Small caps round-up: Tanzanite One, Plastics Capital, PetroNeft...

21st Sep 2009 08:19

Tanzanite One, which mines for the eponymous gemstone in Tanzania, fell into losses at the interim stage as revenues tumbled in line with tanzanite prices.The firm posted a pre-tax loss of £1.3m, compared with £3.9m over the same period the previous year, as revenues fell to £4.9m from £20.9m.Plastics Capital rallied more than a third Monday after claiming it's seen some 'initial signs' of recovery in its markets.The niche plastics products group reports volumes are recovering from the low levels suffered in the first half of 200, mostly from developing markets in Asia Pacific, and to a lesser extent North America. 'All businesses are trading satisfactorily and have excellent potential for profitable growth as the global economy emerges from recession,' it said.PetroNeft Resources found friends on news it is raising $27.5m from a placing with international institutional investors at 14p a share.The group, which owns Licence 61, Tomsk Oblast in Russia, will use the money for pipeline and related infrastructural spend, field facilities, drilling of production wells and general corporate overhead. It's targeting commercial oil production commencing in the third quarter of 2010.There were also gains for oil and gas explorer Empyrean Energy after it farmed out Block B in the Sugarloaf project in Texas to Hilcorp Energy Company.Hilcorp won't earn any interest unless it meets a series of deadlines over the next 20 months to complete three new horizontal wells and the stimulation of the three existing Sugarloaf horizontal wells.It will earn an interest in Block B incrementally as each farm-in activity is completed up to a maximum of 50% of Empyrean's interest in the block.Continuing declines in the real estate sector resulted in a 73% fall in net asset value (NAV) at Equest Balkan Properties.The firm, which has properties in Serbia and Macedonia, saw NAV per share fall to €0.39 on June 30 from €1.45 a year previously.'The commercial real estate sector continues to decline,' said chairman Charles Jillings. 'Investor activity is scarce, the mortgage markets are tight, and downward pressure on rents is now widespread.'MP Evans, which produces palm oil in Indonesia and beef cattle in Australia, saw pre-tax profits fall to $9.35m in the six months to six months to June 30 from $28.58m over the same period the previous year.'Although a lower profit was recorded this year, palm-oil prices remain at healthy levels and the long-term outlook for both palm oil and cattle appears bright in view of ever-increasing demand for food from the world's growing economies,' chairman Richard Robinow said.A strategy to focus on improving operational efficiency and increase its presence in emerging markets helped Amiad, a supplier of water filters and filtration systems, lift profits despite tough market conditions.In the six months to June 30, pre-tax profits rose to $5.7m from $5.4m. Revenue slipped to $36.8m from $39.5m.Shares in Gas Turbine Efficiency, which makes systems to make industrial and aviation turbines more efficient, fell after it posted higher revenues but said customers were still facing severe cash constraints.Revenue in the six months to June 30 climbed to $18.4m from $14.7m over the same period the previous year. Energy services revenue was up by 29% to $14.5m, while aviation revenue climbed by 15% to $3.9m.'Our customers' cash constraints, particularly in the Aviation sector, have caused a substantial revision to investment decisions, extended payment terms and more intense and protracted competitive evaluations,' said chief executive Steve Zwolinski. 'Although visibility of the timing of revenue has diminished substantially in the short term, customer engagement around our current and new products has increased substantially during the period and, longer term, we are well positioned to benefit when our markets improve.' Industrial services holding company CEPS saw revenue in the first half of 2009 dip 7.8% to £7.5m from £8.1m a year earlier, with the Davies Odell business particularly hard hit by destocking by its customers. Profit before tax fell to £0.29m from £0.49m the year before. The company has opted not to pay a dividend.