SMALL-CAP MOVERS: AJ Bell’s Aquis candy angers director

To what extent should retail investment platforms be required to support the smallest group of listed UK small caps?

That seemed to be the talking point this week when AJ Bell decided to restrict app-based trading in companies listed in Aquis’ early-stage Access segment.

Retail investors may still engage in the archaic practice of picking up the phone to place an order, but the decision nonetheless caused a minor outrage.

Melissa Surgess, CEO of Aquis-listed Ananda Developments, said on LinkedIn it was “a shame not to allow app-based purchases of Aquis Exchange shares.”

To be fair, Ananda is listed in the premium Apex segment and so wasn’t influenced by that, but its stance has garnered sympathy from the wider small cap scene.

For its part, AJ Bell didn’t back down based on the inherent volatility and risks associated with the youngest subset of the small-cap market.

While a spokesperson acknowledged these companies’ frustrations, she added that the duty of care lies with customers, not the companies whose shares are traded on the platform.

That’s one way to answer the above question anyway.

There was little action this week on the AIM All-Share Index, which fell about 0.3 percent to reach 743.44 on Friday.

That meant the junior index underperformed the blue chips, given the FTSE 100’s percentage gain.

The main index benefited from bullish blue-chip mining companies on record gold prices and news of a $113 billion stimulus package from China.

Cor Gold shared in some of the record gold price love, with West Africa-focused small-cap exploration surging more than 60 percent this week.

Cora’s latest exploration update, which detailed about 50 kilometers of “highly forward-looking terrain for exploration purposes,” certainly helped.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said Hummingbird Resourceswhich fell 25 percent after the Guinea-based gold miner unveiled management changes, a strategic review and a new short-term financing package.

A Chief Transformation Officer will be appointed to oversee the review, while CEO Dan Betts will become executive chairman and take on a strategic rather than operational role.

Some assets are also likely to be sold, including the Dugbe gold project in Liberia, the group said.

Distilling fell 45 percent as it unveiled a deeply discounted placement to provide the spirits group with £650,000 in working capital financing. The shares were issued at 0.12p, representing a 40 percent discount.

Speaking of fundraising discounts, Enteq Technologies plc fell 42 percent after a heavily discounted sale of £1.5 million of shares.

The funds raised will support the launch of Enteq’s SABER Tool, a rotary steerable directional drilling system targeting a $2 billion annual market.

DirectaPlus was again a big decline this week. Shares fell by more than 20 percent after the graphene specialist also issued a profit warning in addition to the first-half results.

Founder and CEO Giulio Cesareo said full-year revenues are expected to be “materially below” market expectations.

Delta energyThe oil company, which was the latest British oil company to warn about the impact of the British government’s political and fiscal approach to the North Sea and offshore oil and gas sectors, fell 43 percent.

Back to the climbers, Electric Guitar fell 33 percent higher after the announcement of a new loyalty app in the banking and financial sector.

The app was co-developed by electric guitar subsidiary 3radical, its partner Marcomms.ai and fintech company Little Birdie. It integrates Open Banking data, improves consumer engagement and provides personalized financial insights.

In the field of biotechnology Shield therapies rose by a third following the announcement of successful Phase III trial results for the iron deficiency treatment Accrufer, which could pave the way for its use in children.

Shares in Ondine Biomedical rose 22 percent after it said it had raised around £2.8 million from a new private investor in Canada to support the commercial growth of its antimicrobial treatments.