AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
Executive recruiter Connecting Excellence (XCE) increased net fee income by one-fifth to £890,000 in the six months to December 2025. There was cash of £1.4m and Bitcoin holdings of £2.62m (40.36 Bitcoin). Net fee income in January was £250,000. The Bitcoin holding has increased to 52.42 Bitcoin.
Residential property developer Zentra (ZNT) interim revenues fell from £1.97m to £942,000. The loss rose from £66,000 to £638,000. Net liabilities are £4.16m. Practical completion of the One Victoria project in Manchester is expected in the second quarter of 2026.
Mendell Helium (MDH) says potential acquisition M3 Helium is entering an agreement with Ritchie Exploration which will re-complete the Schneweis Ventures 13A well in Kansas.
Arbuthnot Banking (ARBB) reported a dip in 2025 pre-tax profit from £35.1m to £24.2m. The total underlying dividend, excluding special dividend, was raised to 53p/share. Deposits increased by 11% to £4.57bn, although lending balances fell 6% to £2.25bn. Assets under management were 21% ahead at £2.68bn. Higher interest rates should be good for the bank. Chairman and chief executive Sir Henry Angest bought 300,000 ordinary shares at 860p each. He owns 59.9% of ordinary shares and 64.9% of the non-voting shares.
B HODL (HODL) net assets were £11.7m at the end of 2025. Since the end of the year, the Bitcoin treasury has increased to 164.487 Bitcoin.
EPE Special Opportunities (EO.P) had net assets of 360p/share at the end of January 2026. Fully listed investee company Luceco (LUCE) performed better than expected.
EDX Medical (EDX) is the primary partner in the Scottish Prostate Cancer Initiative, which is set to improve early diagnosis. Up to 25,000 men will be tested.
Delta Gold Technologies (DGQ) says that Penn State University has been promoting the quantum computing research sponsorship and technology licence agreement with the company.
The WeShop share price on Nasdaq continues to decline and reached a new low of $5.81 at the end of the week compared with a high of $200. WeCap (WCAP) is a significant shareholder, and its share price dipped 27.8% to 0.325p.
Hamak Strategy has taken a 3.05% stake in Vaultz Capital (V3TC).
Sulnox Group (SNOX) has gained further patents for its Eco™ Fuel Conditioners in Chile, Peru and Israel.
VSA Capital (VSA) chief executive has bought 100,000 shares at 2.75p each, taking his stake to 19.8%.
Equipmake (EQIP) chairman Tim Metcalfe bought 163,934 shares at 1.22p each.
Shepherd Neame (SHEP) non-exec Meg Lustman has bought 2,279 shares at 439p each.
Marula Mining (MARU) has secured an offtake contract with Traxys Europe for the Kinusi copper mine with initial deliveries in May. Traxys will purchase the full production.
Supersearch Plus (SSP) has appointed Guild Financial Advisory as corporate adviser.
AIM
Coiled Therapeutics (COIL), which was formerly Roquefort Therapeutics, has moved from the Main Market to AIM on 27 March after acquiring the global rights to a potential cancer treatment known as AO-252. This cost £31.9m in shares. AO-252 is “a brain-penetrant small molecule targeting Transforming Acidic Coiled-Coil Containing protein 3 (TACC3) protein-protein interactions”. Preclinical trials have indicated the effectiveness in tumour regression in some cancers. A placing raised £8.5m at 10p/share. valuing the company at £42.6m.
Monitoring and optimisation software supplier Checkit (CKT) says that its improving performance is not reflected in its valuation, and it is investigating a sale of the company. The company has received six expressions of interest from potential buyers in the past nine months. There are no current discussions with these potential acquirors, but Checkit believes it should give other potential bidders a chance.
Ireland-based cinema operator Omniplex has taken a 5.35% stake in Everyman Media Group (EMAN).
Carpet tiles manufacturer Airea (AIEA) is making progress with fully commissioning new manufacturing facilities that will double capacity. The business has been capacity constrained and delays in orders at the time of the Budget meant that 2025 revenues were flat at £21.4m. Operating profit before non-recurring items fell from £1.56m to £1.15m, although that partly reflects the loss of income from a property sold to help finance the increased manufacturing capacity. Net cash was £1.2m at the end of 2025 and the dividend was raised from 0.6p/share to 1p/share.
Growth in recurring revenues of the software division and a recovery in margins for the education services division enabled Tribal Group (TRB) enabled 2025 pre-tax profit to jump 136% to £12.5m. Annualised recurring revenues of the software business grew to £63m. There is growth to come from existing university and college clients before any new client wins. Strong cash flow meant that Tribal moved from net debt to net cash of £11.4m. Even after dividends, the cash position is expected to remain strong with the normal second half inflow.
Software and training services supplier Pennant International (PEN) has increased its recurring revenues and has orders that will help it to breakeven this year, following a loss in 2025.
Sustainable detergent additives supplier Itaconix (ITX) is making good progress towards breaking even. Revenues jumped from $6.5m to $10.5m in 2025 and there is capacity for this to increase to more than $25m. The loss was reduced from $1.8m to $1.1m with a $1.2m cash outflow from operated activities. European revenues doubled and new business in North America will flow through into revenues in 2026 and particularly 2027. There is more than $4m in cash in the bank, which is more than enough to get to cash flow positive. Cash generation could build up rapidly from 2027 onwards.
Shares in spirits brands owner Distil (DIS) halved to 0.045p following a trading statement outlining poor fourth quarter trading. Full year revenues will be well below expectations. Stock levels in the trade were higher than expected. Sales by the UK distributor are 51% ahead in the first two months of this year, but consumer spending remains depressed. The US launch of Blavod black vodka has been delayed due it still awaiting tax approval from the authorities. Marketing spending has been agreed with UK retailers to help sales to recover.
Litigation finance provider Burford Capital (BUR) announced on Friday afternoon that the US Court of Appeals had overturned the decision won by Burford’s Petersen and Eton Park concerning claims against The Republic of Argentina and YPF. There was a two to one ruling. Argentina had not made a tender offer when it took over a 51% stake in YPF from Repsol. The $16.1bn judgement was overturned.
Real-time video editing technology developer Blackbird (BIRD) lost contracts and that led to a decline in revenues from £1.61m to £1.38m in 2025. Cash burn was £3.01m after a reduction in costs. There was £2.72m in the bank at the end of 2025 and £500,000 has been subsequently raised. User engagement of elevate.io is improving and the Winter Olympics should have provided a boost to use of the editing technology.
Switch Metals (SWT) has announced the washing programme has been completed for the Issia tantalum and lithium in the Côte d’Ivoire. Laboratory assays and modelling is ongoing so that the maiden mineral resource estimate can be published. This had been expected in the first quarter of 2026.
Interim figures for Parkmead Group (PMG) had £12.9m in cash at the end of 2025 and since then the cash position has grown to £16.1m. This will provide funding for oil and gas and renewable asset investment. Up to £120m more can become payable for the past sale of UK North Sea assets depending on the approval of field developments.
Computer vision technology Seeing Machines (SEE) says that it expects to be EBITDA positive in the third and fourth quarters of the financial year to June 2026. Interim revenues dipped from $25.3m to $23.4m, due to planned reductions in non-core operations. Automotive royalties and aftermarket revenues both increased and gross margin improved to 58%. There will be a refinancing by June.
Small company finance provider Time Finance (TIME) increased own book lending to £86.5m in the third quarter. Nine months revenues are 4% higher at £28.3m, while pre-tax profit is up 5% to £6.2m. Net tangible assets are £48.5m. The lending book is worth £243.4m.
MAIN MARKET
Andrew Perloff has raised his stake in motor dealer Caffyns (LON: CFYN) from 20.2% to 22.2%.
Andrew Hore