Small caps round-up: Augean, Juridica, Origo...

28th Sep 2010 14:37

Waste group Augean slipped into a loss of £0.5m in the half year to June, as net revenue fell by 8% to £13.8m."Trading in the months since the period end has indicated an improving trend as the early signs of a recovery in our markets have continued," it added.Legal case investor Juridica's net asset value dipped to $209.8m at end June, from $216m as court system delays and an adverse ruling on case 5608-N hit the portfolio by $1.1m. "Although events during the first half of 2010 required us to revalue several cases downward, based on timing, and, in a few instances, other factors, we remain confident in the manager's view of the company's expected profit on our investments once the underlying cases come to a full conclusion," it added.Specialist China and India investor Origo's net asset value per share fell to $0.55 at end June compared to $0.61 at end December as it raised $30m through a placing. "The Chinese economy continues to perform very well" and Origo expects GDP growth of around 8.5% for the remainder of the year.Military aircraft trainer Simigon saw losses rise to $1.68m in the half-year to June on revenues of $1.14m, down from $1.82m. "We are excited by the activities of our customers in this period, and believe that, existing programs such as the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, as well as the UK's Military Flying Training System will positively impact SimiGon's revenue in the next 12 months," it added. Water Intelligence, the former Qonnectis, posted an interim loss before tax of £624,000 (2009: £279,000) after a £300,000 provision for estimated future losses on maintenance contracts and £122,000 on costs incurred in connection with the reverse takeover. Thames Water recently placed an order worth £177,000 for leak monitor Leakfrog, equivalent to three times the amount of product sales for the prior eighteen months.Broker Astaire has had another "very difficult" period, taking an underlying loss of £744,000 and statutory loss of £2.8m.Talks regarding the sale of Astaire Securities are ongoing as are discussions with potential buyers of retail stockbroking subsidiary Rowan Dartington. Whenever they're sold, Astaire has promised to look at the best way to return value for all shareholders.Craneware, a developer of financial software for the US healthcare industry, has won a $1.5m contract with an American hospital for its Supplies ChargeLink solution.The four-year deal will help the hospital better manage and optimise reimbursement for chargeable supplies, automating the manual processes still used in many US hospitals. Speymill, an expert at real estate investment management, made a profit of £8.4m in the first six months of 2010, thanks to a £7.3m gain on a disposal, and grew revenue by 1.4% to £25.34m.Bosses, who are still considering strategic options following the current restructuring, say the forward order book at Speymill Contracts has substantially strengthened and most of the legacy issues in the company have been resolved.Eco-friendly black cab maker Eco City Vehicles tumbled into the red in the first half of the year, posting a pre-tax loss of £0.34m versus a profit of £0.15m in the first half of last year. Revenue edged higher to £12.81m from £12.40m.The group said it is on track for a stronger second half result on the back of rising sales of its Vito taxi. Cash balances at 30 June 2010 were £0.03m (2009: £0.3m) while borrowings increased from £2.4m to £2.9m, due to refinancing with a new 5-year loan of £0.85m, which was used to repay the £0.6m overdraft with HBOS and provide working capital to the group.Penny stock Crimson Tide swept higher Tuesday after the mobile devices software specialist achieved its maiden profit in the first half of 2010.Despite lower revenue of £0.73m versus £0.75m in the first half of last year, the company scraped into the black with a profit before tax of £1,000, compared to a loss of £35,000 last year. "Our new sales pipeline is stronger than at any other time previously and the only constraint to more rapid growth remains the limited debt and equity finance available to smaller companies," said executive chairman Barrie Whipp.