Central Asia Metals profit trebled in the first half of 2026, with the AIM-listed miner reporting pre-tax profit of $59.3m, up from $19.8m a year earlier, as higher copper and zinc prices lifted revenues 46% to $145.5m.
EBITDA surged 89% to $75.5m and adjusted free cash flow jumped 189% to $46.8m, according to Investing.com’s earnings summary. The company declared an 8 pence interim dividend, consistent with its 30-50% payout policy.
Central Asia Metals Profit and Cash Generation Underpin Buyback and Dividend
Net cash stood at $96.3m at the end of June 2026, after share buybacks in the period. Kounrad copper output rose 1% to 6,304 tonnes, Sasa zinc-in-concentrate climbed 5% to 9,094 tonnes and Sasa lead-in-concentrate production increased 6% to 13,312 tonnes. Production is in line with previous guidance.
Since its IPO in 2010, the company has returned a total of $420.3m to shareholders, including 200 pence per share in dividends, exceeding the $214m raised in equity over the same period.
Cavendish edged up its 2026 estimates, forecasting pre-tax profit of $120m against a prior estimate of $70.6m, citing expectations that copper and zinc prices will remain firm. The broker noted that shares issued for the Cygnus acquisition will dilute near-term earnings.
The Cygnus Metals acquisition is expected to complete in October, structured as a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under which Cygnus shareholders receive 0.06 new CAML shares for each Cygnus share held, according to TipRanks. Cygnus holds copper-gold assets in Quebec as well as lithium projects in Quebec’s James Bay district and rare earths and base metal interests in Western Australia.
Central Asia Metals received conditional approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange to list its shares under the ticker CAML, providing incoming Cygnus shareholders a local Canadian trading venue and broadening the company’s North American investor base, GlobeNewswire reported on 1 September 2026.
On the broker side, Berenberg downgraded CAML to Hold on 26 August 2026 with a price target of 190p. RBC Capital maintained a Hold rating with a 185p price target, raised from 170p, on 15 September 2026, according to Investing.com UK. CAML shares rose 10.2% to 184.7p.
Brave Bison’s System1 Bid Hits Fresh Rejection
Brave Bison (LON: BBSN) launched a fourth sweetened offer for System1 (LON: SYS1) at 360 pence per share, comprising 135p in cash and 2.394 new Brave Bison shares per System1 share. System1’s board unanimously rejected it, stating the offer represented a discount of 1.8% to System1’s closing price of 335p, according to Yahoo Finance UK.
System1’s board also noted, in rejecting an earlier offer posted 27 August 2026, that the offer document contained no irrevocable undertakings from System1 shareholders, according to an Investegate RNS filing. System1 shares are unchanged at 335p.
Brave Bison reported strong interims ahead of its July trading update: net revenues doubled to £23.9m and pre-tax profit rose 120% to £4.1m. BBSN shares gained 5.63% to 84.5p.
Other AIM Movers
Staffing firm Empresaria (LON: EMR) reported interim pre-tax profit rebounding 256% to £3.2m. Allenby raised its full-year forecast from £5.2m to £6.2m after 5% growth in net fee income and reduced costs. Net debt was flat at £17m. Shares gained 8% to 27p.
Nexteq (LON: NXQ), through its Densitron unit, won an order for customised displays for electric delivery vehicles from an automotive electronics supplier. Production is expected to start before year-end and ramp over three years, with no changes to forecasts. Shares recovered 11.1% to 50p.
Among fallers, Arkadian Strategic Minerals (LON: AKN) slipped 12% to 0.011p after installing access to the Jack Williams slope area at the Clogau-St David’s gold mine in north Wales for further mineralogical assessment. Eden Research (LON: EDEN) dropped 6.38% to 2.2p after reporting revenues of £4.9m and a £1.9m loss for the 15 months to March 2026. Camellia (LON: CAM) fell 4.66% to £56.25 after subsidiary Kakuzi warned that 2026 pre-tax profit is likely to be one-quarter below 2025 levels, citing dry conditions and softer macadamia markets.
RBC’s revised 185p price target for CAML sits fractionally above the current share price. Whether the Cygnus acquisition closes in October on schedule is the next binary test for the stock.
