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Traders Cafe with Zak Mir: Alba, Alliance Pharma, Ariana, Audioboom, Brandshield, Fevertree, Global Petroleum, Kistos, Sosander, Wise

06:58, 20th July 2021

There was a decent slug of investor relations at AIM-listed mineral exploration and development company Ariana Resources (AAU) as it announced an update on its Special Dividend, following the completion of the partial divestment of its interests in Turkey. The Company is planning to pay a Special Dividend in three tranches. The first tranche of the Special Dividend of 0.35 pence per ordinary share will be declared as an interim dividend and paid during Q3 2021.

The flow of new business continues apace at cybersecurity solutions specialist Brandshield Systems (BRSD), as it said that it has completed a contract with a customer in the personal care industry. The company said that the deal has added to a growing number of customers in that industry that have subscribed to BrandShield's SaaS based threat hunting solution in 2021. CEO Yoav Keren commented that the source of potential clients of this type is almost limitless.

One of the best IPOs of the golden turn of the year period for the London stock market was low carbon intensity gas producer Kistos (KIST) which are up 2x from their starting position. The company announced that Borr Drilling's Prospector-1 jack-up drilling rig has arrived on location at the Q10-A field (Kistos 60%) and that its 2021 drilling campaign is underway. The work programme is scheduled to last approximately four months and to start the process of converting approximately 100 MMboe (gross) of 2C resources into 2P reserves.

Global technology group Wise (WISE) offered up its Q1 2022 trading update. It said that in the first quarter of this financial year it was able to reduce pricing by 2bps to 0.67%, dropping prices for 19 currencies while also delivering 38% of all transfers instantly. As far as the financial performance during the period, it was in line with expectations given revenues of £123.5m, representing growth of 43% YoY compared to Q1 FY2021.

International healthcare group Alliance Pharma (APH) announced its trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2021. The Group said it traded strongly with see-through revenue of £80.9m, 24% higher than the same period last year (H1 2020: £65.3m) and 28% higher on a constant currency basis. Like for like see-through revenue1 was £71.4m, 9% higher than the same period last year. Going forward, the Board expects underlying profit before tax for the full year to be in line with market expectations.

Alba Mineral Resources (ALBA) said that the Phase 2 Drilling Programme has begun at the company's Thule Black Sands Ilmenite Project in northern Greenland. Alba seeking to drill 125 holes for up to 1,000 m with the aim of substantially increasing the existing JORC Mineral Resource and DEM and bathymetry surveys will also be undertaken. In addition, the Greenland IPO spin-out transaction is also progressing.

Gold producer Goldplat (GDP) revealed that it is increasing the Group's interest in Goldplat Recovery (GRL), its principal operating subsidiary, from 74% to 90.63% through the buy-back by GRL of GRL shares from its minority shareholders. GRL has two minority shareholders, Amabubesi Property and Dartingo Trading, who respectively hold an 11% and a 15% interest in GRL. GRL has agreed to repurchase all of the Dartingo shareholding and 7.33% of the shares held by Amabubesi for approximately £4.5 million.

It continues to be a busy time for global podcast company Audioboom (BOOM), as hot on the heels of M&A yesterday with All Active Asset Capital (AAA), it announced its unaudited half-year results for the six months ended 30 June 2021. This consisted of record H1 revenue of $22.8 million, up 93% on H1 2020 (US$11.8 million). Year-on-year growth outpaced the predicted wider annual industry average growth by 55%. There was also record Q2 revenue of $13.3 million, up 144% on Q2 2020 (US$5.4million) and up 39% on Q1 2021 (US$9.5 million). Audioboom’s adjusted EBITDA profit of $0.2 million (H1 2020: US$1.2 million loss) just swung into the positive as well.

It would appear that when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. Online women's fashion brand Sosander (SOS) unveiled its financial results for the year ended 31 March 2021 as well as updating on trading for Q1 of the current financial year. For the full year revenue growth hit 35% to £12.2m (FY2020: £9.03m). Gross margin was stable 48.0% (FY2020: 48.5%), despite the effective use of promotional activity during lockdown periods. There was also a narrowed EBITDA loss to £2.92m (FY2020: £7.66m) in the wake of cost management.

Carbonated mixers specialist Fevertree (FEVR) announced a trading update for the first six months of FY21 ending 30th June 2021, ahead of reporting its interim results in September. Perhaps helped along by binge drinking during the pandemic, Fevertree was able to boast strong sales growth across all its key markets in the first half of FY21 as the On-Trade gradually re-opened during the second quarter and Off-Trade sales remained very encouraging. Revenue growth of 39% on a constant currency basis was ahead of the Board's expectations despite the comparable levels of COVID restrictions present in the first half of FY21 compared to the first half of FY20.

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The information, investment views and recommendations in this article are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this article should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engaging in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the writer but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. Vox Markets may receive payment from companies mentioned for enhanced profiling or publication presence. The writer may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.

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