Small cap round-up: Provexis, Puricore, Sirius, Sopheon, Spiritel

3rd Nov 2009 12:16

Food technology group Provexis says it has been told that the European Commission review into the health claim wording for its Fruitflow anti-thrombatic technology for use on consumer products is now in "an advanced stage". Puricore's third quarter sales rose 25% to $10.8m, with the nine month total to September now $29.6m (2008: $27.9m), an increase of 6% (17% at constant currency)."The continued market adoption of our Sterilox Food Safety Systems is further evidenced by the recent contract awards from two additional leading customers, including another top-10 retailer. The acquisition of Labcaire positions PuriCore as the leading provider of endoscope reprocessing products and services for our UK customers with a broad portfolio, and we look to expand our marketing of Labcaire products internationally in 2010," said Greg Bosch, chief executive.Oil explorer Sirius has signed a strategic partnership letter of intent with Nigerian based Dajo Oil under which it will work with Dajo to identify and negotiate an economic interest in marginal oil and gas field opportunities currently held by Shell Nigeria. Sirius will act as the financial partner to the venture and provide 100% of the funding on any future marginal field opportunities. Software group Sopheon's revenue visibility has increased to £7.6m. This compares to visibility of £8.1m at this time last year, representing a headline drop of 7%. "Although the tough economic environment of the last few quarters is showing some signs of improvement, sales cycles generally remain protracted, and pricing is still under pressure," it added. However, extension business from the customer base has held up well and the pipeline for new business continues to show promising activity, with the potential to make the fourth quarter the strongest of the current year, Sopheon added.SpiriTel, the business communications service provider, has issued of up to £10m loan notes to help fund the acquisition of Edge Solutions for an initial consideration of £3.6m. The new funds will be used to allow the company to continue its successful acquisition strategy as a consolidator of the highly fragmented telecoms reseller sector.The fundraise, led by SpiriTel's largest shareholder Penta Capital, includes participation by Synergy Capital and Toscafund.