It was the turn of investment group Riverfort Global Opportunities (RGO) to step in the limelight and remind the market how conditions on the stock market have been perfectly suited to its business model. Since the pandemic began in March it has enjoyed both the boom in liquidity for small caps, as well as corporates raising cash to shore up their balance sheets. All of this has resulted in a £770,000 profit over the half year, with a £3.3m war chest going forward for further investments. Arguably the highlight was the profit margin of 73.9%. Shares in Riverfort were up 10%, pushing towards the stated NAV of 1.24p.
Shares of Braveheart (BRH) finally started to play catch up with their fellow COVID-19 exposed counterparts, with the company already in focus following last week’s update on its Pharm2Farm anti-viral mask project. In this Braveheart said that the new multi-layer masks could be ready for production as soon as Q1 2021, if the nanotechnology used in them is proven. However, investors appeared to be speculating on the prospect of Braveheart producing a “5 minute COVID test”, something which would clearly take the company to the front of the queue in terms of existing players. The stock rose 17% to 25.8p – the best level for 3 months.
Minerals processing group Tri-Star Resources (TSTR) continued to tantalise investors, as it has done for some months, as they speculated regarding the fate of the various moving parts surrounding the company. These include the 72% of the company owned by Odey Management, the £20m allegedly owed to the company in its joint venture, and the fate of its 40% interest in the antimony / gold facility in Oman. If one adds in the potential result of the arbitration between the various parties involved in the project, and the possibility of a buyout of Tri-Star’s stake, the current position appears to be quite a heady mix. It would appear that the greater the delay in news from the company, the greater expectations regarding the result of the recent saga become. Tri-Star shares rallied 16%.
Providence Resources (PVR) was also apparently a case of no news being good news, as traders looked to a fresh update with regard to the potential development of the Barryroe oil field. With the last RNS on the subject at the end of July, it may be a case of the market feeling that something should be announced soon, with “four to six weeks” being a potential timeframe regarding the farm-out of Barryroe being settled with SpotOn Energy, although the nature of the speculation implies a much sooner denouement. Shares of Providence gained 10% to 6.3p.
Empire Metals (EEE) bounced back from their initial shakeout earlier in the week, with a 4% rebound. In this situation some traders were using the opportunity to top up in the shares, in sympathy with the rise in partner Artemis’s stock. They were also looking forward to assay results and the start of drilling at the Eclipse Gold project due to begin at the end of this month.
Netscientific (NSCI) was in focus as traders bet on its being the next domino in the series of COVID-19 vaccine race winners so far this year. The healthcare IP commercialisation group, which has a 5.75% stake in US listed PDS Biotechnology, saw its shares rise 4.5p to 66p ahead of a mooted Stateside conference regarding PDS’s Versammune T cells boosting technology – relevant both to cancer and COVID.
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