Concerns are growing about Adnams plc, the 152-year-old British brewing stalwart.
Suffolk-based popular scoop brewer Ghost Ship and Broadside, which is listed on Aquis, has confirmed a Sky News report that it is struggling to secure new private funding for the business.
“Following media speculation, the board of directors of Adnams plc would like to clarify that the company has instructed its advisors to explore a number of options to fund the company’s future growth plans,” the group announced. .
‘As a company with over 150 years of history, and always aware of the challenges facing the hospitality and brewing industries in recent times, the company is continually proactive in seeking ways to ensure the business is even more resilient in the future. coming years. ‘
In trouble: Adnams has confirmed a Sky News report that it is struggling to secure new private funding for the business.
Adnams’ latest results underlined the challenges facing the alcohol industry as a whole.
Interim reports published for the six months ending June 30, 2023 showed a 0.28 per cent drop in revenue and a 200 per cent year-on-year rise in pre-tax losses to £3.13m.
The company had £17.4 million in liabilities due during the year.
“The UK’s economic situation remained difficult during the first six months of the year, with inflationary pressures persisting and interest rates remaining stubbornly high,” chairman Jonathan Adnams said at the time.
Adnams shares listed on Aquis fell 22 percent over the week.
On the other side of the challenging market, Aquis-listed shares of Coinsilium Group Ltd rose 77 percent as the Web3 advisor, venture builder and investor continued to benefit from renewed optimism in the cryptocurrency markets.
The macroeconomic calendar was a game of two halves last week, so to speak.
Thursday’s preliminary gross domestic product (GDP) figure showed a 0.3 per cent contraction in the fourth quarter of 2023 following a 0.1 per cent drop in the previous quarter, putting the UK into recession technique.
Maybe it’s just superficial; Data released on Friday showed retail sales in January rose 3.4 percent month-on-month, beating the 1.5 percent forecast thanks to a stellar performance in the supermarket sector.
Markets completely ignored the “arbitrary and uninformative” technical recession announcement, as NIESR economist Paula Bejarano Carbo called it, and the AIM All-Share index rose 1.1 percent to 755 on Friday.
sondrel He continued his Elon Musk Neuralink rally.
Late last week, a Daily Mail article citing “a source with knowledge of the matter” revealed that the fabless chipmaker played a key role in the development of the Tesla boss’s Neuralink brain-computer interface, Elon Musk.
Shares duly rose 160 percent when that rumor began circulating. They added another 21 percent this week.
Small-cap investment group Tekcapital plc enjoyed the success of its portfolio companies.
Fresh off the AIM debut of MicroSalt plc (of which Tekcapital owns a 77 per cent stake) on the first of the month, its stake in the low-sodium potato chip supplier added more than 80 per cent in value this week alone.
MicroSalt’s rally was due to the announcement of an export collaboration with American Trading International, which MicroSalt hopes will open the doors to 80 global markets.
Meanwhile, medical device developer Belluscuraof which Tekcapital has a small 7.7 percent stake, rose 24 percent following the implementation of a distribution agreement with Sunset Healthcare Solutions, the Chicago-based manufacturer and distributor of home medical equipment.
Thanks to a strong performance from both portfolio groups, Tekcapital shares added more than 50 per cent to 16.75p.
Audioboom Group plc Shares tuned 10 percent higher on Friday morning, taking weekly gains to 12 percent, after the podcast distributor praised record audience reach in January.
More than 38.6 million unique listeners worldwide downloaded podcasts on the Audioboom creator network in January, compared to a monthly average of 34.4 million last quarter.
“Listeners continue to flock to podcasting and we’re doing an incredible job of growing the Audioboom creator network’s audience faster than our competitors,” said CEO Stuart Last.
Biotech elevators saw Biome Technologies plc up to 18 percent, Poolbeg Pharma plc also an 18 percent increase thanks to independent research suggesting a $10 billion market for leading assets, and Renalytix AI plc doubling its share price, despite a mid-week drop following disappointing interim results.
Finally, in the energy sector, Empyrean Energy plc was booming after the small oil and gas company closed a £700,000 placement on Tuesday to existing investors at 0.25p each.
Despite this being a 20 per cent discount to Monday’s closing price, investors sent the shares up almost 50 per cent, perhaps encouraged by chief executive Tom Kelly’s £300,000 commitment to the placing. .
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