TRADING UPDATES: Wizz Air and Mitie face pressure over director pay

Tue, 27th Jul 2021 22:05

(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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Wizz Air Holdings PLC - Budapest-based central and eastern Europe-focused budget airline - Over 33% of shareholders vote against director remuneration policy at annual general meeting, and over 32% vote against Value Creation Plan. "In advance of the 2021 AGM, the board, through the Remuneration Committee, engaged extensively with shareholders to discuss our approach to remuneration and to seek feedback on our proposals. This process led to a number of material changes to the proposals which were put forward at the AGM," company says. Adds: "The board understands the issues raised by certain shareholders but is wholly satisfied that the adoption of the Value Creation Plan, the new Remuneration Policy and the Wizz Air Omnibus Plan, all of which are designed to generate superior returns based on the achievement of market leading targets, are in the best interests of the company, its shareholders and other stakeholders."

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Bankers Investment Trust PLC - aims for capital growth in excess of the FTSE World Index and annual dividend growth ahead of inflation - Agrees to issue GBP37 million fixed rate 24 year unsecured private placement notes at an annualised coupon of 2.28% and EUR44 million fixed rate 20 year unsecured private placement notes at an annualised coupon of 1.67%. "This transaction will obtain fixed rate long dated sterling and euro denominated financing at a pricing that the company considers attractive and is expected to enhance long term investment performance," company says. Adds: "The notes will be unsecured which gives the company increased flexibility to manage its borrowings in the future."

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Mitie Group PLC - Glasgow-based facilities management and professional services - Over 20% of shareholders vote against remuneration report at annual general meeting, while nearly 30% vote against its remuneration policy. On top of this, nearly 30% vote against Enhanced Delivery Plan. "The board appreciated the level of engagement with many shareholders ahead of the AGM in relation to remuneration matters, including the design of the EDP, and will continue its dialogue with shareholders on remuneration matters going forward," company says.

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RTW Venture Fund Ltd - investment company focused on the life sciences sector - Notes new portfolio investment, UK-based privately held oncology company Artios Pharma Ltd, after Artios completes USD153 million series C financing round. Chief Investment Officer of RTW Investments, Roderick Wong, says: "We are excited to support Artios' novel approach to develop next-generation cancer therapies by leveraging its DDR-based platform. As we grow our venture fund and our presence in the UK biotech ecosystem, we are excited to partner with leading local innovators such as Artios."

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Salt Lake Potash Ltd - Western Australia-focused organic sulphate of potash miner - Shares halted on the Australian Securities Exchange. The company has also requested a suspension of trading on AIM. "The halt was requested by the company pending an announcement regarding a substantial downgrade in production estimates for the year ending June 30, 2022 and a possible future fundraising," company says.

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Redx Pharma PLC - Cheshire-based cancer and fibrosis drug developer - Selects 2 milligram once daily as the dose of RXC004 for the planned Phase 2 monotherapy, proof of concept clinical trials based on the safety profile observed in Phase 1. The studies are expected to start during the second half of 2021. RXC004 is the company's lead drug candidate and is a targeted therapy for Wnt-ligand driven cancer. Porcupine is a key enzyme in the Wnt pathway, well established as a key driver of both tumour growth and immune evasion. The selection of a dose and decision to move RXC004 into Phase 2, follows the successful recruitment of all patients to the monotherapy arm of the company's ongoing open label dose escalation Phase 1 study.

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Caspian Sunrise PLC - Central Asian oil & gas exploration and production company - "Pleased" with initial results from Well 154 spudding at BNG Contract Area. Well 154, which was spudded in April, was drilled vertically to a depth of 2,298 metres and then horizontally for a further 250 meters until it reached its full 2,548 metre length. This is the first horizontal well drilled by the company and was recently perforated over a 152 metre length. The well has produced for the past three days at a rate of about 90 tonnes per day or about 645 bopd. Production at this level is expected to increase total production by about 50%. The company now plans to drill further horizontal wells on each structure.

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TomCo Energy PLC - oil project development in US focused on using new technology to unlock unconventional hydrocarbon resources - Notes 50%-owned joint venture Greenfield Energy LLC receives finalised front-end engineering & design study for production facilities, together with the associated third-party technical verification report on the proposed process for potential acquisition of ownership and membership rights and interests in Tar Sands Holdings II LLC. Chief Executive John Potter says: "The FEED study outlines better economics for the proposed plant than we initially envisaged, together with verification that the proposed technical approach is appropriate." The proposed plant is planned to consist of an initial 5,000 barrels of oil per day train but configured for possible expansion to 10,000 bopd via a second future train, with a total capital cost for the 5,000 bopd train estimated at USD110 million.

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Tertiary Minerals PLC - mineral exploration and development company - Says Phase 2 trench planning now complete at Pyramid silver-gold project in Nevada, US. Three trenches to be excavated for a total of 300 metres to better define the North Ruth silver discovery. Executive Chair Patrick Cheetham says: "We are keen to build on the exciting discovery last month of a wide zone of silver mineralisation in our Phase 1 trenching programme at the North Ruth anomaly. This mineralisation is open both along and across strike and we will now undertake further trenching to better define the scale and orientation of the mineralisation prior to drill testing. We are also announcing further encouraging soil sampling results from infill sampling in the southern half of the project area and the Phase 2 trenching programme will include a number of additional trenches to test the soil anomalies in this area. Permits are expected to be approved within the next week or so."

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By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com