Small caps round up: Churchill Mining, Synergy Health, Nautical Petroleum

26th Apr 2010 12:31

Shares in Churchill Mining ticked up after the Indonesian-focused coal miner said it had signed a memorandum of understanding for the supply of coal to a subsidiary of the Indonesian state electricity firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). It will supply up to 5m tonnes a year, 'significantly increasing Churchill's forecast coal sales.'Healthcare outsourcing firm Synergy moved ahead after saying it expects to report earnings per share at the top end of expectations for the year to 28 March. Trading has remained strong and net debt has been reduced by £36m to £134m.Nautical Petroleum has acquired a 40% stake in Licensing Option 10/1 in the North Celtic Sea Basin, which contains a heavy oil discovery. In return for the 40% equity stake, Nautical will perform and fund a development feasibility review to assess the commercial viability of the discovery.Baltic Oil Terminals has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Alpcot Agro AB and Alpcot Capital to expand its operations at the port of Baltysk in Kaliningrad, Russia.Alpcot Capital is a significant shareholder in Baltic, having acquired an 11% interest in March 2010. Alpcot Agro recently acquired a 95.2% shareholding in BBAH Sweden, a company with interests in several farms in Kaliningrad. Baltic and Alpcot Agro have now identified a significant trading opportunity through supplying overseas buyers with grains and other crops produced in Kaliningrad.Porvair has signed a three year global supply agreement with Alcoa, the world's leading producer of primary aluminium. Under the terms of the Agreement, Porvair's subsidiary, Selee Corporation, will supply its patented Selee-CSX aluminium filter to Alcoa plants worldwide.Software group Clarity Commerce says that challenging market conditions have resulted in delays in receipt of key orders, but, despite these, full year results are expected to be in line with market expectations, a strong improvement on the previous year. Clarity added it remains cautiously optimistic about the future.