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Plus500 shares jump as it increases annual expectations for 2018

Last updated: 10:20 02 Jul 2018 EDT, First published: 04:12 02 Jul 2018 EDT

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Plus500 LTD (LON:PLUS) shares rose 5.3% to 1,702.00p in late afternoon as the financial trading group said it has increased its annual expectations for the financial year ending 31 December 2018, due to a strong performance in the second quarter.

The company said although market conditions for trading volumes and new customer acquisition returned to more normal levels in the second quarter in comparison with the first quarter, geopolitical events, particularly regarding US import tariffs have resulted in higher than expected levels of market volatility.

“This has resulted in a strong trading performance in the period,” the company said.

Meanwhile, shares in Mosman Oil And Gas Limited (LON:MSMN) fell 10.5% to 0.42p. as heavy thunderstorms have temporarily disrupted operations at its Arkoma project in Oklahoma.

The AIM-listed oil exploration and development company the operator at Arkoma recently installed electric submersible pumps in two wells with the objective to produce simultaneously from several zones.

“Unfortunately, there were some initial delays due to the loss of working days caused by rain, and other operational matters,“ the company said.

And Playtech PLC’s (LON:PTEC) shares crashed 26.4% to 553.80p, as it announced that revenues from Asia are expected to be €70mln lower, and said that group’s performance is “broadly in line with expectations”.

The FTSE 250-listed firm said average daily revenue in Asia continues to be impacted by an increasingly competitive background, with a “particularly aggressive pricing environment from new entrants”.

Versarien shares jump as it makes ‘significant advances’ in graphene enhanced power storage devices 

Versarien PLC (LON:VRS) shares jumped 8.7% to 137.00p as the group announced it has made “significant advances” to incorporate its high-quality graphene into power storage devices such as batteries and supercapacitors.

The AIM-listed advanced materials engineering group said it has been working with Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) to collaborate on the production of power storage devices.

“The relationship with WMG has now been supplemented by a number of other agreements that provide Versarien with access to both leading technology providers and manufacturing expertise, both in the UK and overseas, including China,” the company said.

Shares in Bacanora Lithium PLC (LON:BCN) jumped 6.4% to 83.00p as the company said it is in the final stages of talks with a number of financing and offtake partners for the Sonora Lithium Project in Mexico.

Back in June, the AIM-listed lithium company announced a five-year off-take contract extension with Hanwa Corporation of Japan, one of the largest battery chemical traders in Asia as it issued a positive update on the Sonora Lithium Project.

And Berkeley Energia LTD’s (LON:BKY) shares rose 5.3% to 40.75p as the company thanked the government of Castilla y Leon for its continued support of the development of the Salamanca uranium nine.

The company said this was manifested last week, when the government rejected a resolution from opposition groups requesting that Berkeley’s €250mln investment be halted. 

Trakm8 shares fall as it expects lower revenues and profit for the first half of 2019

Shares in Trakm8 Holdings (LON:TRAK) fell 8.5% to 96.00p as it said revenues and profit for the first half of the financial year 2019 are expected to be lower than last year.

The AIM-listed telematic and data supplier said lower revenue expectations are due to the termination of a Contract Electronics Manufacturing (CEM) contract and customer inventory build-up in the fourth quarter of financial year 2018.

The company said group’s revenue grew 12% to £30.1mln for the year ended 31 March 2018 from £26.8mln, while pre-tax profit rose to £1.2mln from £0.7mln.

Meanwhile, Eve Sleep PLC (LON:EVE) shares plummeted 58.3% to 28.75p as the mattress retailer got rid of its chief executive officer following a series of "strategic missteps" by its management which saw sales fall below expectations.

The AIM-listed firm said that despite trading outperforming the broader market, sales had fallen short of expectations, with trading patterns experiencing greater volatility than originally expected.

The firm added that its management had made some “strategic missteps” by underestimating what was required to develop a meaningful footprint across continental Europe and losing focus on creating an “aspirational sleep brand” in its core markets.

And 88 Energy Ltd (LON:88E) shares dropped 21.57% to 1.00p as the company announced it has suspended production at the Icewine#2 well in Alaska.

The AIM-listed firm has been struggling to recover stimulation fluids from the well as quickly as it would like.

Along with its partners, 88 said it believes the results so far still support the potential economic viability of the HRZ shale play and attract a farm-in partner despite the issues.

Carclo shares jump on non-biding proposal from Consort Medical

Carclo PLC (LON:CAR) shares jumped 14% to 92.20p in early trading after Consort Medical PLC (LON:CRST) revealed it made a 116p per share takeover approach at the end of May, which the global technical plastics products supplier subsequently rejected. Carclo has also rejected subsequent requests from Consort for a meeting.

Consort - which makes drug delivery devices such as inhalers - noted the non-binding, all-share bid proposal represents a premium of approximately 43.6% to Carclo's closing share price of 80.8p last Friday.

The predator company said it believes that the proposal "offers shareholders in Carclo an attractive upfront premium along with meaningful participation in the value creation over time as benefits of combining Bespak and Carclo Technical Plastics are realised".

Also on the takeover front, shares in Vedanta Resources PLC (LON:VED) surged 26.5% to 818.60p after saying chairman Anil Agarwal’s family trust has agreed to buy the rest of the company in a deal that values the mining group at £2.325bn.

Volcan Investments has proposed an all-cash offer of 825p per share for the rest of the shares it does not already own in Vedanta Resources. Volcan currently holds a 66.53% stake in FTSE 250-listed Vedanta.

And among small cap resources stocks, Greatland Gold PLC (LON:GGP) shares rose 14.8% to 2.08p as the firm said it has recovered additional gold pieces from surface samples at the 100%-owned Black Hills licence in the Paterson region of Western Australia.

"Greatland's first exploration campaign at Black Hills has clearly established the presence of high grade gold mineralisation at surface across a 200 metre strike length at the Saddle Reefs prospect,” said chief executive Gervaise Heddle.

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Following on from two announcements in June, Greatland Gold PLC (LON: GGP), has recovered additional gold pieces from surface samples at the 100%-owned Black Hills licence in the Paterson region of Western Australia. The company now intends to accelerate its exploration efforts.

Sirius Minerals PLC’s (LON:SXX) Woodsmith mine in North Yorkshire remains on track to deliver first polyhalite production in 2021. Bacanora Lithium PLC (LON:BCN), the London-listed lithium company, has confirmed it is in the final stages of talks with a number of financing and offtake partners. As these negotiations continue, the company said it will provide updates to shareholders with its plan for the full funding for the construction of Stage 1 of the project.

Metal Tiger PLC (LON:MTR) has boosted the copper resource at the T3 project in Botswana to 60mln tonnes grading 0.98% copper and 14 grams per tonne silver to give a contained total of 590,000 tonnes of copper and 27mln ounces of silver. Separately, Metal Tiger has appointed Mark Potter as chief investment officer. Potter was formerly a director and chief investment Officer of Anglo Pacific Group PLC (LON:APF).

Berkeley Energia Ltd (LON:BKY) has thanked the government of Castilla y León for its continued support of the development of the Salamanca uranium mine. This was manifest last week when the government rejected a resolution from opposition groups requesting that Berkeley's €250mln investment be halted.

Sound Energy PLC (LON:SOU) has raised net proceeds of approximately US$14.25mln from a placing of new shares to be used to strengthen the company's cash position as it initiates its high impact three well exploration programme.

88 Energy Ltd (LON:88E ASX:88E) has suspended production testing at the Icewine#2 well in Alaska.

Kromek Group PLC (LON:KMK) said the year to the end of April 2018 was a milestone year for the radiation technology company, as revenue growth meant underlying earnings – or Ebitda – turned positive for the first time.

Avation PLC (LON:AVAP) has predicted a revenue jump in a trading update ahead of its full-year results following an expansion in its fleet of aircraft. The commercial aircraft leasing group said its business was operating in line with expectations, with revenue for the full-year estimated at around US$109mln, over 15% higher than the previous year.

StatPro Group PLC (LON:SOG) has announced it has acquired Regulatory Risk Services Bureau from Franco-German financial services group ODDO BHF, for an undisclosed sum in cash. The AIM-listed firm said that the acquisition adds a full, managed service for regulatory risk reporting capability, which will use StatPro’s existing Revolution platform, thus expanding the service delivery options for its clients.

The financial year just ended was “an outstanding year for organic growth”, Plastics Capital PLC’s (LON:PLA) chairman, Faisal Rahmatallah, said.

Lionsgold Limited (LON:LION) has said it is preparing to pilot the mobile banking app for its gold currency GOLDBLOC.

Abzena PLC (LON:ABZA) has signed GMP strategic manufacturing and bioconjugation agreements with Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (LON:TLX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of diagnostic and therapeutic products.

Corero Network Security PLC (LON:CNS), the global network security company, has won a U$500,000 order from a North American service provider.

Ergomed PLC (LON:ERGO) has announced the appointment of Stuart Jackson as the group’s chief financial officer with immediate effect. The AIM-listed company, which is focused on providing specialised services to the pharmaceutical industry, said Jackson has “significant international experience in early stage and growth companies as well as managing significant and complex change projects.”

Advanced Oncotherapy PLC (LON:AVO), the developer of next-generation proton therapy systems for cancer treatment, announced that Dr Sanjeev Pandya, Dr Euan Thomson and Prof Chris Nutting have stood down from the board. It added that Dr Thomson and Prof Nutting will continue to contribute to the company's development by becoming members of the Medical Advisory Board. In addition, the group said, subject to completing due diligence procedures, it will appoint Peter Sjostrand, Gabriel Urwitz, Zhang RenHua, Chunlin Han and Dr Yuelong Huang as non-executive directors, with Sjostrand to become its vice chairman.

Sure Ventures PLC (LON:SURE) has raised gross proceeds of £200,000 under the placing progamme, as described in the prospectus published on 17 November 2017. The group said the ordinary shares have been issued at 100p each, which after the costs and expenses of the issue, represents a premium to the last published NAV per share of 92.12p per share.

LIVE Company Group PLC (LON:LVCG) said the following dates for events in July 2018 have now been confirmed: 4 July - opening of the first BRICKLIVE Centre at the Fulong resort in China; 7-22 July - BRICKLIVE show in Rosario, Argentina with South American partner EXIM Entertainment; 10 July - launch of the first BRICKLIVE Kids Café in Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Seoul, South Korea; 12-22 July - BRICKLIVE show in Cordoba, Argentina with South American partner EXIM Entertainment; 19-22 July - BRICKLIVE show in Glasgow, Scotland with UK partner Multiplay; 26-29 July - BRICKLIVE show in Bangkok, Thailand with ASEAN partner BEC-Tero Entertainment.

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