Broker Upgrades and Downgrades & Key UK Corporate Snapshots 18 January 2016

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Active Energy Group Plc (AEG) Announced that its AEG WoodFibre division has secured two significant new supply contracts for 2016, and that it is investing in a new softwood production line to augment its recently-upgraded hardwood processing facilities.

AFC Energy Plc (AFC.L) Announced that it had raised by way of the Subscription £2.47 million and that it was making the Offer to raise up to £1.13 million. The Offer closed for applications at 11.00 a.m. on 15 January 2016 and the Company is pleased to announce that it has received valid applications from Qualifying Shareholders for 20,503,271 shares (representing £4,100,654.20 at the Issue Price) and was therefore 3.6 times oversubscribed. Accordingly, after scaling back, the maximum number of 5,631,551 New Ordinary Shares will be issued to Qualifying Shareholders resulting in the Company raising £1.13 million before expenses, from the Offer, in addition to the £2.47 million raised from the Subscription, being an aggregate of £3.6m million before expenses.

Altona Energy Plc (ANR.L) Announced in its update on Subscription and Joint Venture Contributions that it expected to receive £0.5 million by way of subscription for 100 million ordinary shares in the company at a price of 0.5 pence per share, from Sino-Aus by mid-January 2016. In addition, on 16 December 2015, it was announced that, by 15 January 2016, Sino-Aus would pay its first tranche contribution into the Joint Venture Company, of AUD$5.4 million and Wintask Group Limited would pay its initial contribution of AUD$0.6 million. Qinfu Zhang, in his capacity as Chairman of Wintask, has confirmed that Wintask’s initial contribution will be made by 29 January 2016. Sino-Aus’ contribution will be made as soon as the necessary banking arrangements can be put in place.

Amec Foster Wheeler Plc (AMFW.L) Announced that Samir Brikho is stepping down as Chief Executive. Ian McHoul, Chief Financial Officer, has been appointed into the role of interim CEO with immediate effect and will chair the Group Leadership Team whilst the search for the new CEO is conducted.

Ariana Resources Plc (AAU.L) Announced the results of its drilling programme, completed during November, that 1,598 meters of new Reverse Circulation drilling identifies high-grade and near surface zones of mineralisation within the Kizilcukur vein system; all intercepts hit mineralisation within less than 60m from surface, best infill intercepts include, 8m @ 7.6g/t Gold + 194g/t Silver, 5m @ 3.5g/t Gold + 263g/t Silver and 11m @ 1.3g/t Gold + 73g/t Silver, 76 meters of rock-saw channel sampling also completed, with best results of 2.0m @ 10.5g/t Gold + 455g/t Silver, 2.7m @ 4.4g/t Gold + 229g/t and 2.5m @ 3.1g/t Gold + 177g/t Silver and new drilling data permits refinements to the geological model and will enable a revision of the JORC resource for Kizilcukur in order to assess its potential as a satellite operation to the Kiziltepe Mine.

Aurasian Minerals Plc (AUM.L) Announced that it has completed its due diligence and has posted an offer to the shareholders of Moroccan Minerals Ltd for the acquisition of all of the outstanding shares of the Jersey-based private exploration company.

Brady Plc (BRY.L) Announced in its trading statement for full year 2015 that trading was in line with market expectations, won four new contract since 17 December, cash on 31 December 2015 was £6.5 million, which is ahead of market expectations and cost cutting initiatives that were notified in the 30 November trading update have now been completed. Full year results are expected to be in line with current market forecasts.

BrainJuicer Group Plc (BJU.L) Announced, in its trading update for the financial year ended 31 December 2015, that trading was stronger in the second half of the year than in the first half. For the year as a whole, revenue increased by 2% to approximately £25.2 million, and gross profit by 4%. The impact of currency movements on the business as a whole was not material. Among its core markets, the US performed strongly with revenue increasing by approximately 21%. Revenue in the UK declined by 4%. Elsewhere, revenue declined in Continental Europe and in our relatively small Asian and Brazilian businesses. The modest increase in overall revenue masks the encouraging growth delivered by its core quantitative products and services – with growth estimated at 7% for the year. As anticipated the Group’s overall growth rate was dampened by the continued decline in revenue from its lower margin, less scalable Juice Generation qualitative research. Pre-tax profits for 2015 are expected to be approximately £4.5 million (2014: £4.3 million) in line with market expectations. Adjusted pre-tax profits, after adding back one-off charges incurred in H1 of £0.3 million and share-based payments of £0.2 million, are expected to be approximately £5.0 million. It has again proved highly cash generative this year. The Company returned £1.5 million to shareholders during 2015 via ordinary dividends and management option share buy backs, and ended 2015 with a cash balance of £6.3 million, equivalent to 48 pence per share, compared with £5.3 million in 2014. Also, it has no debt.

Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC.L) Announced today the details of the Exchange Ratio and the Alternative Exchange Ratio as if the Exchange Ratio Calculation Time were 18 January 2016. The company’s Shareholders should note that this is for illustrative purposes only and that the Exchange Ratio Calculation Time is not, and will not be, 18 January 2016. The Exchange Ratio Calculation Time, and accordingly the Exchange Ratio and the Alternative Exchange Ratio, will be determined as described in the Offer Announcement and as will be set out in the Scheme Document. The company’s Shareholders are advised to read the Scheme Document carefully once it has been despatched, which is currently expected to be within 4 months of the date of the Offer Announcement.

Ceres Power Holdings Plc (CWR.L) Announced that it has signed a new Joint Development Agreement with Honda R & D Co Ltd to jointly develop Solid Oxide Fuel Cell stacks using its unique metal supported Steel Cell technology for a range of potential power equipment applications. The company and Honda joint development will also include a third party who will consider the future mass production scale-up of the Steel Cell technology based on its manufacturing processes which represents an important advancement in the relationship.

Chariot Oil & Gas Ld (CHAR.L) Announced that in conjunction with its partners AziNam (20%), NAMCOR (10%) and Ignitus (5%), it has commenced a 3D seismic acquisition survey of approximately 2,600 square km in Blocks 2312 & 2412A offshore Namibia.

Christie Group Plc (CTG.L) Announced, in its trading statement for the year ended 31 December 2015, that the revenues will be in line with the market expectations while the operating profit will be slightly higher than the previous estimates. UK retail stocktaking division continued to witness market challenges as well as pricing pressure due to increase in the statutory minimum wage and related costs. However, it was offset by a robust performance across its transactional, advisory and financial businesses and also the other stocktaking operations.

Coal of Africa Limited (CZA.L) Announced that its South African company DRA Projects SA has been awarded the Optimisation Study and Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) package for Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL) Makhado coal project. The Makhado project is located in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, and is approximately 80 km from CoAL’s existing Vele Colliery. It is planned that both hard coking coal and thermal coal will be produced from the Makhado project for export and domestic consumption. Initially the operation will be an opencast mine, with potential for expansion to an underground operation in future years.

Cobham Plc (COB.L) Announced, that Simon Nicholls, who currently serves as Cobham’s Chief Financial Officer, will be leaving the company to take up the role of Chief Financial Officer of Wolseley plc. Simon will remain in his current role until his successor has been identified to ensure a smooth transition. It is anticipated that he will leave the company towards the end of 2016. The search to replace him is underway and a further announcement will be made once this process has been completed.

Condor Gold Plc (CNR.L) Announced that it has, with immediate effect, terminated its strategic review incorporating a formal sale process as defined by The Takeover Code.

easyHotel Plc (EZH.L) Announced that it confirms it has now been granted planning permission for a 116 room easyHotel at Bradley House in Manchester and the acquisition of the building has completed. Further, the hotel is expected to open in 2016/2017 financial year.

Egdon Resources Plc (EDR.L) Announced the commencement of drilling operations on the Keddington-5 conventional sidetrack development well in UK Onshore Licence PED005R located in Lincolnshire. Keddington-5 is a sidetrack of the Keddington-4 production well and is designed to target an area of the field where the sandstone reservoir has not been produced. The intent is to increase production and profitability from the field. Operations are expected to complete in early February. Egdon has previously drilled two horizontal sidetrack wells, which produce oil from two Carboniferous age sandstones at a depth of around 2,200 metres. Egdon farmed-down its interest in the Keddington Oil Field in August 2015 to Terrain Energy Limited and Union Jack Oil plc, reducing its working interest from 75% to 45% and reducing its paying interest on the Keddington-5 well to 15%.

Falkland Oil and Gas Limited (FOGL.L) Announced that the Scheme of Arrangement as per the announcement made on 24 November 2015 regarding the all-share merger with Rockhopper has come into effect after clearing all the approvals from the Court and after the delivery of Court order to Registrar of Companies.

Fastjet Plc (FJET.L) Announced that it has been granted permission by the authorities of South Africa and Zimbabwe to operate flights between Harare and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and Johannesburg in South Africa. The launch of these popular and currently underserved routes is a significant step forward for fastjet Zimbabwe. Also, it expects to receive additional international route approvals in the first quarter of 2016 which, when added to the key Johannesburg routes, will create a substantial fastjet Zimbabwe network.

Flowtech Fluidpower Plc (FLO.L) Announced in its unaudited Trading update ahead of the Group’s annual financial results for the year ended 31 December 2015, which will be announced on 12 April 2016 that Group revenue is expected to be 18% up on 2014 at approximately £44.7 million, gross margins remain robust and in line with management expectations and the Balance Sheet remained lowly geared with net debt expected to be £8.9 million.

Fusionex International Plc (FXI.L) Announced a multi-year contract win worth approximately $1 million for Fusionex Insights (GIANT) with a government agency from the Asian region tasked with developing information and communications technology (ICT) in the public sector.

GVC Holdings Plc (GVC.L) Announced the appointment of Nick Batram to the newly created role of Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy. Mr Batram is expected to take up his position at GVC in the second quarter of 2016.

Home Retail Group Plc (HOME.L) Announced, that it has entered into a share purchase agreement to sell Homebase to Bunnings (UK&I) Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Wesfarmers Limited for cash consideration of £340million. The Transaction realises good value for shareholders and will enable the remaining group (the “Retained Group”) to focus on the ongoing Transformation Plan at Argos. It intends to return net cash proceeds of approximately £200million to shareholders, after taking account of payments totalling £50million to the Home Retail Group Pension Scheme, and transaction, separation and restructuring costs of approximately £75million. The Transaction is subject, amongst other things, to approval by the syndicate of banks that provide the Group’s revolving credit facility of £250million and the Group’s shareholders, with completion expected in the first calendar quarter of 2016.

Horizon Discovery Group Plc (HZD.L) Announced, in its trading update ahead of its full year results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2015, that it expects full year 2015 revenues to be at least 2% ahead of the £19.8 million market consensus, representing growth of at least 69% (year ended 31 December 2014: £11.9 million). In addition, the Group is eligible to receive future R&D milestones of up to £208 million plus future product royalties, an increase of 32% over the prior year (year ended 31 December 2014: £158 million). The Group also expects to report a full year EBITDA loss that is a positive improvement to the £7.7 million market consensus as investment continues in the long term growth of the business consistent with our previously reported strategy. Year-end cash is expected to be reported at £25.1 million (year ended 31 December 2014: £18.5 million).

Ibstock Plc (IBST.L) Announced, in its trading update that the group continues to trade in line with expectations and it is expected that adjusted EBITDA (after adjusting for exceptional items, principally related to the costs of acquiring the operating entities in February 2015 and then through the Initial Public Offering in October 2015), will be in line with market expectations. Group revenue for the year ended 31 December 2015 was up 9% whilst revenue for the six months ended 31 December 2015 was up 7% compared with the second half of 2014. As at 31 December 2015, net debt was lower than management expectations. The Group would announce its preliminary results for the period ending 31 December 2015 on 10 March 2016.

Imperial Innovations Group Plc (IVO.L) Announced that it has committed £24.75 million to the new UCL Technology Fund launched today. This is the first investment fund that UCL (University College London) has established to commercialise its multidisciplinary research. Moreover, in the next five years the Fund is expected to invest up to £50 million to support ideas from academics in life sciences and physical sciences, and will be used for early-stage proof of concept funding, licensing opportunities and the formation of new spin-out companies.

International Greetings Plc (IGR.L) Announced, in its trading update that trading has continued to be strong during the Christmas period. Results remain in line with expectations with all regions trading profitably. As a result, the company is confident that the group is on target to deliver EPS growth for the full financial year ended 31 March 2016 in line with expectations.

IXICO Plc (IXI.L) Announced that it has recently been awarded four new contracts with leading pharmaceutical companies and a specialist biotechnology company, with a combined value of over £3.0 million. The contracts are for global clinical trials of novel drugs for Alzheimer’s disease which span the three major phases of drug development and are expected to run for the next two to four years, subject to the drugs successfully progressing through the clinical trials process. The award of these contracts builds on IXICO’s expertise in brain health following a long term contract for a Phase II/III global study in neurodegenerative disease and selection as the imaging analysis partner within The European Prevention of Alzheimer’s Dementia Initiative (EPAD), announced in 2015.

Litebulb Group Limited (LBB.L) Announced in its trading and financing update that the company has continued to trade in-line with the revised guidance provided in the announcement of 9 December 2015. The company expects revenues in the region of £31.0 million for the year to 31 December 2015, up significantly over the prior year and to report a positive adjusted EBITDA.

Lok’nStore Group Plc (LOK.L) Announced the agreement of a new banking facility on improved terms with Royal Bank of Scotland plc. The new A340.0 million five year revolving credit facility will replace the existing facility which was due to expire in October 2016, and will provide funding for site acquisitions and working capital. The margin on the new facility will be at the London Inter-Bank Offer Rate plus 1.40%-1.65% margin based on a loan to value covenant test (1.40% currently).

Medaphor Group Plc (MED.L) Announced that it has launched ScanTrainer Professional 2016 Edition and its subscription-based Cloud 2 service with its new Case Generation Engine. The new ScanTrainer Case Generation Engine will enable Cloud 2 subscribers to upload and publish their own patient scans and share these with other subscribers within their organisation or around the world. It will also include a new hardware and software enhancements which offer users a superior learning experience.

MX Oil Plc (MXO.L) Announced that Non-Executive Director, Nigel McKim, has been appointed as executive Chief Operating Officer with immediate effect. Wilhelmus Burgers has joined the Company’s executive committee as Technical Director. Nicholas Lee, who is currently a Non-Executive Director of MX Oil, is to become Non-Executive Chairman of the Company, with immediate effect. Moreover, the company’s directors announced that they have noted the recent share price movement and the speculation that the company is raising money at 1p which is the nominal price of its Ordinary Shares and are currently in dialogue with investors regarding a potential equity investment, alongside ongoing discussions for further debt investment as announced on 16 December 2015.

Nasstar Plc (NASA.L) Announced, in its trading statement for the year ended 31 December 2015, that the trading in the second half of the year yielded benefits derived from the integration of e-know.net, Kamanchi and Nasstar, while the acquisition of VESK towards the end of the year provided further drive. It expects the full year revenues and adjusted EBITDA to be in line with expectations. Group cash at year end is expected to be seen at £1.6 million, mainly due to stronger cash control which was achieved despite the added costs associated with the VESK acquisition. The group secured various prestigious new clients in the second half of the year outside its traditional sector like legal, finance and recruitment.

Paragon Entertainment Limited (PEL.L) Announced that it has entered into a joint representation agreement with Funlandia, a China-based designer and manufacturer of leisure and play equipment. The agreement will allow Paragon increased access to regional businesses, local trades and materials and trading licences for projects. Paragon is also working on a number of key branded product offerings that will utilise Funlandia’s leisure and play equipment which can then be sold worldwide through its representations in the Middle East, East Asia and South East Asia and Europe.

Phorm Corporation Limited (PHRM.L) Announced that it has raised nearly $1 million before expenses via a subscription for 44.8 million new ordinary shares of no par value each in the capital of the company at a price of 1.55p per Subscription Share. It intends to use the net proceeds raised from the subscription for the group’s general working capital purposes. The company, in its operational update, announced that its monthly average cash burn rate was $2.5 million per month for H1 2015 which was targeted to be reduced to an average monthly cash burn rate of approximately $1.3 million per month by December 2015. The board expects a further decrease in the company’s average cash burn rate to between $0.63 million and $0.71 million per month during 2016, with the forecast total cash requirement for 2016 being between $7.5 million and $8.5 million.

Photonstar LED Group Plc (PSL.L) Announced that it has been selected to install HalcyonTM in a Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (“RBS”), the international banking and financial services company, building as a part of its Go Green initiative. The trial is being funded by RBS as part of its initiative to source innovative solutions to address a range of environmental challenges. PhotonStar will be installing its intelligent wireless lighting control and energy monitoring system, HalcyonTM, to help reduce the energy consumption and environmental impact of the office building.

Portmeirion Group Plc (PMP.L) Announced, in its trading statement for the year ended 31 December 2015, that it expects the profit before tax to be slightly ahead of the market expectations. It expects the revenues to climb by 11% to £68 million compared to the previous year. The new kiln, announced last year, was installed and commissioned during 2015 within its timescale and budget without any disruption to existing production. The kiln will be brought into live production from the beginning of February to meet expected demand for UK manufactured product in 2016.

Premier African Minerals Limited (PREM.L) Announced the details of the Underground Implementation at its RHA Tungsten Mine (“RHA”), in respect of which the Company is the operator and holds a 49% interest. Underground development is based on an internal study prepared by RHA with input provided by Whaleside Shaft Sinkers Zimbabwe. The completion of the internal study by RHA supports the Board’s decision to investigate and accelerate underground development as discussed in previous announcements (15 September 2015 and 27 October 2015). The company mentioned that implementation study are as follows: Six month underground mining plan on 926 level while re-equipping of vertical shaft to 870 level implemented from November 2015; Estimated capital cost of $406,000; Project schedule for equipping vertical shaft hoist and commissioning of operations on 870 level remains on schedule for February 2016, and Positive operational cash flow from RHA (before capital expenditure and working capital) expected in spring 2016.

SAGA Plc (SAGA.L) Announced in a presentation that the company is holding a sell-side analyst briefing on Tuesday 26 January 2016. No new material information will be provided. The company will announce its preliminary results for the year ending 31 January 2016 on 19 April 2016.

Trinity Exploration & Production Plc (TRIN.L) Announced that it has agreed a further extension to the moratorium on principal repayments, relating to its outstanding debt balance of $13.0 million with its lender, until the 22nd of January 2016. It is currently discussing with the lender to secure a further extension of its credit facilities while the management expects a continued support, particularly following the announcement of the sale of substantially all of its onshore assets for $20.8 million.

Union Jack Oil Plc (UJO.L) Announced that drilling operations have commenced in respect of the Keddington-5 conventional sidetrack development well. The well is located in PEDL005(R) incorporating the producing Keddington oilfield, the Louth prospect and the North Somercotes prospect. The company acquired a 10% economic interest in PEDL005(R) (the “Licence”) from Egdon Resources UK Limited in September 2015

Universe Group Plc (UNG.L) Announced in its trading update for the financial year ended 31 December 2015, that trading in the second half of the year has been significantly ahead of the first half. The Board currently expects turnover for the year ended 31 December 2015 to be broadly in line with the prior year and that adjusted profit before tax will be in line with market expectations.

Wolseley Plc (WOS.L) Announced, that Ian Meakins, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) expects to retire on 31 August 2016 and that John Martin, who joined Wolseley in 2010 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), will succeed Ian as CEO. The Board is also pleased to announce the appointment of Simon Nicholls as CFO. Simon will join Wolseley following an appropriate notice period which is yet to be finalised.