SSP Group (SSPG) shares see light relief gaining 5.79% to 296.3p after £500m cash call
Shares in the UK food and beverage operator have recovered since Thursday afternoon after the company issued a response to press speculation regarding its draw down on the Bank of England CCFF as well as the possibility of the Group undertaking an equity raise.
The statement was released after market close on Wednesday and followed a report from Financial Times which stated that the group was planning a rights issue of up to £500m.
SSP raised £216m in March last year while it has also borrowed £300m from the Government's coronavirus lending scheme. SSP said in its preliminary results, released on 17 December 2020, that its current monthly cash burn rate was around £25 - 30m and that it expects to remain in this range during the second quarter ending 31 March 2021.
‘Whilst SSP is confident in the medium-term recovery of the travel market, there remains significant uncertainty with regard to COVID-19 and associated travel restrictions.
In that context, SSP continues to evaluate the merits of a range of funding options, both debt and equity, that would further strengthen its balance sheet,’ the company noted.
GoldStone Resources (GRL) shares jump 26.44% to 13.1p as it receives ‘key permit’ to advance the AKHM Project
The gold exploration group focused on bringing its Akrokeri-Homase Gold Project (AKHM) into production announced that the Ghanaian Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has granted the environmental permit for its Homase South Pit located in the AKHM Project.
The Environmental Permit is a key permit required to allow GoldStone to advance the project’s construction. The permit is considered ‘a major achievement in developing the AKHM Project’ as this will be GoldStone’s first mine across this particular licence area.
With the permit in place, mining and construction operations are expected to commence imminently, with an estimated timeline for the first gold pour being within two months.
"The permitting process has taken approximately six months longer than what we initially anticipated, but we are delighted to now be in a position to commence the next stage of operations at the AKHM Project,” commented Emma Priestley, Goldstone's CEO.
Pires Investments (PIRI) shares rise 16.24% to 15.75p as it puts £1.95m into Sure Ventures
The investment company focused on next generation technology told investors this morning that it has acquired 1.5 million shares in Sure Ventures (“SV”) at a price of 130p a share, representing a 30% premium to the closing mid market price of its shares on Thursday.
The total consideration will be for £1.95m, to be satisfied through the issue of 14,391,144 new ordinary shares in the Company at a price of 13.55p, being the closing mid-market price of Pires shares on 11 February 2021. As a result, Pires will hold a 28% shareholding in SV plc.
Sure Ventures is a listed specialist fund which has a 26% interest in Sure Valley Ventures, a technology-focused venture capital fund in which Pires has an existing 13% direct interest and which is a sub fund of Suir Valley Funds - an Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicle.
Commenting on this latest investment, Peter Redmond, Chairman of Pires stated, "SVV has been a very good investment to date, with around £800,000 having already been returned to Pires in cash and a number of the underlying investments having significantly increased in value, and, as such, we are pleased to be able to increase our effective interest.”
He added, "We believe that SVV's investment portfolio remains highly attractive and we are confident that the companies within the portfolio hold strong potential for growth in value.”
President Energy (PPC) shares jump 15.22% to 2.65p while the group says it expects to drill ‘a record number’ of new wells in 2021
Shares in the energy company have jumped by nearly 25% in value over the past two weeks. President unveiled last week that its treatment plant for Puesto Flores, a field on the edge of the prolific Neuquen Basin in the Rio Negro Province, remains ‘on time and on budget.’
President has fast tracked the first stage at the site which is projected to be finalised by the end of June whereupon oil will be capable of being delivered by truck to refineries directly from the core Puesto Flores/Estancia Vieja fields without any third-party involvement.
The second stage of the project involving an updated pipeline delivery system is currently projected for the end of August. Discussions are currently treating President's oil ‘continue with regard to tie in facilities circumventing their plant thereby on completion of the second stage giving President optionality to deliver oil by truck or through its pipeline system.’
In an updated reserves and contingent resources assessment released this week, President noted that total proved and probable reserves as at December 31 stands at 24.3 million barrels of oil equivalent, compared to the 26.4 million barrels estimated in 2019.
It said significant contingent resources in producing areas awaiting conversion. 2P reserves including contingent resources came up to 33.2 million barrels, up from 26.4 million barrels.
President expects to drill a record number of new wells in 2021 to produce more reserves with work to be supported “by more stable realisation prices in the markets we serve combined with both federal government and provincial investment incentives in Argentina.”
Rank Group (RNK) shares fell 4.42% to 121p as it continues to feel COVID impact
Despite initially gaining around 13% in value following the release of the Group’s half-year report for the six months ended 31 December 2020, the stock has shed nearly 5% in value this week as casinos and bingo halls remain closed as a result of the ongoing lockdown.
Last month, Rank Group highlighted its confidence to investors in being able to navigate the challenges posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, despite posting a £48.6m pre-tax loss as a result of casinos and bingo halls losing 45% of operating days in the period.
The Group reported underlying group-wide losses of £42m, representing a 171% swing on Rank’s 2019/2020 profits of £59m. Meanwhile, the Group’s net gaming revenue (NGR) fell 55% to £177.6m as like-for-like NGR from venues crashed by 70% as a result of closures.
The ever-changing restrictions coupled with curfews, which in particular have a seismic impact on our Grosvenor venues, have resulted in an exceptionally challenging first half for the Group,” said John O'Reilly, Chief Executive of The Rank Group alongside the results.
He said, "There continues to be uncertainty looking ahead, particularly as our venues remain closed and we have no firm guidance as to when we will be able to reopen. We are now focusing on delivering the next stage of our Transformation plan and are ready to reopen our venues when the virus is under control and the vaccine roll-out has achieved its purpose."