SMALL CAP MOVERS: Aim’s winning streak comes to an end
It’s not every day you see a former CIA spymaster turn up on the board of a tiny AIM-listed port company, but that’s exactly what happened at Mercantile Ports & Logistics this week, and the market has noticed.
Shares have rocketed 312 per cent over the past seven days after the company appointed Marty Martin, a veteran of roughly three decades in the US intelligence community who served as CIA chief of station for the Near East Division, to its board.
The appointment, subject to regulatory approval, comes as MPL signals it is looking beyond India for strategic opportunities in jurisdictions with greater transparency for international investors. That’s a notable shift for a company whose main asset is a port facility in Navi Mumbai.
MPL has been fighting a legal battle over that very asset, having challenged a creditors’ committee decision to approve a resolution plan for its Karanja Terminal subsidiary that the company says was fundamentally flawed. Mumbai’s insolvency court has issued notice in the proceedings, with a hearing listed for 8 June.
Managing director Pavan Bakhshi said Martin’s international strategic experience would be invaluable as MPL evaluates opportunities outside India while continuing to fight for its existing asset base.
Quite what a former spy chief brings to a micro-cap port stock is open to interpretation, but the market clearly likes the intrigue.
Tough week: The political uncertainty has broken Aim’s winning streak
AIM’s winning streak comes to an end
Turning to the wider market, AIM broke its winning streak to end the week 0.6 per cent lower as the Starmer drama playing out in Downing Street filtered down to the small-cap market.
It underperformed its benchmark, the FTSE 100, which was off 0.3 per cent, though the real volatility was to be seen in the gilt market amid chaos in the Labour ranks over whether the PM should go and who should succeed him.
Cordel snapped up by Germany’s Vossloh
Sticking with the winners, Cordel almost doubled in value after Germany’s Vossloh announced it had reached an agreement to acquire the UK-based rail technology firm for £29 million.
Bradda Head rose 74 per cent after it signed a memorandum of understanding with Tyfast Energy to explore a US-based lithium supply route for Tyfast’s next-generation battery anodes.
Metals One was up 50 per cent on Friday after the critical metals developer expanded its agreement with DISA Technologies to evaluate and potentially treat abandoned uranium mine waste dumps at its Uravan Belt project in Colorado.
Rome Resources was up 9 per cent after stockbroker Allenby Capital lifted its implied valuation to around $146 million, up from $100 million, on the back of progress at the Bisie North tin project and a run of encouraging drilling results in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The uplift reflects Rome’s intention to increase its interest in Bisie North from around 51 per cent to 73 per cent, giving the AIM-listed explorer a larger share of any future resource growth. Allenby’s revised valuation equates to 1.31p per share against a current price of 0.44p.
Tough week
Down 30 per cent, Engage XR was the week’s biggest loser after the spatial computing group reported a sharp drop in revenues, hit by delays to contract signings and weaker demand from corporate clients.
Also off 30 per cent was Microlise Group after the software minnow unveiled a mixed full-year report card. Sales rose and cash generation was strong, but profits fell as weaker OEM demand and delayed contract wins weighed on margins. The update came with a warning that 2026 revenues would be slightly below market expectations.
ValiRx ended the week 25 per cent lower after unveiling a fundraiser that will bring in around £1.2 million of new investment, a sum almost equivalent to its current market value. The group, which specialises in cancer research and women’s health, said the proceeds will go towards in-licensing, intellectual property expansion, preclinical development and the growth of its animal health division.
One for the watch-list
And finally, if lithium tickles your fancy, Fox-Davies Capital has slapped a speculative buy and 22p target on CleanTech Lithium, the Chilean brine developer currently trading at just 8p.
The broker reckons the stock is deeply undervalued after two big milestones: the agreement of a 40-year special lithium operating contract with the Chilean government, and a pre-feasibility study confirming robust economics at the flagship Laguna Verde project.
For all the market’s small- and mid-cap news, go to www.proactiveinvestors.com
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