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ADM Energy (LSE:ADME) has raised £375,000 through a placing and subscription involving 1.875 billion new shares priced at 0.02 pence each. The fundraising, backed by both existing and new investors, is intended to support an increased stake in the Vega Upstream joint venture while also reinforcing working capital. In parallel, the company has issued shares to settle outstanding debt and unpaid salaries, significantly expanding its equity base and aligning with its strategy to benefit from the Midcon Acquisition and growth in U.S. onshore revenues.

Increased Stake in Vega Upstream and Balance Sheet Restructuring

The company plans to allocate approximately US$300,000 from the proceeds to raise its interest in the Vega Upstream JV to around 35%. This higher stake is expected to lift projected monthly revenue to roughly US$111,000, improving cash flow from its U.S. asset base. ADM has also appointed Capital Plus Partners as its sole broker. Additionally, 2.25 billion new shares are set to be admitted to trading on AIM, bringing total voting rights to approximately 4.8 billion. These steps form part of a broader effort to restructure the balance sheet and position the company for future expansion.

More about ADM Energy plc

ADM Energy is a natural resources investment company with a portfolio spanning U.S. onshore oil and gas and offshore Nigerian assets. Its holdings include full ownership of Vega Oil and Gas, stakes in Eco Oil and OFX Technologies, a 10% interest in the Vega Upstream JV targeting U.S. opportunities, and a 9.2% profit interest in Nigeria’s Aje Field, which contains multiple oil, gas, and condensate reservoirs.

Kodal Minerals (LSE:KOD) has announced that its exploration licence for the Nielle gold project in Côte d’Ivoire has lapsed, bringing its involvement in the concession to an end. The asset, situated within the Tongon-Banfora greenstone belt, had been held since 2014 and renewed several times under both standard and exceptional terms. However, authorities declined to grant a further extension, effectively closing this chapter of Kodal’s gold exploration activities in the region.

Strategic Shift Toward Bougouni Lithium Project

The development highlights Kodal’s increasing focus on its lithium operations, particularly the Bougouni project in Mali, which has recently entered production and begun shipments of spodumene concentrate. While the company continues to hold a number of early-stage gold exploration assets across West Africa, the loss of the Nielle licence slightly trims its near-term gold pipeline. Nonetheless, this change is not expected to materially impact Kodal’s broader growth outlook, which is now closely tied to lithium production and expansion in the region.

Financial Position and Market Signals

Kodal’s outlook remains constrained by weak financial fundamentals, including its pre-revenue status, ongoing losses, and negative free cash flow. Technical indicators also point to continued pressure, with the stock trading below key moving averages and showing a negative MACD trend. On the positive side, the company maintains a debt-free balance sheet, which offers some financial stability. However, valuation remains difficult to determine due to the absence of earnings and dividend support.

More about Kodal Minerals

Kodal Minerals plc is an AIM-listed mining company focused on lithium exploration, development, and production in West Africa. Its flagship Bougouni Lithium Project in southern Mali, developed in partnership with Hainan Mining, achieved first production of spodumene concentrate in February 2025 and completed its first shipment in December 2025. The company is planning a Stage 2 flotation plant to process finer-grained material, supporting the long-term scalability of the project.

PureTech Health (LSE:PRTC) announced that its founded entity, Seaport Therapeutics, has set the terms for an upsized Nasdaq initial public offering, issuing 14.16 million shares at $18 each. The deal is expected to generate gross proceeds of approximately $254.9 million before fees and expenses. Trading is scheduled to begin under the ticker SPTX on May 1, with closing anticipated on May 4. Following completion, PureTech will retain 16,685,013 shares in Seaport, reinforcing the value of its spin-out model while potentially enhancing financial flexibility as Seaport progresses its neuropsychiatric pipeline.

Seaport’s Focus and Market Reception

Seaport Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotech developing oral therapies targeting depression, anxiety, and other neuropsychiatric conditions. Its approach leverages the proprietary Glyph platform to improve the bioavailability and tolerability of well-understood therapeutic mechanisms. The IPO’s pricing at the top end of the range, supported by major underwriters such as Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan, reflects solid investor demand for neuropsychiatry-focused biotech companies and further highlights PureTech’s track record in building and listing therapeutic ventures.

Financial Position and Key Risks

PureTech Health’s broader profile presents a mixed picture. Strong liquidity and encouraging clinical progress are balanced by ongoing profitability challenges and weak technical indicators. While recent trial successes and strategic execution offer reasons for cautious optimism, the company continues to face operational risks and uncertainty around future funding needs.

More about PureTech Health

PureTech Health is a biotherapeutics company operating a hub-and-spoke model designed to translate early-stage scientific discoveries into new medicines. By focusing on validated biology and areas of high unmet medical need, the company has developed a pipeline of therapeutic candidates, including three drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Its strategy centres on incubating high-potential assets and scaling them through independently funded entities, aiming to create long-term value for both patients and shareholders.

Bluebird Mining Ventures (LSE:BMV) has released its full-year 2025 results, underscoring a major strategic pivot toward a gold-streaming and treasury-focused business model. As part of this transition, the company has put in place institutional-grade infrastructure spanning banking relationships, precious metals handling, and digital asset capabilities. The platform has been further reinforced through the acquisition of Quantum Research & Management, alongside board-level changes and the development of enhanced treasury, custody, and risk management systems designed to support larger-scale capital deployment.

Capital Raising, Governance Changes, and New Investments

At the start of 2026, Bluebird secured approximately £1.37 million through equity fundraising, while also streamlining its capital structure. Management incentives have been increasingly aligned with shareholders via equity-based compensation, and governance has been strengthened through the introduction of new committees and plans for additional independent board members. The company has also committed to a 4.8MW bitcoin mining operation in Texas, which is expected to begin generating revenue in the second quarter of 2026. Alongside this, Bluebird continues to expand its pipeline of gold-streaming and bitcoin-related opportunities and is evaluating potential disposals of non-core mining assets in Asia.

Financial and Market Headwinds Persist

The company’s outlook remains challenged by weak underlying financial performance, including a lack of revenue, continued operating losses, and sustained negative cash flow. While leverage metrics on the balance sheet provide some limited support, broader indicators remain under pressure. Technical signals also point to a bearish trend, with the stock trading below key moving averages and exhibiting a negative MACD. From a valuation perspective, the absence of profitability results in a negative price-to-earnings ratio, and there is no available dividend yield to support the investment case.

More about Bluebird Mining Ventures

Bluebird Mining Ventures Ltd is a London-listed company focused on gold streaming, mining interests, and treasury management. Its strategy centres on building a gold-backed treasury through streaming and royalty agreements tied to producing assets. By targeting opportunities across the ore concentrate-to-bullion value chain, the company aims to secure long-term gold flows that can be reinvested into new deals, offering scalable exposure to physical gold without the capital intensity and operational risks associated with traditional mining.

Empyrean Energy PLC (LSE:EME) issued an update on its involvement in the Mako Gas Project, located within Indonesia’s Duyung Production Sharing Contract, outlining continued advancement of the development.

Project operator Conrad Asia Energy Ltd (ASX:CRD), together with its majority-owned subsidiary West Natuna Exploration Limited, confirmed that more than $280 million in capital contracts had been awarded by the end of the first quarter of 2026. These commitments account for over 80% of the project’s total capital expenditure.

The awarded contracts cover key components including the drilling rig, subsea systems such as umbilicals, risers and flowlines, as well as the conductor support frame and other long-lead equipment. Contractors have already received several milestone payments, with overall costs remaining in line with prior guidance.

The initial development phase will consist of six wells tied back to a leased Mobile Offshore Production Unit with a processing capacity of 172 million standard cubic feet per day. Gas produced will be transported through an approximately 59-kilometer, 18-inch pipeline to the KF platform in the Kakap PSC, before being routed via the WNTS pipeline into Indonesia’s domestic gas market.

Agreements on gas allocation volumes and transportation tariffs within the WNTS system have been reached with SKK Migas and the WNTS Joint Venture. A formal Gas Transportation Agreement is expected to be signed in the coming weeks.

Total capital investment required to reach first gas is estimated at $320 million on a 100% basis. The project is fully funded and remains on schedule to deliver first gas in the fourth quarter of 2027.

Under a previously announced agreement with Conrad dated February 23, 2026, Empyrean is entitled to 8.5% of all cash payments made to West Natuna Exploration Limited.

Shares of The Magnum Ice Cream Company (LSE:MIC) surged more than 11% on Thursday after the group reported first-quarter 2026 organic sales growth ahead of expectations, driven primarily by stronger volumes across major markets, while keeping its full-year guidance unchanged.

Organic sales increased 4.5% during the quarter, exceeding the 2.6% consensus forecast, supported by volume growth of 2.9% alongside a 1.6% contribution from pricing.

Total revenue came in at €1.77 billion, representing a 1.2% decline from a year earlier due to a negative foreign exchange impact of 5.5%.

Performance was broadly positive across regions. Europe and ANZ delivered organic sales growth of around 4%, comfortably above the 1.1% consensus estimate, with volumes rising approximately 4.3%.

In the Americas, organic sales grew about 2.6%, beating expectations of 1.4%, although volumes were broadly flat. Brazil remained a weaker market, while volumes in the United States increased 1.8%.

The AMEA region posted organic growth of roughly 7.9%, slightly above the 7.1% consensus, driven by volume gains of about 4.9%. Türkiye and Pakistan recorded double-digit expansion, while China achieved high single-digit growth.

The company noted that both pricing and volume contributed to growth, with all regions delivering positive organic sales performance.

“We have had an encouraging start to 2026 and the ice cream category continues to grow. In Q1 organic sales grew across both volume and price, which is a testament to the breadth of our portfolio and our competitive execution,” chief executive Peter ter Kulve said.

According to Jefferies, the outperformance was largely volume-driven, with volumes significantly exceeding expectations, while pricing came in below forecasts.

The group reaffirmed its full-year 2026 outlook, guiding for organic sales growth of 3% to 5% and a reported adjusted EBITDA margin improvement of between 0 and 20 basis points.

Jefferies added that it does not expect a meaningful change to the current consensus full-year earnings per share estimate of €0.93 following the results.

Foreign exchange guidance was slightly improved, with the expected impact on first-half 2026 revenue revised to negative 2.8%, compared with a prior estimate of negative 4%.

The company also completed acquisitions in India and Portugal around the end of March and early April, which will begin contributing from the second quarter.

Management said it remains on track to exit the remaining transitional service agreements by the end of 2027.

Air France-KLM (EU:AF) lowered its full-year capacity growth forecast on Thursday, pointing to sharply higher jet fuel prices linked to the Iran conflict, while delivering first-quarter earnings that exceeded expectations at the operating level.

Shares of the airline group gained 1.5% by 08:55 GMT.

The Franco-Dutch carrier now expects capacity to expand by 2% to 4% in 2026, compared with its earlier guidance of 3% to 5%. It also projected its fuel expenses to reach $9.3 billion this year, representing a $2.4 billion increase from 2025 levels.

“While fuel price increases are not yet reflected in the results we present today, they are expected to weigh on the coming quarters,” chief executive Benjamin Smith said.

Airlines across Europe have warned about rising jet fuel costs, which have more than doubled since shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

For the first quarter, the group reported revenue of €7.48 billion, matching expectations and marking a 4.4% increase from a year earlier.

Air France-KLM posted an operating loss of €27 million, with an operating margin of -0.4%, a significant improvement compared with the €351 million loss analysts had anticipated. Net loss totaled €252 million, broadly unchanged from the same period last year.

Passenger numbers increased 2.3% to 22.3 million, while capacity rose 4% and traffic climbed 4.4%. The load factor improved slightly to 86.3%, up from 86%.