UK SMALLCAP ROUNDUP: Origo Partners To Raise Up To $30M

11th Jun 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 ORIGO PARTNERS PLC (OPP.LN), a private equity company, Friday said it agreed to raise up to $30 million in a share sale to fund new investments in China and Mongolia. The money will be added to its existing cash resources to give it a war chest of up to $50 million, Origo said. At 0800 GMT, shares flat at 27 pence. FULLER, SMITH & TURNER PLC (FSTA.LN), a pub and brewery group, Friday posted a near-doubling of full-year pretax profit, flattered by fewer charges than a year earlier, and while it remains cautious about consumer spending, it said sales growth has strengthened going in to the current fiscal year. The company said comparable sales in its managed pubs and hotels were up 3.5% in the 10 weeks to June 5. This compares with 2.7% growth in the year to March 27. At 0800 GMT, shares +45 pence, or 8%, at 590 pence. NEWRIVER RETAIL LTD. (NRR.LN), a retail property group, said Friday 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. NewRiver Retail said the property is in a prime spot on Northumberland Street, one of the city's main retailing locations, and provides about 20,000 square feet of retailing space, subdivided in to two units. It said the price it is paying reflects a net initial yield of about 9.6%. At 0800 GMT, shares flat at 272 pence. BAOBAB RESOURCES PLC (BAO.LN), a precious metals explorer, Friday reported promising results from scout drilling at the Tete iron, vanadium and titanium project in Mozambique. The company said it has drilled almost 4,000 meters at the Chimbala prospect at Tete and hit significant mineralization. At 0800 GMT, shares +0.29 pence, or 3.3%, at 9.04 pence. QUEEN'S WALK INVESTMENT LTD. (QWIL.LN), the publicly-traded debt fund managed by London hedge fund group Cheyne Capital Management (UK) LLP, Friday said it repaid its debt nine months ahead of schedule, freeing up more cash to invest in asset-backed securities. The fund said its plan is to drive growth by purchasing asset-backed securities it believes are undervalued, especially mid-tier mezzanine debt, and to sell older assets. At 0800 GMT, shares +18 pence, or 10%, at 190 pence. DJ UK Smaller Cos +0.2% AIM +0.16% By Hannah Benjamin & Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0) 20 7842 9298; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 11, 2010 04:30 ET (08:30 GMT)