Category: Market News

Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd (LSE:ECO) has agreed to farm down a majority stake in its offshore Namibian exploration assets, bringing in BP plc as operator across three licences in the Walvis Basin.

Under the agreement, BP will acquire a 60% participating interest and assume operatorship of the PEL97, PEL99 and PEL100 licences, while Eco retains a 25% stake in each. The deal includes a cash consideration of US$2.7 million, alongside a full carry by BP covering Eco’s retained interest and the shares held by national and local partners during the current exploration phase. Completion remains subject to regulatory approvals.

BP will take the lead on technical work programmes, including seismic reprocessing on PEL97 and a planned 3D seismic survey spanning at least 3,000 km² across PEL99 and PEL100. The involvement of a major international operator is expected to accelerate exploration efforts and enhance the technical evaluation of these frontier assets.

Strategically, the transaction reduces Eco’s capital commitments while preserving exposure to potential upside. Proceeds from the deal will support the company’s wider exploration activities across the Atlantic Margin, including projects in Guyana and South Africa.

Following completion, licence ownership will be structured with BP holding 60%, Eco 25%, state-owned NAMCOR 10%, and local partners 5%. Eco also retains optionality for future phases, with provisions that could see BP fund additional drilling costs, reinforcing the company’s approach of partnering with large industry players to manage risk and unlock value.

More about Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas

Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd is an exploration-focused company listed on AIM and the TSX Venture Exchange, with a portfolio of offshore assets across the Atlantic Margins. Its operations span Guyana, Namibia, and South Africa, targeting oil and gas opportunities in emerging markets with relatively low carbon intensity and proximity to established infrastructure, including the Orinduik Block in Guyana, the Walvis Basin in Namibia, and the Orange Basin in South Africa.

Churchill China plc (LSE:CHH) reported a modest decline in 2025 performance, with revenue slipping 2.6% to £76.3 million and profit before tax falling to £6.0 million, as softer hospitality demand and reduced factory output weighed on margins.

Despite these pressures, the company delivered strong cash generation, reduced inventories by £2.0 million, and maintained a solid balance sheet. A lower full-year dividend of 21.0p has been proposed, reflecting the more challenging trading environment.

Management pointed to improving operational efficiency driven by recent capital investment, alongside better control of energy costs. Looking ahead, a strengthening pipeline of projects across Europe and the UK is expected to support momentum into 2026. The group also sees opportunities to expand further in Continental Europe, where higher tariffs on Chinese imports could create a competitive advantage. In addition, Churchill is exploring the distribution of non-ceramic products to diversify revenue streams and better utilise its established sales network.

From an investment perspective, the company’s appeal is supported by its valuation, with a relatively low price-to-earnings ratio and an attractive dividend yield. However, technical indicators suggest a bearish trend, while financial performance reflects ongoing challenges in revenue growth and cash flow. A recent insider share purchase provides a positive signal, though it has not been sufficient to shift broader market sentiment.

More about Churchill China

Churchill China plc is a UK-based manufacturer specialising in performance ceramic tableware for the global hospitality sector. Its products are designed for durability and added value, serving hotels, restaurants, pubs, and catering businesses. The company’s core markets include the UK, Continental Europe, and North America, where it focuses on both growth opportunities and replacement demand.

Vistry Group plc (LSE:VTY) has named Adam Daniels as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director with immediate effect, concluding a multi-year succession planning process that evaluated both internal and external candidates.

Daniels, who previously served as Executive Chair of one of the company’s largest divisions, brings extensive experience in partnerships housing, affordable development, and UK housebuilding. He has been a long-standing member of Vistry’s leadership team and maintains strong relationships with local authorities and housing associations.

He replaces Greg Fitzgerald, who is stepping down from his roles as Executive Chair, CEO, and Board Director by mutual agreement. As part of the leadership reshuffle, Rob Woodward has been appointed Chair, while Rowan Baker takes on the role of Senior Independent Director.

Under Daniels’ leadership, alongside CFO Tim Lawlor, the company will focus on strengthening cash generation, increasing open market sales, and reducing inventory through 2026. The Board aims to build on Vistry’s mixed-tenure partnerships model to drive long-term value creation.

In line with the transition, the company has withdrawn the AGM resolution to reappoint Fitzgerald as a director, while confirming that all other resolutions and proxy votes remain unchanged—marking a clear and orderly governance shift. The Board highlighted Daniels’ collaborative and values-driven leadership style as key to leveraging Vistry’s established position in the affordable housing sector and unlocking future growth.

From an outlook perspective, the company faces pressure from weak technical indicators, with the share price trading below key moving averages and momentum remaining negative. Financially, Vistry retains a relatively conservative balance sheet and positive free cash flow, but softer revenues and significantly reduced margins compared to prior years weigh on near-term earnings visibility. Valuation appears broadly neutral, with a price-to-earnings ratio of around 15x and no dividend yield currently providing additional support.

More about Vistry Group

Vistry Group plc is a UK-based housebuilder specialising in partnerships, affordable housing, and mixed-tenure developments. The company operates through a network of regional divisions and works closely with local authorities and housing associations to deliver residential projects across the UK.

Sirius Real Estate Limited (LSE:SRE), a developer and operator of branded business and industrial parks across Germany and the UK, delivered another year of strong operational performance, marking its twelfth consecutive year of like-for-like rent roll growth exceeding 5%.

Total rent roll rose 18.4% year-on-year, with like-for-like growth of 6.4%, supported by solid leasing activity in Germany and generally resilient performance in the UK, despite some temporary disruptions. The company also expects overall property valuations to trend positively, underpinned by stable yield conditions.

During the year, Sirius significantly stepped up its expansion strategy, completing 13 acquisitions with a combined value of €464 million. This included a growing focus on defence-related industrial properties in both Germany and the UK, positioning the group to benefit from increasing government defence expenditure. At the same time, the company maintained financial flexibility through a €300 million revolving credit facility, a heavily oversubscribed £77 million equity raise, and selective disposals of mature assets, including sites in Pfungstadt and Sunderland, to recycle capital efficiently.

Management highlighted that the early completion of the Kiel acquisition, alongside a strong pipeline of further opportunities, keeps the business on track to deliver targeted funds from operations linked to recent capital deployment. The strategy continues to centre on scaling income-generating assets with value-add potential.

From an investment standpoint, Sirius benefits from strong financial performance, consistent rental growth, and an attractive dividend profile. However, technical indicators suggest some caution due to ongoing bearish trends. Positive sentiment around earnings and strategic activity supports the outlook, although rising financing costs and foreign exchange pressures remain key considerations.

More about Sirius Real Estate

Sirius Real Estate Limited is a Guernsey-incorporated property company with listings in London and Johannesburg. The group focuses on owning and operating business and industrial parks in Germany and the UK, managing a portfolio of 153 assets and nearly 11,000 tenants as of September 2025, with a total value of approximately €2.8 billion. Its strategy centres on acquiring properties at attractive yields, enhancing them through active asset management, and recycling capital through refinancing or selective disposals to drive long-term shareholder returns.

Cambridge Cognition Holdings plc (LSE:COG) reported a sharp recovery in new business during 2025, with sales orders rising 73% to £12.8 million and its year-end order book increasing 21% to £16.5 million.

Despite this strong commercial momentum, revenue declined by around 10% to approximately £9.4 million, reflecting a weak opening order book and the long lead times typical of clinical contracts. Cost discipline helped limit the adjusted EBITDA loss to £0.5 million, while operating cash flow turned positive. The company also strengthened its financial position, ending the year with net cash of roughly £0.3 million after reducing borrowings.

Strategically, Cambridge Cognition broadened its reach beyond its traditional clinical and academic base into professional healthcare and consumer health markets. This diversification is expected to support a return to revenue growth in 2026 and provide a more robust foundation for future profitability and cash generation.

From an outlook perspective, the company continues to face challenges linked to declining revenues and ongoing losses, along with pressure on operating and free cash flow, although improvements in equity offer some balance sheet support. Technical indicators present a mixed picture, with short-term momentum offset by a longer-term downtrend and signs of overbought conditions. Valuation remains limited due to the absence of profitability and a lack of dividend yield.

More about Cambridge Cognition Holdings

Cambridge Cognition Holdings plc is a neuroscience-focused technology company that develops digital tools for cognitive assessment. Its platforms are used globally across four key areas: clinical trials in the pharmaceutical industry, academic research into central nervous system disorders, healthcare diagnostics led by physicians, and consumer-focused cognitive health and wellness monitoring.

Energean plc (LSE:ENOG) has reinstated full operations at its Energean Power FPSO after receiving approval from the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, following a brief disruption.

Output returned to normal levels within 48 hours, enabling the company to continue supplying natural gas to customers in accordance with existing contractual commitments. The rapid restart helps minimise operational risk and ensures continuity of revenue from Energean’s core gas-producing assets.

The company noted that it will provide an update to its 2026 guidance in due course, indicating that any potential impact on production and financial performance is still under review.

From an investment perspective, Energean’s outlook is weighed down by balance sheet concerns, including relatively low equity levels and increasing debt, alongside a reported net loss for 2025 despite strong operating cash flow. However, valuation offers some support, with a low price-to-earnings ratio and an attractive dividend yield. Technical indicators remain somewhat supportive, though not strongly bullish.

More about Energean

Energean plc is an energy group focused on the exploration, development, and production of natural gas. The company operates offshore infrastructure, including its Energean Power floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, to deliver contracted gas supplies to regional markets. It plays an important role in meeting energy demand through its established production and distribution capabilities.

Oriole Resources PLC (LSE:ORR) has announced its first JORC-compliant Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate for the MB01-N deposit at the Mbe gold project in Cameroon, lifting the project’s total resource base above one million ounces.

The newly defined MB01-N resource is estimated at 10.5 million tonnes grading 1.05 grams per tonne, equating to approximately 360,000 ounces of contained gold within a US$3,200 per ounce pit shell. When combined with the previously reported MB01-S deposit, which hosts 870,000 ounces, the total Inferred resource at Mbe now stands at 1.23 million ounces. Both deposits remain open in all directions, with further upside supported by additional satellite targets across the licence area.

To build on this momentum, the company has initiated a 10-hole, 2,500-metre step-out diamond drilling campaign at MB01-S, aimed at expanding the existing resource later this year. Management believes there is strong potential to materially grow the overall resource base, noting that surpassing the one-million-ounce mark strengthens Mbe’s position as a leading gold project in Cameroon and allows for comparison with other large-scale open-pit discoveries across Africa. However, further exploration work, alongside technical and environmental studies, will be required before any progression toward reserves or development.

From a financial standpoint, the outlook remains constrained by the absence of revenue and continued cash outflows, despite maintaining a relatively low-debt balance sheet. Technical indicators offer some support, but valuation remains limited due to negative earnings and the lack of dividend prospects.

More about Oriole Resources PLC

Oriole Resources PLC is an AIM-listed exploration and development company focused on gold projects in Central and West Africa. Its flagship asset is the Mbe orogenic gold project in Cameroon, where it holds a 50% interest through its local subsidiary, working in partnership with BCM International. The company is targeting the development of open-pit gold resources across multiple deposits within the licence area.

Andrada Mining Limited (LSE:ATM) has announced promising early results from ore-sorting trials at its Brandberg West project in Namibia, demonstrating significant grade improvements across tungsten, tin, and copper using sensor-based XRT technology.

Tests conducted on nine grab samples from historical waste material showed notable upgrades in metal concentrations. Tungsten grades increased to as much as 1.45% from 0.24%, tin rose to 2.09% from 0.31%, and copper reached 2.81% from 0.73%. Recovery rates were also strong, with tungsten up to 91% and tin up to 94%, alongside an approximate 90% reduction in mass. These outcomes point to the potential for lower processing costs and the production of a higher-value polymetallic concentrate.

The company noted that these initial “sighter” tests reinforce the commercial viability of tungsten as a key component of its asset portfolio. The findings also support the strategy of reprocessing large volumes of surface waste to accelerate development timelines at Brandberg West. The work forms part of an earn-in agreement with BWCAM, which could see up to $51 million invested for a stake of up to 49% in the project. This approach suggests that both legacy waste material and in-pit hard rock resources could be transformed into a viable polymetallic operation, enhancing Andrada’s exposure to critical minerals supply chains.

Despite these operational positives, the company’s broader outlook remains constrained by weak financial performance, including ongoing losses and negative operating and free cash flow, even as revenues grow. Technical indicators add further pressure, reflecting a sustained downtrend and negative momentum in the share price. Valuation offers limited support, with a negative price-to-earnings ratio highlighting unprofitability and the absence of a dividend.

More about Andrada Mining

Andrada Mining Limited is an AIM-listed mining company focused on critical minerals, with operations and exploration assets located in Namibia. While historically a tin producer, the group is expanding its focus to include a wider range of high-demand metals such as tungsten and copper. Through projects like Brandberg West, the company aims to develop polymetallic resources that can contribute to global supply of materials essential for modern technologies and energy transition.

Arecor Therapeutics plc (LSE:AREC) has released its audited results for the full year 2025, highlighting solid operational momentum across its diabetes and oral peptide delivery programmes, despite a decline in revenue following the closure of Tetris Pharma.

The company’s lead insulin candidate, AT278, moved closer to Phase 2 development after receiving encouraging feedback from the U.S. FDA. Progress was further supported by a co-development agreement with Sequel Med Tech to integrate AT278 into its twiist automated insulin delivery system. After the reporting period, both companies confirmed plans to expand this collaboration into a broader co-development and commercialisation partnership.

In addition, Arecor continued advancing its early-stage oral peptide delivery platform and strengthened its intellectual property position through new international patent filings. The business also secured three new formulation partnerships based on its Arestat technology, generating more than £1 million in pre-licensing revenue.

On the financial side, Arecor improved its balance sheet through an $11 million royalty financing agreement with Ligand Pharmaceuticals. The company closed the year with £6.1 million in cash, providing sufficient runway to complete Phase 2-enabling activities for AT278 and further develop its oral peptide platform, while maintaining disciplined cost management.

Looking ahead, Arecor’s outlook is supported by strategic partnerships and continued expansion of its intellectual property portfolio, which strengthen its competitive positioning. However, ongoing losses and cash flow pressures remain a challenge. Technical indicators and valuation suggest a broadly neutral stance, reflecting both the risks and potential typical of the biotech sector.

More about Arecor Therapeutics PLC

Arecor Therapeutics plc is a Cambridge-based clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing improved treatments for diabetes, obesity, and other cardiometabolic conditions. Its lead programme, AT278, is an ultra-concentrated (500U/mL), ultra-fast-acting insulin currently in development. Alongside this, the company is building an oral peptide delivery platform, initially targeting GLP-1 receptor agonists aimed at a large and growing global market.