Small caps round-up: Avanti Communications, Cash Converters, Gable...

22nd Sep 2009 10:37

Satellite operator Avanti Communications swung to a full-year pre-tax profit of £1.8m compared with a loss of £1.4m last time, while revenue increased to £8m from £5.9m previously.Franchised used goods retailer Cash Converters saw profit before tax in the year to 30 June 2009 rise to $23.3m from $21.6m the year before on revenue that rose to $94.4m from $74.4m.Net profit before tax in the company's 137 UK stores and online auction operations shot up from $0.86m to $2.51m. 'Further store acquisitions and the anticipated growth in financial services income should continue to deliver profit growth this financial year,' the company said.European insurance company Gable Holdings said it is 'starting to reap the benefits of its expansion in to new products and markets outside of its construction bias' after its profit before tax rose to £0.79m in the first half of the year from £0.49m a year earlier.Gross written premiums climbed to £4.00m from £3.45m. Premiums written from business outside of the UK represented 38% of premiums written, up from 14% in the first half of 2008.Property services firm Speymill fell back as pre-tax profit dropped to £650,000 from £3.19m after profit at the property fund management business tumbled more than halved to £1.3m. Downsizing at Speymill Contracts is underway as losses there jumped to £1.28m from £340,000 in 2008.Mobile e-mail and synchronisation software provider Synchronica narrowed its half-year pre-tax loss to £2.49m from £2.82m as revenue leapt to £1.33m from £190,000. Chief executive Carsten Brinkschulte is confident of meeting full-year expectations and achieving sustainable profitability the following year.Miner Sirius has entered into a lock-up agreement with managers at AusPotash Corporation to buy the Canadian firm for C$0.40 a share.TanzaniteOne has negotiated a joint venture headed by Gavin Pearce and Edward Eramanis and called TanzaniteOne CuttingEdge. The JV Company is 51% owned by TanzaniteOne Ltd and 49% by its JV partners. The JV Company will focus on precision cutting and visual optimisation of predominantly lighter coloured tanzanites. Westmount Energy posted a full year profit of £1.44m as it booked a profit on the sale of its holding in Eclipse Energy. The group, which has stakes in Desire Petroleum and Sterling Energy, added it looks forward to the future developments in the Falkland Basin in the first quarter of 2010. NAV currently is 93p per share. Recruitment agency Work slipped to a loss of £579,000 against a profit of £1m, after revenue dipped to £12.1m from £18.7m in the six months to June. Group net fee income fell by 32% to £5.43m (2008: £7.99m). All service lines and all sectors were impacted by the recession, it said. "We do not believe that we will see any significant level of growth return to the market this year," it added.Zinc recovery specialist ZincOx reports that the economic outlook has improved greatly since the start of the year although a great deal of uncertainty remains. Our first priority continues to be the successful completion of the Jabali project and we look forward to being in production at Jabali next year, it added. Losses in the six months to June totalled £10.85m. Nature Group saw interim pre-tax profit surge to £628,000 against £193,800 before on revenue that rose to £1m from £1.34m before. The group said the current year will see a significant uplift in its annual revenues due to the first time 100% consolidation of its Gibraltar operations from the beginning of 2009.Persian Gold said the geology of Iran remains very attractive as it narrowed half-year losses to £161,000 from £188,000 previously on nil revenues. "Despite some considerable success on the ground, we have found it difficult to progress projects due to bureaucratic delays," said the group.Contractor and property group Pochins posted losses of £9.4m for the year against a profit of £1.8m previously due to the "most dramatic and sustained collapse in property values in living memory." Turnover fell to £102.0m from £115.3m before while total dividend slid to 1.5p against 6p last year as it scrapped its final dividends, having halved interim dividends.Oil and gas firm Rockhopper saw full-year losses before tax surge to $4.45m from $1.47m before. "Although many issues need to be resolved, we have within our grasp a very real prospect of participating in a multi-well drilling campaign in 2010 and we are hopeful of reporting significant news from that campaign throughout the year," said the group.Goldshield responded to press speculation that suggested the recommended cash offer from AIT Investments Limited at 440p per share, announced on 18 September 2009, undervalues the Company. It pointed out that in early July, the Management Team, which yesterday publicised its intentions to make an offer for Goldshield, made a conditional proposal at a price below 440p, which independent directors considered was capable of being recommended to shareholders."Discussions have continued with the Management Team since that time in relation to their proposal, which has remained at a price below 440p. The Independent Directors have noted that the Management Team are continuing to investigate the possibility of making an offer for the Company," said Goldshield.Braemore Resources expects pre-tax losses for the year ending 30 June to widen to approximately £7.4m compared with a loss of £1.41m last time.Shares in Minerva surged after the firm, which develops offices in the capital said it has refinanced, extended or restructured more than £750m of loan facilities.Strong public sector linked activity helped Morson which supplies staff to the aerospace, defence, power, rail and other technical industries post a rise in profits and revenues in the six months to June 30.Pre-tax profits for the period climbed by 17.8% from the same period the previous year to £4.9m as turnover rose 3.7% to £219.9m.