Edison Investment Research

Avacta Group (AVCT); interim results report revenues at £4.1m

The company announced a fundraising to raise gross proceeds of up to £9m

Avacta Group announced its interim results for the period ended 31 July 2019. Revenues of £4.1m were greater than expected due to recognition of an up-front milestone payment of $2.5m from LG Chem Life Sciences. Operating loss was £11.2m due to significant investment in research and development.

Tissue Regenix Group (TRX); expects a reduction in margin-impacting EBITDA

emand for the company's products remained strong

In its trading update, Tissue Regenix Group announced that it anticipates revenue for 2019 to be below the current market consensus by nearly 15–20%, with a corresponding reduction in margin-impacting EBITDA. The company expects the increase in throughput to become available during Q4 2019.

discoverIE Group (DSCV); announces placing of shares by Peel Hunt

discoverIE announced that Peel Hunt has placed a total of 8,034,840 new ordinary shares of 5p each in the share capital of the company at a price of 415p per placing share, raising gross proceeds of c. £33m.

Record plc (REC ); release positive trading update

Record’s Q220 update is positive, showing assets under management equivalent (AUME) up 2.7% to $59.9bn (+6.1% in sterling terms). The AUME flow was a positive $1.7bn after a modest $0.3bn inflow in Q1. Market movements (+$1.3bn) and exchange rate and mandate volatility targeting movements (-$1.4bn) broadly balanced each other. Most of the AUME inflow was in passive hedging and reflected increased mandates from existing clients (tending to validate Record’s focus on service enhancement and innovation).

Norcros (NXR); trading update: expects group revenue for H1 at £181.2m

Norcros provided a trading update for the 27-week period ended 6 October 2019.

The company expects group revenue for the period to be approximately £181.2m (2018: £162.6m), which is 11.4% higher than the prior year 26-week period on a reported basis, 12.8% higher on a constant currency basis, and 0.9% higher on a like-for-like constant currency basis.

Fidelity Special Values (FSV); issues 625,000 new ordinary shares

Following the issue, the company has gained the authority to issue 17,919,440 more shares

Fidelity Special Values has issued 625,000 new ordinary shares of 5p each at a price of 264.25p per share from its block listing authority of 15 January 2019. The shares will rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares in issue.

Destiny Pharma (DEST); positive phase 1 results published

Headline results continue to be expected in mid-2020

The company notes the publication of results from a positive phase 1 clinical study in 60 healthy US volunteers using a nasal gel formulation of its lead drug, XF-73 (exeporfinium chloride) in the peer reviewed Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance.

Secure Trust Bank (STB); release trading update in reassuring tone

Secure Trust Bank released its trading update for Q319 with a reassuring tone. The business trends and “overall results are in line with management expectations”. They noted that demand has slacked in September, but not a surprise given Brexit deadline concerns. STB has in a re-risking mode for several quarters and has been repositioning its loan book in anticipation to these economic and political uncertainties. In this context, it is reassuring to see that the bank say that it “remains comfortable with guidance for the full year”.

Aberdeen New Thai IT (ANW); report NAV total return at 14.6%

Aberdeen New Thai Investment Trust announced its half-yearly financial report for the six months ending 31 August 2019. NAV per ordinary share increased 12.8% to 723.37p. Revenue return was 15.8p per share, while net gearing stood at 3.5%.

SCISYS Group (SSY); wins a contract to support Defra

SCISYS announced that it has been selected by Shearwell Data to provide IT services, project management, integration and maintenance of software in Defra’s innovative Livestock Information Programme (LIP). The contract provides an option to extend it to 2024.