MrC's Smallcap Sweeps for Apr 2024

[MrContrarian]

Smallcap Sweep. 02-Apr-24
Russian roulette

X5 Retail (FIVE) gets claim from Russian Gov't seeking a suspension of corporate rights in its Russian subsidiary. [SP=NA Cap=NA]
Frontier Developments (FDEV) trading in line. Sells Rollercoaster Tycoon franchise for $4m + $3m deferred. If you want to see a real rollercoaster, look at the FDEV chart. [SP=141 Cap=56m]
Intercede (IGP) contract and subscription renewals worth over $4m. Underpins revenue for FY25. [SP=111.36 Cap=64m]
Guild Esports (GILD) issue £250k convertible at 8%, strike 0.375p, a 25% premium. [SP=0.3 Cap=2m]
EQTEC (EQT) Verde Corporation Subscription delayed in exchange for improved commercial terms. [SP=2.26 Cap=5m]
Insig AI (INSG) wanrs FY-Mar rev c.£1.3m, missing £1.4m+ guidance. Two licence contracts worth £1m total, did not close by YE. Considering £250k subscription by chmn at 20p, an 18% premium. [SP=17.25 Cap=19m]
Redx Pharma (REDX) proposes delisting due to liquidity and SP. [SP=18.3 Cap=72m]
Belluscura (BELL) warns FY-Dec 24 rev $16-19m and adj EBITDA -£0.75-1.5m, both below mkt exp. Blames delay in acquisition of TMT Acquisition plus sales and manufacturing progress on both the X-PLOR and DISCOV-R pushed back at least 4 months. Will make write-downs for FY23. Accounts not till June. [SP=18.5 Cap=30m]
Itaconix (ITX) warns FY25 and FY25 rev and adj EBITDA below mgmt exp due to not reaching atisfactory commercial terms with one of its major existing merchandising customers in North America for supply in 2024. Guides FY24 rev $6-6.5m. [SP=270 Cap=35m]
Picton Property Income (PCTN) sells its second largest office asset for £29.6m. Property is only 50% occupied. [SP=65.2 Cap=355m]
MTI Wireless Edge (MWE) repeat order for military antennas worth c.$1.2m to be delivered within six months. [SP=45.14 Cap=40m]
Cizzle Biotechnology (CIZ) MoU "for a strategic and exclusive licensing agreement to develop and offer its proprietary test for the CIZ1B biomarker which is highly associated with early-stage lung cancer, throughout the USA and Canada". [SP=1.8 Cap=7m]
National World (NWOR) sells non-core Press Computer Systems for £3.5m. [SP=15 Cap=39m]
Software Circle (SFT) sells domain printing. com for for $2.27m. Co incurs further write-down and charges due to failure of sale of Works Manchester . [SP=17.55 Cap=70m]
Revolution Bars (RBG) suspended as it failed to publish H1. [SP=1.15 Cap=3m]

In line: CRDL, GMR, TMG
Notes SP & cap are 20m delayed
DYOR, E&OE etc etc. I may have a position in any or all of the shares covered.

@MrContrarian

[MrContrarian]

Smallcap Sweep. 03-Apr-24
O ye of little FCF

Trakm8 (TRAK) guides FY-Mar op cash generation £5.4m (£4.3m). Cash at hand £1.4m, better than expected. Insurance capacity has been restored to co's largest insurance customer so shipments into the insurance market are expected to recover during April. Has bought IP from Action 365 (a Freedom Services Group) for £500k. Freedom Services places 4 year contract extension. £5.3m HSBC loan extended for 1 year. Also issues £990k convert at 18%. Strike 8.1p, a 10% discount. [SP=8.12 Cap=4m]
Shearwater (SWG) warns FY-Mar rev £22.5m down 16% and adj EBITDA £1m (-£0.2m), below market expectations of £32.5m and adj EBITDA £2.5m. Blames delays in concluding larger contracts. "The Board is reassured by a particularly strong renewal schedule for FY25 and a number of high value contracts in advanced negotiations with blue chip customers, providing confidence in returning to growth during FY25." [SP=49.44 Cap=12m]
Global Ports Holding (GPH) signs 50 year agreement to operate cruise services at Liverpool Cruise Port. GPH will pay upfront charges, and (in certain circumstances) annual charges, amounts confidential. [SP=209 Cap=161m]
Character (CCT) doubles buyback limit to £2m. [SP=262 Cap=50m]
Topps Tiles (TPT) warns H1-Mar rev down 6% due to weak domestic sales. H1 profit will be hit by the weak sales, timing of the holiday pay accrual and seasonally higher energy usage. [SP=44.43 Cap=87m]
Corero Network Security (CNS) $2m+ 3 year contract renewal and expansion with a leading US SaaS provider. [SP=8.8 Cap=45m]
Calnex Solutions (CLX) guides FY-Mar broadly in line with market expectations with rev c.£16.3m and margins maintained. Blames "well documented ongoing challenges in the telecoms sector". "Customer engagement levels have remained high, providing confidence...in projects recommencing and customer spending resuming." [SP=58.2 Cap=51m]
Time Finance (TIME) extends asset finance facility with the British Business Bank from £35m to £64m. [SP=38.8 Cap=37m]
Peel Hunt (PEEL) guides FY-Mar rev in line at c.£85.5m but a loss broadly in line with market expectations. Outlook - "market trading volumes remain low and ECM issuance continues to be subdued...IPO activity in the UK remains muted, there has been more activity in Europe and sentiment towards IPOs is improving in the UK". [SP=127.55 Cap=157m]
genedrive (GDR) NICE draft guidance recommends CYP2C19-ID Kit as the preferred platform for UK point-of-care genotype testing. [SP=3.75 Cap=5m]


Notes SP & cap are 20m delayed
DYOR, E&OE etc etc. I may have a position in any or all of the shares covered.

@MrContrarian

[MrContrarian]

Smallcap Sweep. 04-Apr-24
The dog with nine lies

Cirata (CRTA) FY-Dec. Material uncertainty going concern stmt. Damning commentary on previous mgmt that led to 'rock-bottom' eg "Sadly, over the preceding 12 months, a significant portion of the engineering schedule and product roadmap was anchored in customer requirements that did not exist.". [SP=60.1 Cap=69m]
CAB Payments (CABP) gets European payments licence. [SP=110.6 Cap=281m]
Gelion (GELN) achieves a "high energy density milestone" on its prototype Lithium-Sulfur battery. [SP=15.93 Cap=22m]
React (REAT) wins 3 contracts worth over £1.3m PA total. This underpins confidence in FY24 performance. [SP=65.1 Cap=14m]
Insig AI (INSG) chmn subscribes to £250k of shares at 20p. See placing RNS 2 Apr. [SP=16.9 Cap=18m]
Motorpoint (MOTR) guides FY-Mar pretax loss "at the favourable end of management expectations". Q4 retail volume up c.9% and continued margin recovery [SP=133.5 Cap=120m]
Plant Health Care (PHC) Mexico approval for PHC68949 to control parasitic nematodes. [SP=3.44 Cap=12m]
Eco Animal Health (EAH) sells non-core ECOmectin Horsepaste for €1.3m. €800k of this is deferred. [SP=84 Cap=57m]
Genflow Biosciences (GENF) £715k placing at 1.25p, a 15% discount, to continue development and associated clinical trials. [SP=1.55 Cap=5m]
Cavendish Financial (CAV) guides FY-Mar rev c.£47.5m up c.44%. H2 was up 77%. Outlook - "Whilst the interest rate cycle appears to have peaked, conditions continue to impact demand for UK equities, making deal execution in ECM challenging across all market participants. However, private and public M&A has remained buoyant in H2...". [SP=8.5 Cap=33m]
Gulf Marine Services (GMS) FY-Dec. Outlook: guides FY24 adj EBITDA $92-100m. Average secured day rates of over 10% higher. Net leverage ratio below 2.5x at FY end. [SP=19.65 Cap=200m]

In line: GHH, FUTR
Notes SP & cap are 20m delayed
DYOR, E&OE etc etc. I may have a position in any or all of the shares covered.

@MrContrarian

[MrContrarian]

Smallcap Sweep. 05-Apr-24
One Steppe Beyond

Steppe Cement (STCM) Q1 cement sale vol down 18% and rev down 23%. Transportation costs have increased significantly and shipments to the southern region of Kazakhstan result in low margins. Will return 1.5p/sh to holders. [SP=20.95 Cap=46m]
Global Ports Holding (GPH) 51% owned JV awarded preferred bidder status for a 15-year concession to operate Casablanca's new cruise terminal. Flowery prose about Morocco follows. I've been and I must say the diarrhoea is amazing. [SP=207 Cap=158m]
Pinewood Technologies (PINE) details of 24.5p special div. [SP=38.97 Cap=668m]
Roquefort Therapeutics (ROQ) re SP fall and speculation about a placing - co was in talks about a fundraise but "in response to incorrect bulletin board comments regarding a speculative placing price and resulting unusual share price movements" will not proceed. [SP=4.5 Cap=6m]
Supply@ME Capital (SYME) Biz update. White-label IM business line contracts signing delayed. Something to do with cheese. Also "continues to make solid progress in structuring a security token framework with the CH Trading Hub" and has secured a commitment of $5 million from the asset manager. [SP=0.04 Cap=21m]
Alliance Pharma (APH) FY results delayed to 23 Apr due to "volume of work" for the auditors. [SP=38.4 Cap=208m]


Notes SP & cap are 20m delayed
DYOR, E&OE etc etc. I may have a position in any or all of the shares covered.

@MrContrarian

[MrContrarian]

Smallcap Sweep. 08-Apr-24
If you keep napping you'll get a knee-capping

Intercede (IGP) guides FY-Mar rev c.£20m up 66% and 'improved profitability'. In line? [SP=109.04 Cap=65m]
Cake Box (CBOX) guides FY-Mar rev up c.9% and adjusted profits slightly ahead of market expectations due to cost control and improved efficiency. [SP=161 Cap=64m]
Windar Photonics (WPHO) guides FY-Dec rev c.€4.8m up over 150%. Adj EBITDA c.€0.4m. Also guides FY24 rev growth similar to FY23. £4m placing at 35p up 6%, to keep the photons on. [SP=33 Cap=23m]
BATM Advanced Communications (BVC) wins 2 yr Edgility contract extension. No £££. [SP=18.19 Cap=83m]
Mirriad Advertising (MIRI) agreement with TripleLift to scale in-content advertising. "TripleLift's SSP will facilitate automated selling of in-content inventory from Mirriad's growing number of supply partners into leading media buying platforms such as Google's DV360 and the Trade Desk." [SP=1.71 Cap=9m]
Aurrigo International (AURR) partnership with Aviation Solutions (part of Royal Schiphol Group), to support the roll-out of Aurrigo's autonomous solutions to the global aviation sector. [SP=95 Cap=42m]
Narf Industries (NARF) wins c.$500k cybersecurity contract for the US Department of Energy Program. [SP=1.25 Cap=22m]
Aptamer (APTA) files patent application to protect the recently developed Optimer binder sequences for novel applications in fast moving consumer goods generated as part of its partnership with Unilever. [SP=0.62 Cap=3m]

In line: BGO
Notes SP & cap are 20m delayed
DYOR, E&OE etc etc. I may have a position in any or all of the shares covered.

@MrContrarian

[MrContrarian]

Smallcap Sweep. 09-Apr-24
Scrap performance hits cash at SCE

Cirata (CRTA) Q1 bookings $0.7m ($2.1m). due to order delays. Reconfirms FY24 bookings guidance of $13-15m. [SP=49.5 Cap=57m]
Gresham Technologies (GHT) 163p (+0.75p div) rec offer, a 27% premium. [SP=125.31 Cap=105m]
Surface Transforms (SCE) Q1 rev £3m, same as prev Q4 and lower than our internal target. "The single point of failure capacity constraints have now, almost all, been resolved." Keeps FY sales guidance of £23m but high levels of scrap in the factory has absorbed a sizeable amount of working capital and cash. [SP=9.25 Cap=33m]
ProCook (PROC) Q4 rev up 5%, in line. Guides FY-Mar U/L pretax £0.5m to £1m, marginally ahead of market expectations of of £0.4m. [SP=26.8 Cap=28m]
Active Energy (AEG) puts up CoalSwitch assets for sale - co "unable to raise sufficient working capital to build and/or operate a CoalSwitchÒ production facility within the appropriate timeframe". [SP=0.45 Cap=1m]
Warpaint London (W7L) guides FY24 head of the market expectations as strong trading has continued in Q1. [SP=376.88 Cap=291m]
Microlise Group (SAAS) FY-Dec rev in line, adj EBITDA up 15%, head of market expectations. Guides FY24 in line. [SP=167 Cap=194m]

In line: ULTP, HVO
Notes SP & cap are 20m delayed
DYOR, E&OE etc etc. I may have a position in any or all of the shares covered.

@MrContrarian

[MrContrarian]

Smallcap Sweep. 10-Apr-24
Don't go loco with FOMO

IQE (IQE) to supply its customer AWSC with wafers for the manufacture of smartphone power amplifier devices to be supplied to its key customer Lansus, the Chinese RF technology supplier. [SP=19.75 Cap=190m]
e-Therapeutics (ETX) proposed subscription of £28.9m at 15p, a 30% premium, for R&D. Intends to delist from AIM then list on NASDAQ. [SP=12.5 Cap=73m]
Team Internet (TIG) has begun trading on the US OTCQX Best Market. [SP=140.8 Cap=363m]
Speedy Hire (SDY) weedy but not dire - guides FY-Mar towards the lower end of mgmt expectations with rev down 5%. Outlook - "encouraged by the commercial progress in the business and the outlook for FY2025 given the recent contract wins". [SP=25.35 Cap=117m]
Chamberlin (CMH) warns Q3 weak with underlying demand lower than previously forecast by customers and impacted by delays with the startup of certain new programs. Q4 looking better. Cost cutting. [SP=1.6 Cap=3m]
Enteq Technologies (NTQ) guides FY-Mar rev c. $0.9m representing the final revenue following the sale of the XXT business. Adj EBITDA loss c. $2.9m. [SP=9.24 Cap=6m]
Mercia Asset Management (MERC) guides FY-Mar organic fund inflows over $500m and no redemptions. Net cash c.£47m. [SP=34.17 Cap=149m]

In line: TET, XPP, CHH, SAA
Notes SP & cap are 20m delayed
DYOR, E&OE etc etc. I may have a position in any or all of the shares covered.

@MrContrarian

[MrContrarian]

Smallcap Sweep. 11-Apr-24
Humpty Dumpty outlook 'never stronger'

Distil (DIS) Q4 volume down 47%, rev down 23% to £344k despite advertising and promotional spend up 78% to £130k. Outlook "Despite a slower Q4 than expected, and the medium-term outlook for the spirits market remaining challenging, we are encouraged by the double-digit full-year growth following the restructuring of the business over the past year". [SP=0.6 Cap=5m]
Novacyt (NCYT) FY-Dec results delayed from 30 Apr to May. Blames time required to integrate the accounts of Yourgene Health. New CEO appointed. [SP=50.86 Cap=42m]
Lok'nStore (LOK) rec offer of 1110p, a 16% premium. [SP=952.72 Cap=313m]
iomart (IOM) calls FY-Mar 'solid' despite sales miss with rev c.£127m but adj pretax c.£15m. F/C £128-131m and £14.3-16m resp. [SP=140.5 Cap=158m]
Norcros (NXR) guides FY-Mar rev down 11% (6% at const FX). South Africa rev down 12.3% at const FX which it glosses as 'resilient' citing power interruptions in H1. U/L op profit in line with exp of £42.7m. [SP=176.5 Cap=158m]


Notes SP & cap are 20m delayed
DYOR, E&OE etc etc. I may have a position in any or all of the shares covered.

@MrContrarian

[MrContrarian]

Smallcap Sweep. 12-Apr-24
One bad Tern deserves another

Tern (TERN) £420k placing at 2.4p, a 30% discount, for a measly 4% of cap. Cash is to funds to invest in Wyld Networks and keeping the lights on. [SP=3.48 Cap=14m]
Roadside (ROAD) delays FY-Sept results to perhaps end Apr. Blames senior personnel compassionate leave. [SP=8.2 Cap=12m]
R&Q Insurance (RQIH) guides FY-Dec significant pre-tax loss: "R&Q Legacy is expected to realise adverse development of ~23% of the Group's net reserves." Includes $64.2m identified at H1. JV partner to buy out R&Q JV interest in Sag Main for $27m plus $3m of preference shares. [SP=5.1 Cap=19m]
Petrofac (PFC) remains in talks on d4e, a possible placing and sale of non-core assets. Why the 15% rise yesterday? [SP=33.32 Cap=177m]
Huddled (HUD) buys online retailer Food Circle Supermarket for up to £300k. £100k cash plus £50k shares up front. It had FY23 rev £1.4m and loss £46k. [SP=2.55 Cap=8m]

In line: SRC
Notes SP & cap are 20m delayed
DYOR, E&OE etc etc. I may have a position in any or all of the shares covered.

@MrContrarian

[MrContrarian]

Smallcap Sweep. 29-Apr-24
Finger on the pulse or hand on the jugular?

Petrofac (PFC) FY23 delayed till end May. Shares suspended till publication. d4e and re-capitalisation talks progress. Will miss next coupon payment. Will miss FY23 f/c. [SP=22.3 Cap=117m]
Biome Technologies (BIOM) FY-Dec. Also guides Q1-Mar rev down 44%, slightly lower than mgmt expectations. Blames shipping delays and production and regulatory difficulties at two end customers. Still guides FY24 in line. [SP=109.6 Cap=4m]
Literacy Capital (BOOK) book value 510.4p/sh up 2% over Q. [SP=510 Cap=303m]
Induction Healthcare (INHC) guides FY-Mar rev up 3.7%. Adj EBITDA c. £0.3m, in line with mkt exp. Wasn't the rev in line then? [SP=12 Cap=11m]
Smarttech247 (S247) wins $2.1m 3 yr contract. [SP=19.9 Cap=25m]
Quadrise (QED) still negotiating contract with Cargill which was expected by end Mar. Nevertheless co "does not expect any material delay to the overall MSC vessel trial programme at this time". [SP=1.68 Cap=29m]
Libertine (LIB) Strategic Review & Formal Sale Process. "Further resources are required to advance the technology into customer programmes and full commercialisation." An understatement since cash runs out in July. [SP=4 Cap=6m]
Zenova (ZED) £2.4m two year FP fire protection coating order. [SP=1.82 Cap=3m]
Digital 9 Infrastructure (DGI9) receives deferred consideration payment of $25m. Will make c.£47m RCF repayment. [SP=21.17 Cap=183m]
DP Poland (DPP) guides FY23 EBITDA in line. Current Q1 LFL system sales growth of 17.9% in Poland. [SP=10.9 Cap=100m]
Sondrel (SND) squeezes out another drib of news. Completes tapeout milestone on ASIC engagement for a Tier 1 OEM Automotive customer. [SP=4.15 Cap=4m]
Image Scan (IGE) wins c.£300k initial order for portable X-ray systems. Further orders are expected over the period of the partner's two-year framework contract. [SP=1.14 Cap=2m]


Notes SP & cap are 20m delayed
DYOR, E&OE etc etc. I may have a position in any or all of the shares covered.

@MrContrarian