Small caps round-up: Carluccio's, Helius Energy, Ceres ...

26th May 2009 10:56

Restaurant group Carluccio's said that it is no longer involved in discussions relating to a potential takeover of the company. Helius Energy, which installs biomass-powered renewable electricity generation plants, moved into profit in the half year to March 31 after selling its first project to RWE Innogy, the renewable energy arm of the power group RWE.Profit totalled £19,000, compared with a loss of £1.17m over the same period the previous year, as revenues rose to £554,000 from nil. The company earned £500,000 from a transitional services agreement with RWE Innogy.Alternative energy firm Ceres Power will get £2m from British Gas following successful Alpha phase testing of its 1-kilowatt grid-connected Combined Heat and Power (CHP) products. Ceres said it is on track to achieve market launch of the residential CHP product with British Gas in the second half of 2011.Automated warehouse systems group SDI has picked up recent contract wins, together totalling approximately £8m, which will be recognised in the financial year to 31 March 2010.TG21 is trading ahead of management expectations for the year to date as CCTV contracts with Arriva in Europe and Go-Ahead Group in the UK made a significant contribution in the first quarter, it told shareholders at its AGM today. Cash flow remains strong and I am particularly pleased to report that the Group maintains a net cash position," executive chairman Peter Ward added.African Minerals, which has interests in Sierra Leone, lost $23.6m after tax in 2008 as expenses jumped to $37m from $17m in 2007. Revenue fell to $2.2m from $7.5m.EMED Mining has initiated a scoping study for potential development of its discovery at the Biely Vrch deposit in Slovakia following "very exciting" exploration results.The gold porphyry deposit is so far estimated to contain mineral resources of 1.1 million ounces (41.7m tonnes at 0.79g/t gold)."Current gold prices of approximately $940/ounce (spot) along with higher futures market prices and relatively low key input costs such as diesel are highly favourable for the potential economics of the project," said managing director Harry Anagnostaras-Adams.Shares in Omega Diagnostics Group tracked higher Tuesday after the medical diagnostics firm launched a new product that verifies the performance of laboratory equipment and laboratory staff.The product, Pathozyme ElisaSure, has been specifically designed to test all microtitre plate washers, microplate readers and manual and automated pipetting devices. It will enable labs to spot deficiencies before they have any impact on process reliability. Oil and gas exploration and production company Providence Resources said production at its Vermillion 60 field, in which it holds a 50% stake, has been boosted as a result of the successful re-completion work on the A7 well in the field. Net benefit to Providence is 300 barrels of oil equivalent per day.