Technology names delivered a mixed but news-dense session, with a heavyweight run of half-year results dominating the tape alongside a defensive fundraise and a boardroom change. Concurrent Technologies and IQE both posted sharply improved first-half numbers, Team Internet Group returned to operating profit for the first time in two years, and Oxford Metrics confirmed a leadership succession following its chief executive's departure for health reasons. Tern's steeply discounted open offer, aimed at shoring up its venture portfolio against dilutive "pay-to-play" terms, set the tone as the day's most consequential development.
Tern underwrites £509k rescue raise for IoT portfolio
Tern (LSE:TERN), the AIM-listed investor in Internet of Things technology businesses, is raising approximately £509,368 before expenses through an underwritten open offer, with shares falling 16.667% to 1.0p on the news. Qualifying shareholders can subscribe for 56.6m new shares at 0.90p each, a 25% discount to Tern's 1.20p close on 4 September, on a one-for-16 basis, with CMC Markets UK underwriting the full offer.
The new shares will represent 5.88% of an enlarged share capital of 962.14m once admitted. Tern's board says the money is needed to protect stakes in Device Authority, FVRS and Talking Medicines from "pay-to-play" dynamics increasingly common among venture capital syndicates, where continued participation is tied to anti-dilution or reset terms that penalise investors who don't follow their money. The company spent roughly £1m on operations and £0.5m on portfolio investments in the year to 31 December 2025, having already cut costs from 9 October 2025 and exited its funding commitment to Sure Valley Ventures Enterprise Capital Fund LP. The open offer closes 22 September, with admission expected 24 September.
"Failing to fund alongside co-investors risks its stakes being severely diluted or possibly even eliminated," said Tern's board, in explaining the rationale for the raise.
The raise is small in absolute terms but signals the pressure facing minority-stake venture investors as later-funding-round dynamics turn punitive for those who sit out. Tern's reiterated pledge to return at least 70% of net proceeds from any single portfolio exit above £1m to shareholders remains the long-term thesis, but this open offer shows the board judged the near-term dilution risk to its existing stakes as the more urgent threat to protect against, even at the cost of a heavily discounted, dilutive raise of its own.
Concurrent Technologies lifts guidance after record order intake
Concurrent Technologies (AIM:CNC), the AIM-listed designer of embedded computing systems for defence, aerospace and industrial markets, reported first-half revenue up 10% to £23.2m for the six months to 30 June, with shares rising 5.66% to 280.0p. Profit before tax climbed 19% to £3.2m, from £2.7m a year earlier.
Order intake surged 110% to £46.9m, already matching the whole of the 2025 financial year, and included the group's largest single contract to date, worth approximately £17m, from a long-standing European customer. Year-to-date order intake has now exceeded £68m with four months of the year still to run. "We have delivered another record first half, reflecting the continued execution of our strategy and the strength of demand for our high-performance computing solutions," said chief executive Miles Adcock. The Systems division, built roughly the 2023 acquisition of Phillips Aerospace, turned profitable for the first time.
The scale of the order backlog, more than triple the pace of last year's intake, gives Concurrent visibility well beyond the current financial year and validates the Phillips Aerospace acquisition now that Systems has crossed into profitability. With defence and aerospace demand for high-performance computing showing no signs of slowing, the order book increasingly looks like the more reliable guide to the company's trajectory than the half-year income statement alone.
IQE revenue jumps, profitability swings positive
IQE (AIM:IQE), the AIM-listed compound semiconductor wafer supplier, reported first-half revenue of £64.6m, up 43% year-on-year from £45.3m, even as shares slipped 2.04% to 46.48p. Adjusted EBITDA turned positive at £6m, against a £0.4m loss in the same period last year.
The Cardiff-based group's photonics division led the recovery, with revenue up 45% to £38.5m on funding releases for US military and defence programmes and continued growth in AI and data centre markets, while wireless revenue rose 40% to £26m on market share gains and new customer platform qualifications. Cash and cash equivalents stood at £41.6m at 30 June, with the group moving to an adjusted net cash position of £30.2m, reversing adjusted net debt of £23.5m a year earlier following its strategic review and fundraising. "I am pleased to report a strong first half performance, with more than 40% revenue growth year-on-year across our core markets driving profitability," said chief executive Jutta Meier.
The swing from net debt to net cash is the more telling number here: it gives IQE balance-sheet flexibility it lacked a year ago, even as reported operating cashflow fell to £1.2m from £3.6m after working-capital outflows and restructuring costs. The negative share reaction despite the strong headline growth suggests the market is weighing the cash conversion gap against the revenue recovery story.
Team Internet returns to operating profit in H1
Team Internet Group (AIM:TIG), the AIM-listed internet company generating recurring revenue from domain identity and discovery services, posted an operating profit of $3m for the six months to 30 June, its first half-year operating profit since H1 2024. Shares stood at 42.0p. That compares with a $7m operating loss a year earlier and a $42.9m loss in the second half of 2025.
Gross revenue fell to $179.1m from $263.9m a year earlier, reflecting the completed transition of the Search segment, while net revenue dropped to $61m from $72.8m as gross margin rose to 34.1% from 27.6%. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $19.5m, down from $24.6m, with the higher-margin DIS (Domains, Identity and Search) segment taking a larger share of overall results. Net debt rose to $117.6m from $87.6m at end-December, driven by the non-renewal of a registry contract within DIS and $14.8m of scheduled debt repayments. "Trading in the first half was in line with market expectations: DIS grew strongly, Comparison is growing into our second earnings pillar, Search returned to profit in June, and the Group delivered its first half-year operating profit in two years," said chief executive Michael Riedl.
The return to operating profit marks a genuine inflection after a difficult 2025, but the rising net debt load and shrinking top line show the transition away from legacy Search revenue is still working through the balance sheet. Whether Comparison can scale into a genuine second earnings pillar, as Riedl frames it, will determine if this profit return is durable or a one-period bounce.
Acuity RM lands second defence contract in a month
Acuity RM Group (ACRM), shares of which rose 3.571% to 0.725p, has expanded a prime defence contractor's deployment of its STREAM® platform to five instances, adding more than £160,000 in annual recurring revenue.
The expansion opens a pipeline across a multinational defence programme, marking the group's second defence win inside a month and reinforcing recurring revenue as the core of its growth strategy within an increasingly active defence-technology spending environment.
BATM lands second $1m order from US broadband customer
BATM Advanced Communications (BVC), up 1.49% to 11.9248p, has secured a $1m Carrier Ethernet order from a top-10 US cable and broadband provider.
The order follows an initial $0.5m order delivered earlier this year, doubling the customer relationship's value and pointing to a broadening rollout of BATM's networking equipment across the operator's infrastructure.
Oxford Metrics names Stefan Lampa as new CEO
Oxford Metrics (OMG), the smart sensing group whose shares eased 1.03% to 38.6p, said chief executive Imogen O'Connor is stepping down immediately for health reasons.
Robotics veteran Stefan Lampa will take over as chief executive in December, giving the board a clear succession timeline even as it manages an unplanned handover in the interim.
Dianomi returns to revenue growth in first half
Dianomi (DNM), trading at 26.0p, posted a 2% rise in first-half revenue alongside a sharply narrower EBITDA loss, marking a return to growth for the digital advertising group.
Management said the momentum has extended into the second half, suggesting the improvement is not a one-off but the start of a more sustained recovery in trading conditions.
