Small caps round-up: Carpathian, Clarity Commerce, Coal of Africa...

28th Sep 2009 09:58

Eastern Europe focused retail property investor Carpathian saw profits slide in the six months to 30 June as rental income slumped.The firm, which invests in shopping centres, supermarkets and warehouses in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Lithuania and Latvia, posted adjusted pre-tax profits of €2.4m, compared with €7m over the same period the previous year. Net rental income fell to €13.6m from €21.2m.Net asset value per share fell to €0.81 on June 30, from €1.69 a year earlier. The fall in rental income was due to the sale of the Varyada Shopping Centre in the Czech Republic and a 3% fall in rents.Clarity Commerce, which makes software for retailers and leisure businesses, has raised £2.725m in a placing to help it strengthen its balance sheet. It placed some 6.8m shares at 40p a share, a 4.8% discount to its closing mid-market price of 42p on Friday. Coal of Africa, which mines for the fuel in South Africa, has responded to speculation of a takeover by saying it has not received an offer. A report in the Daily Mail last week said that the steel company Mittal has the firm in its sights.Eurasia Mining, which mines for precious metals in Russia, posted a loss of £2m in the six months to June 30, compared with £834,000 over the same period the previous year as costs increased.Greenland's government has approved the transfer of the Nalunaq gold mine mining licence to Angel Mining, the AIM-listed firm said today.The transfer of the mining licence, delayed due to this year's general election, means Angel can now complete the acquisition of the mine from Crew Gold Corporation, triggering a $0.5m payment to Crew.'The company is still hoping to pour gold before the end of this year but further licensing is required from the BMP before this can take place,' said boss Nicholas Hall.Gold miner Aurum rallied Monday on news that Kentor Gold will pay $300,000 to extend for three months the option period it has to buy Aurum's stake in the Andash project in the Kyrgyz Republic and associated mining fleet. Australian firm Kentor also said its due diligence on Andash yielded no significant issues and concluded that the project is both 'economically robust and technically feasible'. But compressor technology specialist Corac slipped after confirming it placed £4.7m of shares with M&G Recovery Fund at 35p each.The company, which also announced the appointment of former Vega Group boss Phil Cartmell as CEO, said its interim loss after tax was steady at £1.3m on revenue up to £0.9m from £0.5m.Falkland Oil & Gas says its farm-in partner, BHP Billiton, is still trying to secure a suitable drilling rig for a drilling programme currently scheduled for 2010.The half-year pre-tax loss rose to $3m from $2.2m a year ago, but the group had a cash balance of $19.3m at the end of June, sufficient to cover the cost of the long lead drilling equipment and some of the actual drilling costs.Spain-focused explorer Ormonde Mining narrowed its pre-tax loss for the first six months of 2009 to €242,000 from €377,000 in 2008, reflecting a 'significant' reduction in administrative expenses, including wage cuts. Healthcare software provider Advanced Computer Software has snapped up Indian software company Oak Labs for an undisclosed sum. Oak Labs specialises in the design and delivery of IT solutions, and will significantly enhance Advanced Computer's product development strategy, the company said. Oak Labs is a debt free profitable company that had revenues in excess of 40m rupees (£0.52m) in the year to 31 March 2009, and achieved an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation over that period of 2.2m rupees (£28,000).Interactive TV Cellcast tumbled into the red in the first half of the year with pre-tax losses of £0.38m, compared to a pre-tax profit of £0.34m a year earlier. Revenue in the period rose to £8.63m from £6.70m, and the company projects that full year revenue will show an improvement on 2008's levels.However, the group was cash generative during the period, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £54,000 compared to a negative £550,000 in the corresponding period in 2008.