CITY WHISPERS: A breath of change in the air for cannabis companies
Cannabis firms have had a rough time on the London Stock Exchange.
Most who joined a wave in 2021 have seen their share prices plummet.
Interesting, then, that Whispers learns that a company called Eresos Holdings has appointed advisors to assist with a listing on Aquis Exchange.
Acquired taste: The retail maestros claim their award-winning natural botanical formulas infused with cannabidiol can help improve skin care, health and mental wellbeing
Aquis was where most of these stocks were listed before the LSE changed its requirements.
The group’s CEO is Carl Jat, a seasoned retailer and most recently senior vice president at Claire’s Accessories. It will be chaired by former Tesco F&F international clothing chief, Richard Collins.
The retail masters claim that their award-winning natural botanical formulas infused with cannabidiol (CBD, the non-psychoactive part of the cannabis plant) can help improve skin care, health and mental wellbeing, etc.
Whether you’re a CBD skeptic or not, given the lack of listings at the moment, a float would be a win.
Philip Morris is still plowing money into Vectura
Health experts protested Philip Morris International’s (PMI) acquisition of a maker of asthma inhalers in 2021 for £1.1 billion.
The tobacco giant insisted it would allow Vectura to set up a unit that would be part of a company focused on inhalation therapies.
PMI’s half-year numbers show it’s still putting money into that business – so much so that the overall health and wellness division, which Vectura is part of, posted a loss of £48m.
‘Barbenheimer’ produces cottage industry
The release of polar opposites Barbie and Oppenheimer this weekend led to the most catchy portmanteau of this year: “Barbenheimer.”
It’s even spawned a cottage industry that combines both, like a Barbie doll staring at a pink nuclear explosion cloud.
Mark Brumby, leisure analyst at Langton Capital, could be a good guy in T-shirt design if he wants a side hustle.
Some of these hybrid graphics on T-shirts “look pretty good,” he said, though he also pitched his own idea.
“I would have thought it obvious that a madly grinning Ken said ‘I have become death, the destroyer of worlds’ while drinking a soda and carrying a surfboard.”
We’re ordering ten in all sizes, Mark.
Tough run for GB Group
Identity verification specialist GB Group has had a tough time, one of the few London-listed companies that has failed to be acquired by a private equity firm after takeover talks fell through last year.
Last week there was another bump in the road.
Shareholders protested massively at the annual meeting against the remuneration packages of the directors.
A staggering 57.5 percent voted against the pay report after GB Group scrapped performance conditions attached to the chief financial officer’s long-term bonus.
The thing is, AIM companies don’t even have to present this to shareholders, but it’s pretty good practice.