If the stock market was going to have another tantrum as it did last week with the CGT scare in the US, it appeared it was not going to do it before the result of the next FOMC meeting on Wednesday evening. This provided a window for the FTSE 100 to attempt a revisit of the 7,000 zone – which was briefly conquered earlier this month, oh yes, and back in 1999.
These days there is an app for almost everything, and the diversity of these Apps is seemingly growing exponentially. The announcement by environmental and life science AI company DeepVerge (DVRG) that the Skin Trust Club, iOS Apple App is now available in the App Store for download in UK and Ireland can be regarded as a significant breakthrough. The company said that the world’s first personalised beauty experience analyses each user’s unique skin microbiome to offer a detailed skin routine. The skincare routine is derived from a home test kit, lab tested, and linked to the subscriber’s local environment via a smartphone App that identifies ingredients suited to the subscriber’s unique skin microbiome and provides updates in real-time.
AIM-quoted gold mining Company Chaarat Gold (CGH), with an operating mine in Armenia and assets at various stages of development in the Kyrgyz Republic, announced production and operational results for the quarter ended 31 March 2021 for its Kapan Mine, in Armenia and a general corporate update. Indeed, shares of Chaarat Gold squeezed just under a couple of percent higher as the company said it will host an investor and analyst presentation on Tuesday 27 April 2021. Among the highlights in the update were production of 16,174 gold equivalent ounces vs 13,353 oz in Q1 2020 (+21%), preliminary unaudited standalone EBITDA contribution of $6.9 million vs $2 million in Q1 2020 (+245%) and perhaps most staggering of all, a funding package of $52.2 million closed in February 2020 reducing the net debt position from $64.5 million as at 31 December 2020 to $12 million (-82%). Shares of Chaarat closed up nearly 2% at 27p.
After treading water for the best part of a month shares of metals processing company Jubilee Metals (JLP) were back on an upward trajectory in a meaningful way. This has been delivered after the acquisition of the rights to almost 300 million tonnes of copper and cobalt tailings with the completion of five major transactions in Zambia; the maturity of operations and continued delivery of record PGM and Chrome earnings in South Africa; and a 110 % increase in Group Revenue to £53.4 million resulting in attributable earnings of £ 30.9 million, all over the past six months or so. Despite the pandemic, it was still the case for Jubilee that H2 2020 was a period of significant growth for the company and that this growth could be set to continue. JLP shares rose 6%.
Brandshield Systems (BRSD), the cybersecurity solutions from brand protection to online threats saw its stock rise 8% after it announced last week that it has extended its contract to provide services to a leading, global financial institution specialising in crypto currency and blockchain. The customer has elected to retain confidentiality. However, the extension of this ongoing contract extends BrandShield protective coverage of the financial sector further and, in particular, deepens its presence in the crypto currency verticals with eToro and Simplex remaining flagship clients.
With no speeding ticket RNS, or general mea culpa either, shares of Baron Oil (BOIL) bounced another 9%. This was in the wake of last week’s announcement that Earn In arrangements have now been completed with the issue of new shares in SundaGas TLS to Baron and that the Company has secured a materially increased interest in the Chuditch PSC project. Baron said that everything is in place to allow SundaGas Banda to undertake the PSC technical work programme activities, and that these works will enable an up-to-date assessment of the true potential of the Chuditch discovery.
With COVID-19 tester Novacyt (NCYT) it appeared it was just as good to arrive as it was to travel, with the result being another significant bounce for the shares, in this case 15%. The driver was the company being included in the PHE national framework, which allows PHE and NHS hospitals to purchase its accredited products without the need for direct contract awards. Novacyt said it looks forward to the opportunity to expand its support of diagnostic testing in the UK, as well as in international markets as it continues to invest in our direct commercial operations.
Shares of lender TruFin (TRU) soared 13% to 91p in the wake of last week’s news in which gross revenues from continuing operations were £14.8m for the year ended 31 December 2020, representing year-on-year growth of 102%. The company said that many of the investments it has made in previous years have started to yield fruit and it now has a clear line of sight on profitability at a number of its subsidiaries. In addition it remains fully funded to achieve profitability as a Group.
Eurasia Mining (EUA), where the world awaits a takeover just as keenly as the end of the pandemic, saw its shares rise 11%. This was perhaps as much as reaction to the latest firmness in metals prices for the palladium, platinum, rhodium, iridium and gold producing company, as the announcement of a new director earlier this month. Tamerlan Abdikeev was appointed as a non-executive Director of the Company and the head of Eurasia’s office in Japan.
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