Small caps round-up: Charlemagne, Highams, Hydro...

7th Sep 2010 13:48

Hedge fund manager Charlemagne's assets under management rise have picked up in the past two months to stand at $3.04bn at end August. The modest recovery follows a fall in the first half to $2.8bn, blamed on declining markets. Operating profits were $1.2m, down from $1.3m, with one-off performance fees helping pre-tax profits reach $4.9m. The group will pay an ordinary interim dividend of 0.4c and special dividend of 1.1c.Recruiter Highams' trading has improved in recent months. "Numbers of contractors on clients' sites have increased steadily and revenue for the first quarter was up on the same period last year. Highams has not been affected by public sector cutbacks and providing markets remain firm, we are optimistic of a further improved year," it said ahead of its AGM.Interim profits at contractor Hydro International rose slightly to £618,000 from £546,000 even though group revenues reduced by 22%. The group added that 2010 has seen a return to stability, albeit at the reduced level, as the UK and US housing and construction sectors emerge slowly from recession. The closing order book is up 78% on the 2009 year-end and 48% on the previous half-year at £13.9m. Drug developer Plethora broke even on interim revenue of £1.06m. Most of the income came as a result of recovering further development costs in relation to PSD502 from Shionogi. Plethora anticipates future reimbursement income will be limited. Two products were launched towards the end of the first half. During the second half, Plethora will focus on delivering revenue from these two products and a further six products to be launched. Secure communications specialist Vislink has signed orders for several systems for the onshore installation of an export terminal in the Middle East. The order value is in total approximately £2m. The group has also signed a master agreement with a major procurement agency in the Far East to be a key supplier; and expects to supply several systems in the course of the rest of this year, with an anticipated total value of approximately £1m.Griffin Mining is higher after turning in a pre-tax profit of $8.66m for the six months to 30 June compared to last year when the suspension of its Caijiaying zinc gold mine in Northern China caused a loss of $1.35m.Zinc and gold production was a record for any six-month period at Caijiaying, the firm said.Griffin is poised to "significantly" increase production and revenues at Caijiaying in the near future, added chairman Mladen Ninkov. The mine is currently shut following fatalities.Household goods and engineering group Metalrax still expects to beat market expectations for the current year, but that any excess will be limited by any economic slow-down, government spending cuts and reductions in US spend on hospitals related to healthcare reforms.The group narrowed half-year losses to £0.5m from £2.6m in 2009 from continuing activities, or a total of £12m. Revenue dipped to £29.3m.Currency trader Baydonhill had a strong second half to its financial year, achieving break-even or better at the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) level since September 2009.Net loss before tax in the year to 31 March narrowed to £0.74m from £1.4m the year before on revenue that shot up by 54% to £709m from £460m a year earlier.The company said the first quarter of the current fiscal year is ahead of budget with strong performance from both retail and corporate sectors.