Small caps round-up: Abbeycrest, Synchronica, Futura...

20th Jul 2009 08:35

Jewellery maker Abbeycrest said it is performing in line with expectations as it undergoes a turnaround plan.The unbranded jewellery business is delivering much improved results on a significantly reduced turnover, the firm said. The brands division is making good progress with its higher margin brands, supplying jewellers such as Ernest Jones.AbbeyCrest continues to reduce its net debt, it added.Synchronica, a provider of technology to send emails from mobile phones, said it expects a six-fold increase in revenues for the six months to June 30 after securing contracts in fast-growing emerging markets such as India, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The firm said it was confident that its technology will remain popular even in tough economic conditions as email becomes more popular, not just for expensive devices.Futura Medical, the pharmaceutical firm, has signed an evaluation agreement with a major pharmaceutical firm in connection with the development and commcialisation of TPR100, a topically applied product for pain relief. Futura will receive an upfront £50,000 payment from firm, which intends to carry out further in vitro studies on TPR100 during the evaluation period.DDD, a supplier of 3-D software for hi-tech TVs, rallied on news that it's Dynamic Depth Cueing (DDC) 3D encoding and transmission patent has been granted in the United States.The group said the new US patent extends DDD's coverage of technologies that allow the conversion of existing 2D content libraries to 3D and their delivery in a format that remains compatible with today's 2D digital delivery formats. IT networking specialist Network Technology has had its fifth profitable year in a row, making £45,000 before tax in the 12 months ended 31 March 2009.That was down from £105,000 in 2008. Turnover also fell, slipping to £2.1m from £2.2m due to another fall in sales of legacy products.Ukrainian oilseed rape and wheat producer Landkom has started the harvest of oil seed rape, its main crop. It's expected to take around four weeks, weather permitting, while the wheat harvest will start soon and continue to the start of September.Scientific instruments group Judges Capital confirms that a record sales order book and currency movements should result in an encouraging improvement in first half adjusted earnings per share.The firm, which is "cautiously optimistic" about the second half, said the results were helped by a maiden three-week contribution from the newly acquired Quorum Technologies Ltd. Brake maker Surface Transforms has placed 4.52m shares at 10p to raise £0.45m. The net proceeds will provide the company with working capital for future growth and strengthen its balance sheet. The placing shares will represent approximately 19.18% of the enlarged share capital. Shares in Emulsion fuel producer Quadrise Fuels International rose after it said it anticipated producing revenues in the current financial year. Coated paper supplier Sappi said market conditions remained weak in all its major markets, with prices under pressure.However, the firm did say it was seeing inventory reductions among its customers easing.Gulf Keystone Petroleum's subsidiary Gulf Keystone Petroleum International has been awarded interests in two production sharing contracts for the exploration, development and production of oil and gas in Kurdistan.Medical monitors company Deltex Medical expects sales for the six months ended 30 June to be about £2.6m which is 5% higher than in the first half of 2008. "Deltex Medical has maintained its momentum in all key markets while continuing to position itself for sustainable growth over a prolonged period," said chairman Nigel Keen.