Small caps round-up: Chaucer, Ricardo, Trafficmaster...

19th May 2010 11:20

Underwriter Chaucer has reported a 3% dip in first quarter total gross written premium income to £250.1m, which KBC Peel Hunt said shows discipline."Despite a high level of losses to the Chilean and Deepwater catastrophes in Q1, the tone of Chaucer's IMS is positive," said the broker. "The group is benefitting from its sizeable motor division as well as an expected "significant increase in offshore energy rates." Engineering and automotive consultancy Ricardo has warned that markets continue to reflect the underlying weakness of economic recovery, with customers cautious and projects taking longer to close. Order intake for the four months to April was up 11%, but "still subdued". It expects current levels of activity to be similar to the second half of the last financial year.Satnav maker Trafficmaster has made a "solid" start to the year and is on course to meet expectations for 2010. Revenue to the end of April rose 5% on the previous year, although not enough new cars are being sold to support revenue growth, the group said. Consumer Services sales dropped 23% year-on-year, although business services were up 18%.Property asset manager Capital & Regional has seen signs of further stabilisation in tenant markets and expects an increase in the flow of investment opportunities later in the year.Occupancy across its three funds eased from 94.4% at the end of December to 94.2% at 31 March due as a fall in The Mall outweighed "slight" increases in both The Junction and X-Leisure.Racecourse owner Arena Leisure's trading in the year to date has been in line with expectations.The summer period is more important for Arena and at this stage remains inherently uncertain. "Visibility of forward hospitality bookings for the summer season and the September St Leger festival is limited as lead times remain short," it says.Builder and developer Gleeson's trading remains stable but it says a "sustained upturn in house sales must await a further increase in both mortgage availability and consumer confidence." In the meantime, the focus will remain on cost control and on the acquisition of low cost land in the North of England.Property group Hansteen's annualised rent roll for its wholly owned portfolio was £63.4m at 19 May, showing a yield of 8.25%, with an overall vacancy level of 26%. That compares with end December when the rent roll was £36m and an overall vacancies were 17%. The Hansteen Property Unit Trust has £18m of properties with a rent roll of £822,000 per annum and a vacancy level of 50%."While the occupier market will remain challenging in the short term, our high yield compared to borrowing costs, coupled with the substantial additional upside in the medium term from letting the vacant properties, means the prospects for the group are encouraging," the company said.Oil and ga group Melrose Resources' production in the first quarter totalled 16.6 Bcf of gas and 668 Mbbls of oil and condensate on a working interest basis, a 17% increase compared with the same period in 2009.The 2010 capital expenditure forecast remains at $142m. Approximately 40% will be spent in Bulgaria, 33% in Egypt and the remainder split between Romania, US and Turkey. Impax, the investment manager focused on environmental sector, saw its assets under management rise by 40% in the six months to March 31 as markets improved.'Evidence of improving macroeconomic conditions, particularly in the United States and in the Asia-Pacific region, has resulted in continued recovery in equity markets in recent months and strengthening investor confidence,' it said.Shares in security and surveillance company Petards fell sharply after it said it was implementing a capital reorganisation due to the share price being below the nominal value of existing ordinary shares.Drug developer Vernalis said it has enough cash to last into 2013 as it announced its intention to expand its "already broad" development pipeline during 2010 through in-licensing and acquisitions.The company said it intends to advance its in-house programmes V158411 and V158866 through pre-clinical studies and if successful then initiate phase I studies.Real estate investment trust Rugby Estates, soon to be taken over by ING UK Real Estate Income Trust, said the company's property portfolio has performed satisfactorily in 2010. The company's shares are set to be delisted in the middle of June.