UK SMALLCAP ROUNDUP: Findel Sinks As Review Widens

20th Jul 2010 12:30

Dow Jones smallcap news is now on Twitter, allowing you to catch up on the news away from your desk. Go to http://twitter.com/DJ_UK_Smallcaps FINDEL PLC (FDL.LN), a home shopping firm and supplier of education products, Tuesday said it launched a wide-ranging review of all its units after accounting errors at its education business led it to overstate its fiscal 2009 results. Findel said it hired accountants KPMG to assist in its review. The company Tuesday reported a pretax loss of GBP76.1 million for the year to April 2, following a decline in sales and charges for asset impairments and restructuring. At 1041 GMT, shares -4.75 pence or 28% at 12 pence. LONRHO PLC (LONR.LN), a conglomerate with operations in Africa, said its Oceanfresh Seafoods unit began supplying its Cape Hake Fillets brand to U.S. retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST). The products will initially be supplied to stores in Los Angeles and will be rolled out to San Diego and Texas next year, Lonrho said. At 1041 GMT, shares +0.75 pence or 7.1% at 11.25 pence. CONCURRENT TECHNOLOGIES PLC (CNC.LN), a computer products maker, said it expects to miss 2010 earnings expectations, as an order it expected to get this year now won't be sealed until 2011. At 1042 GMT, shares -7.25 pence or 16% at 37.5 pence. SALAMANDER ENERGY PLC (SMDR.LN), an oil and gas company, said it agreed to buy out Soco International PLC's (SIA.LN) interest in the Bualuang field offshore Thailand for $105 million, in a deal that will add another 9 million barrels of oil equivalent to its reserves and boost its daily production to more than 20,000 barrels. At 1042 GMT, shares +0.3 pence or 0.1% at 226.3 pence. PETRA DIAMONDS LTD. (PDL.LN), a diamond producer, Tuesday said the sale of an enormous 507-carat diamond to a Hong Kong jeweler for $35.3 million helped drive an 88% increase in fiscal-year revenue from its mines in South Africa and Tanzania. The company said plans to expand production to 3 million carats a year by about 2018 from its current 1.2 million carats are on track and fully-funded. Petra raised $120 million in a share sale in December 2009 and agreed new banking facilities of $78 million last month. At 1042 GMT, shares +0.75 pence or 1.2% at 62.75 pence. QUEEN'S WALK INVESTMENT LTD. (QWIL.LN), the publicly traded debt fund managed by London hedge fund group Cheyne Capital Management (UK) LLP, said it will continue buying asset-backed securities after it spent EUR11.3 million on them in the first quarter of its 2011 fiscal year. At 1043 GMT, shares flat at 2.28 pence. WICHFORD PLC (WICH.LN), a U.K. property investment company, said it has extended its GBP46 million banking facility with Lloyds TSB for another two years and agreed a loan-to-value covenant waiver on another of its facilities. At 1043 GMT, shares +0.1 pence or 1.3% at 7.55 pence. SUPERGLASS HOLDINGS PLC (SPGH.LN), an insulation company, said sales of its products were hit by uncertainty over the future of a government scheme to cut emissions. At 1044 GMT, shares -3 pence or 13% at 20 pence. DAIRY CREST GROUP PLC (DCG.LN) said first-quarter sales of its five core brands have increased 3% from a year earlier and it expects to make a "meaningful reduction" to its year-end debt. At 1044 GMT, shares +1.3 pence or 0.3% at 389.8 pence. SPEEDY HIRE PLC (SDY.LN) said it has a cautious view on recovery prospects in the U.K. for the remainder of this year and next as it awaits the outcome of the U.K. government's Autumn Spending Review. In an update on first-quarter trading to June 30, the U.K. tool and equipment hire firm said group revenue, excluding fleet equipment sales, was down 0.7% on year compared with a fall of 14% on year in the same period of 2009. At 1044 GMT, shares +0.5 pence or 2.2% at 23 pence. DELTEX MEDICAL GROUP PLC (DEMG.LN) said first-half revenue grew 12% on year to GBP2.9 million, aided by a major new contract in the U.S. and the publication of hospital guidelines about its technology by the U.K.'s state-run National Health Service. At 1044 GMT, shares +0.75 pence or 7.5% at 10.75 pence. SYNDICATE ASSET MANAGEMENT PLC (SAM.LN), a U.K. fund manager, said it returned to profit in the first quarter of its 2011 fiscal year due to lower costs and higher revenue and is now cash generative. At 1045 GMT, shares +0.04 pence or 2.4% at 1.74 pence. HAMPSON INDUSTRIES PLC (HAMP.LN), an aerospace engineer, said it has hired a new chief executive from Paris-based aerospace firm Safran S.A. (SAF.FR). Hampson named Norman Jordan, chairman of Safran unit Labinal SA, as Kim Ward's successor. At 1045 GMT, shares +1.75 pence or 3.3% at 54.25 pence. DJ UK Smaller Cos -0.26% AIM -0.33% -By Rachael Gormley, Jason Douglas & Hannah Benjamin, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0) 20 7842 9272; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 20, 2010 07:30 ET (11:30 GMT)