News blog

Quoted Micro 17 November 2025

BY: Andrew Hore |
POSTED: 16/11/2025 |

AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE

In the six months to September 2025, pubs and hotels operator Daniel Thwaites (THW) revenues improved from £63.5m to £66.7m, while pre-tax profit rose from £7.6m to £8.3m despite higher employment costs. Net debt was £66.7m at the end of September 2025. The interim dividend was raised from 0.9p/share to 0.95p/share. Net assets are £257.1m, including a pension asset of £30.3m. Four pubs were sold during the period. Hotels benefited from the reopening of Langdale Chase. Current trading is patchy.

Mendell Helium (MDH) says that M3 Helium, which it has an option to acquire, has started helium production at Rost in Kansas. Flow rates are increasing, and production is more than 100 Mcf each day. Mendell Helium chief executive Nick Tulloch has bought 8.68 million warrants with 7.36 million exercisable at 3p each and 1.32 million exercisable at 6p each. They were all acquired for 1p each.

Online consumer loans Amazing AI (AAI) is disposing of 80% of its subsidiary based in Mauritius and retaining the minority stake. Existing company shareholders will receive shares on a pro rata basis. The subsidiary has a small holding of Bitcoin worth a low four figure dollar sum. The plan is to build up the business and list on the local stock market. Guild Financial Advisory has been appointed as corporate adviser of Amazing AI.

Hot Rocks Investments (HRIP) is buying a 25% stake in Sunshine Gold, which owns 100% of Dexter Gold, which has two exploration leases in Australia. A £100,000 drawdown facility will be supplied to Sunshine Gold, where its shareholders will be issued 1.5 million Hot Rocks Investments shares. There is a six-month option to acquire a further 26% if it provides another facility of £125,000. Once a compliant resource of 500,000 ounces of gold is achieved at one of the licences a further £100,000 of shares will be issued. Hot Rocks Investments has raised £100,000 at 1.125p/share.

Cannabis-based medicines developer Ananda Pharmaceuticals (ANA) has received a £168,000 research and development tax refund in relation to a phase 1 study in Australia. A further estimated refund of A$500,000 is due later next year.

WeCap (WCAP) has raised £100,000 at 2.4p/share from directors and other investors. Investee company WeShop intends to join Nasdaq.

Falconedge (EDGE) has bought another 4.112506 Bitcoin for £319,000. It holds 19.27508829 Bitcoin.

Valereum (VLRM) says its regulated subsidiary has been allowed by the regulator to adopt DigiShare Inc’s real world assets tokenisation platform. This will accelerate growth opportunities and should go live by the end of November.

The Smarter Web Company (SWC) has announced a general meeting to gain shareholder approval for amending the articles of association and seeking share buyback authorities. This follows the recent flurry of share issues.

MBS Global Investment has invested £1m in Ethtry (ETHY) at 0.25p/share, which gives it a 18.1% stake. This is an investment vehicle of the Private Office of Sheikh Nayef Bin Eid Al Thani, a member of the Qatari ruling family House of Thani.

Wishbone Gold (WSBN) says exploration confirms a mineralised strike over 3km for the Red Setter gold prospect in Western Australia. Drilling will be completed early next year.

Vaultz Capital (V3TC) has withdrawn resolutions 5 and 8 from the AGM agenda. These relate to a share capital reorganisation, which will no longer go ahead, following shareholder consultation.

B HODL (HODL) chief executive Frederick New bought 39,369 shares at an average of 12.7p each. He has a 1.54% stake. DXS International (DXSP) chairman Bob Sutcliffe bought 50,000 shares at 1.3p each.

BWA Group (BWAP) chairman Jonathan Wearing has increased his loan facility to the company from £240,000 to £750,000.

EPE Special Opportunities (EO.P) had net assets of 305.77p/share at the end of October 2025.

ASSET MATCH

Bars operator Nightcap (NGHT) improved full year revenues from £55.6m to £57.5m. Nightcap moved from loss to EBITDA of £1.5m. Like-for-like growth was 1.1% in the final four months of the year, although there was a decline over the year. The overall bar market declined by 5.7% last year. A new AI booking system has been launched. There will be a further £1m of annualised overhead savings this year. Acquisition will help further growth this year. Christmas bookings are 15% ahead of last year.

Trading in Tri-Star Resources (TSTR) shares has been suspended after Crispin Odey placed the company in liquidation. He was the only director and controlling shareholder for the former AIM-quoted antimony and gold production facility owner. This plant has been losing money and is not deemed to be commercially viable.

AIM

Low sodium salt developer MicroSalt (SALT) has secured a deal with Daiya Foods Inc, which produces dairy-free and plant-based food. This deal will help to diversify the customer base, as well as into products outside the snacks market. An initial order of $50,000 has been made and next year the deal is expected to generate $500,000. Daiya Foods has products in 25,000 grocery stores in the US and Canada. They are also available online. The initial focus of the MicroSalt deal is cheese and pizza dough. Prior to the Daiya Foods agreement, MicroSalt was forecasting 2026 revenues of $5m.

Jersey-based asset manager Team (TEAM) has approached WH Ireland (WHI) about an indicative, non-binding offer. The all-share offer would be 0.195 of a Team share for each WH Ireland share. The offer is being evaluated.

Cyber security software and services provider Shearwater Group (SWG) had a strong financial performance in the 15 months to June 2025, but this appears to have been overshadowed by accounting adjustments. However, the underlying momentum of the business is still good. Annualised figures show a rise in revenues from £24.4m to £31.6m, while EBITDA doubled to £1.8m. Revenues would have been slightly higher before a change in accounting policy spreading some income over the length of the contracts. The new finance director has reassessed intangible asset valuations and this led to an £11m write-down, but this is not relevant to current trading. Cavendish forecasts a 2025-26 pre-tax profit of £1.1m.

Crystal Amber Fund (CRS) has received a proposal from Tarncourt Capital, which is led by Roadside Real Estate (ROAD) chief executive Charles Dickson. It wants to become investment manager and continue to support investee company Morphic Medical Inc, which is 73.5% of the portfolio, while also investing in undervalued quoted companies and pre-IPO companies. Crystal Amber Asset Management has already said it wants to resign as investment manager. Terms will need to be agreed with Tarncourt and the change will require the acceptance by shareholders.

Three newly developed human challenge models have been the subject of presentations at conferences in Amsterdam and Valencia. hVIVO (HVO) has developed these models for influenza and Covid. These human challenge models have been developed over 18-24 months. They all had good safety and tolerability profiles. This is positive news for hVIVO, which has been hit by delays to programmes because of uncertainty in the US pharma and vaccine markets. This year revenues are expected to slump from £62.7m to £47m and this means the contract research company will fall back into loss. Another loss is forecast for 2026.

Amaroq (AMRQ) confirms that the 100%-owned Black Angel mine in Greenland has high-grade mineralisation. The average grades are 25% zinc, 28% and 295g/t silver. Amaroq will assess the requirements for the camp and infrastructure and undertake geophysical surveying. There will be a focus on the high grade Deep Ice body at the project. There are also critical minerals at the mine. They include germanium, gallium and cadmium. they could be highly valuable add-ons to the project enhancing its commerciality. Amaroq made a lower third quarter loss. Canaccord Genuity has a target share price of 120p.

Gfinity (GFIN) has raised £355,000 at 0.0475p/share and the cash will help with the development of Connected IQ, which is in discussions with major advertising agencies. It will also help to finance the company as it moves towards operating profitability in 2026.

Food allergy tests supplier Cambridge Nutritional Sciences (CNSL) reported a dip in interim revenues from £4.1m to £3.9m and a doubled loss of £400,000. There were weaker sales in Europe and management warns that full year revenues will be lower than last year. Previously they were expected to be flat. Cavendish expects revenue to fall from £8.3m to £7.5m, although the loss should be similar to the interim level. There is growth in the UK and India. The sales team is being restructured. There is £3.6m in the bank.

Uncertainty ahead of the Budget has hit demand at building materials distributor Lords Group Trading (LORD). Autumn is normally a strong trading period but like-for-like revenues of the merchanting division fell 1.8% in the four months to October 2025. Plumbing and heating like-for-likes declined 8.3%. The bright spot was the acquired CMO business, which has moved into profit. Guidance for full year revenue is £480m-£485m and adjusted EBITDA of between £20m-£21m. Cavendish has cut its pre-tax profit forecast from £6.7m to £2.7m.

Concierge technology platform developer Ten Lifestyle Group (TENG) increased full year net revenues by 4.5% to £65.7m and margins improved. Pre-tax profit jumped from £537,000 to £2.94m. The business is benefiting from a focus on customer loyalty by banks and other financial businesses. Net cash improved to £9.7m at the end of August 2025. Ten Lifestyle continues to invest in its platform with £12.6m spent last year, of which £6.7m was capitalised. Active members increased 7% to 375,000 by the end of August. Current trading is in line with expectations.

Gold recovery company Goldplat (GDP) improved first quarter pre-tax profit from £1.4m to £2.4m and is paying a dividend of 0.1171p/share. Gross cash was £2.2m at the end of September 2025. The record gold price has helped and there were foreign exchange gains in Ghana. There have also been operational efficiencies. The new Brazilian plant is progressing.

Aptamer Group (APTA) has won another two contracts worth a total of £192,000, which takes the order book to £1.95m. One is a repeat contract with an existing customer for bioanalysis of neurological samples, and the other is with a new customer for binders targeting a protein associated with acute myeloid leukaemia for use as a diagnostic.

Buccaneer Energy (BUCC) revealed that the Alla #1 well in the Pine Mills field in Texas, where it owns a 32.5% interest, does not contain commercial hydrocarbons. The well will be abandoned. The rig will be moved to drill the Fouke #4 well.

Oil and gas producer PetroTal Corp (PTAL) has suspended dividend payments, which will save $55m in a full year. Lower oil prices and reduced production led to this decision. Drilling activity has been postponed to mid-2026 following delays with the rig. Kite Lake Capital belated admitted that it had reduced its shareholding to 9.96%.

Defence consultancy RC Fornax (RCFX) is raising £2.25m at 6p/share and could raise up to £500,000 from a retail offer. The cash will fund development of the Procure X Marketplace to connect small companies with defence buyers and provide working capital. Directors and management are investing £156,800 in new shares. This includes Paul Reeves and Daniel Clark who raised £1m in the flotation back in February. The company raised £5.2m at 32.5p/share.

Lung imaging technology developer Polarean Imaging (POLX) is asking for shareholder approval to leave AIM. Management says that liquidity has been poor and Polarean Imaging needs to save money. It may be easier to raise money as and unquoted company.

Time Finance (TIME) says its loan book has reached £230m. Full year performance should be in line expectations. The interims will be published on 27 January. The strategic review continues.

Empresaria (EMR) finance director Tim Anderson has taken a leave of absence. It appears he is expected to return.

MAIN MARKET

LED lighting and wiring accessories supplier Luceco (LUCE) is trading well, and this has led to upgrades for 2025. Third quarter revenues were one-fifth higher. The electric vehicles division is 64% ahead (like-for-like) this year, which makes up for any weakness elsewhere. The focus on repair and maintenance business rather than new build has helped the electrical accessories and wiring operations. The fourth quarter order book is promising.

New Frontier Minerals (NFM) has lodged a mining lease application for the Big One deposit, which I part of the NWQ copper project in Queensland. There are indicated and inferred resources of 2.1 Mt @ 1.1 % Copper, in addition to 7,000 t @ 1.3 % Copper of surface indicated stockpiles. Drilling approval has been granted at the Harts Range heavy rare earths and niobium project in Australia.

Georgina Energy (GEX) is acquiring interests in three exploration targets and at least one has a recorded the presence of helium isotope 3. The seller, Central Petroleum, will hold 25% of Georgina Energy. The deal is dependent on consent from the authorities in the Northern Territory and the consent of Santos and Georgina Exploration shareholders. The company will also have to raise £7m. A placing has already raised £200,000 at 5p/share and secured a debt facility of up to £1m from an institutional investor.

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