EARNINGS AND TRADING: CRISM names EMV's Spicer as incoming chair
The following is a round-up of earnings and trading updates by London-listed companies, issued on Friday and Thursday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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FirstGroup PLC - Aberdeen, Scotland-based bus and rail transport provider - Announces that the reduction of its share premium account has been confirmed by the Court of Session in Edinburgh. The capital reduction was approved by shareholders at FirstGroup's annual general meeting on July 30. Company says the capital reduction will create additional distributable reserves of £500.0 million, "providing greater flexibility to support future dividends and share buybacks." It will become effective once the court order is registered with the Registrar of Companies.
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Oberon AIM VCT PLC - London-based trust which specialises in AIM-listed companies - Issues results for the first six months of 2026. Reports net asset value per share of 22.1 pence at June 30, down 16% from 26.4p at December 31. Says the FTSE AIM All-Share Index rose by 0.8% over the same period. Investees include Light Science Technologies Holdings PLC, whose stock fell to 1.7p from 4.7p within the six months, and Audioboom Group PLC, which fell to 450p from 760p. Oberon Senior Fund Manager Simon Like notes that "our investable universe is confined to the younger, smaller and earlier-stage end of the market, while the index is weighted by market capitalisation and driven by its largest and most mature constituents, many of which we could not own." Chair Geoffrey Gamble says the decline is "disappointing," with its portfolio not helped by "high volatility" in commodities and "ongoing geopolitical uncertainty". Adds that "while the short-term dip in performance in the first half is of course concerning, we still firmly believe in the quality of the individual holdings in the portfolio and that the decline in their share prices in this period represents a compelling buying opportunity."
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abrdn Property Income Trust Ltd - Guernsey-registered investor in UK real estate - NAV per share is 2.98p at June 30, down 6.4% from 3.19p at December 31. The trust is in the process of a winding-up, and Chair Mike Balfour says it remains "firmly focused on...disposing of its remaining asset, Far Ralia, at an appropriate value and on acceptable terms." Says 1.59p per share of the NAV relates to Far Ralia. Reiterates that establishment of the woodland at Far Ralia has progressed as planned, with planting complete and the initial programme of remedial restocking of failed saplings having been undertaken, and that capital expenditure remains in line with expectations. Says investment manager and its selling agent "remain actively engaged with potential purchasers," but that it does not have "sufficient visibility to conclude that a sale is imminent."
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DXS International PLC - Leicestershire, England-based healthcare information and clinical decision support systems provider - Says it will now release its full-year results on Tuesday, September 22, having previously scheduled the announcement for Friday.
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Tap Global Group PLC - London-based cryptocurrency payment and settlement operator - Proposes conditional placing, starting with immediate effect, to raise at least £1.0 million before expenses, at 1.0p per share. Says it will principally use the net proceeds to acquire digital assets like bitcoin, ethereum and solana, for its balance sheet reserve. Chief Executive Officer Arsen Toroisian intends to subscribe for 17.5 million shares at the placing price. "The board believes there is an opportunity now to begin to accumulate digital assets at a significant discount to the peak and generate income on those holdings from the first deployment via a proven yield product – Tap Earn," Toroisian comments. "We are already generating income on over USD5.6 million of digital asset deposits in the Tap Earn product...Tap aims to build the UK's largest income-generating digital asset treasury to sit alongside an established, revenue generating digital finance platform. We are excited to launch this placing to support that goal."
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CRISM Therapeutics Corp - British Virgin Islands-based pharmaceutical firm - Appoints Charles Spicer on Thursday as non-executive chair, effective from October 1. Andrew Webb will subsequently step down as interim executive chair and resume his role as CEO. Spicer is also non-executive chair at EMV Capital PLC, and served in the same role at Creo Medical Group PLC for eight years. "We are delighted to welcome Charles to the board of CRISM...Charles joins us as patient recruitment is underway for our phase 2 clinical trial in glioblastoma and our pipeline in prostate cancer is progressing well," Webb comments. "His track record in guiding AIM-quoted healthcare companies through clinical scale-up, capital markets execution and commercial growth will be invaluable to CRISM."
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