SMALL CAP MOVERS: Applied Nutrition deserves a valuation of £350m
AIM has seen an absolute tsunami of IPOs lately, with two, yes two, IPOs in as many weeks, bringing the number of IPOs this year to nine.
Jokes aside, Applied Nutrition’s pricing on Thursday at 140p per share gave the Liverpool-based sports nutrition, health and wellbeing brand a £350m valuation on its debut. Pretty good by 2024 standards.
“As a homegrown British company based in Knowsley, Liverpool, we couldn’t be more proud of our listing on the London Stock Exchange,” said CEO Thomas Ryder.
Shares immediately rose to 145p, before falling to 139p on Friday. Cornerstone investor Mohsin Issa, of Asda fame, will certainly hope for the best.
The broader junior market was out of luck if it wanted to share some of the vitamins.
Listing: Applied Nutrition’s Thursday price at 140 cents per share gave the Liverpool-based sports nutrition, health and wellbeing brand a valuation of £350 million on its debut
The AIM All-Share Index was dragged 2.1 percent lower as nervousness increases over Labor Chancellor Rachel Reeve’s upcoming autumn budget.
Scheduled for next Wednesday, there are concerns that the Budget will remove the inheritance tax baked into AIM shares.
Although Reeves has not indicated this is on the agenda, there is a lot on the table as she attempts to plug a £22 billion black hole in British finances.
Energy and mining stocks broke the bear trend this week with some notable small-cap gainers.
Helix Exploration plc added 27 percent after informing investors that it had successfully re-entered and deepened its Clink #1 well at the Ingomar Dome in the Montana Helium Fairway. CEO Bo Sears called it an “important milestone” for the company.
Deltic Energy plc added as much as 70 percent to its valuation after announcing the success of the Selene exploration well in the North Sea, while at the same time announcing a strategic review that aims to take the company in a new direction.
In light of potentially higher North Sea windfall taxes, Deltic’s new CEO, Andrew Nunn, said the board is evaluating opportunities in regions with more favorable oil and gas policies.
Seascape Energy Asia plc, an exploration and production company, rose to the top of the list of AIM movers with a 160 percent gain.
This was in response to the company acquiring a 28 percent stake in a ‘Small Field Asset Production Sharing Contract’ in the DEWA Complex Cluster offshore Sarawak, Malaysia.
With the gold price reaching record high after record high, Ariana Resources plcThe 23 percent increase did not come as a surprise.
A company update was also no small beer: Ariana said it is targeting at least two million ounces of gold at its Dokwe project in Zimbabwe, after reviewing internal exploration data.
So what has dragged the AIM index down?
With a touch of controversy, Kooth plca platform designed to address mental health digital wellness, fell by more than 30 percent.
Reports emerged that Kooth’s hundreds of millions of dollars in contract with the state of California to develop the mental health app Soluna was threatened by state budget cuts.
Kooth responded, saying the report “fails to raise any legitimate concerns about Kooth, its partners or third parties, and simply seeks to undermine the work of multiple parties within the state to develop a digital strategy for the mental implement health care to address youth mental health. crisis in California’.
Plexus fell 26 percent, despite reporting a return to profit in its annual results. Sales revenue of £12.7 million was up more than eightfold on the previous year, largely thanks to a lease that rose from £5 million originally to almost £8 million.
Eternity Networks fell 40 percent after warrant exercises issued 195 million shares at 0.1 pence each (Ethernity’s share price at the start of the week was more than double).
In the biotech sector Faron Pharmaceuticals Limited fell 17 percent after posting a trading update.
Faron said it is in discussions with several potential partners to finance the Phase III development of its bexmarilimab drug, but no agreements have been finalized yet.
Finally, recruiter Empresaria Group plc fell 25 percent after warning of deteriorating market conditions, with demand for permanent recruitment remaining “extremely subdued” overall.
This puts Empresaria in line with its larger counterparts Hays plc and Pagegroup plc, which suffered from tight hiring conditions in 2024.
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