Capricor Shares Fall On $23 Mln Registered Direct Offering

Shares Capricor Therapeutics, Inc. (CAPR) are falling over 40% on Friday after the company announced that it has entered into an agreement with its commercial partner, Nippon Shinyaku, and funds associated with Highbridge Capital Management, for a registered direct offering of 4,935,621 shares of its common stock, for gross proceeds of approximately $23 million.

CAPR is trading on the Nasdaq at $3.43, down 40.92% or $2.38 per share. It has traded between $3.30 and $8.22 in the past 52-week period.

Each share comes with a warrant to purchase one share of common stock at an exercise price of $5.70 per share.

The combined offering price per share of common stock and accompanying warrant is $4.66.

The warrants will be exercisable beginning six months after issuance and will expire seven years from the date of issuance.

The offering is expected to close on or about October 3, 2023, subject to customary closing conditions.

Renovaro Climbs 6% On Merger Agreement With GEDi Cube

Shares of Renovaro Biosciences Inc. (RENB) are climbing over 6% on Friday after announcing its definitive agreement to merge with GEDi Cube Intl Ltd., a medical technology company specializing in AI.

RENB is trading on the Nasdaq at $4.32, up 6.14% or $0.25 per share. It has traded between $0.39 and $4.50 in the past 52-week period.

Under the agreement, GEDi Cube will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Renovaro through a stock-for-stock acquisition.

Following the transaction, GEDi Cube equity holders are expected to own approximately 50% of the combined company.

The new company formed after the merger will offer early diagnosis and treatment options for serious diseases like pancreatic cancer and other solid tumors with low life expectancy. Renovaro Biosciences’ pre-clinical and clinical trial data will be integrated into GEDi Cube’s AI capabilities, leading to faster development of new therapies.

The transaction is anticipated to be finalized in late 2023 or early 2024.

European Economic News Preview: Germany Business Confidence Data Due

Business confidence data from Germany is the only major report due on Monday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 3.00 am ET, Spain’s INE releases producer prices data for August. Prices had declined 8.4 percent annually in July.

In the meantime, business and consumer sentiment survey data is due from the Czech Republic.

At 4.00 am ET, the ifo Institute publishes Germany’s business sentiment survey results for September. The confidence index is seen falling to 85.2 from 85.7 in August.

At 9.00 am ET, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is set to give introductory statement at the Hearing before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament in Brussels.

Oil Futures Pare Early Gains, Settle Notably Lower

Crude oil futures failed to hold early gains and settled notably lower on Friday, with a bit of profit taking, and uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand weighing on prices.

Expectations of supply increases by Russia and Saudi Arabia weighed as well on oil prices.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $0.92 or about 1% at $90.79 a barrel, coming off the session’s high of $93.10 a barrel.

WTI crude futures added 0.8% in the week, and gained about 8.5% in September. In the July-September quarter, the contract surged 26.5%.

Brent crude futures settled at $92.20 a barrel today, down $0.90 or about 1%. Brent crude futures gained 6.8% in the month, and about 23% in the quarter.

Traders now await the meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, including the Russia and Saudi Arabia, scheduled to take place next week. The group is set to review the impact of their production cuts on the market and the way forward.

Basilea Pharmaceutica: FDA To Review NDA For Antibiotic Ceftobiprole

Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd announced the FDA has accepted for filing the New Drug Application for the antibiotic ceftobiprole. The FDA has set April 03, 2024, as the PDUFA goal date. Ceftobiprole has been designated a Qualified Infectious Disease Product.

With the NDA, Basilea is seeking approval for treating patients in three indications: Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia, including right-sided infective endocarditis, acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections and community-acquired bacterial pneumonia. The company is planning to commercialize ceftobiprole in the US through a partner and intends to enter into such a partnership prior to the PDUFA goal date.

For More Such Health News, visit rttnews.com.

James Halstead FY Pretax Profit Slightly Increases; Revenue Up 4%

James Halstead PLC (JHD.L) reported fiscal year profit before tax of 52.09 million pounds compared to 52.06 million pounds, prior year. Earnings per 5p ordinary share was 10.2 pence compared to 9.7 pence. Fiscal year revenue was at 303.6 million pounds, an increase of 4% from previous year.

Mark Halstead, Chief Executive, said: “We ended the year with a robust balance sheet and in a position to propose a record dividend to our shareholders. Whilst inflationary issues and spending constraints remain, I and the Board remain confident in the Group’s progress going forward and look ahead to the future with confidence.”

The Board proposed a final dividend of 5.75 pence, which will mean a total dividend for the year of 8.0 pence, an increase of 3.23%.

For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com.

UK Mortgage Approvals At 6-Month Low

UK mortgage approvals fell to a six-month low in August as rising interest rates weighed on housing market activity, official data revealed on Friday.

Approvals for house purchases fell to 45,400 in August from 49,500 in July, the Bank of England reported. The expected level was 45,000.

The actual interest paid on newly drawn mortgages increased by 16 basis points to 4.82 percent.

At the September rate-setting meeting, the BoE kept its benchmark rate unchanged at the highest level since early 2008, after raising the rate over 14 consecutive sessions.

Lending and economic activity are likely to weaken further this year as the Bank keeps interest rates at 5.25 percent until late in 2024, Capital Economics’ economist Ashley Webb said.

Mortgage borrowing posted the fourth consecutive monthly increase and also reached the highest since January 2023, data showed. Net borrowing rose to GBP 1.2 billion in August from GBP 0.2 billion in July.

Data showed that individuals borrowed an additional GBP 1.6 billion in consumer credit, up from GBP 1.3 billion in July. This was largely driven by increased borrowing through other forms of consumer credit.

The annual growth in consumer credit rose to 7.6 percent from 7.3 percent in July.

UK businesses repaid a net GBP 0.9 billion of loans in August following a net borrowing of GBP 0.6 billion in July. Net repayments by small and medium sized businesses rose to GBP 0.7 in August and net repayments by large businesses totaled GBP 0.2 billion.