Sirius Minerals
Beleaguered investors in Sirius Minerals, the fallen darling of the stock market, were once again urged by the firm to back a £405million rescue bid from Anglo American on Friday.
Sirius, which is building a giant fertiliser mine in the North York Moors, has been on the ropes since last September when a planned $500million bond sale collapsed.
Earlier last week, Jupiter Asset Management – one of Sirius’s largest shareholders – called on the firm to find an improvement on Anglo’s rescue offer, equal to 5.5p per share. In the summer of 2018, Sirius shares were trading at nearly 40p.
But Sirius chairman Russell Scrimshaw insisted on Friday that supporting the Anglo deal would be the best option for investors and for the project.
NMC Health
Abu Dhabi-headquartered medical giant NMC Health took another battering on the stock market last week, with shares down to a five-year low of 700p by Friday.
NMC, whose shares were trading above 4,000p in 2018, had to issue a statement on Monday saying that bosses knew of “no specific reason for the fall” in its share price that day (20 per cent).
Muddy Waters – the San Francisco-based short-seller that has had NMC in its sights since it issued a damning report on the health firm in December – speculated that Monday’s fall could have been caused by its controlling shareholders selling their stock.
Watch out for more movement on Monday – The Mail on Sunday reported over the weekend that US private equity firm KKR is considering a takeover bid.
Greatland Gold
On the other end of the spectrum, last week proved a strong period for mining group Greatland Gold.
The firm impressed investors on Tuesday by announcing it had hit high- grade gold mineralisation in Tasmania.
Greatland’s shares ended the week up nearly 30 per cent at 4.35p. The firm also announced on Friday that chairman Alex Borrelli was getting in on the act, having bought £4,000 of shares on Thursday.
Eurasia Mining
Russia-focused Eurasia Mining enjoyed another strong week on the stock exchange – with its shares up more than 50 per cent between Monday and Friday.
The stock has been on the rise since late October, a period in which its share price has hurtled up from 0.47p to 6.85p on Friday.
The steep rise has coincided with jumps in the prices of both platinum and palladium, metals in which Eurasia Mining specialises.
UK Oil and Gas
The downward spiral afflicting UK Oil and Gas is showing no sign of letting up yet.
Shares, trading at around 1p in November, are down at around 0.62p.
A bounce in UKOG’s stock price on Monday was wiped out by the end of the week, taking shares down to below their closing price the week before, when investors were unimpressed by company plans to accelerate production plans.
EVR Holdings
Virtual reality firm EVR Holdings enjoyed a strong performance on Aim last week.
The firm, which owns MelodyVR – a much-hyped music platform that allows fans to experience performances through virtual reality – saw its shares rise nearly 30 per cent during the week to 5.35p.
The shares appear to be fluctuating based on market rumours currently. Watch this space
The Head and the Heart “Honeybee” (360° Live for MelodyVR)
