UK SMALLCAP ROUNDUP: Kentz To Focus On Iraq Projects

11th Jun 2010 16:00

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 KENTZ CORPORATION LTD (KENZ.LN) said Friday that a key focus for the company over the next 12 months will be on Iraq and the infrastructure and early production facilities service contracts taking shape there, in terms of the initial capital investment that international oil companies are making. Speaking to Dow Jones Newswires after the annual shareholders meeting Chief Executive, Hugh O'Donnell, said the timetable for development in Iraq is right now and Kentz has already bid on a number of projects, adding that he expects a stream of contracts to be awarded to a number of companies over the coming 12 months. At 1421 GMT, shares +9.5 pence or 4.1% at 242.5 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 repaid its debt nine months ahead of schedule, freeing up more cash to invest in asset-backed securities. "In the past 12 months we've spent around EUR30 million on servicing and paying down our debt," Portfolio Manager Shamez Alibhai told Dow Jones Newswires. "We can now use our existing and future cash flows for investments and we can achieve an attractive return for shareholders without leveraging the company." At 1421 GMT, shares +0.31 pence or 18% at 2.03 pence. ORIGO PARTNERS PLC (OPP.LN), a private equity firm, said it raised $30 million in a share sale to fund new investments in China and Mongolia. The money will be added to Origo's existing cash resources to give it a war chest of up to $50 million to plow into investments in sectors like renewable energy, agriculture and mining, in a bid to exploit China's rapid expansion and appetite for resources. At 1421 GMT, shares flat at 27 pence. BRIT INSURANCE HOLDINGS NV (BRE.LN), an insurer and reinsurer, said late Thursday it had rejected a takeover offer from a private equity group, New York-based Apollo Global Management LLC. Brit said the indicative price was GBP10-a-share. That was 37% more than Brit's closing price of 729 pence on Thursday and valued the company at around GBP785 million. At 1423 GMT, shares +138.5 pence or 19% at 867 pence. FULLER, SMITH & TURNER PLC (FSTA.LN), a pub and brewery group, reported a record set of full-year figures in spite of the recession, and said while looming tax hikes could hit spending in its pubs this year it should get a boost from the continued investment in its businesses. At 1423 GMT, shares +55 pence or 10% at 600 pence. BAOBAB RESOURCES PLC (BAO.LN), a precious metals explorer, reported promising results from scout drilling at the Tete iron, vanadium and titanium project in Mozambique. At 1424 GMT, shares flat at 8.75 pence. NEWRIVER RETAIL LTD. (NRR.LN), a retail property group, said it will pay GBP4.2 million for two retail units in Newcastle-upon-Tyne that it will let to Bank Fashion and jeweler H. Samuel. At 1424 GMT, shares flat at 272 pence. DJ UK Smaller Cos +0.4% AIM +0.3% By Rachael Gormley, Jason Douglas & Hannah Benjamin, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0) 20 7842 9272; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 11, 2010 11:00 ET (15:00 GMT)