Small caps round-up: Cyril Sweett, Kewill, Gulf Keystone...

13th Oct 2009 08:04

Construction and property consultancy firm Cyril Sweett said overall trading for the half year is expected to be in line with expectations but added that there will be a number of one-off costs.Logistics software specialist Kewill expects to report results for the six months ended 30 September in line with management expectations. Kurdistan-focused oil explorer Gulf Keystone Petroleum has appointed Strand Partners as its nominated adviser and Mirabaud Securities as its broker. They replace RBC Capital Markets, which was nominated adviser and joint broker, and Tristone Capital, the former joint broker.Alkaline fuel cells specialist AFC Energy has successfully completed an important field test of its first generation, lower cost, non-platinum electrodes at AkzoNobel's chlor-alkali plant in Bitterfeld, Germany. During the test AFC Energy's fuel cell system fed electricity into AkzoNobel's grid, on a par with previous field tests using platinum based electrodes. Platinum Australia says the initial Mineral Resources Estimate for the Mira Deposit has defined a Total Resource of 6.63 Mt @ 1.43 g/t 3E containing 304,800 ozs 3E, including a High Grade Resource of 1.19 Mt @ 3.58 g/t 3E (platinum + palladium + gold) containing 137,300 oz 3E. GMA's Amesmessa gold mine in Algeria produced 2,303 ounces of gold and 480 ounces of silver in September. Accordingly, the mine produced a total of 26,727 ounces of gold in the first nine months of 2009 compared with 15,864 ounces in the first nine months of 2008. Production this month has fallen short of forecast largely due to a breakdown of the drill rig used for laying explosive charges, GMA added.Shares in Mirada rallied after the AIM-quoted interactive media and games group announced a new customer contract win in Europe.Shares in Berkeley Mineral Resources jumped after the metals processor said it had concluded an agreement to acquire mining rights to process zinc and lead at two dumps at the Kabwe mine in Zambia.Shares in Metalrax jumped by a third after the steel products group announced that it had agreed refinancing facilities worth £23.7m with its banks.The package has been agreed with HSBC and RBS and includes a £11.9m committed loan secured against Metalrax properties as well as other arrangements. Metalrax said the new banking facilities will enable the company to continue as a going concern.Shares EPE Special Opportunities, which invests in distressed businesses, jumped after it said its portfolio was performing in line with expectations.Among its successes were the initial turnaround phase of tea and coffee merchant Whittards of Chelsea having been achieved, the company said.Green technology company Ultima Networks has signed an agreement with Makro to supply the cash and carry group with its electric bicycles.Support services group Northern Bear said new contracts worth in excess of £6m will contribute 'significantly' to revenues and profitability during the second half of the financial year.The group also announced that David Jay has agreed to step down as finance director but will remain on the board as a non-executive director. Jay has been replaced by Steve Roberts, currently a non-executive director of Northern Bear.Cash point advertising specialist i-design said results for the year will be in line with expectations while the company's cash position will be better than expected at about £1.7m. Translation services and information management software provider SDL said its trading performance since July has been in line with consensus expectations, with both turnover and operating profit marginally ahead of 2008 levels.Demand for translations services has been stable with some recent improvement in the back order pattern. The Global Information Management Technology division continues to perform robustly and has achieved some significant client wins recently such as Vestas Wind Systems, American Heart Association, Nexway and De Nederlandse Bank.