Small caps round-up: Cluff Gold, D1 Oils, Jourdan...

8th Sep 2009 10:50

Cluff Gold, the West African focused gold mining company, announces the successful completion of the 7,000 metre drilling programme at Baomahun, its flagship gold project located in Sierra Leone. 'The results demonstrate the down dip continuity of mineralisation at grades and widths which the company considers show strong potential to support an underground operation either alongside or subsequent to an open pit operation,' said the group.Alternative energy crop company D1 Oils saw interim losses halve as the restructuring of its business to focus on the cultivation of the oilseed bearing Jatropha curcas tree.Loss before tax from continuing operations fell to £2.79m from £5.67m the year before on revenue that slipped to £1.54m from £2.16m.'Cash flow forecasts approved by the board show that the group will remain cash positive at least until the end of 2010,' said Ben Good, chief executive officer of the company.Industrial holding company Jourdan saw profit before tax from continuing operations advance to £1.2m in the year to end-June 2009 from £0.9m the year before on revenue that rose to £18.1m from £17.6m.Bank borrowing was reduced by 59% to £814,000 during the year and the company has agreed new facilities with its bankers for the year ending 1 July 2010. The final dividend has been held at 8p. Galliford Try's Scottish infrastructure business, Morrison Construction, has been chosen to as one of 17 framework partners to work on projects with Scottish Water.The firm, which already works with Scottish Water, said the framework will cover nearly £2bn of capital works in Scotland. Construction work is expected to start under the framework in April next year and run for four years with a two year renewal option.Pantheon Resources, which has a 25% interest in the Vision Rice University #1 well in East Texas, says the well will be plugged and abandoned for mechanical reasons.'This decision was taken after the high pressure snubbing unit was unsuccessful in retrieving the stuck coiled tubing from the wellbore,' it said, although 'the overall prospectivity of the project remains undiminished'.Sefton Resources has posted a net loss of $203,465 versus a $904,363 a year ago after oil and gas revenue halved to $1.3m from $2.6m.Chairman Jeremy Delmar-Morgan said the group's financial position remains strong and assets would continue development of its assets, although at a 'conservative pace'.Pension consultant Mattioli Woods upped profits by 11% in the year to May, despite a sharp fall in interest income. Revenues rose to £13.28m (2008: £10.83m) with profits up to £3.9 from £3.51m. The final dividend rises to 2.75p from 2p.The "credit crisis" led to increased demand for advice from clients, particularly in the first half of the year, Mattioli said. Revenues from its fee-based services increased by 35.3% to £6.48m (2008: £4.79m), representing 48.8% of total revenue (2008: 44.3%). Herencia Resources gained after it narrowed first-half pre-tax losses to £189,424 from £519,357 last time.AMS Medical saw pre-tax profits slip in the half year to June 30 as destocking by major customers led to reduced demand.The firm saw pre-tax profits before exceptional items slip to £0.9m from £1.2m over the same period the previous year as revenue edged up to £9.9m £9.8m.Software testing group SQS Software posted lower pre-tax profits in the first half amid challenging trading, but said that key markets are beginning to show signs of recovery.Pre-tax profits totalled €2.7m, compared with €6.7m over the same period the previous year. Turnover slipped to €67.5m from €68.9m.Stadium Group, which makes electronic and power supply products for equipment manufacturers, saw pre-tax profits fall to £880,000 in the first of the year from £1.4m over the same previous year as revenues slipped to £22.3m from £23.1m.