SMALL CAP MOVERS: East Imperial toasts US bottler deal

Based in New Zealand Eastern Imperial had a rough year but shot higher this week after appointing a US bottling partner to meet rising demand in the United States.

The maker of “ultra-premium beverages” said US-based Lion Brewery will bottle its full range, including its grapefruit tonic, Mombasa ginger ale and Yuzu lemonade, from early 2023.

This will result in “significant” logistics savings and reduce the capital costs of expansion, it added, which will be “an important part” of its plans to improve profit margins and provide flexibility to respond to demand. Shares were up 14% to 2.79p.

Really good food was another of London’s AIM risers that surged 51% to 1.75 pence after additional funding for the turnaround.

The food production company said the new money was provided by Hilco Private Capital for a period of 12 months and complements its existing £6.3m facility with Leumi.

“We are pleased that new funding has been secured to support RGF’s radical reform, which is designed to reduce costs, protect revenues and preserve the group’s inherent value,” said Executive Chairman Mike Holt.

And financing is increasingly the most important topic for small listed companies.

deep matter led the fallers, falling 60%, after announcing its plans to delist AIM after talks with shareholders and potential investors about long-term financing.

The digital chemistry data and software company said a private company would provide more opportunities to raise additional capital, and major shareholders agreed.

The struggle to raise money was also the theme Applied graphene materials, who said it launched a strategic review after it was unable to raise equity due to the difficult stock market environment. On the news, shares fell by a fifth.

Even when companies can raise financing, the rebates can be punitive.

To take Osirium Technologieswhich fell 32% to 2.7 pence following a placement that raised £1.53m for working capital purposes.

It is a cloud-based cybersecurity software specialist and has issued shares for 2p with directors collecting £255,000.

Maker of health diagnostic devices Gene drive was another drop, down 23% to 9.7 pence as annual losses widened and revenues fell.

Turnover collapsed from £690,000 a year earlier to £50,000 as the group reported a loss of £4.7m from £700,000.

David Budd, chief executive, said the group had made good progress in pharmacogenetics despite the financial situation and had an opportunity to be a leader in establishing genetic testing in acute care points.

De la rueThe series of disappointments also continued with the note printer dropping 21% to 78p after another warning.

Underlying interim earnings fell 46% to £9.3m, in line with previous guidance given in July, but it was lower than expected full-year forecasts, which has really spooked investors.

London small cap indices had a decent week despite the fallers, with the AIM All-Share up 0.8% to 844 and the AIM 100 also higher, though again well outperformed by Footsie.