so far this year, as well as several incremental licences with existing customers," Chair Peter Simmonds says.

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Open Orphan PLC - London-based pharmaceutical services company - Lands GBP3.0 million deal with Imperial College London to develop SARS-CoV-2 challenge virus. Says challenge virus will be based on emerging variants of Covid-19. Will be used by Open Orphan's hVIVO "to allow direct comparisons of vaccines or antivirals against different Covid-19 variants".

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Dekel Agri-Vision PLC - West Africa-focused agriculture company - Says crude palm oil output down 16% annually in April to 5,147 tonnes. Year-to-date output up 12% to 20,474 tonnes. "April production below last year's volumes due to lower deliveries of fresh fruit bunches," Dekel says. April sales down 2.6% year-on-year to 4,971 tonnes, but year-to-date up 17% to 18,892 tonnes.

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Gem Diamonds Ltd - Letseng diamond mine in Lesotho - Recovers "high quality" 370-carat white diamond from Letseng mine in Lesotho.

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Castillo Copper Ltd - base metal explorer focused on Australia and Zambia - Gets approval from landowner to recommence exploration work at Mount Oxide project, now that rain season in Queensland, Australia has ended. "Our first priority is to extend known mineralisation discovered at the Big One Deposit. Currently, a team is at site conducting a geophysical survey along the line of lode. Once the geophysical results are interpreted and new targets formulated, our drilling team will complete the remainder of the campaign that was designed in late 2020," Managing Director Simon Paull says. "The board remains optimistic that 2021 will be a transformative year as we ramp up our exploration efforts at the Mt Oxide project, coupled with working towards successfully optimising our Zambia and New South Wales assets."

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Cadence Minerals PLC - UK-based mineral resources investor - Says Dev Mineracao SA ships and sells second batch of iron ore from stockpiles at Amapa project, Brazil. Says buyer is "one of the world's largest globally diversified natural resource companies and a major producer and marketer of commodities".

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By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com