Small caps: Media Corp upbeat, Cyprotex on track, Westmount to return 45p...

24th Dec 2010 07:28

Media Corp has seen the best start to a year ever for its online advertising arm, Eyeconomy, with the company describing business as "exceptionally strong".Advertising bookings are a record since the 2011 financial year started in October, Media Corp added.Purple Lounge, Media Corp's online gaming business, also had a strong start to the new financial year with a new milestone of 110,000 registered customers while the sale of Gambling.com should complete in the first quarter of 2011, Media said.Drug research group Cyprotex reports solid progress following the integration of Apredica and Cellumen, with full year results for the period ended 30 December to be in line with market expectations.Oil and gas company investor Westmount Energy is to return 45p per share or £3.4m in total through a B share issue. The cash return is worth more than half of its market value at last night's close.Since it floated at 15p in 1995, Westmount has returned 115p to shareholders, a total that will rise to 160p following the latest payment. Westmount continues to hold 1.5m shares in Sterling and 2.55m shares in Desire. The company also holds 1.2m shares in Argos Resources.Indian investment group Hirco has confirmed chairman Niranjan Hiranandani has stepped down while enquiries by the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation into allegations of irregularities in the handling of employees' provident funds for other Indian companies are underway. Aim-listed Hirco said that no formal charges relating to the Employees Provident Fund Act have been served, but Mr Hiranandani concluded that the recent press coverage risks unwarranted damage to the reputation of the company.Property investor Eatonfield almost tripled its pre-tax loss for the year ended 30 June from £5.7m to £15.4m, as the group said cash flow pressure and public sector spending cuts contributed to a "very challenging year." Revenue declined from £8.5m to £5.7m. The shares fell 17% Friday morning.Audiovisual content interaction specialist Mirada's revenue for the half year ended September slipped to £2.6m from £3.1m previously. Pre-tax losses widened from £0.49m to £0.72m as the group allocated a lot of resources to the development of its Digital TV products.Mirada expects a "marked increase in revenues" in the next six months, as a higher sales pipeline of new products and operations will provide a "solid platform on which to achieve strong growth."