Small caps round-up: Slingsby, Goldshield, Blue Star...

24th Jun 2009 08:57

Pallet truck provider H C Slingsby said its interim profits will be substantially below last year's levels and there is little sign of a pick-up in trading in the foreseeable future.The company, which is free of debt, continues to be well positioned to withstand the impact of the current trading downturn, it said in a statement.Drug distributor Goldshield said it noted the recent press speculation concerning an offer from Ajit Patel and confirms that it has received approaches concerning a possible offer. "The company considers matters to be at a preliminary stage and there can be no certainty that any offer will be forthcoming," said the group.Losses at film maker and distributor Entertainment One climbed to £31m from £7.7m as it write off more from its US music inventory. Revenues rose by nearly 30% to £343m, while underlying profits jumped by 27.1% to £16.4m."The Film division has a high quality slate of releases for the new financial year and Television has made a strong start with particular successes in major US network commissions. The Canadian Distribution business continues to deliver robust performance while the US Music and Distribution businesses have stabilised following the restructuring," chief executive Darren Throop said.Blue Star Capital said it will need to raise further funding for targeted new investments in the HSI sector, as well as to further develop the existing investments. This process will commence during the second half of 2009. Pre-tax losses for the six months came in at £1.16m versus the £169,000 loss posted previously.Gold producer Minera said production from the Corihuarmi Gold Mine yielded sales revenue of $ 43.6m, and after the deduction of the costs of production, administration and exploration the group made an operating profit of $15.6m (2007: loss US$10.4 million). At the end of the year the group had a balance of cash of $9m.Helesi, the Greece and UK based waste management products maker, has appointed Dimitri John Goulandris as non executive chairman with immediate effect. Goulandris replaces chief executive Sakis Andrianopoulos, who has been acting as interim chairman since the unexpected death of Roger Parsons last August.Online marketer Interactive Prospect Targeting has been suspended from trading on AIM after it admitted results for 2008 will not be ready before the end of June. That breaks rule of the AIM Rules for Companies requiring firms to send annual accounts to shareholders no more than six months after the period to which they relate.The chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Artilium have been unable to agree over future financing strategy and have thus requested trading in the company's shares on AIM be suspended.The board, comprised solely of the chairman and CEO, notes that if the disagreement is not resolved it is possible the company may no longer be regarded as suitable for continued admission to AIM and that its listing may therefore be cancelled. Mineral exploration firm Beowulf has agreed to place 25m new shares to raise £500,000 for continuing exploration expenditure in Northern Sweden and to finance working capital. The group placed the shares, which represents 23.61% of the group, at 2p each. Shipping and transport firm Irish Continental said it has seen a continuation of challenging trends in the 25 weeks to 20 June.In the car market, the group's carryings, at 145,500 cars, are down 6.6% on the same period in 2008, while passenger numbers are down 9.7% at 571,000. In the Roll On Roll Off freight market Irish Ferries carried 93,700 freight vehicles, down 23 %.Container volumes shipped by Eucon and Feederlink (178,000 teu) and containers lifted ( 73,500 units) in its terminals in Dublin and Belfast are down 29% and 27% respectively.Iron castings producer Castings saw pre-tax profit fell to £3.6m from £16.6m before on revenue that slipped to £84.8m from £97.3m before. The group said the situation in February, where customer schedules had considerably reduced and it was operating at 40% of its previous production levels, has continued. Atlas Estates said it is considering certain asset sales to reduce indebtedness and improve the financial stability of the group.