Small caps round-up: DM, China Goldmines, Management Consulting ...

8th Mar 2010 08:12

Scratch card and direct marketing firm DM posted record turnover and higher profits in the year to December 31 as it integrated two acquisitions.Turnover climbed by 40% from the previous year to £25.59m, while profit after tax 11% to £3.48m. 'Our strategy of making acquisitions, on favourable terms, of complementary businesses in our sector has once again proved successful,' said chairman Adrian Williams. ' I am pleased with these robust results in a challenging marketplace.'Advanced Power Components expects revenue of about £6.5m for the six months to 28 February with a net profit before tax of £40,000, versus £6.8m turnover and a loss of £281,000 the year before. The electronic components group also said it had appointed Rob Smith as finance chief. He's had the same job at Densitron Technologies, Curidium Medica and Eco City Vehicles.Workwear and uniform group Alexandra has decided not to put itself up for sale and said it intends to raise funds via the equity markets. The group is in discussion with its bankers regarding 'appropriate new debt facilities in the context of the proposed fund raising'.Insurer Chaucer moved back into the black in 2009, posting a profit before tax and foreign exchange on non-monetary items of £75.3m versus a loss of £59.5m in 2008."The outlook for the business remains encouraging despite the softening of rates across some classes of business," said boss Bob Stuchbery.Profit before tax of £42m compared with a £26.2m deficit a year earlier and gross written premiums increased 15%, or 5.45 at constant currency, to £795.6m. A final dividend of 2.7p makes a total of 4p for the year, down from 5.5p in 2008.After a strategic review, China Goldmines has decided to look for new projects to acquire utilising current funds of approximately $23m. The net asset value (NAV) per share of China Real Estate Opportunities fell 14% in 2009 to end the year at 1137p, but was up 7% from the end-June level. Gross rental income in 2009 grew to £28.98m from £26.12m the year before. Group profit before tax was £20.12m versus a loss the year before of £68.51m.The company has launched a tender offer to buy back £15m of its shares from shareholders at 330p per share. City of London Investment Group's total funds under management slipped slightly to $4.5bn in the three months to February. Funds under management were $4.7bn at November.Fidelity European Values' cautious approach led to a year of relative underperformance, but the investment trust believes it will contribute to "outstanding" longer term gains.Net asset value per share rose 11.3% on a total return basis, less than its benchmark, the FTSE World Europe (ex UK) Index, which improved 19.1%. "The major factor behind this weak relative performance was the portfolio's commitment to stocks with strong balance sheets and resilient profits," said chairman Robert Walther who hands over to Humphrey van der Klugt today. "The best performing stocks were, however, more volatile companies with rather weaker fundamentals."The share price rose by 21.3% on a total return basis in 2009 resulting in a narrowing of the discount. Greece-based waste management products maker Helesi has sold off its UK manufacturing operations to recycling container supplier Straight for £1.65m in cash. Straight will pay Helesi an ongoing royalty for the use of its brand on jointly branded products.In the first half of 2009 Helesi's UK business made a profit before finance charges of €0.3m on revenue of around €4.4m.Management Consulting's underlying operating profit in 2009 was down £6.7m or 19.3% to £28m (2008: £34.7m). Total revenue for the year ended 31 December 2009 was down 19.4% to £276.5m (2008: £343.1m) reflecting the weakness in trading conditions during 2009 and the strong comparative period in 2008. Around 95% of the revenue reported by MCG comes from outside the UK. Louisiana and Texas focused oil and gas company Pantheon Resources said the start of drilling on its Vision William Baggett #1 in Tyler County will now take place later than expected because of problems in getting hold of suitable drilling equipment.Drilling on the well is now expected to take place in May 2010.Wireless technology provider Telit fell into losses in the year to December 31 after incurring costs related to the transfer of the manufacturing of its products to China.The firm posted a pre-tax loss of €2.9m compared with a profit of €1.2m over the same period the previous year, even as revenues increased by 10.7% to €63.8m.Telit said it had lifted market share during the period and that its transfer of manufacturing to China would increase efficiency.