Small caps round-up: DDD, Aortech, Coal of Africa...

2nd Aug 2010 11:12

3D software provider DDD said trading was in line with expectations in the six months to June 30 as strong demand from the TV and PC market fuelled sales of devices using technology it licenses.DDD expects to have a product that allows its 2D to 3D conversion technology to be used with almost all TV sets to begin customer trials in the second half of 2010. It says it is in a strong position to benefit from demand for 3D technology for mobile phones.Losses widened at biomaterials and medical device group AorTech in the year to March 31, but the company is pinning its hopes on new product development to drive revenues. The pre-tax loss increased from £1.2m to £1.9m on revenues that climbed from £1.3m to £1.4m. Chairman John Pither thinks AorTech has, 'passed the the tipping point, with an established widely applicable and respected material, which has achieved regulatory approval, and that this will now lead to rapidly rising direct and indirect revenues.'Shares in South Africa-focused Coal of Africa rallied after it responded to a Reuters article by saying that it is unaware of any 'illegal activities' mentioned in the report, which refereed to comments by South Africa's environment minister. It said that all activities at its Vele Colliery have been carried out in accordance with the 'new order mining right' granted for the project and 'the company has not undertaken any activities for which authorisation has not been given.'Coal of Africa said it is 'currently seeking clarification from the Minister with regards to her comments and a further announcement will be made in due course.'GLOBO is another strong riser. The telecommunications software group said revenues in the first half of 2009 climbed by 50% from the same period the previous year as it reaped the rewards of expansion into global markets.Shares in Nostra Terra Oil & Gas rallied after the firm said the redeveloped Austin Chalk well located in Lee County, Texas, in which the company holds a 2% interest, has produced sufficient oil and gas to pay back its redevelopment costs.As a result, the total redevelopment costs of approximately $890,000, including Nostra Terra's share, have already been fully recovered. President Petroleum has bought additional acreage onshore Louisiana and increased its US reserves by 450%.Property group Safeland cut losses for the year ended 31 March to £1.03m from £8.34m in 2009 as conditions improved in the second half."Trading remains difficult, but activity is improving, albeit slowly," said chairman Raymond Lipman, although he stressed the firm continues to enjoy the support of its lenders.The value of the group's trading property portfolio grew by £195,000 compared with a drop of £4.65m the year before, though investment properties dipped to £666,000 from £1.30bn.Online market research firm YouGov is on course to meet expectations for the year ended 31 July 2010 thanks to stronger trading in the second half. Operating profit was "significantly" ahead of the previous year, with business in Scandinavia, UK and USA "particularly encouraging".Trading in AIM-listed tiddler Mission Capital has been temporarily suspended, as per AIM's rules, as the company has failed to make an acquisition within 12 months of its disposal of Karspace Management, which effectively left it as a cash shell.The company's directors are in preliminary discussions regarding a reverse takeover with a third party. The company said the directors have also evaluated a number of other potential investment opportunities, but none has been deemed suitable. A one-off charge of £2.8m for integration and content development costs sent e-mail specialist Progressive Digital into the red in the first half, despite good revenue growth.Group revenue rose by 47% to £24.8m, from £16.9m, in the half-year to June. Excluding TMN, underlying growth in the Progressive business was 13.5%. Adjusted earnings grew 33.0% to £2.7m. Pre-tax losses were £2.1m (2009: profit £0.9m). Publishing Technology swung into a profit of £242,000 from a loss of £99,000 in its latest half year to June. "The business is performing to expectations in the year with both profitability and margin slightly ahead of management expectations at the half year stage. New products and new markets are beginning to contribute positively to the profitability of the group and are expected to make a significant difference in the coming 12 months as the volume of installed new product increases," it said.Rubicon Software has granted First Response Finance Limited a perpetual licence to Rubicon's automated underwriting and loan processing CRM system. The net effect of this will be a one-off improvement in revenues of between £500,000 and £600,000 to be recognised in the year ended 30 June 2010. As a result, it is expected that the company will report a profit for the year. The directors consider strengthening the balance sheet in this way will enable Rubicon to be better positioned to win new business.