Economic and Market News for 14 August 2019

Sports apparel and equipment retailer Sports Direct said that Grant Thornton had resigned as its auditor. Sports Direct said that Grant Thornton had made the decision subsequent to the publication...

European Metals said it had raised £750k via a share placing to advance the development of its Cinovec lithium and tin project in the Czech Republic. New shares in the company were issued at 18p...

ECR Minerals said gold exploration had commenced at Henry's Hill, within the company's Avoca gold project in Australia's Victoria state. Avoca was one of five projects held by ECR in the Victorian...

E-sports services provider Gfinity said its Australian joint venture would close at the end of November. The decision was taken in conjunction with local partner HT&E and followed a strategic...

Aura Energy said that drill assay results on the Haggan vanadium project in Sweden had confirmed the high-grade and continuous nature of its mineralistion. Highlights included intersecting 103...

Conroy Gold and Natural Resources said testing results from two drill holes had identified a new gold zone at its Slieve Glah prospect in Ireland. The first drill hole intersected low-grade gold...

VietNam Holding said it had invested in logistics company ABA Trading Solutions, also known as ABA Cooltrans, through a convertible bond offer. The company said it had paid the Vietnam Dong...

Management Resource Solutions said an independent valuation of Alerion Consulting indicated that it had not over-paid for the business. Leadenhall Services determined the fair market value of...

Animal feed supplier Walcom warned that it may be forced into liquidation next month if it is unable to secure further funding, as an ongoing outbreak of swine flu in China crimps its sales....

Cambridge Cognition Holdings said former chief executive Nick Kerton had lost a long battle with cancer. Kerton was the company's CEO from September 2013 until the end of 2015 and remained on the...

Financial services company Equals said it was in the advanced stages of raising around £16m, to accelerate organic growth and fund potential acquisitions. News shares in the company were being...

Telecom company BT Group said it would delist its US shares to reduce operating costs and complexity. The company said it expected a delisting of its American depositary shares to become effective...

LMS Capital said it had completed the sale of its stake in Entuity for £10.5m. The sale took place on 13 August 2019, the company confirmed. It comes after the company reported pm 2 Aug, that it...

Horizonte Minerals said that in the first six months of 2019 it had seen continued progress on both the Araguaia Ferronickel and Vermelho Nickel-Cobalt projects, with both advancing to plan. The...

Petro Matad said it was preparing to start drilling a well in Mongolia after achieving verbal approval from local authorities that had been delaying its progress. The rig for the Heron-1 well had...

Salt Lake Potash said it had made three senior appointments, including Shaun Day as its chief financial officer. Day was most recently CFO of Northern Star Resources. The company said it had also...

Gold mining company Chaarat said it was in 'advanced discussions' with the lender to extend the US$10m loan agreement into 2020 and to increase the principal amount. 'It is envisaged that the...

i3 Energy, an independent oil and gas company, announced that the Borgland Dolphin semi-submersible drilling rig had completed its acceptance testing and would begin transit to the Liberator field...

The UK consumer price index rate rose to 2.1% in July, according to the Office for National Statistics. The reading was above market expectations of a fall to a 1.9% rate, from the 2.0% recorded...

TomCo Energy said it had raised £450k from a share issue to provide working capital. New shares in the company were issued at 3.5% each, representing a 33% discount to their closing price on...

Motor insurer Admiral said profits were hurt by a £33m hit following a regulatory change that tweaked the way that compensation payments for personal injury victims were calculated. For the six...

Zenith Energy said drilling operations had commenced on a new well at the Jafarli oilfield in Azerbaijan. The company said it would provide further updates on the progress of the C-37 well in...

Sunrise Resources said it had successfully completed processing trials at its CS pozzolan-perlite fertilizer project in Nevada. The company said it had also expanded horticultural-grade perlite in...

FirstGroup said the Department for Transport had awarded the new West Coast partnership to its joint venture First Trenitalia. The new partnership would operate from 8 December 2019 and...

Cell-based therapeutics developer ReNeuron Group said it would partner with the University of Cardiff under a new grant-funded collaboration utilising its exosome-based drug delivery technology...

Property investment company CLS saw profits rise by more than a quarter in the first half of the year following an increase in rental income and portfolio valuation gains. For the six months...

Cyber security software company Osirium Technologies said it had secured the first customer for its robotic process automation solution. The customer was a 'leading asset manager' that was already...

Software-system and IT services supplier Scisys Group said that its German division had secured a contract from a 'major European broadcaster' for newsroom software, services and training. The...

Quadrise Fuels International said it had signed a non-binding agreement with energy consultancy Merlin Energy Resources to potentially develop the company's alternative fuel products. Quadrise...

AstraZeneca said the US Food and Drug Administration had granted breakthrough therapy designation for its chronic lymphocytic leukaemia drug. The breakthrough therapy designation (BTD) status for...

Sports apparel and equipment retailer Sports Direct said that Grant Thornton had resigned as its auditor. Sports Direct said that Grant Thornton had made the decision 'not to seek reappointment'...

AstraZeneca and Merck said their ovarian cancer drug combined with bevacizumab had improved survival rates, meeting its primary goal during clinical trials. Women who took Lynparza plus...