UK SMALLCAP ROUNDUP: Healthcare Locums Buys 3 Staffing Firms

16th Jul 2010 09:30

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 HEALTHCARE LOCUMS PLC (HLO.LN) said Friday it has agreed to buy three specialist nursing and healthcare staffing businesses and has raised GBP11 million through a discounted share placing to help fund two of the buys. Non-executive Chairman Alan Walker said the acquisitions are a "significant step" towards its strategy of expanding into the specialist nursing recruitment market in areas such as midwifery, special care baby units and intensive care where demand is particularly acute. At 0732 GMT, shares +7.25 pence, or 4.5%, at 167.75 pence. BLUEBAY ASSET MANAGEMENT PLC (BBAY.LN), a fund manager, said assets under management fell 7.2% in the fourth quarter compared with the previous quarter, as the European sovereign debt crisis spooked nervy investors. However, compared with a year earlier the figure rose around $10 billion on year due to Bluebay's focus on European corporate investment grade debt. At 0732 GMT, shares -13 pence, or 4.4%, at 282 pence. MOTHERCARE PLC (MTC.LN), a parenting and children's products retailer, said it is in talks to buy a 25% stake in the company which runs the Mothercare and Early Learning Centre franchises in Australia and New Zealand. At 0732 GMT, shares -1 pence, or 0.2%, at 529 pence. CLAPHAM HOUSE GROUP PLC (CPH.LN) said the recent soccer World Cup tournament had a negative impact on sales in the first quarter of its current fiscal year, as it posted a jump in fiscal 2010 pretax profit. The firm, which runs the Gourmet Burger Kitchen and The Real Greek restaurant chains, said trading improved throughout April and May but the World Cup had a "negative impact" on sales throughout June, which it said it had expected. At 0733 GMT, shares flat at 57 pence. SINCLAIR PHARMA PLC (SPH.LN), a U.K. drug maker, said revenue fell about 10% on year in fiscal 2010, and that it is talking to a number of firms about potential product deals. The firm said it is in discussions for a number of deals with its gum disease prevention products Decapinol and Delmopinol and is also actively pursuing opportunities in emerging markets for "multi-country, multi-product deals," without being more specific. At 0733 GMT, shares +2 pence, or 7.4%, at 29 pence. STOBART GROUP LTD. (STOB.LN), a U.K. logistics and transport group, said its joint venture firm Stobart Biomass Products Ltd. has acquired Sussex-based Amenity Horticultural Services Ltd. for around GBP2 million cash, in a move that will see it enter the renewable heat market. At 0734 GMT, shares flat at 151 pence. SIRIUS REAL ESTATE LTD's (SRE.LN) major shareholder has written to other stakeholders, urging them to back its proposed changes to the board at an upcoming extraordinary general meeting. Weiss Asset Management, whose managed funds currently own around 21% of Sirius, said it believes its proposed directors have the expertise to complement the strengths of the existing asset management team led by Chief Executive Kevin Oppenheim. At 0734 GMT, shares flat at 0.27 euro cents. WALKER CRIPS GROUP PLC (WCW.LN), a financial services group, said funds under management rose 2.4% in its first quarter as trading activity continued to improve despite a background of uncertainty and volatility. At 0734 GMT, shares flat at 46.5 pence. D1 OILS PLC (DOO.LN), a biofuels company, urged shareholders to vote against all of the resolutions to overhaul the firm's board of directors at a general meeting. The requisition notice calls for the removal of four of the five directors of D1 Oils and the appointment of Jonathan Saul Sieff and Andrew James Peggie as directors. At 0734 GMT, shares flat at 6.5 pence. DJ UK Smaller Cos +0.1% AIM +0.3% -By Rachael Gormley, Jason Douglas & Hannah Benjamin, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0) 20 7842 9272; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 16, 2010 04:30 ET (08:30 GMT)