Artisanal Spirits stocked up

Artisanal Spirits Company owns the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SWMS) and it raised £13.2m after expenses at 112p a share, which was at the bottom of the 112p a share to 121p a share price range.

First quarter sales in 2021 improved from £2.9m to £3.4m, even though venues and events revenues continued to be well down during the period.

There was cask whisky and bottled stock of £21.7m at the end of 2020. That is the main asset in the balance sheet and an independent valuation believes that this stock is worth £9m more than book value - based on an orderly liquidation.

CURRENT EDITION

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Arecor  formulates  insulin strategy

Arecor Therapeutics takes existing pharma products and reformulates them for new uses or to make them more effective. A placing raised £18.3m, after expenses, at 226p a share.

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The main focus is diabetes. Arecor’s insulin program AT247 is an ultra-rapid acting meal-time insulin product, while AT278 is an ultra-concentrated rapid acting insulin development, which could be used with miniaturised insulin pump delivery devices. AT299 is a co-formulation of pramlintide and insulin. These fast-acting insulins have an addressable market worth $6.4bn. There have been positive clinical studies for AT247. A phase II study should provide results in 24 months and that would be the point when a partner would be secured.

Renew increases rail exposure

The latest report into the rail sector should provide additional opportunities for Renew Holdings, particularly following the purchase of Scotland-based Rail Electrification for up to £5.3m in cash. There are 15,000 track kilometres that require electrification.

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Engineering services provider Renew improved interim pre-tax profit by one-fifth to £18.1m even though group operating margin fell. Organic revenue growth was 12% with rail particularly strong. Specialist building improved its profit contribution. The group order book has reached £750m.

Net debt was £16.9m at the end of March 2021. The interim dividend has been reinstated at 4.83p a share.