SMALL CAP IDEA: Eve Sleep warns of alarmingly low cash reserves

No rest this week for investors in mattress specialist Eve sleepwhich, after doubling intermediate losses, halved to 0.35 pence.

The ‘sleep wellness brand’ also warned it will need more funding in October if no bid for the company is made, as management’s projected cash reserves will be completely exhausted by then, despite cost-cutting efforts.

Biome Technologies also had a tough week following a warning that second-half earnings would be “significantly lower than previously expected,” causing the stock to fall 54 percent to 73p.

Sales at Biome Bioplastics, the core business, were hit by a lower-than-expected order from a US customer, the group explains.

Deliveries to this customer will also be impacted in 2023, with the impact on trade being exacerbated by delays elsewhere due to supply disruptions, logistical issues and general uncertainty among end consumers.

Tasty plummeted 28 percent to 3.6p as the restaurant chain confirmed that the cost of living crisis weighs on trade in the second half.

Although sales jumped 85 percent in the half to June 26, the owner of Wildwood and dim t outlet said staff shortages and inflationary pressures on labor, food and utilities had a “significant” impact.

It was a tough week overall for the London markets, with the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 falling 3 percent and 4 percent respectively, while AIM’s top 100 shared the difference with a 3.4 percent drop.

On the upside, last month was a rewarding month for investors in Atlantic lithium with a price increase of 39 percent pending a major statement from the mining developer.

A new pre-feasibility study was unveiled Thursday that provided valuable economic insights into the viability of the Ewoyaa lithium project in Ghana, West Africa.

It’s fair to say that the data exceeded most people’s expectations, hence the 8 percent jump in the stock price on the day of the announcement.

Investors were told that at full production it would take just five months to repay the £110 million it cost to build the mine.

That, and the striking £1.2 billion valuation of the asset, underlined Ewoyaa’s huge potential.

Unlike many other assets at this point in the development cycle, the project is actually being funded for production thanks to £90 million being pumped by US Piedmont Lithium.

The main tranche, £62 million (US$70 million), will fund construction work.

“This is a positive study for Ewoyaa as the team continues to progressively reduce the project and pave the way for project financing and start of development work,” said SP Angel, the mining-focused corporate finance house where industry veteran John Meyer is Head of Research.

“Ewoyaa is one of the most undeveloped hard rock lithium deposits worldwide, and we see it increasingly likely that Piedmont Lithium will continue to support the company and contribute to capex to earn up to 50 percent of the project.”

Ethernet Networks rose 45 percent to 15p after the virtual telephony hardware specialist announced a follow-up contract with an existing Chinese customer worth US$4.6 million.

The first order with the broadband network operator (worth $3 million) was announced last October.

As part of the contract, Ethernity will provide system-on-chip devices to enable fibre-to-the-room deployments in an alternative to Wi-Fi.

Another riser was Light science technologieswhich rose 11 percent to 7.4 pence after confirming the launch of its “highly innovative products” for the controlled environment farming vertical market.

According to the company’s motto ‘grow more with less’, the products can generate sales worth £31.4 million.