SMALL CAP MOVERS: London BTC launches gold hedging strategy

There are few storytellers and yarn spinners as deft as the small cap market’s perennial dealmakers. 

For every cycle, trend and fad, some closely followed execs tend to find an angle for the small cap investment audience.

So it is then, that as gold smashes through $5,000 an ounce and Bitcoin remains ‘off the boil’, that David Lenigas presents an opportunity and a hedge for shareholders in his vehicle the London BTC Company.

London BTC (LSE:BTC) on Friday announced it had picked up options over gold tenements in Western Australia, giving it a chance to acquire acreage hosting the historic Chance gold mine. 

At the same time, the small cap firm (valued at around £9.5 million currently) said it would potentially also set up a special purpose vehicle in the US to acquire gold resource assets there too, alongside possible expansions to bitcoin mining operations.

‘We like Bitcoin and we like gold, and by linking the two we feel we could create a very exciting platform for growth,’ Lenigas explained cogently via RNS.

With an eye to future dealmaking, Lenigas added: ‘Great gold tenements can be run up the value curve and either developed or sold, and these funds could be used to make us bigger in Bitcoin much quicker.’

Evidently, investors following the shares may not have been massively wowed, partly because a move like this had been flagged in November. Nonetheless, the shares did see some support – with the price up around 3 per cent on the day.

Across the small cap market over the week, the trend was moderately lower with the FTSE AIM 100 down around 1 per cent and the AIM All-Share Index losing 0.77 per cent over the past five sessions – to 3,885 (AIM1) and 818 (AXX) respectively.

That said, there was of course some exceptional small-cap volatility to prove the rule. Transense Technologies (LSE:TRT) shares fell around 35 per cent on Friday after telling investors that the ‘pace of growth is below market expectations,’ primarily due to delays in new customer on-boarding, and that royalties from its tyre-monitoring Bridgestone iTrack platform would be some 10 per cent less than previously forecast.

Giving more detail, the Oxfordshire-based sensors and measurement specialist cautioned investors that revenue for its two trading divisions, SAWsense and Translogik, is expected to have grown by at least 30 per cent, but overall profitability would be ‘materially below market expectations’.

Elsewhere, Empyrean Energy PLC (AIM:EME) shares rocketed on Friday with the news that it had signed a binding term sheet with Conrad Asia Energy to settle a cash call dispute – and as a result, the AIM-quoted firm can retain economic exposure to the Mako gas field, and the Duyung production sharing contract in Indonesia, without future direct cash call obligations.

The energy minnow also said first gas from Mako is currently targeted for late in 2027.

This past week’s other big risers included Sancus Lending Group (LSE:LEND), which rose about 337 per cent after a trading update pointed to a stronger 2025.

The lender reported new facilities of £212 million, up from £108 million in 2024. It expects 2025 revenue up 32 per cent to £22.1 million and a swing to more than £1 million of pre-tax profit.

Shares in Ovoca Bio (LSE:OVB), which practically had been a shell, jumped about 59 per cent as its shares resumed trading on AIM following a reverse takeover. The completed acquisition of assets in Morocco will see it renamed Talisman Metals and transformed into a copper explorer.

Tiger Alpha (LSE:TIR) gained about 24 per cent after unveiling a strategic reset and a new funding.

Inspiration Healthcare (LSE:IHC) climbed about 17 per cent after its Airon unit signed a three-year purchasing agreement with a large US healthcare provider. The deal included an initial order for 150 ventilators, as well as covering consumables and service revenue.

Great Western Mining (LSE:GWMO) advanced about 16 per cent after reporting tungsten results from sampling in Nevada, which it followed up with a £3.25mln fundraising on Friday.

Bradda Head Lithium moved higher after signing a binding option-to-joint-venture agreement with Rio Tinto’s Kennecott over the Whistlejacket lithium property in Arizona.

The deal provides a phased route to earn up to a 60% interest, subject to shareholder approval.

Arrow Exploration reported that its 50 per cent-owned Mateguafa-8 appraisal well on the Tapir Block in Colombia has been placed on production. The well was flowing at around 230 barrels of oil per day gross on a restricted rate after completion in the Carbonera C9 formation.

Bango said Japanese telco KDDI had selected its Digital Vending Machine to offer subscription bundles to povo2.0 pre-paid customers. The company highlighted that its platform is designed to simplify bundling and speed the rollout of new services.

Active Energy Group signed non-binding heads of terms with UAE partners for a proposed joint venture vehicle, Active Mining Group. The company said the structure is intended to support its proposed 100MW UAE strategic plan.

accesso Technology Group said 2025 revenue is expected to be slightly ahead of market expectations at about $155 million. It forecast EBITDA margins approaching 15% and reported year-end net cash of $30 million.

Poolbeg Pharma relayed that a peer-reviewed paper from its POLB 001 LPS human challenge trial had been published in Frontiers in Immunology. The company said the publication reported reductions in key inflammatory biomarkers and that POLB 001 was safe and well tolerated across all dose levels.

Among the week’s fallers, meanwhile, EQTEC dropped about 20 per cent after setting out a balance sheet reset and strategic pivot. The company announced £5.8 million of debt was being restructured, and it also announced a £1.3 million and said it plans to acquire copper-gold projects in Australia.

Cordel Group slipped about 20 per cent after interim numbers showed weaker trading. First-half revenue fell 24% to £1.7 million. Losses widened and the company said results did not meet expectations, although it expects delayed contracts to close in the second half.

Arkle Resources eased about 11 per cent, accounting for an announced £1.7 million placing, priced at 0.4p, with funds earmarked for the purchase of 85% of a Namibian uranium project. Bullishly, the company said the share placing had been oversubscribed.