Small caps round-up: Costain, Nostra Terra Oil, EG Solutions

5th Jan 2011 11:11

Construction and engineering group Costain has been appointed by Lewisham Council to rebuild four more schools worth £71m after reaching financial close on the fourth phase of its Building Schools for the Future (BSF) project. "Costain is delighted to have reached financial close on the fourth phase of its BSF partnership with the London Borough of Lewisham, and to be part of the on-going delivery of quality education services to the young people of Lewisham," boss Andrew Wyllie said.Nostra Terra Oil & Gas has ended its relationship with Hewitt Petroleum (HPI) on its properties in Kansas, where production so far has been below expectations."Assuming operatorship of the Boxberger and Bloom properties will provide us with greater control over the pace, cost and technical aspects of field activities," says chief executive Matt Lofgran."We continue to believe there is scope to improve the performance of these two properties. In the coming months we plan to carry out additional work designed to improve the productivity of the existing wells and this work will be scoped during the closing period."Software group eg solutions has won a 'significant' new contract from a leading provider of employee benefit, health, investment and risk solutions, headquartered in South Africa. The contract, worth approximately £460,000 over 10 months, is for eg's market intelligence software and will be used to aid its pensions admin.A strong improvement in sales for Akers Biosciences should see revenues for the year ended 31 December exceed market expectations by 85%. The diagnostic testing products manufacturer shipped its first 'Tri-Cholesterol Check tests' product to Middle-Eastern company Al Tadawi Medical Equip to boost revenues by $1.5m. Additionally, sales of bedside blood testing product PIFA Heparin/PF4 Rapid Assay increased 37% on the year before.Shares in Amphion Innovations shot up after the developer of medical and technology businesses said its subsidiary Data Tern, which commercialises intellectual property, had settled five patent infringements, generating $1.125m (£723,800).Shares in Providence Resources gushed ahead after the Irish oil and gas explorer and producer said it had completed drilling operations on its new well at the Singleton field in West Sussex.