CITY WHISPERS: A breath of change is in the air for cannabis businesses

Cannabis firms have had a rough time on the London Stock Exchange.

Most of those who joined in on a blast in 2021 have seen their share prices plummet.

Interesting, then, that Whispers is hearing that a company called Eresos Holdings has appointed advisers to help with a listing on the Aquis Exchange.

This was where most of these shares were listed before the LSE changed their requirements.

The group’s CEO is Carl Jat, an experienced retailer and most recently Senior Vice President of Claire’s Accessories. It will be chaired by former international clothing head of Tesco F&F, Richard Collins.

Retail masters claim their award-winning natural botanical formulas infused with cannabidiol (CBD, the non-psychoactive part of the cannabis plant) can help improve skin care, mental health and well-being, etc.

Whether or not you are a CBD skeptic, considering the dearth of listings right now, a float would be a win.

Philip Morris continues to invest money in Vectura

Health experts have protested Philip Morris International’s (PMI) takeover of a maker of asthma inhalers in 2021 for £1.1bn.

The tobacco giant insisted that it would allow Vectura to set up a unit that would be part of a business focused on inhaled therapies.

PMI’s half-yearly figures show it is still pouring cash into that business, so much so that its general health and wellness division, in which Vectura is located, posted a £48m loss.

‘Barbenheimer’ generates craft industry

This weekend’s release of polar opposites Barbie and Oppenheimer led to the catchiest portmanteau of this year: ‘Barbenheimer.’

It has even spawned a cottage industry that combines both, like a Barbie doll looking up into a pink cloud of nuclear explosion.

Mark Brumby, leisure analyst at Langton Capital, might have a good shot at T-shirt design if he wants something more.

Some of these hybrid images on T-shirts “look pretty cool,” he said, though he also pitched his own idea.

“I would have thought the obvious thing was to have Ken goofy grin saying ‘I’ve become death the destroyer of worlds’ while sipping a soda and carrying a surfboard.”

We’ll order ten in all sizes, Mark.

Tough race for GB Group

It’s been a rough patch for identity verification specialist GB Group, one of the few London-listed companies that has failed to be taken over by a private equity firm after takeover talks failed last year.

There was another bump in the road last week.

Shareholders revolted en masse at their annual meeting against executive pay packages.

A staggering 57.5 per cent voted against the pay report after GB Group removed performance conditions from the CFO’s long-term bonus.

The thing is, AIM companies don’t even have to raise this with shareholders, but it’s good practice.