SMALL CAP MOVERS: Velocys and Yü Group soar

Shares in Velocys, the sustainable fuels technology company, hit the heights this week after supply deals with IAG, the owner of British Airways, and Southwest Airlines.

The former covers the purchase by IAG’s constituent airlines, which also includes Aer Lingus and Iberia, of an expected 73million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel at a fixed price.

That deal covers one third of the company’s Bayou Fuels facility’s planned annual output while the rest will be taken up by Southwest Airlines.

Shares in Velocys more than doubled to 14.64p.

Velocys clinched supply deals with IAG, the owner of British Airways, and Southwest Airlines

Elsewhere in the world of green energy, Powerhouse Energy leapt 44 per cent to 6.05p after its development partner Hydrogen Utopia International signed a framework agreement with Linde Engineering, the German company that has been developing and optimising gas processing, separation and liquefaction technologies for 140 years.

Under the deal, Linde has been granted the exclusive right to supply HUI in HUI’s development of Powerhouse DMG technology particularly in Poland, Hungary and Greece where HUI holds exclusivity for promotion and marketing of DMG technology.

Did somebody mention hydrogen?

Sabien Technology, a company focused on building a portfolio of solutions in the heating, cooling, and transportation sectors, climbed 27 per cent to 30.5p after it signed heads of terms with Proton Technologies Canada in relation to a hydrogen processing licence within UK territories.

It’s been a tough year for energy suppliers with many of the smaller players going to the wall but maybe not such a bad one for the survivors. 

For instance, Yü Group, the independent supplier of gas, electricity and water to the UK corporate sector, advanced 24 per cent to 260p this week after it was has been appointed by the industry watchdog Ofgem as supplier of last resort for Ampoweruk and agreed to take on Ampoweruk’s electricity and gas customer book with effect from the start of this week.

ProPhotonix, a designer and manufacturer of LED illumination systems and laser diode modules, has agreed to a takeover by Exaktera, a holding company founded by Union Park Capital.

The terms value each ProPhotonix shares at roughly 8.7p (the acquisition is being made in US dollars), which led to a nice little 38 per cent jump this week in the share price to 7.75p, although it is less than four years since the shares were trading at 19.5p.

Another week, another period of strong demand for shares in Bens Creek Group, the owner of a metallurgical coal mine in West Virginia.

The company floated in mid-October and by the beginning of November had doubled in share price. This week the company took advantage of that share price strength by paying off a corporate adviser in shares rather than cash.

It was only 200,000 shares out of around 350million shares in issue but even so that would normally be enough to put a dent in the share price; not so on this occasion with the shares rising 39 per cent to 27.6p, compared to a flotation price of 27.6p.

One thing almost guaranteed to put a bit of oomph into a company’s share price is a director buying shares and so it proved with Mycelx Technologies this week, which rose 30 per cent to 75p after Thomas Lamb, the company chairman, bought 25,000 shares at 72p a pop.

It was Lamb’s first purchase of Mycelx shares and gives him a 0.13 per cent stake in the company.

Directa Plus, the producer and supplier of graphene nanoplatelets based products for use in consumer and industrial markets, got a special mention as a ‘Rising Star’ in in this year’s Company Excellence Awards hosted by the Italian Chamber of Commerce.

The accolade proved self-fulfilling as the shares rose this week by 26 per cent to 169.5p.

Eckoh, the global provider of secure payment products and customer contact solutions, finished the week 23 per cent heavier at 57.5p after it landed a contract worth at least $1.5million (£1.1million) with a leading global food and drink company.

Eckoh will provide secure payments services from its Cloud platforms to the new client’s global contact centre operations.

Full-year results from Bowleven went down about as well as an invitation to Oliver Cromwell’s Christmas party with the Africa focused oil and gas exploration group posting a $2million loss.

The shares shed close to a third of their value.

Volex, the provider of power products, has had a sparkling year but ran into profit taking this week after its half-year report failed to provide a fresh surge.

Underlying profit before tax shot up 22 per cent to $25.4million and the interim dividend was hiked to 1.2p from 1.1p but the market was perhaps hoping for a guidance to full-year profits, which was left unchanged.

The shares came off by 14 per cent to 405.25p.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk