果冻传媒

Zimbabwe gold miner Caledonia Mining (CMCL) has reported a doubled cash profit for 2025 of $125mn (拢94mn), as it gears up for a major financing and project build for a new mine.

The company鈥檚 current operation, Blanket, produced just under 80,000 ounces (oz) of gold last year, level with 2024. There was a hefty 30 per cent increase in costs, to $1,952 per oz on an all-in sustaining basis, although the record gold price more than compensated for this.

Caledonia鈥檚 shares have lagged the sector over the past six months as investors sold off following a potential royalty rise in Zimbabwe (quickly reversed), and questions around the financing of a new mine, Bilboes.

The company issued $130mn in convertible notes in January, and is in talks with local banks over another $150mn in loans to help fund the project.

Spending this year on Blanket will include $14mn for a new electricity line connecting Blanket to the 鈥渂ackbone鈥� main line 34km away, which should cut outages from 30 hours per month to 3 hours.

The shares dropped 3 per cent on Monday morning alongside a broader gold sell-off.

Shares in Applied Nutrition (APN) plunged 13 per cent after the group warned that disruption in the Middle East could hamper growth, despite it delivering a bumper set of interim results.

Operating profit increased by four-fifths, but after a period of successive guidance upgrades, the market was unimpressed by management鈥檚 decision to hold guidance for the full year.

It said: 鈥淭he group is cognisant of the current disruption to shipping routes and purchasing activities within the Middle East.

鈥淎lthough we expect some reduction in volumes into the region during the second half, at this stage there is no change to FY26 guidance.鈥�

Applied Nutrition expects full-year revenue of 拢140mn, which implies revenue of 拢65.5mn over the next six months. This is a material drop from the 拢74.5mn reported for the first half, and likely reflects the seasonal skew in sales after a better-than-expected peak period for health and fitness products in January and February.

Shares in PPHE Hotel Group (PPH) dipped in early trading after the company said the terms of its latest lending facility mean the cost of debt is likely to rise.

The hotel operator and real estate group has secured 拢137mn in funding from Bank Hapoalim over a two-year term to buy the freehold of its Park Plaza Hotel in London Waterloo. PPHE is trying to increase its freehold exposure to protect against rent rises.

The company said that the floating interest rate on the facility meant it would 鈥渆xceed鈥� the group鈥檚 current average cost of debt, although 90 per cent of this is expected to be hedged. The original schedule of lease payments for Park Plaza Waterloo represented a 拢210mn lease liability.

鈥淥pportunities to acquire marquee London assets like this do not come along often, so we are delighted to have full ownership over the property,鈥� said chief executive Dan Kos.

Meanwhile, PPHE鈥檚 strategic review remains ongoing after the group鈥檚 largest shareholders said in November they were considering a full sale of the hotel operator, or selling down their stakes.

Goodwin (GDWN) warned that it could face delays in sales of some of its valves to customers in the Middle East. The family-owned foundry operator said that although 鈥渘one of the many valves we currently have on order for LNG facilities in the Middle East or the USA have been cancelled鈥�, it has had a request to delay deliveries.

鈥淭his may affect the timing of revenues,鈥� chair Timothy Goodwin warned in a trading update.

Goodwin had paid out a 532p per share special dividend in November last year on the back of a strong order book and an expectation that trading profit for the year to April would double to 拢71mn.

However, Goodwin said the board is now considering whether to revert to its previous dividend policy of paying out only 38 per cent of post-tax profit, or even lower this if the current uncertainty in the Gulf continues.

The company鈥檚 shares fell by more than a third to 15,000p.