Small caps round-up: Abcam, Rugby Estates, O Twelve...

15th Jul 2009 08:44

Abcam, a biosciences firm that markets antibodies online, said sales for the year have ended slightly ahead of its earlier expectations.Trading in the second half of the year has been strong and the exchange rate environment has been more favourable than was previously envisaged due to the continued relative weakness of sterling."Whilst it is difficult to assess what impact if any the current economic climate is having on trading because of the defensive features of our market and business model, we continue to exercise a degree of caution when assessing future prospects as policy-makers around the world respond to unprecedented challenges," said the group.Rugby Estates' property portfolio fell by 7.2% at end June to £41.4m, compared with just short of £50m at the end of January. O Twelve Estates, where Rugby is the property manager, reported a net loss for the year ended 31 March 2009 of £92.3m reflecting the unrealised losses of £77.7m on revaluation of investment properties and £14m on fixed interest rate borrowings. The consolidated net liability at 31 March 2009 was £7.4m (31 March 2008: net assets of £84.9m), being a net liability per share of 6.03p (31 March 2008: NAV per share of 69.32p).O Twelve has agreed terms in principle with its lenders to restructure its £170m borrowing facilities. In order to facilitate this, Rugby has agreed to defer payment of its management fee in excess of £200,000 per quarter until O Twelve's borrowings have been repaid in full.Nostra Terra has agreed with Hewitt Petroleum to buy and explore three properties in Kansas, US for a total of $610,000 payable in three instalments.Minerva Resources said Dwyka Resources's recommended offer for the company is now unconditional and therefore the entire board of Minerva have now resigned and replaced by existing directors of Dwyka.Nordic Land, a property investment company, saw pre-tax losses came in at £4.5m against a profit of £1.9m last year. "Despite the worst economic conditions seen for many years, the Nordic real estate markets have performed significantly better than many other countries, and, in particular, the UK," said the group. Helphire, which provides replacement cars to motorists involved in accidents, said it has seen improved cash flow over the past two months after implementing cost control measures.Digital mapping group Intermap is to cancel its AIM listing to concentrate on its Toronto Stock Exchange listing. Shares in Island Oil and Gas advanced after the Irish production and exploration company said it has already received several expressions of interest to buy its Celtic Sea assets.It also said that its chairman has agreed to provide a loan of £0.5m to allow the company to continue operations in the short term.South African platinum producer Sylvania Resources has received valid acceptances from over 30% of SA Metals shareholders supporting its bid for the company.Sylvania, itself a bid target, owns 38m SA Metals shares, taking its relevant interest to almost 43%. It's offered 1 Sylvania share for every 10 SA Metals shares. Oil & gas exploration and development company Indus Gas is up again as it continues to make progress at its key near term SGL Field development project on Block RJ-ON/6, in Rajasthan. Results for the year ended 31 March 2009 are due on 12 August.Dwyka Resources has received valid acceptances for 80.9% of Minerva Resources shares, for which it offered 1 Dwyka share for every 5 Minerva shares. The takeover is now unconditional in all respects."The combination of Minerva's prospective exploration assets and Dwyka's healthy cash position of A$14m (£6.9m) provides a potential route to additional value generation," says broker Ambrian.Shares in clean electricity group AFC Energy moved higher after Waste2Tricity, its exclusive licence holder for gasification projects in the UK, formed a joint venture with Thornton New Energy (TNE) to produce ultra low carbon emission electricity from coal"We were very keen to partner with Waste2Tricity in order to utilise AFC Energy's new generation fuel cells and create the first clean coal electricity model that outperforms conventional coal power stations in terms of net energy generated from coal, the low cost opportunity to eliminate CO2 emissions, and even the potential to eliminate the need for conventional coal mining activities," said TNE's director of surface facilities and process, Alan Borrowman.Proton Power Systems has provided the fuel cell system for the world's first fuel-cell driven street cleaning vehicle. Calculations show that fuel-cell-powered municipal vehicles require only half as much energy as current diesel-powered ones, and their operation is completely emission-free, the company said.Inkjet printing technology firm Xaar's first half results were down on last year but in lien with expectations, the board said. Revenue eased to £20.9m from £22.5m in the first half of 2008, while adjusted profit before tax fell to about £1.3m from £4m. Sales to Asia have picked up since hitting a low point in the latter half of 2008 while trading in the Americas has also seen an improvement, but European markets remain in the doldrums.