UK SMALLCAP ROUNDUP: Intl Personal Finance Issues EUR225M Bond

30th 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 INTERNATIONAL PERSONAL FINANCE PLC (IPF.LN) Friday announced its inaugural public bond issue, pricing EUR225 million five-year bonds at a fixed coupon of 11.5%. IPF, which provides small-sum doorstep loans in Eastern Europe and Mexico, has a long-term credit rating of BB+ from Fitch Ratings and the Notes are expected to be rated BB+ by Fitch. At 1042 GMT, shares +1.8 pence, or 0.8%, at 237.7 pence. MANGANESE BRONZE HOLDINGS PLC (MNGS.LN), the London taxi maker, said it is confident it will soon complete the planned sale of 20 million shares to Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. (0175.HK), a move that would give the Chinese car maker a 51% stake in the company. Manganese Bronze said talks with Geely about the share sale are taking longer than anticipated but Chief Executive Officer John Russell told Dow Jones Newswires the company remains confident a deal can be done. At 1042 GMT, shares +4.3 pence, or 12%, at 39 pence. DIGNITY PLC (DTY.LN), a U.K. funeral services group, expects to secure net proceeds of around GBP80 million from a potential bond issue, Chief Executive Mike McCollum said, the majority of which would be returned to shareholders. "It's something we've been working hard on for a while and we've had a lot of positive conversations with bond holders and rating agencies," McCollum told Dow Jones Newswires. "It's a matter of weeks rather than months." At 1042 GMT, shares +7 pence, or 1%, at 689 pence. CHARTER INTERNATIONAL PLC (CHTR.LN), an engineer, said strong sales of consumables like its ESAB unit's welding wires and rods helped boost pretax first-half profit 76%, but added it doesn't expect sales of capital goods to pick up until next year. Chief Executive Michael Foster told Dow Jones Newswires sales of big-ticket items like its Howden unit's air handling systems and ESAB's welding systems are still weak, and will likely remain so until 2011. At 1043 GMT, shares -44.5 pence, or 5.6%, at 715.5 pence. PANTHEON RESOURCES PLC (PANR.LN), an oil and gas explorer, said drilling of the Kara Farms well in Tyler County, Texas, has been delayed because operator Vision Resources LLC couldn't get a suitable rig. At 1043 GMT, shares -3.25 pence, or 13%, at 21.25 pence. LEISURE & GAMING PLC (LNG.LN), a European betting and gambling group, said it has agreed to sell its main trading subsidiary after it failed to get a significant injection of funds into its business following a poor run of trading. At 1044 GMT, shares suspended at 5 pence. HOMESERVE PLC (HSV.LN), a U.K. repair and maintenance group, said it has increased its membership businesses in the first four months of fiscal 2011, with rising policy numbers and high retention rates across all of its territories. At 1044 GMT, shares -55 pence, or 2.4%, at 2,246 pence. NEW HILL GROUP LTD., a fund manager, said it plans to raise GBP1.5 million in an initial public offering on London's junior Alternative Investment Market. New Hill is a holding company that will acquire New Hill Management LLC, a Delaware-incoporated fund manager. JARDINE LLOYD THOMPSON GROUP PLC (JLT.LN), an insurance broker and employee benefit company, posted a 14% rise in first-half pretax profit and said it was confident for further growth in the year, partly due to acquisitions and hirings it has already carried out. At 1044 GMT, shares -6 pence, or 1%, at 579.5 pence. MELROSE RESOURCES PLC (MRS.LN), an oil and gas explorer, said it made its third consecutive discovery offshore Bulgaria. Melrose said the gas discovery was at the Kavarna East No. 1 well in the Galata block. It estimates the discovery, which is near two other recent discoveries, contains about 12 billion cubic feet of gas. At 1045 GMT, shares -4 pence, or 1.3%, at 315 pence. PETROLATINA ENERGY PLC (PELE.LN), a Latin America-focused oil and gas company, said it agreed to raise $11.5 million in a share sale to spend on exploration in Colombia. At 1045 GMT, shares +2 pence, or 3.9%, at 53.5 pence. DIGITAL BARRIERS PLC (DGB.LN), a homeland security services firm, has agreed to buy high-tech video surveillance firm COE Group PLC (COE.LN) in an all-cash deal worth about GBP3.3 million, which it said will broaden its business. At 1045 GMT, shares +5 pence, or 3.6%, at 145 pence. METRODOME GROUP PLC (MRM.LN), an independent all-rights distributor, said its shares will be restored to Alternative Investment Market trading, after its attempted acquisition of Target Entertainment Group fell through. Trading of the firm's shares on AIM was suspended June 28 following press speculation that weekend about a possible acquisition by the company of all or part of Target. At 1045 GMT, shares -0.25 pence, or 13%, at 1.63 pence. FILTRONIC PLC (FTC.LN), an electronic component maker, said it has agreed to buy wireless telecommunications products company Isotek (Holdings) Ltd. in a cash and share deal worth GBP10.7 million, so it can re-enter the market for base stations. Filtronic will pay GBP4.35 million in cash for Isotek and offer 18,550,000 new Filtronic shares which, based on Thursday's closing price of 34.35 pence a share. At 1046 GMT, shares -0.75 pence, or 2.2%, at 33.5 pence. ELEKTRON PLC (EKT.LN), an electronic equipment distributor, has agreed terms to buy medical instruments maker Hartest Holdings PLC (HTH.LN) in a cash deal that values the company at GBP8.2 million. At 1046 GMT Elektron shares -3 pence, or 9.7%, at 28 pence. Hartest shares +4 pence, or 4.7%, at 89 pence. DJ UK Smaller Cos -0.5% 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 30, 2010 07:30 ET (11:30 GMT)