S&U, Gleeson, China Prv Eqty, Scisys

23rd Sep 2010 11:32

Central African Gold said its future as a miner of the precious metal in Zimbabwe is becoming clearer after a tough period for the group given conditions in the troubled country, but that 'there are still significant and complex hurdles that need to be addressed over the short and medium term.'Pre-tax losses widened to £2.59m during the six months to June 30 from £1.08m over the same period the previous year. The losses were impacted by power outages and breakdowns of aged equipment, the company said.Home and car finance provider S&U brushed off the effects of a 'febrile and wavering' economy to post a rise in profits and revenues in the half year to July 31.Pre-tax profits rose to £5.4m from £5m the previous year as revenues climbed to £23.6m from £22.1m.'Whilst remaining constantly vigilant we are confident of further improvement in shareholder returns and value,' chairman Anthony Coombs said.Regeneration group Gleeson moved into profit in the year to June 30 as it took advantage of an improvement in the housing market to restart some developments that had been mothballed. Pre-tax profits for the period totalled £0.4m, against a loss of £50.7m the previous year, on revenues that rose to £46.5m from £43m.'Although trading to date during the current year has been in line with expectations, the short term outlook for housing demand remains difficult to predict,' said chairman Dermot Gleeson.Telecoms, media and technology investor China Private Equity said it is close to completing its assessment ahead of its first investment in the online education market in China as it unveiled results in line with expectations.'I expect to make a further announcement on this within the next few months,' said chief executive Duncan Chui.The company posted a loss per share of 0.65 cents in the six months to June 30, against 0.48 cents over the same period the previous year. SciSys reported an improvement in profits in the six months to June 30, but the IT system provider said it is cautious as it is beginning to see discretionary cuts by the government.'Decisions on new contracts are starting to prove quite protracted,' said the company, whose clients include the BBC. 'Consequently we continue to take a cautious view on our trading outlook for the remainder of this year and beyond.'For the half year, pre-tax profits rose to £607,000 from £85,000 in the same period the previous year as revenues rose to £20.9m from £20.3m.