Small caps round-up: D1 Oils, Scott Wilson, Petroneft ...

4th Jun 2009 11:14

Shares D1 Oils fell sharply after the biofuel firm pointed to funding worries at its joint venture for the global planting of the crop Jatropha."It is now judged that the outcome of this fundraising process is uncertain, and the board of D1 Oils anticipates that the joint venture will therefore have a carrying value of zero for accounting purposes in D1's preliminary results for the year," the firm said. "Nevertheless, the board of D1 Oils strongly believes there remains value in the D1-BP Fuel Crops business, and D1 Oils and BP are entering discussions on its future that may result in the restructuring of the Joint Venture." Design and engineering consultancy Scott Wilson has been awarded a contract worth £9.6m over two and a half years to design the new Crossrail Station at Farringdon.Shares in Petroneft fell sharply after the Russian oil and gas firm posted a loss of $7.9m for the year to December 31, compared with $3.2m.Software solutions supplier IDOX has won a £1.5m deal to deliver phase three of the Scottish Government's ePlanning Efficient Government Project. IDOX has already delivered the first two phases of a four-stage, £12m project to modernize Scotland's planning system. TEG said it is still observing very good market growth and a continued increase in interest in the organic waste sector, despite the global economic situation restricting short term funding of developments in the private sector. "The board is confident that the Group has an exciting future with a strong outlook for trading in the remainder of 2009 and beyond," said the group.Tinci, the China-based environmental engineering company, posted pre-tax profit of RMB0.91m against RMB6.14m last year on revenue that fell to RMB217.8m from RMB260.6m before. Walker Crips Group, the financial services firm, said market uncertainty, particularly in the second half of the year, continued to have an impact on performance during the year. Pre-tax profit slumped 52.2% to £1.1m on total revenue that dropped 13.1% to £15.9m. Amphion Innovations the investor in medical and technology companies, said its net asset value at the end of March was little changed from the figure at the end of 2008. However, it warned that a number of its partner companies are likely to see downward shifts in valuations in the next round of refinancing, though the impact on Amphion's net asset value (NAV) per share is likely to be diluted by the company's holdings of convertible debt. The company was also keen to stress that Amphion's holding of intellectual property assets, currently valued at purchase cost, are producing sizable levels of gross income which Ampion believes could lead to an increase in value.It was a year of two halves for foundry and engineering firm Chamberlin and Hill which saw first half gains reversed in a difficult second half.The company made a loss before tax of £52,000 in the year to 31 March after taking a £0.3m hit on currency related paper losses but excluding £0.45m of exceptional costs, mostly relating to restructuring costs. In the preceding year the company had made a pre-tax profit of £1.08m before exceptional charges of £0.49m. Revenue was barely changed at £39.94m from £39.97m the year before.In view of the sharp deterioration in trading, the board has suspended dividend payments.