Small caps round-up: Real Office, Equest Investment, African Eagle...

1st Dec 2009 13:13

Real Office is in need of additional cash and is early stage discussions with its company's bankers, the outcome of which are uncertain at this time, it says A combination of lower than projected sales for the first quarter to 31 October 2009, increased credit taken by certain customers, the additional cost of taking over the former business of Welconstruct and contract delays has put pressure on working capital, it added. The company lost £186,000 in the year to July, down from £906,000 last year.Equest Investment Balkans has sold its Rodacar property in Varna to a subsidiary of UniCredit Leasing Italy, for €9.93m in cash, after deduction of VAT.Miner African Eagle says preliminary results from phase two metallugical tests at its Dutwa nickel project in Tanzania "are extremely encouraging".Managing director Mark Parker said the results show "very fast reaction kinetics and confirming the good nickel extraction and low acid consumption of the Dutwa ores. The fast leaching reaction, low acid consumption and good nickel extraction are extremely positive indicators for the viability and profitability of the project."Smart card manufacturer Matica is lower as it raised just £1.16m from a 7 for 2 rights issue at 10p a share after receiving acceptances of just 32.8%. The company, which had wanted £3.5m, says Westhouse Securities will now try and find a home for the unwanted 23.65m shares by 14 December.Toumaz Holdings, the wireless technology company focused on the healthcare and digital markets, is to raise £9m through a placing of 128.6m shares at 7p each. The funds from the placing will boost working capital.The company said that research and development programmes on three chip families are complete, but they will each need further engineering work in preparation for mass production, hence the requirement for more working capital.Oil and gas engineering services firm Plexus says its financial year has begun well, with four new contracts signed since the beginning of July. "This gives me confidence that Plexus is well positioned to weather the recent downturn in oil and gas exploration activity and in turn, see steady growth throughout the remainder of the year and beyond," said chairman Robert Adair in today's AGM statement.Construction and property consultancy firm Cyril Sweett said half-year profit slumped to £1.3m from £3.3m in 2008 on revenue down to £32.7m from £41m, although tere's still a dividend of 0.8p a share."Cyril Sweett remains on track to achieve its expectations for the current year despite some of its markets being adversely affected by the economic downturn," boss Dean Webster said.Motion capture technology company OMG saw full year pre-tax profits virtually halve but explained it away as 'short term pain' brought on by the deepest recession in decades.Adjusted profit before tax, which excludes non-recurring items, fell to £1.1m in the year to 1 December from £2.1m the year before. Reported profit before tax slumped to £0.6m from £1.6m. Revenue held steady at £26.2m.Following its recently completed acquisition of a 2,500 acre portfolio of disused BP sites across the UK, St. Modwen has acquired another 60 acres of strategic development land in the South West and Yorkshire, bringing the developer's national land bank to over 9,500 acres (gross).