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Motif Bio gains as Rodman & Renshaw hikes target price

Last updated: 10:10 24 Apr 2017 EDT, First published: 04:58 24 Apr 2017 EDT

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Motif Bio Plc (LON:MTFB) shares have jumped 8.86% to 42.18p after Rodman & Renshaw reiterated a ‘buy’ rating and raised the target price to US$25.00 from US$16.00.

The company last week reported positive top-line data from a phase 3 trial of its lead drug candidate, the next-generation dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibitor iclaprim for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections.

Top line results from the REVIVE-1 global study showed it scored well against one of the leading products, vancomycin, on two counts.

“We note that the data came slightly ahead of schedule, with our original expectation being that it would be announced in late April or early May,” said Rodman & Renshaw analyst Raghuram Selvaraju.

“In our view, the positive REVIVE-1 results constitute a critical milestone for Motif Bio and position iclaprim as a promising late-stage antibiotic candidate with the added advantage of membership in a sparsely populated drug class.”

 

The analyst added that it thinks Motif is “underrated and undervalued” with an attractive niche. Selvaraju said Iclaprim could target 1.2mln patients in the US Europe and Japan and may become a franchise comparable to Cubicin, which had more than US$1bn sales in the US.

2.17pm... Tritax Big Box and Stratex shares slide

Tritax Big Box REIT plc (LON:BBOX), owner of Amazon’s Peterborough depot, is under the cosh following the announcement of a £200mln placement to fund further expansion.

Tritax said it is in talks  with the owners of a “number of attractive investment assets that meet the company's investment criteria and are available for potential acquisition in the near term”. Shares fell 4.15% to 140.20p.

George Salmon, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said despite the fall shares are still trading above the placing price of 136p,  significantly above the most recently reported net asset value of 129p per share. The company began trading on the specialist fund market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2013. “Having motored through £350m raised last October, we wouldn’t be surprised if the group turned to shareholders again before the year is out,” Salmon said.

Stratex International plc's (LON:STI) shares are also under pressure after the gold explorer announced it has completed the sale of its 45% stake in the Altıntepe gold mine in Turkey to its joint venture partners for an aggregate cash amount of US$8mln.

Stratex will use the proceeds to fund the acquisition of “value enhancing” gold assets and to invest in “high value” exploration and development projects.

“Whilst the Altınepe Gold Mine has played an important role in the historic growth of the Company, the funds released from this sale place Stratex in a strong position with respect to its advancing discussions with other companies with regard to near or in production assets,” said Stratex's chief executive, Marcus Engelbrecht.

Shares fell 1.58% to 1.87p.

11.15am... WANdisco up on contract win

WANdisco plc (LON:WAN) is a high riser after announcing its "largest ever contract win" with an undisclosed major financial services multinational, valued at US$4.1mln. 

The agreement, signed in the first quarter, will see the client deply the company's big data and cloud product, WANdisco Fusion.

"We continue to see increasing traction with WANdisco Fusion, which is providing the foundation for our strong order book and sales pipeline for the current financial year," said chief executive David Richards.

READ: WANdisco sparkles after biggest ever contract win

The group also said it ended the first quarter with cash of US$7.6mln, reducing its cash burn to zero. Shares surged 19.87% to 461.50p.

09.58am... Biome Technologies gains, Randgold slumps

Shares in Biome Technologies (LON:BIOM) gained after reporting a 35% increase in first quarter revenue and a “small” pre-tax profit on the back of strong demand for its products for the US coffee market. Biome was also given a boost on news that it has developed a biodegradable coffee cup made of plant matter. Shares are up 13.93% to 148.11p.

Aminex plc (LON:AEX) was on the front foot after announcing a major upgrade to the gas resource estimates for the Ntorya project in Tanzania. The Ntorya discovery is now estimated to have some 466bn cubic feet of mean gas initially in place (GIIP), up from the previous estimate of 153bn cubic feet. Shares jumped 21.01% to 5.99p.

Parther Solo Oil (LON:SOLO) shares rose after saying the Ntorya gas project in Tanzania could be host to some 186bn cubic feet (BCF) of 2C contingent gas resources, up from a past estimate of 70 BCF.  According to the junior oil and gas company the project’s 3C contingent resources – the ‘high case’ estimate – has also increased, up 230% to 766 BCF from 232 BCF. Shares increased 1.05% to 0.480p.

Computacenter plc (LON:CCC) shares shot higher after saying it expects its performance for 2017 to exceed current market expectations. The company cited “buoyant market conditions for new investments in technology, particularly seen by our German business, backed up by steady progress in France and UK and favourable currency movements”. Shares advanced 7.50% to 788.50p.

Avacta Group Plc (LON:AVCT) is sitting higher as it said it was at an “important value inflection point” after validating the commercial potential of its Affimer technology and by extension the company's business model. It follows the successful evaluation of its technology by a “large, global diagnostics developer”. Shares edged up 9.35% to 76.0p.

Goals Soccer Centres rallied following news that it was in talks with Powerleague about a possible merger. “The preliminary discussions with Powerleague are but one of the strategic opportunities currently being assessed by the Goals board,” the company said in a statement. Shares rose 6.86% to 109.0p.

Going the other way, Galantas Gold Corp (LON:GAL) plunged after it received notification that the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) will not provide anti-terrorism cover in regard to blasting operations required for  development of the Omagh gold mine. Shares tanked 29.02% to 4.88p.

Vast Resources PLC (LON:VAST) edged lower as it reported a “challenging quarter” as extreme cold weather in Romania and high rainfall in Zimbabwe affected mining operations. The company delivered 21,901 tonnes of ore mined in the three months ended 31 March at the Manaila polymetallic mine in Romania, compared to 20,362 tonnes a year earlier and 25,269 tonnes in the previous quarter.  At the Pickstone-Peerless gold mine in Zimbabwe the group produced 2,974 ounces of gold in the first quarter, up from 2,808 ounces last year but down from 4,352 ounces the prior quarter. Shares dipped 5.17% to 0.479p.

Randgold Resources Limited (LON:RRS) slumped as it said the past year has been difficult as the Tongon mine at Côte d'Ivoire met “further challenges” including strikes. However, the group said Tongon was on track to achieve its production guidance of 285 000 ounces of gold for 2017. The company added that it has confirmed multiple opportunities for extending the life of the operation beyond the current four-year horizon following a review of the Nielle permit. Shares dropped 

 

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Loss-making multi-currency payments service FairFX Group Plc (LON:FFX) turned a corner in the fourth quarter, achieving a net profit. The momentum has continued into the current year, with the first quarter seeing revenue growth of 33.1% to £2.6mln from £1.9mln the year before.

The world’s biggest golf tour has chosen AIM-listed digital media and social video broadcaster Brave Bison Group PLC (LON:BBSN) to help enhance its presence on YouTube. The PGA Tour is using Brave Bison’s experience in the world of social media to help maximise engagement with younger audiences on the popular video sharing platform.

Healthcare and biomedical investor Netscientific PLC (LON:NSCI) portfolio company Wanda has sold off its stake in OncoVerse LLC for an undisclosed sum. The sale to BTG plc (LON:BTG) represents a “strong return” on the NetScientific’s initial investment and a “successful exit” from the first downstream application from Wanda, NetScientific said. Shares rose 5% to 57p.

Nigeria based Eland Oil & Gas PLC (LON:ELA) confirmed its debt funding facility, following a review of its borrowing base, and gave details of its production growth plans.

Mobile commerce company mporium Group PLC’s (LON:MPM) decision to use media agencies as the distribution channel for its flagship IMPACT product has proved effective, it said in its full-year results. The pipeline for IMPACT is very strong , the "mobile first" digital advertising agency said, as it unveiled increased revenue of £1.82mln in 2016 from £1.27mln in 2015. The loss before tax narrowed to £4.18mln from £4.62mln.

Hummingbird Resources (LON:HUM) said its Yanfolila gold project in Mali is on time and on budget with 410 people on the ground during the construction phase. Chief executive Dan Betts is confident of having the 1.2mln tonne-a-year operation ready to enter the initial mining phase during the third quarter, enabling the first gold pour by the end of the year.

Cloud computing group Nasstar Plc (LON:NASA) boosted revenues by 36% in 2016 despite some strong Brexit headwinds.

Condor Gold PLC (LON:CNR) is to list on US OTC market to boost exposure and liquidity among US investors.

Tavistock Investments PLC (LON:TAVI)  has appointed Peter Horbye as head of international wealth arm, sending its shares up 4% to 2.9p.

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