Tribal Group plc (LON:TRB) bounced 13% higher to 64.5p after it won a contract worth A$10mln (£5.5mln) with the University of Sydney.
The information technology firm, which is focused on the education sector, is to provide the university with its SITS:Cloud service.
The contract, which has an annual recurring revenue value of roughly £500,000 a year, is set to run for five years with an option to extend for a further two years.
2.55pm: Watches of Switzerland rebounds in June and July
Watches of Switzerland Group PLC (LON:WOSG) ticked higher (and then some) to 309p (up 18%) after it said it achieved year-on-year sales growth in June and July.
The growth came after stores were allowed to reopen following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic lockdown.
The retailer added that it expects a continued strong luxury watch market in the UK and US throughout the year, so it has guided for total revenue of £840mln-£860mln assuming that there are no further lockdowns in its markets.
2.05pm: Dignity restored as CMA has a rethink on price controls
Dignity PLC (LON:DTY) shares rocketed 56% to 610p in relief as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) dropped plans to introduce price controls on funerals.
Peel Hunt upgraded its rating to 'hold' from 'sell' following the CMA report.
The CMA found that it would not be possible to impose price controls given the current circumstances, said the broker.
1.15pm: Coats Group's sales looking a bit threadbare
Coats Group PLC (LON:COAT), the industrial thread manufacturer, unravelled 5.0% to 58.9p after a disappointing half-year report.
Like-for-like (LFL) sales were down 25% in June but things improved a bit in July, with LFL sales down 18%.
In the first half of 2020, LFL revenues were down 26% on the first half of 2019.
12.15pm: Pennant says sales are flagging during the pandemic
Pennant International Group PLC (LON:PEN) slipped 7.7% lower to 36p after it said the coronavirus pandemic continued to affect the delivery of some group contracts.
Delays in key meetings, the unavailability of relevant customer personnel and the disruption and productivity impact of total remote working have delayed progress on the group's engineered-to-order programmes, while local lockdowns have prevented delivery and installation of Pennant training aids at customer sites overseas.
Restrictions in Canada and Australia have reduced budgeted services revenues in those territories, Pennant said.
11.30am: Topps Tiles in relief rally
Topps Tiles PLC (LON:TPT) staged a relief rally, rising 15% to 49.8p, after it said it expects to generate a modest profit this year.
The retailer said sales in the six weeks to August 8 jumped by 13% to £4mln, with like-for-like sales up 15%, thanks to strong home improvement and DIY demand, with trade customer activity recovering steadily from April lows.
Online sales have moderated from the peaks seen in April and May but they remain above pre-coronavirus pandemic levels, it added.
10.45am: The Panoply Holdings lands big contract with the Land Registry
The Panoply Holdings PLC (LON:TPX), up 17% at 140p, has landed two significant contract wins with Her Majestys Land Registry.
It has been quite the morning for small caps announcing contract wins – RA International and Eckoh have also weighed in with contract news – and Panoply, which advises companies on how “digital transformation”, was on trend with its news.
The contracts are expected to generate up to £4.8mln in revenues. Neal Gandhi, the companys chief executive officer, said it was the second contract win in the current fiscal year that has been worth more than £4mln.
10.00am: Angus Energy the top riser as it applies for an extended well test at its Balcombe field
Angus Energy PLC (LON:ANGS), up 32% at 1.55p, was the top riser in London on Thursday after an update on its Balcombe site.
The company has posted notice of its application for an extended well test at the Balcombe site, and following the statutory seven day waiting period, the submission will be lodged with West Sussex County Council in Chichester no later than Thursday of next week.
Angus was at pains to reiterate it would not be using any fracking techniques on any of its presently operated fields.
Fracking does not need to be employed at Balcombe because the company will be exploiting a limestone reservoir within the shale, Angus said.
9.15am: RA International wins big order in Southern Africa
RA International Group PLC (LON:RAI) jumped 26% higher to 58p in early trade on Thursday after news it has won a major new contract.
The deal, with a large engineering and construction firm, focused on the oil and gas sector, will run for two years with a value of around US$60mln.
Under the terms of the contract, RA International will provide integrated facilities management services in Southern Africa.
Another stock on the rise after a contract win was Eckoh PLC (LON:ECK), which was up 5.6% at 66.5p.
The provider of secure payment products and customer contact solutions has secured a six-year contract extension worth £4mln to provide services relating to Londons congestion charge.
The contract extension is expected to see Eckoh deliver an expanded remit for the congestion charge service, providing customer contact centre solutions alongside the existing secure payments service.
Proactive news headlines:
Directa Plus PLC (LON:DCTA) has said the strong antiviral properties of its graphene-enhanced coronavirus (COVID-19) mask have been confirmed by scientists in Italy. The Co-Mask, which incorporates the companys G+ technology, was assessed by a team at the Catholic University of Rome, working with the Gemelli Hospital in the city. The preliminary results showed G+ enhanced fabrics significantly reduced the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in lab tests. A scientific paper containing the full details of the trial and the results is underway and is expected to be published shortly.
Deltic Energy PLC (LON:DELT) told investors that its partner in the North Sea, Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LON:RDSB), has provided processed 3D seismic data over the Pensacola Zechstein Reef prospect. The data package includes new Bluewater seismic data, acquired with Shell in August 2019 which has been merged with reprocessed legacy 3D data. Proprietary advanced processing technologies delivered a robust image over the Pensacola prospect and the partners will now update their interpretation of the prospect, Deltic said.
Eckoh PLC (LON:ECK) has secured a six-year contract extension worth £4mln to provide services relating to Londons congestion charge. The provider of secure payment products and customer contact solutions said the contract extends the existing agreement with Capita PLC (LON:CPI) and Transport for London (TfL). The extension is expected to see Eckoh deliver an expanded remit for the congestion charge service, providing customer contact centre solutions alongside the existing secure payments service.
Condor Gold PLC (LON:CNR) said it has “significantly” de-risked and progressed its La India gold project in Nicaragua. The company has acquired 85% of the land within the permitted La India open pit mine site infrastructure, including the key areas of the location of the processing plant, tailings storage facility, open pit, waste dump area and the explosive magazine. The tailings facility and two water retention ponds are being designed by Tierra Group, with 40% of engineering designs completed, while the design of the site-wide water balance including a surface water management plan is also underway.
Jubilee Metals Group PLC (LON:JLP) has tied up a deal that fully utilises its chrome processing capacity at the Windsor recovery plant in South Africa while acquiring access to new facilities in an agreement that will further enhance output. Under the terms of the transaction, it is targeting production of 40,000 tonnes of concentrate per month for the next three years. It has locked in a chrome sale price, therefore locking in an earnings margin, which will be enhanced by the rights to any platinum group metals (PGM) it recovers from discarded material.
Caledonia Mining Corporation PLC (LON:CMCL) has said its Blanket mine in Zimbabwe put in a strong financial and operating performance in the second quarter of 2020. The company noted that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic had very little effect during the period with production continuing at around 93% of the targeted level during a three-week lockdown period that started in Zimbabwe on March 30. After the lockdown, production subsequently hit above par levels, which meant production for the quarter was only 1.2% below target. Production continued above target in July.
Bahamas Petroleum Company PLC (LON:BPC) has told investors it is making rapid progress as it familiarises itself with its newly expanded portfolio of assets following the recent acquisition of Columbus Energy. The company provided a new corporate presentation to communicRead More – Source
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