Nigeria isn’t my first choice of location when looking at investing in oil and gas companies due to some of the issues that foreign investors have had over the years, but if you’re bullish on the sector, then I can currently see value in shares in Seplat Energy (SEPL).

Afentra (AET) has finally relisted after being suspended for nearly a year whilst it completed the acquisition of producing oil assets in Angola.

Long suffering Teathers Financial shareholders could actually be on the verge of seeing the company actually worth something again after a deal with Power Metal Resources was announced, but for me it raises a lot of questions.

Canadian Overseas Petroleum (COPL) seems to have been getting a fair bit of attention today after releasing an incredibly rampy resources update for its Wyoming asset, with the focus being on oil in place rather than actual reserves and what might be extracted.

Quite a lot has happened since I covered Jadestone Energy (JSE) as a buy just over a month ago, and recent news has further strengthened my positive outlook on the company.

Packaging group Macfarlane (MACF) “is pleased to announce the acquisition of PackMann Gesellschaft für Verpackungen und Dienstleistungen mbH, a protective packaging distribution business based in Eppelheim near Heidelberg, Germany”, emphasising it is to accelerate the growth of its protective packaging business in Northern Europe. Crazy name eh! German is such an amazing language. But a good deal.

The share price of 888 Holdings (888) has remained pretty weak during the completion of its acquisition of William Hill, and as a result of revenue in the final quarter of 2021 showing a substantial fall.

Now that the acquisition of Bacanora Lithium (BCN) by Gangfeng has completed, many former shareholders will be wondering whether to keep hold of the shares they were awarded in Zinnwald Lithium (ZNWD) as part of that deal.

Aquis lobster-potted Rutherford Health (RUTH)  – formerly Neil Woodford favourite Proton Partners – has announced a deal to open new health clinics in partnership with BUPA. Great, whizzo……but there is just one tiny little thing wrong here!

Aquis lobster-pot listed Rutherford Health (RUTH) has announced yet another delay in its acquisition of Proton Partners International Health Care Investments LLC, UAE. The deal, originally announced on 31 August 2021 – along with a placing which is also delayed – was due to complete 21 days on from a share swap deed dated 28 August. Then it was 11 October 2021. Now it is 16 November and the ShareProphets bookies are offering generous odds on yet another extension after that.

I have not written about Moneysupermarket.com (MONY) before but Malcolm has, as you can see here just over a year ago. He was absolutely correct that helping to identify good value car insurance, home insurance, credit card deals, travel insurance, pet insurance and broadband deals, along with the ownership of MoneySavingExpert.com (thanks Martin Lewis), was popular with lots of people. And whilst COVID-19 issues with the travel industry has caused some challenges over the last year, a business with some overall net cash on its balance sheet and free cash flow generation helping to support a 5%+ dividend yield certainly could have been a lot worse. But the shares have had a very poor last few months as, whilst the travel insurance business has been only slow to improve, the energy deals business has been an absolute shocker recently.

Construction materials distributor Brickability (BRCK) “is pleased to announce the conditional acquisition of Taylor Maxwell”, emphasising this timber, bricks, cladding, masonry and other products supplier “marks a significant expansion in the range of solutions we can deliver for our growing client base and represents a significant value-add for our shareholders”. Though also “certain selling shareholders have also conditionally raised a further £38 million through the sale of 40,000,000 existing ordinary shares”. Hmmm…

When an AIM company changes its name it can often be to try and hide a dodgy past, generally where it has raised money consistently from shareholders but failed to actually deliver anything, but there are also times when it can signal a change to the business and a move in the right direction.

The fraud Supply@ME Capital (SYME) has announced that it has signed Heads of Terms to buy “a leading FinTech-powered commodities trade enabler, focused on SMEs, based in Singapore” I wonder if this is, as has been speculated, TradeFlow Capital.

Quite often ShareProphets readers contact us asking for an opinion on a particular company, and I’m always happy to take a look – although there is no guarantee that the conclusions I come to will necessarily be what they wanted to hear about the company!

RockRose Energy (RRE) was one of the real success stories amongst AIM listed oil companies prior to being taken over for nearly £250 million, and now its executive chairman, Andrew Austin, has made a return to AIM with a new venture which listed last week.

If there was an award for the worst performing oil and gas share listed on AIM over the past decade there wouldn’t be a lack of contenders, but Nostra Terra (NTOG) would definitely be in the running!

The level of trust that you have in the management of a company can often play a big part in your willingness to invest.

Gold is all the rage at the moment and looks set to remain strong, even if we do see some pullbacks or it not advancing to the price levels that some are predicting. So, it is no surprise that there is so much focus at the moment on any company operating in the gold sector, either producing or even just early stage explorers. With such a big recent rise in the gold price, many miners have followed it upwards, so if you are only just getting into gold now, the trick is to try and find value, and if something does look cheap, to understand why it might be trading at a lower market cap than you would expect. One ShareProphets reader has recently asked me to take a look at Tanzanian gold producer Shanta Gold (SHG), as to him it seemed relatively cheap and he wondered if there was a good reason for it being so…

AIM-listed Yu Group (YU.) has this morning updated on the investigation by AIM Regulation into the shambolic mis-reporting of profits/receivables etc which saw the company write off c. £10 million from its 2018 accounts. The result? A £300,000 fine – surely far too light – which has been waived for co-operating with the enquiry! The lesson from AIM Regulation for less than scrupulous AIM Directors is that fraud is no problem – just get on with it and we’ll do nothing at all. There is no moral hazard.

(sub-)Standard-listed BSF Enterprise (BSFA) released an RNS this morning entitled “Acquisition”. Given that the company listed on the LSE’s (sub-)Standard list about a year ago as a cash shell with a list of Red Flags as long as your arm, including Mr Denis Ow with a heroic list of China-play failures to his name as Head of Investment Banking, I wondered what this acquisition could be…….another dodgy China-play, perhaps, or something else?

Longboat Energy (LBE) is a company that I actually like and hope does well longer term but, having seen its share price double, I’m finding it hard to see where the value is up here and would be inclined to at least bank some profit...

I had been wondering when further news would come from i3 Energy (I3E) and these week two significant RNSs dropped on the same morning, which ultimately led to shares being suspended for the foreseeable future.

Current market conditions are bad for many companies, with the oil and gas sector having been hit particularly hard as commodity prices have crashed, but this can create opportunities for some companies.

As usual the bulletin boards seem to be flooded with people saying what a great deal I3 Energy (I3E) has just secured, having announced today that it had acquired Toscana Energy Income Corporation (TEIC).

Most recently writing on half-year results from Aeorema Communications (AEO), I concluded this remains a possible pick for recovery on the watchlist. Now an announcement; “Earnings Enhancing Acquisition”…

Trackwise Designs (TWD) “is pleased to announce that it has conditionally acquired Stevenage Circuits Ltd for a total consideration of up to £2.457m… is also pleased to announce that it has conditionally raised approximately £5.87m”. Hmmm…

I have been kicking around the fund and wealth management industry for more than a couple of decades now and have seen plenty of business launches, deals and consolidation. The big trend at the moment - and frankly of the last little while - has been consolidation. Call it driven by cost-cutting potential, distribution realities, Mifid-II influences or the impact of the rise of passive/robo investments on the level of fees that can be charged. Anyhow, what strikes me as insightful is the price these deals are being struck at…

It has been fascinating watching Sound Energy (SOU) play out over the past few years, but probably less so if you’ve actually been invested in it!

It is hard to see why the share price of Jadestone Energy (JSE) has dropped recently as there seems to be little reason for it to have done so, and on that basis it definitely deserves closer attention...

It never ceases to amaze me how willing many private investors are to forget past failures and accept that a complete change of direction in a business is suddenly going to bring success.

RockRose Energy (RRE) has been one of the real success stories amongst smaller oil and gas producing companies in recent times and has grown its business at an incredible rate via a number of acquisitions. It has come an awful long way since I first covered it as a buy here back in April 2018 at around the 350p level, and today it relisted following a deal which constituted a reverse takeover of the Marathon UK and Marathon West of Shetland assets for $140 million. Currently it is trading at around the 1,900p level with a market cap of circa £240 million, representing a profit of nearly 450% for anyone who followed my original buy recommendation...

There is often an argument for letting your winners continue to run, but in the case of many natural resource stocks listed on AIM you are often better off taking a healthy profit whilst it is on offer.

This is utterly bizarre: on 28 March AIM-listed POS Management Resource Solutions (MRS) announced the acquisition of Alerion Consulting Ltd from its founder, Elliott Talbott, and others for a consideration of £1.32 million to be satisfied by the issue of MRS confetti at 5p per share and we were told that an application for admission to trading of the consideration shares on or around 4 April would be made. Now, on 5^th April – at 9.38am – we learn that the application to have them admitted to trading hasn’t been made at all, yet the acquisition completed on 28^th March!

After a strong performance during the first half of 2018, copper has been weak and is currently trading at close to its lowest levels since mid-2017. Having hit peaks of more than $7,200/t last June it is now around the $6,000/t area, and although an improvement on the $5,800/t level it started the year at, I would hardly call this slight resurgence a proper bounce just yet. But I do think that is going to come as the metal is too important to stay at these levels for long, especially in light of the fact that many analysts are forecasting a supply deficit in the coming years due to the increasing use of the metal – as I’ve mentioned in the past, electric vehicles will be a factor and use far more wiring than the cars that are currently in common use...

Software business Imaginatik (IMTK) announced this morning that it had disposed of all of its assets and has sold its business, and pre-market open I saw a lot of people saying what great news it was.

I would imagine that most Lionsgold (LION) holders were somewhat less than impressed when news came at the end of last week that its shares were being cancelled.

The management of Falanx (FLX) are nice guys but do themselves no favours. Issuing, albeit small amounts, of shares at rock bottom process for small itty bitty acquisitions is rarely a strategy that is value accretive. Delaying your results does not impress anyone although the company has a plausible excuse. Doing a major placing at 4.5p when not long before your shares were 9p really f**ks off we loyal shareholders. Suffice to say, the statement accompanying those results in a couple of week’s time is going to have to be pretty hot.

Shares in Image Scan Holdings (IGE) reached approaching 13p last year and were 6p+ following half-year results in April before sliding in the last month, last closing at 5.5p. Now an “Acquisition and Proposed Placing” announcement…

When investing at the speculative end of AIM, I think it is critical to try to avoid sudden disasters or unexpected suspensions as a sensible stop-loss strategy can usually deal with most other occurrences. Accordingly, I thought I would flag a potential issue in the making at Appscatter (APPS) as the current risk / reward pay-off looks way off.

I’m surprised by the seeming lack of interest amongst private investors when it comes to RockRose Energy (RRE), as even amongst those who focus on oil and gas stocks, this isn’t a company which you see being mentioned on social media and the bulletin boards.

Given the rise in oil price that we’ve seen over the past week or so, and the highest levels that it has been at in quite some time, I’m a little surprised to see Savannah Petroleum (SAVP) still languishing at around the 12-month low. With a market cap of nearly £230 million it isn’t as likely to see such large movements as you get on the AIM micro caps, but it is still small enough that I would expect the higher commodity price to have had some impact, given that it produces significant amounts of oil already.

I initiated coverage on Appscatter (APPS) when it came to market last September with a few warning signs and a nervousness that history could repeat itself to the detriment of its shareholders. Well seven months in and a potential acquisition accompanied by a massive fund-raise announced (obvs), I thought I should update my thoughts.

Whenever a relatively small oil and gas company manages to raise a substantial amount of money it gets my attention, especially when you consider what the market has been like for this sector in recent times.

I have been a big fan of Horizonte Minerals (HZM) for some time now, and am even more so following an acquisition announcement. The market didn’t take the news that this AIM listed mining company, with operations in Brazil, had acquired a further nickel-cobalt project particularly well - the shares down by over 6% to 4p on the ask, but I suspect that was largely as a result of an issue of equity coming at the same time, rather than a reflection of what people think of the newly acquired Vermelho project, which Horizonte now owns 100% of.

Given that I have closely followed the Serica Energy (SQZ) story here closely over the last few years, and in light of the news this week, I felt that I should give my current thoughts on it.

If I’m being completely honest then I have to admit that I was somewhat annoyed when an RNS from Central Asia Metals (CAML) initially landed to say that trading in the shares had been temporarily suspended pending the acquisition of a large asset. That annoyance though was largely driven by a shorter term view, as shares in the company had been doing very well and the price was increasing steadily in the run up to the financial results, which were expected to be good and with yet another high yielding dividend to be paid. Alongside that copper was flying and had just topped the $3.10/lb level.

When it comes to the AIM resources sector, any sort of delay or news which is perceived to be negative can have a negative effect on the share price which is far from justified. Of course there is a lot of junk on the market and when bad news comes and it inevitably crashes, it is of no real surprise, but there are other companies where a temporary hit to the share price can present a great buying opportunity.

Having reached more than 75p in May, shares in information management technology and services company Idox (IDOX) declined below 60p early last month before recovering above 65p - then declining towards 60p again. The company is now “pleased to announce that it has acquired… Halarose, a supplier of electoral back office software and services to UK local authorities, for £5.0 million, comprising £3.5 million in cash and £1.5 million in shares” (at 61.5p)…

Fans of The Graduate will recognise the form, if not the precise wording of the title. Life has thankfully moved on from the 1960s and in today’s world of internet delivery and crowded consumer choice, packaging matters from both a practical and differentiating perspective.

Hello Share Topplers. There are a lot of companies with shares that I’ve sold too early. It’s never wrong to take a profit, they say. But of course it is - if that company rises like a rocket after you sold.

Digital music and radio services group, 7digital (7DIG) has announced results for the 2016 calendar year, including that this “was a year of good progress… as we delivered on our commitment to reach operating profit by the year end” and that it “is ideally positioned to capitalise on the continued growth of streaming in 2017 and beyond”. So why are the shares currently approaching 7% lower, at 6.75p?...

Audioboom (BOOM) has updated that it “has received a further acceptance of its offer to purchase the entire issued share capital of SONR” and “is in the process of exercising the squeeze-out rights… to acquire, on a compulsory basis, the remaining balance”. It looks like the 100% acquisition in a murky related-party transaction is thus nearing completion…

Engineering and technology recruitment agency Gattaca (GATC) has announced what it emphasises as a “solid” performance for its half year ended 31st January 2017, though the shares price reaction suggests uncertainty…

Updating on its 2016 performance, fluid power products supplier Flowtech (FLO) notes that it intends to propose a 5% increased dividend “in line with current market expectations” and “expects underlying profit before tax will be in the range £7.0m to £7.2m”. How does the latter compare with expectations then?...

Portmeirion, Spode, Royal Worcester and Wax Lyrical homewares group Portmeirion (PMP) “is pleased to confirm that it expects profit before taxation for the year to 31 December 2016 to be slightly ahead of market expectations”. BUT…

Printing company Grafenia (GRA) is “delighted” to announce an acquisition of Liverpool-based Arthur Diamond Design (ADD Signs), seeing it as a first step of “ambitious plans”. Hmmm…

With the oil price rising nicely, it’s a reasonable time to look at a company which always reminds me of that famous frog in Beatrix Potter. You remember Jeremy Fisher? Well, today’s company is also involved in water: James Fisher (FSJ), a marine engineering giant with interests in the oil and gas world.

I was going to wait until the prospectus came out for the Quiptel deal before commenting on the recent acquisition by Falcon Acquisitions (FAL); however, my spelling and grammar OCD got the better of me so I had to get a few things off my chest sooner rather than later.

Writing last month on NCC Group (NCC) on the back of a confusing profit warning or not announcement which included “difficulties with” and “challenging” previous acquisitions, I noted despite this and a £47.5 million net debt position, the company looked to “continue with our measured acquisition strategy and anticipate acquiring additional boutique cyber security consultancies over the next few months”. There is now an announcement of “Acquisition of US cyber security consultancy”…

Having recently cancelled its full-year dividend after the ex-dividend date, specialised plastics company Carclo (CAR) has now announced an acquisition! (along with a trading update and placing)…

Hello Share Swaddlers. There are some companies which don't appeal to me because I prefer businesses which do solid trade in things like engineering, transport, oil, mining, banking and the like. Some may caustically say: much good has it done me. And so I sometimes look for companies with a more esoteric feel (to me anyway) to try and redress the balance.

I previously updated on my share tips of the year just after the Brexit vote – see HERE. The following updates on developments since…

Red24 (REDT), the security specialist, is in preliminary discussions regarding a possible offer from iJet International. It looks like there are still quite a few hurdles to cross, so might it be worth speculating in the shares at this point?

Flowtech Fluidpower (FLO) opens an announcement today with that it “is pleased to announce the further strengthening of its product offering in the hydraulics sector through the acquisition of Triple Six Limited, and provide an update ahead of the release of the company's half-year results”. The shares are currently 5% lower, at 105p, in response. Hmmm…

Shares in Swallowfield have bounced more than 5% today after a positive trading update which suggests that profitability will be “towards the upper end of expectations”. This looks like another high-quality AIM stock which doesn't get the attention it deserves.

Provider of technology predominantly to the UK healthcare, oil & gas, nuclear, utilities and broadcast industries, Servelec Group (SERV) has made a “Trading Statement” - and the shares are currently more than 33% lower, at 225p, on the day. Uh-oh…

Following on from my recent article on Totally (TLY) and Tom’s recent bearcast, I take a look at the announcement of the acquisition of Premier Physical Healthcare for up to £6.75 million and the placing raising £6.2 million at 62p.

Unloved West African manganese play Ferrex (FRX) is to pay up to £930,000 in shares to buy into gold production in Western Australia. The company intends to follow that with another ‘higher value’ deal before the end of the year. The UK-based company, whose shares have fallen from a 2011 AIM float price of 3p to 0.45p now, is to buy Chaffers Mining, a private gold mining concern which has a five-year agreement to mine the yellow metal at Paddington in the West Australian goldfields for Norton Goldfields, part of Zijin Mining, China’s largest gold producer.

Globo plc (GBO) has announced the signing of a Letter of Intent to acquire “a Bring-Your-Own-Device and Mobile Security software provider based in Europe”. This has currently helped the shares up to 35p, though they remain well down from above 60p in June and there continues to look good reason why…

It’s no secret that by early 2010 I had failed at what I was doing. Miserably. Facing up to that realisation was incredibly tough. A hair’s breadth from bankruptcy, the following couple of years were a surprisingly liberating experience. There is nothing like a period of enforced penury to help one reassess what matters in life and redefine one’s course. At some point, in the not too distant future, the directors of Mosman Oil & Gas (MSMN) are likely going to share this experience, as they finally come to terms with the fact their business has no serious future on AIM.

It’s been a strange ten days watching the goings on at Castleton Technology (CTP). From October 21^st to October 28^th the company’s share price over doubled, from a close of 1.05p to an intraday high of 2.3p. This was at 9.30am on Tuesday, immediately before the release of this RNS, in which the directors claimed to know of “no reason for such movement”. They then slightly contradicted themselves by going on to explain they were in discussions with potential acquisition targets, the results of which might result in a transaction “in the near future”, which would be funded by an equity funding. And lo, two days later the same board announced its plan to buy Documotive for £4million, together with  a supporting £5.5million placement. If you thought this news would have smacked Castleton’s share price, well, you’d be right, but only just…