* A corporate client of Hybridan LLP.
** Potential means Intention to Float (ITF) or similar announcement has been made.
***Arranged by type of listing and date of announcement.
****Alphabetically arranged and Closing Price on prior day to Publication.
Dish of the day
Admissions:
First Development Resources (FDR.L) a UK based, Australian focused exploration Company with mineral interests in Western Australia and Australia's Northern Territory announced its Admission to AIM and First Day of Dealings. The Company has raised gross proceeds of £2.3m at a placing price of 6.67 pence per share.
Delistings:
On Friday 25th July, Indivior (INDV.L) left the Main Market.
What’s baking in the oven?
Potential** Initial Public Offerings:***
24th July: Scotch Corner Designer Village, a newly formed single asset real estate company (to be re-registered as a public limited company) which is developing a retail outlet and leisure destination, announces it may consider an IPO on the newly launched Aquis Real Asset Market (ARAM) of the Aquis Stock Exchange. Timing and deal details TBC.
Banquet Buffet****
The UK design-led specialist flooring Company supplying both the UK and international markets announced a trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2025. The Company reported the encouraging start to the year continued into the second quarter with Group sales for the Period 5.8% ahead of the prior year at £9.81m (H1 2024: £9.27m). The UK and ROI delivered sales at the end of the Period 7.3% ahead of the prior year. As planned, the major investment in the Group's manufacturing facility is scheduled for completion by the end of Q3. The Board expects this momentum to continue through the remainder of the year, supported by the major investment and wider transformation, which will enhance operational capabilities and drive future profitable growth.
Colefax Group 755.00p £44.68m (CFX.L)
The international designer and distributor of furnishing fabrics & wallpapers and owner of an interior decorating business announced preliminary Results for the year ended 30 April 2025. Sales increased by 2.6% to £109.99m (2024 - £107.16m) and by 4.2% on a constant currency basis. The
pre-tax profit increased by 15.1% to £8.90m (2024 - £7.73m). Earnings per share increased by 22.8% to 108.4p (2024 - 88.3p) and a share buyback returned £2.4m of surplus capital to shareholders in October 2024. Cash at 30 April 2025 stood at £22.3m (2024 - £17.8m). The Board is proposing a final dividend of 3.1p (2024 2.9p) making a total for the year of 5.9p (2024 - 5.6p) - an increase of 5.4%.
Firering Strategic Minerals 1.53p £3.5m (FRG.L)
The producer of quicklime and explorer of critical minerals announced a fundraise at 1.5 pence to raise £1.01m. The net proceeds raised from the Placing and Subscription, together with internal funds, are expected to be sufficient to cover the cost of exercising the first and second tranche payments of the Limeco Option, which has exercise periods ending on 31 July 2025 and 30 October 2025, respectively. Exercise of these tranches of the Option will increase Firering's interest in Limeco to 26.9% and 30.7%, respectively. Funds from the exercise will allow Limeco's operations to ramp up ahead of the third tranche exercise period ending on 30 January 2026. Limeco Resources is the owner of an advanced limestone project located 22km west of Lusaka in Zambia.
Gaming Realms 53.60p £157.97m (GMR.L)
The developer and licensor of mobile-focused gaming content provided the following pre-close trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2025. The Board anticipates reporting revenue of approximately £16.0m (H1 2024: £13.6m), representing an increase of 18% year-on-year. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be approximately £7.5m (H1 2024: £5.8m), an increase of 30% year-on-year. The performance reflects continued growth in the Group's licensing business and its ongoing international expansion. The Group's trading in the first half of 2025 was in line with forecasts. The Board believes the Company will continue with this trajectory during the remainder of the year.
The provider of information systems and technical services to transport operators and local authorities announces a trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2025. Adjusted profit before tax was £2.8m (H1 2024: £2.8m), gross profit increased by 3% to £9.2m (H1 2024: £9.0m) and Group revenue decreased by 4% to £24.5m (H1 2024: £25.6m). The cash balance increased to £18.0m (H1 2024: £12.9m).
Revenue for the full year is expected to be approximately £52m, in line with current market expectations, with adjusted profit before tax expected to also be in line at £5.2m.
The cloud provider of secure payment solutions for business communications updates on trading and a new product launch. For the FY June 2025, Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) increased 25% to £19.3m, as a result of expanding its market leading partner eco-system and broadening existing relationships, maintaining 100% retention of all strategic partners. FY26 will bring an increased focus on further product innovation with product launches anticipated to complement the existing PCI Pal product suite and generate incremental ARR. This includes today’s announcement of the launch of a new AI-powered fraud risk scoring product available across the PCI Pal platform. The net cash is £3.9m, down from £4.4m and the strategic plan is to increase near term investment as other new products are launched. Both Revenue and Adjusted Profit before Tax are in line with market expectations for FY25, with revenues of £22.4m and adj. PBT of £0.8m, respectively.
Petards Group 8.13p £4.93m (PEG.L)*
The developer of advanced security, communication, and surveillance systems announces that an important rail industry customer has renewed its existing contract for the provision of software licences, maintenance, and support services. This renewal, secured by Petards' subsidiary RTS Solutions (RTS), is effective immediately and runs until June 2026, the value of which is over £0.3m. Under the terms of the contract, RTS will continue to provide software licences, maintenance, and third line support in respect of its real time failure and incident management software used on the UK's rail network.
Shortwave Life Sciences 0.25p £1.03m (AQSE: PSY)
The healthcare Company focused on developing innovative treatments for anorexia nervosa announced a fundraise of £250k at £0.0025 per share. The placing has been completed at a premium of 150% on the closing bid share price of 28 July 2025. The funds raised will be used to undertake a comprehensive business review, strengthen and grow the Company's core operating business, and establish a Digital Asset Treasury Management function to support the operational Company funding requirements.
The Company also announced the appointment of Stephen John Molloy as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect. Stephen will be charged with a specific focus on guiding the Company in setting up a Digital Asset Management Treasury function.
Staffline Group 47.20p £59.86m (STAF)
The recruitment Group announces interim results to June 2025. Gross profit increased 6.1% to £33.1m, despite an easing of margins to 6.8% from 7%, giving a PBT of £0.6m compared to £0.3m. The performance is underpinned by a 4.4% increase in temporary hours worked in Recruitment GB and a 23.1% increase in permanent recruitment activities in Ireland. The track record of cash generation reflects the Board's disciplined capital allocation policy and net debt is down from £9.2m to £5.7m. A share buyback programme has repurchased £4.8m shares for cancellation, with permission for up to £7.5m. Positive trading momentum is reported to have continued into H2 2025 and is in line with current management expectations.
Versarien 0.03p £1.65m (VRS.L)
The advanced engineering materials Company provides the following update on its restructuring process and financial position. As stated in the Company's Interim Results, issued on 30 June 2025, the Board
appointed Leonard Curtis to undertake an accelerated sale of certain trade and assets of the Group's UK Technology companies, whilst the Company focused on minimising the cash outflows from these operations. Other actions included seeking a strategic joint investment partner for the 3D Construction Printing business and ceasing the trading activities of Versarien Korea Limited. The UK Technology Sale Process has now concluded without a suitable offer being received by the Company. These actions are expected to extend the forecast cash runway through to the end of August 2025, to allow further time for the proposed, and previously announced, strategic investment to be closed, albeit there is no guarantee that it will do so.
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