Launching full-scale production in the midst of UK earnings season, the Alliance News team was never going to be wanting for interesting company news to cover over the past two weeks. The ALL Professional service is still ramping up, but has been running at an average pace of 300 news items per day, reaching a peak of 337 items on a particularly hectic day Thursday last week.
This week saw big news from large-caps such as Barclays, Prudential, BT, ENRC, and IAG. But not surprisingly the most interesting activity came from the small caps.
- Software firm Bglobal was put up for sale after its founder and chairman was ousted by the board due to underperformance. The CFO, who is the founder’s son, also was suspended.
- Touchstone Gold, which recently lost its CEO and two board directors, reported losses from its Colombian gold mines had tripled in the first half. The shares nearly halved Thursday in response.
- Hirco, India’s largest residential builder, asked for its shares to be suspended from trading on AIM, following allegations that its indirect affiliate Sunny Vista Realtors has failed to meet its debt obligations.
But it isn’t just about the volume of news stories, but the quality of the news reporting, and the Alliance News team delivered a string of exclusive interviews as well.
Tom McIvor spoke to IMIC Chief Executive Ousmane Kane about the iron miner’s goal to become a pan-African producer in four or five years following its acquisition of Afferro Mining PLC. Kane looks to have the track record to succeed. An experienced mining executive, Kane joined IMIC earlier this year, bringing a CV that includes stints at the African Development Bank and a tenure as the Finance Minister of Mauritania. IMIC reported that pretax losses tripled in the year to June 30 as administration costs – including the cost of recruiting Kane – rose while it has yet to earn any revenues, but the company is confident. “We expect to begin producing in four or five years,” Kane told McIvor. “We have a long-term vision and are confident in our strategy but are willing to listen to the investors. We will succeed, it’s time for investors to come.”
After RapidCloud International listed on AIM this week, Hana Stewart-Smith spoke to Chairman David Cotterell about how the Malaysia-based website hosting and services firm sees the future of cloud computing. Cotterell said he is expecting continuing government investment in new broadband infrastructure to continue to drive growth in coming years, and thinks the entry of big global players into RapidCloud’s markets won’t harm its business. “There’s huge demand, there’s plenty for everybody, but we have to make sure we get more than our fair share,” Cotterell said.
Stewart-Smith also spoke with TyraTech Chief Executive Bruno Jactel, who said the AIM-listed maker of insecticides and pesticides is in advanced talks with potential partners for its personal products, having just struck a deal with Novartis to distribute its animal health products.