Small caps delivered a dense mix of capital raises, upgraded guidance and resource upgrades on Wednesday. Sundae Bar AI tapped the market for growth capital while Empresaria and Brave Bison both posted sharply improved first-half numbers that lifted their shares, and Central Asia Metals trebled profit as its Cygnus deal edges forward. Elsewhere, a run of resource and drilling updates across the mining space, from Mila Resources to Cornish Metals, underlined how active the sector's exploration and financing news flow remains even as macro headlines stay quiet.
Sundae Bar raises £500,000 in placing at 4p
Sundae Bar AI (AIM:SBAR), the enterprise AI platform for discovering, deploying and managing AI tools, has raised £500,000 before expenses through a placing of 12.5m new shares at 4p each. The shares priced at roughly a 4% discount to the 4.15p mid-market close on 25 August, with the stock itself trading at 4.015p, down 3.25%, in the wake of the announcement.
The proceeds are earmarked for accelerating commercial growth, funding product development, customer acquisition and platform expansion. The placing is conditional on admission, expected at 8.00am on or roughly 1 September, when the new shares begin trading on AIM. Post-admission, issued share capital will reach 442.49m shares, meaning the new stock adds roughly 2.8% to the count, a modest but non-trivial dilution for a company at this stage.
The raise follows Sundae Bar's integration of its commercial marketplace with Subnet 121, a move designed to help convert customer demand into developer-driven solutions. The relatively small sum raised, £500,000 before expenses, points either to tight near-term cash needs or investor appetite at the current valuation.
The real test now is execution: whether this modest capital injection is sufficient to scale the Subnet 121 flywheel into recurring commercial revenue, or whether Sundae Bar will need to return to the market again before that thesis can be proven out. Investors have so far responded cautiously, with the shares slipping on the day of the announcement rather than rallying on the growth narrative.
Empresaria lifts full-year profit guidance after strong first half
Empresaria Group (AIM:EMR), the international specialist staffing and recruitment group, raised its full-year profit guidance on Wednesday, with shares climbing 3.52% to 25.88p. Adjusted profit before tax for the year to 31 December is now expected to be at least £6.2m, up from the £5.2m floor flagged in a 28 July trading update, on the back of better-than-expected cost discipline and tighter management oversight.
Net fee income rose 5% in the six months to 30 June, the first half-year growth since 2022, and 10% on a constant-currency, like-for-like basis, led by Global workforce solutions and Operational outsourcing. Adjusted operating profit jumped 135% to £4m with all three service lines growing, while Specialist recruitment swung to a £0.2m profit from a £0.3m loss a year earlier. Adjusted profit before tax climbed 256% to £3.2m, and net debt held broadly flat at £17m following April's disposal of Skillhouse Staffing Solutions.
"Our first half year performance provides us with confidence in delivering profitable growth across all parts of the group during the rest of the year," said Nigel Marsh, Chief Executive.
The scale of the upgrade, and the return to fee income growth after a three-year drought, marks a genuine inflection point for a business that has spent recent years trimming and restructuring. With debt stable and every division now profitable, Empresaria's credibility with investors on delivering sustained recovery, rather than one-off cost cuts, is being rebuilt.
Kakuzi profit slumps on lower avocado crop and weak macadamia market
Kakuzi (LSE:KAKU), the Kenya-based agricultural producer of avocados, macadamia, tea, blueberries and forestry products, reported avocado operating profit of Ksh 215.9m (roughly £1.22m) for the six months to 30 June, down sharply from Ksh 394.9m (£2.24m) a year earlier. Shares sit at 0.925p. A well-supplied global avocado market pressured prices late in the period, compounded by a smaller-than-expected crop and disrupted shipping routes.
Macadamia fared worse still, with operating profit falling to Ksh 68.2m (£360,000) from Ksh 318.8m (£1.8m) in the first half of 2025, as rising global supply and weaker demand hit prices hard. Kakuzi also flagged exceptionally dry conditions at the end of 2025 and disruption from the Middle East conflict, warning that full-year results are now expected to come in "at least 25%" below last year. Blueberries were the bright spot, with operating profit rising to Ksh 15.1m from Ksh 13.4m.
The breadth of the downgrade, spanning its two largest crops, signals that Kakuzi's diversification into blueberries and tea is not yet large enough to offset weakness in its core avocado and macadamia lines. With a 25% full-year profit warning now on the table, the market will be watching whether pricing recovers into the second half or whether structural oversupply in both crops proves more persistent.
Brave Bison net revenue nearly doubles in first half
Brave Bison Group (AIM:BBSN), the marketing and technology partner for global brands, reported first-half net revenue of £23.9m, up 98% from £12m a year earlier, with shares up 4.56% to 83.65p. Adjusted profit before tax rose 120% to £4.1m from £1.9m, while adjusted basic earnings per share climbed 31% to 3.7p.
Growth came from accretive acquisitions, strong trading in the sport and entertainment division, and double-digit organic growth at MiniMBA, the marketing training business bought in August 2025. Scalable, platform-based solutions including MiniMBA generated 41% of Group divisional EBITDA and 32% of net revenue, reflecting the higher-margin economics of that part of the business. Adjusted EBITDA margin held at 19%, statutory profit before tax rose to £2.1m from £0.1m, and net cash, excluding lease liabilities, stood at £4.7m at 30 June, up from £4.3m at year-end.
"This has been another period of momentum for Brave Bison, with net revenue nearly doubling and Adjusted PBT up 120%, both ahead of our July trading update," said Oliver Green, Executive Chairman. The consistent outperformance against its own trading updates, coupled with MiniMBA's rising contribution to EBITDA, suggests Brave Bison's acquisition-led model is now compounding rather than merely adding scale, a meaningfully different investment case from a pure roll-up.
Faron's cash pile doubles ahead of Phase 2b MDS trial launch
Faron Pharmaceuticals, the clinical-stage biopharma, ended June with EUR 32m in cash after completing a EUR 40.1m rights issue. The fundraising doubles the company's cash position and gives it runway to advance its pipeline through a key clinical milestone.
The proceeds position Faron to start its randomised Phase 2b BEXERA trial in higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome in the second half of 2026. Locking in funding ahead of that trial launch removes a key overhang for a clinical-stage name, where financing risk typically weighs heaviest just before pivotal data reads.
Suncrest Gold's convertible note raise oversubscribed at $1.02m
Suncrest Gold, backed by Hot Rocks Investments, has secured an oversubscribed $1.02m convertible note round. The company has also lodged a new tenement application in Western Australia and rebranded ahead of a planned ASX listing.
The oversubscription suggests reasonable investor appetite for the story despite its early stage, while the tenement application and rebrand point to a company actively building out its project portfolio and market profile ahead of a dual-listing push.
Pri0r1ty Intelligence names Graham Duncan interim CFO
Pri0r1ty Intelligence Group (PR1), trading at 1.175p, has appointed Graham Duncan as interim Chief Financial Officer from 1 September, replacing Daniel Maling, who steps down from the CFO role to become a non-executive director.
The reshuffle keeps Maling's experience on the board in an advisory capacity while handing day-to-day finance responsibility to Duncan, a transition designed to maintain continuity at a small-cap where boardroom stability often matters as much to investors as the numbers themselves.
Nexteq's Densitron wins new EV display customer
Nexteq (NXQ), up 7.24% to 48.26p, said its Densitron division has secured a new customer for electric delivery vehicle display solutions, marking a fresh foothold in automotive electronics.
Production volumes are expected to build over three years, giving Nexteq a multi-year revenue tail from the win rather than a one-off order, a pattern typical of automotive electronics supply contracts where qualification cycles are long but volumes scale steadily once secured.
KRM22 wins new Limits Manager contract, ARR hits £8m
KRM22 (KRM), the AIM-listed risk management software firm, rose 5.08% to 31.0p after signing a two-year cross-sale deal with an existing futures broker client for its Limits Manager product.
The contract lifts annual recurring revenue by £0.5m since December, taking total ARR to £8m, a steady build that reflects the company's strategy of deepening relationships with existing clients rather than relying solely on new logo wins.
TPXimpact secures £24m combined contract wins from UK
Tpximpact Holdings (TPX), up 5.59% to 85.0p, landed a combined £24m in UK public sector contract wins, including a £19m uplift from HM Land Registry and a new £5m British Library contract.
The British Library win is the largest single deal in the history of manifesto, the digital agency TPXimpact acquired, underlining the growing scale of public sector digital transformation spending flowing through the group's platform.
4basebio signs marketing deal with viral vector CDMO Genezen
4basebio (4BB), the Cambridge biotech, rose 6.38% to 500.0p after agreeing a non-exclusive marketing collaboration with Genezen, a viral vector contract development and manufacturing organisation.
Under the deal, 4basebio will supply its synthetic, cell-free DNA platform to Genezen for use by drug developers building viral vector manufacturing programmes, extending the reach of its technology into a growing segment of the gene therapy supply chain without requiring 4basebio to build out manufacturing capacity itself.
Central Asia Metals profit trebles as Cygnus deal advances
Central Asia Metals (CAML) reported an 89% jump in first-half EBITDA and raised its dividend, with shares climbing 9.61% to 183.71p, as the company pushes ahead with its acquisition of Cygnus Metals' Chibougamau copper-gold project.
The dividend increase alongside the trebled profit signals management confidence in cash generation even as capital is committed to the Cygnus deal, suggesting the company sees the acquisition as additive to, rather than a drain on, shareholder returns.
H-Power's LC30 fuel cell secures certification for CE Mark
H-Power (HPOW), up 2.63% to 11.064p, said its LC30 fuel cell generator has secured an Attestation of Conformity from TÜV SÜD, clearing the path toward the CE Mark required to sell into Europe.
The certification milestone removes a key regulatory barrier to European market entry for the LC30, opening a significantly larger addressable market for the company's fuel cell generator technology.
AEW UK REIT drops bid pursuit for Alternative Income REIT
AEW UK REIT (AEWU), trading at 106.6p and up 0.76%, said it will not make a firm offer for Alternative Income REIT after Glenstone, AIRE's largest shareholder, declined to back the proposed tie-up.
The withdrawal ends a consolidation attempt in the REIT sector, leaving Alternative Income REIT to continue as a standalone vehicle and underscoring how shareholder concentration can block even well-supported combination proposals.
Arkadian completes access route to key Clogau gold target
Arkadian Strategic Metals (AKN), down 8.0% to 0.0115p, has installed ladders and platforms opening direct access to the historically productive Jack Williams stope at its Clogau-St David's gold mine.
Inspection work is due to start in early September, marking the next practical step toward reassessing a historically significant part of the mine, even as the shares continued to slide on the day.
Mila Resources doubles gold resource at Kathleen Valley
Mila Resources (MILA) jumped 12.33% to 1.685p after upgrading the JORC mineral resource at its Coffey gold deposit to 41,300 ounces, roughly double the estimate from November 2020.
The resource upgrade materially strengthens the project's scale credentials and gives Mila a larger base from which to plan future development studies.
Shuka Minerals hits 70% zinc grade in new Kabwe orebody
Shuka Minerals (SKA) rose 6.37% to 3.2975p after completing its final exploratory drill hole south of Kabwe's Speaks and Mine Club zones, returning a peak grade of 69.6% zinc.
Grades approaching 70% zinc are exceptionally high by industry standards, reinforcing the potential scale and quality of mineralisation being defined at Kabwe.
Uru Metals defines high-grade zone at Zeb nickel project
URU Metals (URU), down 0.89% to 3.915p, said 3D geological modelling has identified a well-developed higher-grade PGE mineralisation domain at its Zeb Nickel Project in South Africa.
The finding sets up the next phase of drilling as the company works toward a maiden resource estimate for the project.
Hydrogen Utopia engages InEnTec's Surma for SAF push
Hydrogen Utopia International (HUI), at 2.6p, has engaged InEnTec's Surma technology as part of a push into sustainable aviation fuel production from waste.
"Bringing Surma's technology and expertise to the GCC and the UK, converting waste into jet fuel, is nothing short of the fulfilment of a dream I have long held," said Aleksandra Binkowska, Chief Executive. The move extends Hydrogen Utopia's waste-to-value ambitions beyond its core hydrogen focus into the growing sustainable aviation fuel market.
Jubilee Metals picks buyer for $35m waste project sale
Jubilee Metals Group (JLP), up 8.0% to 2.7p, has selected a preferred purchaser to acquire its Large Waste Project in Zambia for $35m.
The disposal redirects capital toward Jubilee's core mining and processing operations, sharpening the group's focus and providing a cash injection to support its primary growth priorities.
Gelion drone battery cells pass QinetiQ testing
Gelion (GELN), up 4.86% to 18.875p, said independently built lithium-sulfur pouch cells using its NES cathode material completed representative drone mission profiles under QinetiQ testing, including repeated high-power take-off and landing cycles.
Successful third-party validation of the cells' performance under demanding drone-mission conditions is a meaningful proof point for Gelion's battery chemistry as it seeks to commercialise the technology for defence and aerospace applications.
Eden Research posts wider loss on extended 15-month period
Eden Research (EDEN), down 2.13% to 2.3p, reported revenue of £4.9m and an operating loss of £2.9m for an extended 15-month reporting period, as regulatory approvals expanded across the US, France and Chile.
The wider loss reflects the longer reporting window rather than a straightforward deterioration in trading, while the geographic expansion of regulatory approvals broadens the addressable market for the AIM-listed biopesticide developer's products.
Kendrick starts metallurgical test work on Teufelskuppe project
Kendrick Resources (KEN), up 1.75% to 7.25p, has engaged German consultancy Anzaplan to begin early-stage processing analysis on samples from its Teufelskuppe rare earths project in Namibia.
The metallurgical work is an early but necessary step in establishing whether the rare earths mineralisation can be economically processed, ahead of any decision on further project development.
Andrada strikes 24 metres at 2% lithium at Namibia project
Andrada Mining (ATM), up 6.05% to 6.4688p, reported its fourth drill batch at Lithium Ridge deepened the high-grade lithium zone while confirming tin and tantalum credits alongside it.
The polymetallic credits alongside the lithium intercept add a further revenue dimension to the project, potentially improving its overall economics beyond a single-commodity lithium play.
Cora Gold extends stream-to-debt swap window to October 2027
Cora Gold (CORA), down 2.46% to 9.51p, has pushed back the deadline for replacing half its $120m gold stream with senior debt as talks with West African banks continue.
The extension buys Cora Gold more time to finalise financing terms while Mali advances a key permit renewal, reducing near-term pressure on the company even as the underlying refinancing negotiation remains unresolved.
Cornish Metals secures $210m bond and bridge financing for South Crofty
Cornish Metals, the Cornwall-focused tin developer, raised an oversubscribed $210m senior secured bond alongside up to £52m in bridge facilities as it edges toward a final investment decision on its South Crofty project.
The oversubscription of the bond and the scale of the combined financing package represent a significant de-risking step for South Crofty, addressing much of the funding overhang that has weighed on the project's path to development.
Rockhopper reserves upgrade lifts Sea Lion value by $788m
Rockhopper Exploration (RKH), up 0.27% to 73.2p, said an updated independent report on the Sea Lion field raised the net present value of its 35% stake by roughly $788m, driven by an accelerated development plan and higher resource volumes.
The scale of the valuation uplift, against a share price move that barely registered on the day, highlights a disconnect between the updated resource economics and the market's current pricing of Rockhopper's Falklands stake.
