Small caps round-up: Landore Resources, TXO, Aortech...

3rd Dec 2009 08:49

Shares in Landore Resources jumped after the Canadian miner said it made a 'significant gold discovery' in its Junior Lake property in the province of Ontario.Shares in Texas-focused oil and gas firm TXO slumped after it said oil production in the six months to September 30 fell to 13,221 barrels from 18,530 barrels in the preceding half year.'The decline in production was a direct consequence of the sharp fall in oil prices at the end of 2008 and the start of 2009,' it said.Biomaterials and medical devices group Aortech saw losses narrow in the six months to September 30 despite big customers continued to increase their orders.Pre-tax losses grew to £1.38m from £1.2m, even as revenues soared to £191,000 to £74,000. The firm said it expects orders to continue increasing.Green technology company Ultima Networks has conditionally raised £1m from a placing of 71.4m shares at 1.4p each. The money will be put towards the construction and commissioning of an initial 1 megawatt (MW) solar park in the Puglia region of Southern Italy.Sirius Real Estate has pulled out of talks to buy a German property portfolio, but is facing fees of about €1m following "substantial" due diligence and negotiations.Life-science Provexis narrowed half-year losses to £642,000 from £766,000 a year ago and flagged a 1 for 12 open offer at 2.5p a share to raise £2.1m."We have made very good progress in the first half of this year on a number of fronts, including a significant strengthening of the balance sheet and an industry first European health claim adoption for our lead Fruitflow heart health technology," said boss Stephen Moon."I expect that once we receive final consumer claim wording from the European Commission, this will accelerate our discussions with global food and ingredient partners and allow us to successfully commercialise Fruitflow."Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment group Energy Technique saw pre-tax profit fall to £50,000 in the first half from £215,000 in 2008, as revenue dropped 35% to £2.7m.But this was in line with expectations and the firm predicts more favourable trading conditions in the second half following the acquisition of buildings maintenance business SIAS FM and as the Diffusion unit shows signs of improvement.Emerging market investor Asset Management Investment Trust saw net assets fall to £13.7m on September 30 from £23.6m a year previously as it was caught up in 'the dislocation in credit markets which commenced in August 2007.'The firm said these conditions 'to some extent are still present' but added: 'it is now possible to have some degree of optimism that the worst has passed and we are seeing the beginning of the hoped for economic recovery.'The market value of Local Shopping REIT, a real estate investment trust that provides investors with exposure to a portfolio of local shopping assets in the UK, rose by 4.8% in the six months to 30 September.'Our diverse tenant base of smaller, independent traders continues to perform relatively well, particularly where their trade relies on non-discretionary spend,' said joint chief executive Nick Gregory.Medical Vision. the surgical and medical skills training technology company, is to sell its medical simulation assets to Australian company Leading Edge Instruments (LEI) for A$6.1m, payable in LEI shares. If the sale goes through, Medical Vision will end up owning 40% of LEI.Dolphin Capital, the investment company focused on the residential resort sector in south-east Europe, saw its net asset value (NAV) per share rise 6.7% to 206p at the end of September from 193p at the end of June.With deferred income tax liabilities taken into consideration NAV per share grew 6.3% to 186p from 175p at the end of June.The company's cash balance at the end of September stood at €76m, but had dropped to €70m at the end of November. Oil explorer Oilex said that the Loré-1 well, the first of a two well drilling programme in the Timor Sea contract area JPDA 06-103, is currently at a depth of 2,340 metres, preparing to drill ahead after setting intermediate casing.The well could be drilled to its target depth and evaluated by the middle of December, the company said.Independent oil and gas exploration and production company TXO said that oil production in the six months to end September dipped to 13,221 barrels from 18,530 barrels seen in the preceding six month period.The company said it reined back production in response to lower oil prices, as a number of wells became uneconomic, but now the oil price is recovering again it will be ramping up production.