Category: Top Story

British electronics retailer AO World (LSE:AO.) said on Friday it anticipates full-year profit will reach the top of its previously guided range, supported by gains in market share across its key product segments.

The online-focused group, which sells household appliances and consumer electronics such as washing machines and TVs, has continued to expand its product offering while benefiting from a value-driven membership model that has helped boost customer demand.

AO now expects adjusted profit before tax for the financial year to come in at the higher end of its £45 million to £50 million guidance range. Revenue for the twelve months to March 31 is estimated to have increased by approximately 11%.

“Demonstrating again that profits are growing quicker than sales, in the region of c15% year-on-year adjusted PBT growth, despite material cost headwinds,” AO World said in the update.

The company also highlighted that it has secured hedging arrangements covering about 80% of its expected fuel consumption and the entirety of its electricity needs through the 2027 financial year, helping to shield it from recent geopolitical and energy market volatility.

By the end of the year, AO expects liquidity to stand at around £200 million, while free cash flow is projected to rise significantly to roughly £65 million, up from £23 million in the previous year.

Mkango Resources (LSE:MKA) has completed a £12.5 million equity raise, issuing 37,878,788 new shares at £0.33 each through a placing, LIFE offering, retail offer, and subscription. The shares have now been admitted to trading on AIM, while conditional approval has also been obtained for listing on the TSX Venture Exchange.

The proceeds will be directed toward advancing the company’s European strategy, including a potential acquisition in Germany, funding capital expenditure and feasibility work across its UK and German recycling operations, and supporting general working capital needs. The move reinforces Mkango’s ambition to scale its rare earth recycling and processing capabilities in key European markets, while also managing regulatory considerations such as a related-party transaction involving its interim CFO.

The fundraising attracted participation from a range of financial intermediaries, including Peel Hunt, H&P Advisory, Alternative Resource Capital, Red Cloud Securities, JUB Capital, and SP Angel, reflecting strong engagement from capital markets participants. Certain resale restrictions will apply to most of the newly issued shares in Canada, except those placed under the LIFE exemption, highlighting a structured approach to accessing both UK and Canadian investor bases.

More about Mkango Resources

Mkango Resources is a dual-listed company on AIM and the TSX Venture Exchange focused on the rare earths sector, particularly the recycling and production of rare earth magnets, alloys, and oxides. Through its majority stake in Maginito, the company holds interests in HyProMag operations in the UK and Germany, as well as Mkango Rare Earths UK. It is also expanding recycling technology in the United States and advancing development projects including Songwe Hill in Malawi and the Pulawy separation project in Poland, both recognised as EU Strategic Projects.

Sunda Energy (LSE:SNDA) has secured approximately £404,780 in gross proceeds through a WRAP Retail Offer, issuing 13,606,029 new shares along with 6,802,977 warrants to participating investors. The fundraising remains subject to shareholder approval at a general meeting scheduled for 29 April 2026, as well as the admission of the new shares to trading on AIM, expected on 30 April 2026. Once admitted, the shares will rank equally with other new ordinary shares issued as part of the wider capital raise.

The transaction forms part of Sunda Energy’s broader funding efforts as it advances its exploration and appraisal activities. However, the company’s overall outlook remains under pressure due to ongoing financial challenges, including a lack of revenue, widening losses, and continued cash burn, despite relatively low leverage. While recent share price strength offers some technical support, overbought conditions suggest potential volatility. Valuation also remains constrained given the absence of profitability and dividend backing.

More about Sunda Energy plc

Sunda Energy plc is an AIM-listed oil and gas exploration and appraisal company focused on the Asia-Pacific region. The business is engaged in identifying, developing, and monetising upstream hydrocarbon opportunities across its portfolio of regional assets.

Dekel Agri-Vision (LSE:DKL) delivered a mixed operational update for the first quarter of 2026, with its palm oil segment showing early signs of recovery while its cashew division recorded significant growth. Crude palm oil production declined 4.9% year on year, although output improved sharply in March as the seasonal high period began. Lower sales volumes reflected the timing of production, but elevated selling prices for both crude palm oil and palm kernel oil position the business for stronger revenue conversion in the second quarter.

The group’s cashew operations stood out, with raw nut processing rising 38.5%, production increasing 73.5%, and sales volumes surging 144.8%. This performance was supported by improved efficiency and the inclusion of third-party raw cashew inputs. While average prices per tonne declined due to a higher proportion of lower-grade products, management expects continued expansion in both processing volumes and financial contribution from the cashew segment.

Overall, Dekel’s outlook remains mixed. Ongoing financial challenges and weak technical indicators continue to weigh on sentiment, reflecting broader operational and market pressures. However, recent progress in scaling the cashew business and improving production trends provides some encouragement for future performance. Valuation remains a concern given the company’s lack of profitability.

More about Dekel Agri-Vision

Dekel Agri-Vision is an agriculture-focused company operating in Côte d’Ivoire, developing sustainable, multi-commodity projects. Its assets include a crude palm oil mill at Ayenouan, which processes fruit sourced from local smallholders, and a cashew processing facility at Tiebissou that has recently reached full commercial production.

Great Southern Copper PLC (LSE:GSCU) has raised fresh capital after its largest investor, Foreign Dimensions Pty Limited, exercised a portion of its warrants. The funding highlights continued support for the Chile-focused copper-gold-silver explorer as it advances its activities around the Especularita project, located in one of the world’s most significant copper-producing regions.

The transaction involved the subscription of 25,083,328 new ordinary shares at a price of 2.4p each, generating gross proceeds of £602,000. Once the new shares are admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market, the company’s total issued share capital will increase to 741,334,611 shares, establishing a revised benchmark for voting rights and shareholder disclosures.

Despite recent financing and encouraging exploration developments, the company’s broader outlook remains challenged. It continues to operate without revenue, while losses and cash outflows are increasing. From a technical standpoint, the stock is trading below key moving averages, with indicators such as MACD pointing to ongoing weakness. Although exploration success and funding provide potential upside, these factors currently carry less weight compared to underlying financial pressures.

More about Great Southern Copper PLC

Great Southern Copper PLC is a UK-listed exploration company targeting copper, gold, and silver deposits in Chile, the world’s leading copper producer. Its primary focus is the Especularita project within Chile’s coastal metallogenic belt, an area known for major copper operations, strong infrastructure, and diverse mineralisation styles. The company’s strategy is aligned with the growing demand for copper as a critical resource in the global shift toward clean energy, pursuing both large-scale, lower-grade deposits and higher-grade copper-gold-silver opportunities.

Avacta (LSE:AVCT) reported strong early progress in 2026, highlighted by regulatory clearance in January for the U.S. Investigational New Drug (IND) application for its second-generation candidate AVA6103. By the end of March, the first patient had been dosed in the FOCUS-01 Phase 1 clinical trial. Preclinical findings indicated that AVA6103’s sustained-release pre|CISION delivery approach enables deeper and more selective tumour penetration compared with a leading antibody drug conjugate, reinforcing the competitive potential of Avacta’s platform.

The company also received encouraging regulatory feedback for its first-generation candidate AVA6000. Authorities removed the lifetime maximum dose restriction after favourable cardiac safety data, allowing researchers greater flexibility in determining optimal dosing levels for upcoming studies. Alongside these developments, Avacta completed an oversubscribed £10 million fundraising that extends its expected cash runway into early 2027. The financing allows the company to maintain full ownership of its pipeline while preparing for several clinical and preclinical updates that could significantly influence its position in the oncology field and open the door to potential partnerships.

Looking ahead, Avacta plans to present updated preclinical and translational data for AVA6103 at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) congress in 2026, with initial clinical data anticipated later in the second half of the year. A further clinical update for AVA6000 is expected during the first half of the year, while the company aims to select a Gen Three candidate for AVA6207 in the second half. These milestones across three generations of pre|CISION assets represent potential value inflection points that are closely monitored by investors and potential collaborators.

From an investment standpoint, the outlook remains constrained by weak financial performance and negative technical indicators. Although clinical progress continues, the company faces ongoing financial pressures and has yet to secure major partnering agreements. Valuation also appears challenging due to negative earnings and the absence of dividend yield data.

More about Avacta Group plc

Avacta Group plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company listed on AIM that focuses on developing oncology therapies using its proprietary pre|CISION platform. The technology is designed to activate highly potent drug payloads specifically within the tumour microenvironment through fibroblast activation protein targeting, potentially improving treatment efficacy while reducing systemic toxicity. Avacta’s pipeline includes multiple generations of pre|CISION peptide drug conjugates, including lead candidate AVA6000 and second-generation asset AVA6103, positioning the platform as an alternative approach within the broader class of targeted cancer therapeutics such as antibody drug conjugates.

Wishbone Gold (LSE:WSBN) has entered into an option agreement to acquire the Silver Lake Project, a 422-square-kilometre silver prospect located in the Carnarvon Basin of Western Australia. The company will initially pay £100,000 in cash for the option, with the potential acquisition to be completed through the issuance of 3,571,777 Wishbone shares if the option is exercised. The project adds a potentially high-grade silver opportunity to the company’s portfolio alongside its existing Red Setter exploration programme.

Silver Lake hosts extensive surface mineralisation across a 35-kilometre structural corridor. Rock chip samples from the site have returned grades of up to 847 grams per tonne of silver, while historical drilling has also identified encouraging mineralised intervals. The project benefits from year-round access and proximity to the multi-user port of Onslow, which could support future logistics and development. Historical exploration suggests the presence of several mineralisation styles across the licence area, along with indications of bentonite and phosphate within the tenure.

Management believes the geological setting offers significant exploration scale and plans to begin low-cost auger drilling to better define the extent of the silver mineralisation and guide future exploration programmes. The company also highlighted the growing industrial demand for silver—driven by sectors such as electric vehicles, data centres, and solar power—as a supportive long-term market backdrop.

The company’s outlook remains constrained by weak financial fundamentals typical of early-stage explorers, including a lack of revenue, ongoing losses, and negative free cash flow, although some improvement has been noted. Technical indicators show a mixed picture, with neutral momentum and no clear price trend. Valuation remains difficult to assess due to the negative price-to-earnings ratio and the absence of dividend yield data.

More about Wishbone Gold

Wishbone Gold is an exploration company listed on the AIM and Aquis exchanges in London. The group focuses on identifying and developing precious and base metals projects in Western Australia. Its portfolio includes the Red Setter copper-gold project, and the company is now expanding into silver exploration through prospective ground in the Carnarvon Basin, targeting shallow, near-surface mineralisation that can be tested with relatively low-cost drilling.

Supermarket Income REIT plc (LSE:SUPR) has announced a third-quarter interim dividend of 1.545 pence per ordinary share for the period covering 1 January to 31 March 2026. The dividend will be paid entirely in cash and is classified as a Property Income Distribution from the company’s tax-exempt property rental activities. Payment is expected on or around 29 May 2026 to shareholders recorded on the register as of 8 May, with shares trading ex-dividend from 7 May.

The announcement highlights the company’s continued focus on delivering steady and progressive income to investors, supported by its portfolio of long-leased grocery properties across the UK and Europe. For this dividend period, the company will not offer a scrip alternative. However, the board noted that a scrip option could be introduced for future dividends, which may provide shareholders with flexibility in how they receive returns while also influencing the company’s capital management strategy.

From an investment perspective, Supermarket Income REIT benefits from stable financial performance and supportive corporate developments. Technical indicators also suggest positive price momentum, while the stock’s relatively high dividend yield contributes to an attractive valuation profile. Recent strategic acquisitions and confidence shown by management further strengthen the company’s investment appeal.

More about Supermarket Income REIT Plc

Supermarket Income REIT plc is a FTSE 250 real estate investment trust focused on investing in grocery store properties that form part of essential food distribution infrastructure. Its portfolio primarily consists of omnichannel supermarkets that serve both in-store and online shoppers and are leased to leading grocery retailers across the UK and Europe. With a portfolio valued at approximately £2.1 billion, the trust generates long-term, inflation-linked rental income and aims to deliver progressive dividends alongside long-term capital growth for investors.

As artificial intelligence drives the scale and growing power consumption of data centers, the long-term demand outlook for industrial silver is on the rise.

But silver supply is falling short, and silver mining companies prepared to meet demand are strong candidates for growth-oriented investments.

Silver is the metal best suited to power an electrifying, digitizing world. As data centers and AI proliferate, silver is crucial to the mission-critical task of keeping servers and spaces cool and running seamlessly.

With its superior conductive qualities, silver is essential to industrial processes ranging from solar power to manufacturing of electric vehicles and everyday electronics.

AI and the Growth of Data Center Infrastructure

The world’s digital infrastructure is skyrocketing. Since 2000, total global information technology power capacity has increased by about 53 times, or 5,252 percent, from .93 gigawatts to nearly 50 gigawatts, according to the Silver Institute.

Looking ahead, nearly 100 GW of new data centers are projected to come online between 2026 and 2030, doubling global capacity at a 14 percent CAGR, according to JLL’s 2026 Global Data Center Outlook.

Hyperscalers — the cloud service providers operating massive data centers to support their workloads and data volume – are investing $7 trillion through 2030 to scale their data centers with the hardware, processors, memory, storage, and energy essential to operations, reports McKinsey.

Driven by increasingly powerful AI functions and applications, global electricity consumption from data centers is expected to double, from 448 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2025 to 980 TWh by 2030, according to Gartner.

Silver: Playing a Critical Role in AI Infrastructure

Information technology’s hunger for power correlates directly to increased demand for silver, which is essential to servers, circuit boards, connectors, switches, and power systems, reports the Silver Institute.

According to Oxford Economics’ “Silver: The New Metal,” silver is essential to data centers for its:

• Highest electrical conductivity. Conductivity minimizes power loss across connectors and circuits – a must for data-center servers consuming huge quantities of electricity and expected to perform at 99.999 percent critical uptime.
• Excellent thermal conductivity. Silver-based thermal materials stabilize temperature ranges for heat-sensitive servers while reducing energy demands for cooling.
• High corrosion resistance. Silver resists degradation from high electrical loads and fluctuating temperatures.

AI’s power to drive other technological advancements will continue boosting silver demand “far beyond” data centers, adds Oxford Economics. Autonomous vehicles, robotics, and edge computing devices need silver-rich fuses, switches, and sensors.

Industrial Demand for Silver Is Reaching Record Levels

Silver is irreplaceable in industry, which consumes 59 percent of global silver output. A world running on electronics and electrifying its energy production needs silver for its superior electrical conductivity, durability, and versatility.

In addition to the global IT infrastructure, the Silver Institute notes that major consumers of industrial silver include:

• Solar photovoltaics: Silver paste applied to the silicon wafers in solar panels efficiently collects and transports electrons. By 2024, the solar energy sector demanded 29 percent of global silver supply , up from 11 percent in 2024. 
• Automotives and electric vehicles: Global automotive silver demand is expected to rise at 3.4 percent CAGR between 2025 and 2031. All automotives need silver to activate the connections within their sophisticated electronics systems. Electric vehicles – projected to account for 59 percent of global automotive sales by 2031 – consume twice the silver used in internal-combustion engine vehicles, requiring silver for battery management systems, power electronics, charging infrastructure, and electrical contacts.
• Advanced electronics: Demand for silver used in electronics is at record highs. Cell phones, monitors, televisions, children’s toys, keyboards need silver for their light-touch on/off switches, electrical pathways, and batteries. 

Silver Supply Is Struggling to Keep Pace

In a world clamoring for silver, demand outpaces supply. Steady mine production of 844 million ounces in 2025 is still short by 150 million ounces in 2026, or about 15 percent of total need , according to the Silver Institute.

Currently, silver mining generates from 70 percent to 75 percent of supply, while silver recycled from such sources as industrial waste and jewelry provides the rest, according to the World Silver Survey 2025.

Silver produced as a byproduct of lead/zinc mining constitutes the largest share of global supply, at 29.4 percent , but production remains flat. Production from primary silver mines is a close second, at 27.8 percent, with worldwide production on the decline, even amid a sustained supply deficit.

Why Investors Are Looking at Silver

Investors turn to silver for its assurances of long-term growth and its responsiveness to economic cycles. Long-term demand is healthy due to silver’s indispensability to manufacturing and the digitization of the global economy.

Silver’s stability makes it a safe haven and a hedge for investors protecting their portfolio values amid uncertain macro economic environments and global strife.   

According to the latest World Silver Survey, 2024 was “an exceptionally good year for silver,” with a 21 percent intra-year price increase, a 59 percent trough-to-peak rally, and robust fundamentals underscored by silver’s fourth consecutive structural deficit.

Why Some Investors Prefer Silver Mining Companies

Investors gain exposure to silver through equity options that diversify their portfolios, hedge against uncertainty, and yield promising returns. They can buy physical silver through their individual retirement accounts, buy into silver-based exchange-traded funds (ETF) and mutual funds, or invest directly in mining stocks.

Stock in mining companies gives investors a direct line to silver production. Silver mining companies create value through growth in exploration, development, and production. Silver mining companies can offer higher upside in strong silver markets, and may return capital back to investors through dividend and share buyback programs.

Silver mining companies offer advantageous operational leverage through their relatively fixed costs in relation to strong silver prices. The value of silver is on the rise, topping $100 per ounce in late 2025 and above $70 as of late March 2026, while production costs remain stable.

Why Silvercorp

As the silver deficit continues, mining companies poised to contribute significant quantities to supply are ripe for investment. Leading players include Silvercorp, a profitable, undervalued silver producer positioned for growth.

Silvercorp (TSX:SVM) (AMEX:SVM), a Canadian mining company, is an established silver producer with best-in-class operations, producing about 7.5 million ounces of silver equivalent, plus about 90 million pounds of lead and zinc per year at their mines in China.

Silvercorp offers a trailing 12-month all-in sustaining cost of less than $14 per ounce, net of by-products. Silver production from Silvercorp’s flagship Ying Mining District is increasing with mine optimization and development of the Kuanping satellite mine. Plus, a sizeable resource base supports extension of its Ying and Gaocheng (GC) reserve life of approximately 15 years.

In addition, Silvercorp’s diversified pipeline of actionable growth projects in Ecuador, and Kyrgyzstan is in or entering construction. By 2027, they will begin enhancing global metal supply, including substantial amounts of copper, gold and silver, at low all-in sustaining costs. 

Silvercorp presents compelling value for investors in peer-leading margins, return on equity, and leverage to silver. The industry-leading company trades at a discount to peers, selling below market value on multiple metrics that include a 0.6x P/NAV – the price-to-net asset value that compares market price to market value of underlying assets and reaches as high as +2x among peers.

Silvercorp is well covered by institutional brokers, with buy and outperform recommendations from most research analysts. Its highly liquid stock trades about $90 million daily across the US and Canada.

More information on Silvercorp, trading on the NYSE American and TSX as SVM, can be found at www.silvercorpmetals.com/welcome.