Small caps round-up: Lifeline Scientific, Autologic, Bond...

23rd Sep 2009 13:10

The market liked Lifeline Scientific's maiden interim operating profit of $73,000 versus last year's loss of $3.1m, as the sale of 11 new LifePort kidney transporters helped revenue jump 123% to $7.75m.'Trading was in-line with management's expectations during the first half and the board is confident of strong performance by the company through the balance of the year,' said the medical technology firm.Specialist car distributor Autologic was driven higher by a stronger than expected first half, which the firm says should result in annual figures 'slightly better' than forecast.Pre-tax profit before exceptional items was stable at £0.7m despite a 27% slump in revenue to £67.4m. The group thinks underlying consumer demand for new vehicles is unlikely to improve until the latter part of 2010, at the earliest.Bond International, which provides software to the recruitment industry, ramped up revenue by 22.5% to £9.05m, but pre-tax profit almost halved to £0.8m from £1.5m. It blamed a drop in sales of higher margin software licences to just 41% of revenue from 58% previously, and the transition to rental deals.Explorer Circle Oil said its £15.9m interim loss was made up mainly of a non-cash accounting charge relating to the conversion rights attaching to the convertible loan.'Our daily production levels, particularly in Egypt, are building up and we are working hard to bring the next four gas wells in Morocco on-stream which should result in a healthy increase in revenues,' said chairman Thomas Anderson.UK coal bed methane developer Island Gas Resources reported an operating loss of £159,000, up from £85,000 a year ago, but said it has made 'considerable progress' in developing its assets.'With concern increasing over Britain's looming energy gap, domestic coal bed methane resources are set to play a key part in the UK's energy mix,' said chairman Francis Gugen.Broadband satellite operator Avanti Communications has broken through its target of enlisting 50 Internet service providers to use its yet to be launched HYLAS satellite.The company added three new customers: Italy's Insis System Engineering, Macedonia's EnergoData and Italy and the Balkans' Broadsat. Each customer has committed to the minimum order volumes.IdaTech says its fuel cell system will not be available for delivery to ACME in accordance with the time line specified in the Supply Agreement. This delay means that a milestone in the product acceptance process is likely to be missed in October of this year. The Supply Agreement provides for an extension of the product acceptance process of up to 6 months if an acceptable remediation plan is submitted by 16 November 2009. Furthermore, to date IdaTech has not been able to achieve the challenging cost targets to a level that would be profitable at the price level specified in the Supply Agreement.If the Supply Agreement is terminated, this would mean significantly lower sales for 2010, but the directors believe it will have no material impact on the timing of cash breakeven for the company.Midas Capital has agreed to sell Intelli Corporate Finance to Canaccord Adams for a consideration receivable of cash payment equivalent to net assets as at 30 September 2009 plus goodwill of £1m. Intelli, a wholly owned subsidiary of Midas, is a corporate advisory and broking firm with offices in London and Edinburgh. Intelli had combined revenues for the year ended 31 December 2008 of £3.7 million and profit before tax and management charges of £503k. As at 31 December 2008 the net book value of the Intelli business was £3.3m.Lansdowne Oil's losses rose to £714,000 for the first six months of 2009 compared to a loss of £483,000 for the first six months of 2008. Cash balances at 30 June 2009 were £8,000 (30 June 2008 £1.1m). The company made further draw down of £0.5m under shareholder loan agreements during the period.Ceres Power Holdings pre-tax losses widened to £8.3m from the loss of £5.3m the previous year. Revenue came in at £952,000 against £722,000 in the last time.The group also said it has entered into a long-term supply agreement with Daalderop BV for the volume boiler assembly of the Company's residential Combined Heat and Power ('CHP') programme with British Gas.DDD Group, the 3D software and content company, saw pre-tax losses for the year narrow to £448,000 (June 2008: £609,000) on turnover that rose to £726,000 (June 2008: £354,000).Operations management software company Eg Solutions saw half-year profits rose to £56,000 against £53,000 last year, despite drifting into losses in the second half of last year. Revenue was £2.09m (H1, 2008: £2.2m).Pharmaceutical firm Futura Medical saw pre-tax losses of £0.7m for the six months, against the £1.1m loss in the same period last year.