Ben Richardson, CEO at SulNOx, confident they can cost-effectively decarbonise commercial shipping. Watch the video here.
Covered by Simon T in Investors Chronicle
Investors are too cautious with this cash-generative company
Improvements in cash flow and a better balance sheet could lead to a 50 per cent re-rating next year
First-half revenue rises 24 per cent to £23.5mn
Underlying cash profit up a third to £4.4mn
Free cash flow (FCF) of £2.6mn
Net leverage cut from 1.65 to 1.47 times cash profit
Order book 35 per cent higher than the start of the year
Investors continue to show a high degree of caution in their valuation of Aim-traded Venture Life (VLG:30.5p), a developer, manufacturer and distributor of products for the self-care market. It’s unwarranted.
Strip out the £2.3mn maiden revenue contribution from the three HL Healthcare ear, nose and throat brands (Earol, EarolSwim and Sterinase) acquired in December 2022, and Venture’s own brands delivered single-digit underlying revenue growth. The performance was buoyed by 21 per cent higher combined revenue of £5.2mn from two of the three BBI Healthcare brands acquired in 2021: Balance Activ, the leading UK brand for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis; and Lift, a range of glucose gels, shots and chewable tablets. Moreover, sales of the Gelclair brand more than trebled to £1mn. The muco-adhesive oral rinse gel used for painful symptoms of oral mucositis (a side-effect of some cancer therapies) was acquired as part of the complementary acquisition of oncology support product company Helsinn in 2021.
True, the Dentyl mouthwash brand continues to underperform, so much so that Venture has reduced the carrying value of the asset from £4.3mn to £3.8mn. Dentyl’s domestic sales have been hit by aggressive promotional activity by larger rival Listerine, while overseas distribution partner Samarkand failed to record any sales in China. That contract is under review. However, the underperformance of Dentyl and a few other owned brands should not take the shine off a likely strong second-half performance, which is underpinned by a 35 per cent higher order book than at the start of the year, and double-digit sales growth in customer brands. I also feel that investors are overlooking the significant deleveraging of the group’s balance sheet.
Venture’s free cash flow generation underrated
In the first half, Venture delivered free cash flow (FCF) of £2.6mn from £4.8mn underlying cash flow from operations. The business has a seasonal second-half weighting, so, factoring in the strong order book, analysts at house broker Cavendish expect the group to deliver 16 per cent higher revenue of £27.3mn.
Importantly, they also expect the gross margin to improve by six percentage points to 43.4 per cent, reflecting several factors, including an unwinding of input costs procured at previously high prices, and the pass-through of inflationary price hikes to customers. On this basis, Venture could deliver second-half cash profit of £7.2mn, up 50 per cent on the first half, and second-half FCF of £4.
A good day for THG considering the wider market situation and 0.8% fall in FTSE - over going concerns over base rates being kept high for longer.
THG up 1.5% on the day and over 500k buys after the close. Looks promising?
The reality is none of the Funds (IIs) have reduced their position since the Interim Results put out on 14 Sept.
From the previous approaches, we know about 65% of shares are in sticky hands. I'm going to hold out for a deal, which I'm sure is close (probably an MBO) and where price will be north of 200p. The sentiment - that's just private investors who expected a quicker win, losing traders etc and the media who love to put the boot in THG at every opportunity.
Look at today Investors Chronicle - rates THG a "sell". You have to ask who owns IC and what their angle is?
No point buying big volume whilst market is open - just wait till it closes and negotiate whatever volume and price you want to pay. Market during the day is just a false market which ATs bouncing the price around to shake out loose shares.
Real value of THG is significantly higher, as all the funds know.
This will get wider media coverage, as the day progresses, bringing in new buyers.
Fabulous news and still a hold for me, for much bigger gains!
Proactive Investors coverage first thing..
Scancell Holdings' 'impressive' melanoma data surpasses expectations
Published: 02:26 19 Sep 2023
Scancell Holdings PLC -
Scancell Holdings PLC (AIM:SCLP, OTC:SCNLF) said the results from the initial stage of its phase II SCOPE trial in advanced melanoma surpassed expectations.
The study investigated the efficacy of Scancell's SCIB1 in combination with checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs).
Preliminary data from 11 patients indicate an 82% objective response rate (ORR), surpassing the trial's target of a 70% ORR.
"These results, if confirmed in a larger cohort, will be a significant improvement on what patients can expect from available treatment today. We look forward to continuing the second stage of the study and reporting further data in due course," said professor Poulam Patel, chief investigator.
Researchers aimed to enhance the ORR in patients suffering from unresectable metastatic melanoma through the combined use of SCIB1 and CPIs.
The vaccine is believed to either initiate new immune responses or amplify existing ones, which are then safeguarded within the tumour environment by the CPIs.
In this evaluation, patients were administered SCIB1 through a needle-free device, along with the currently most effective CPIs, nivolumab and ipilimumab.
The first milestone of the trial was to achieve positive responses in over eight out of 15 patients, thereby suggesting that SCIB1, when combined with doublet CPI therapy, could significantly improve patient outcomes.
Out of 16 stage IV metastatic patients who have received this combination, 11 have been evaluated at 13 weeks through radiological imaging. Nine of these have shown an objective response, equating to an 82% ORR without any increase in toxicity levels. The reduction in tumour volume ranged from 31% to 94%.
These results are particularly noteworthy when compared to a 50% ORR in patients receiving only the doublet CPI therapy, with a progression-free survival time of 11.5 months.
"We are excited by these highly impressive results for SCIB1 combined with the doublet CPI therapy," said Scancell's chief executive, professor Lindy Durrant.
"We thought results from the phase I/II trial evaluating SCIB1 as a monotherapy were positive but results from this combination are even more meaningful.
"Previous studies indicated that a response rate of 50% was the best that could be achieved in the real-world setting for patients with unresectable metastatic melanoma, as no other combination had improved on the response rates for doublet CPI alone.
"Confirmation of this data in a larger cohort could make a significant impact on melanoma patient survival, especially as melanoma is now one of the most common cancers in young women."
Last couple of paragraphs...
Four patients are still ongoing in this cohort. The number of patients who have experienced long periods of stable disease following monotherapy with Modi-1 is encouraging in this difficult to treat cancer and the Company believes that combination therapy with checkpoint inhibitors, which are not currently approved for the treatment of ovarian cancer, could further improve outcomes for this patient group.
Evaluation of Modi-1 plus checkpoint inhibitors in other tumour types in the ongoing Phase 1/2 study, will provide supporting data for this proposed combination use.
MarketScreener posted this on 14th Sept..
Update on Its Two Ongoing Phase 1/2 Clinical Trials with Lead Cancer Vaccine Assets SCIB1/iSCIB-1+ and Modi-1
September 14, 2023 at 02:00 am EDT
Scancell Holdings plc provided an update on its two ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trials with lead cancer vaccine assets SCIB1/iSCIB-1+ and Modi-1. Encouraging data from these open label studies provides validation for the Company's decision to concentrate its strategic focus and resources on these two assets. SCIB1/iSCIB1+: The open-label, Phase 2 single arm SCOPE trial is investigating the safety and tolerability of using SCIB1/iSCIB1+, the company's lead ImmunoBody® cancer vaccine, in combination with checkpoint inhibitors in patients with advanced melanoma. The current trial is designed to determine whether any clinical effect is unlikely to be due to checkpoints alone based on the rate of clinical responses in each cohort, that is, with either a single or double checkpoint combination.
The trial is progressing well, with 73% of the required number of patients receiving SCIB1 in combination with two checkpoint inhibitors (ipilimumab and nivolumab) recruited to date. The company expects the initial topline data readout from this double checkpoint arm of the study in fourth quarter 2023. Following the data readout, Scancell intends to initiate a similar double checkpoint cohort with iSCIB1+ before the end of the year.
iSCIB1+ has a number of competitive advantages, with potentially increased potency due to modifications to the product using Scancell's propriety AvidiMab ® platform, and an extended patent life to 2039. iSCIB1+ is able to be used by a broader patient population because it incorporates more melanoma-specific epitopes. If positive, data generated by iSCIB1+ could lead to the initiation of a potential, rapid clinical development programme in second half 2024.
An adapted registration trial could yield Phase 2 data within 2 years and would provide the company with a pathway to a potential deal. The Phase 3 data could be complete within the following 3 years. Modi-1: Modi-1 is the first vaccine based on Scancell's Moditope® platform.
Recruitment is progressing well in the ModiFY open-label Phase 2a dose expansion study investigating the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of Modi-1 as a monotherapy and in combination with checkpoint inhibitors in patients with ovarian, triple negative breast, renal and head and neck cancers. The cohort of 16 ovarian cancer patients receiving Modi-1 has now been fully recruited. All patients had failed on previous treatments and their disease was actively progressing when they entered the study.
Following treatment with Modi-1 44% of patients achieved stable disease for at least 8 weeks, with some patients experiencing a longer duration of disease stability for 4 months or more. Four patients are still ongoing in this cohort. The number of patients who have experienced long periods of s
RNS tone sounds promising. Revised price of 67p on the table. Buyer has till 5pm Friday to firm up offer, walk away or extend time for more negotiations.
Strange price action at RFX the last couple of days. Normally market makers move RFX price up and down on virtually no volume, but recently it has flatlined at 225ask/220bid (although real share prices are actually 222p/220p)
Clearly there is an overhang to be cleared, but normally market maker would push the bid down harder after just a few more sales, especially when the UK FTSE 100/250 index has been down every session for the 6 days..
Weird. But a good buying opportunity for those who believe RFX as a pawnbroker is a likely beneficiary from economy slowing down further or going into recession..
Good news! Cannacord announce they have reduced holding from 9.6% to 4.9%. A strange move as this share looks solid, even if UK goes into recession later this year; but at least big chunky seller is out and hopefully RNWH can climb back towards 800p+
At 35.5p/share business is worth £8m. Even if they have no cash left, surely a business with £20m plus revenue and a brand of sorts, has got to be worth more than this?
Results are due "Mid August", whenever that is?