SMALL CAP MOVERS: Boardroom drama at Revolution Beauty

Forget Thames Water, the real boardroom drama this week was at the cosmetics small-cap Revolution Beauty. 

Online retailer and 26.6 per cent Revolution shareholder Boohoo has tried to wrest control of the AIM-listed company through a hostile takeover and ousting of Revolution’s board.

This came to a head at Wednesday’s annual general meeting, when a shareholder showdown saw chief executive Bob Holt, chief financial officer Elizabeth Lake, and chair Derek Zissman voted out.

Non-executive director Jeremy Schwartz briefly became the sole board member. His first responsibility under the company’s articles of association was to hire three more members.

Revolution and boohoo have exchanged vitriolic words all week

After brief contemplation, he selected Bob Holt as chief executive, Elizabeth Lake as chief financial officer, and Derek Zissman as chair. Fancy that.

Revolution and Boohoo have exchanged vitriolic words all week, accusing each other of being self-serving.

As we all know, investors hate instability, yet Revolution’s share price rocketed 53 per cent higher on Wednesday, though that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Shares were actually suspended since September 2022 for failing to publish company accounts amid Minto’s contentious departure.

Come Friday, as the tumultuous week comes to a close, Revolution shares remained 26 per cent higher since Wednesday’s readmission.

The same can’t be said for the broader Aim All-Share Index, which ended the week around 2 per cent lower at 751.84, underperforming considerably against the FTSE 100 index’s 0.8 per cent add.

The gap would likely have been wider if the blue-chip utility segment didn’t cop a beating, with Severn Trent, United Utilities and BT Group among the worst large-cap performers. It appears that Thames Water is causing contamination in more ways than one.

That stocks underperformed this week is hardly a surprise, what with last week’s bruising half-a-percentage point interest rate hike, though with income stocks out of favour on the premium segment, some pass through to the lower end of the market could have been assumed.

Speaking of which, Caspian Sunrise, the AIM-quoted Kazakhstan-focused oiler, took a 30 per cent beating on Friday after scrapping its dividend payment for the foreseeable future.

The group has found itself the unintended victim of the Ukraine conflict insomuch as it has layered in additional costs and, crucially, copped an $18million loss of revenue. Shares fell from 4.3p to 2.82p.

African phosphate producer Kropz‘s shares also plunged over 40 per cent after revealing that its shares will be suspended from trading on AIM after failing to publish its annual reports.

The same fate beset Trackwise Designs, with shares in the printed circuit technology manufacturer crashing 70 per cent failing to provide financial statements for the last financial year.

Trackwise said manufacturing delays and ‘intense demands upon the entire management team’ have caused delays in the financial auditing process’. Shares have now been suspended.

Outside of the heavy industries, video game group tinyBuild plummeted 70 per cent after the firm said its first-half performance had undershot expectations.

tinyBuild pinned the blame on the underperformance of two acquisitions- US publisher Versus Evil and Brazil-based developer Red Cerberus.

On the bullish side was banknote printer De La Rue, which shot up over 50 per cent following indications of a recovery in currency demand and a robust performance in its authentication business, particularly in the latter half of the year.

This marks a turnaround from April, when the Basingstoke-based group dished out a profit warning.

Renalytix was a top mover In the pharmaceuticals segment, closing the week 44 per cent higher on the back of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granting marketing authorisation for its KidneyIntelX.dkd prognostic test.

Prospex Energy was a top riser in the energy sector, gaining 10 per cent after bullish news emerged from its Italy-based gas field.

But the real energy stand out was Invinity Energy Systems, which added nearly 40 per cent in what can only be considered a vindication of its full-year trading statement published on Wednesday.

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