UK SMALLCAP ROUNDUP: Plant Health Care Down On Profit Warning

16th 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 PLANT HEALTH CARE PLC (PHC.LN), a crop technology company, Wednesday said it cut its pretax profit forecast for the year after sales of its Harpin product slumped. At 1430 GMT, shares -52 pence, or 39%, at 122 pence. KEA PETROLEUM PLC (KEA.LN), an oil and gas explorer, said it made a gas discovery at the Beluga-1 well in New Zealand. Further evaluation work is planned, Kea added. At 1429 GMT, shares +1.75 pence, or 7.8%, at 24.25 pence. COAL OF AFRICA LTD (CZA.LN), an exploration company, said it plans to raise up to GBP55 million through placing up to 50 million new shares, representing 10.4% its existing share capital. The money will be spent on its Makhado project. At 1428 GMT, shares -3.25 pence, or 3%, at 107 pence. RPC GROUP PLC (RPC.LN) said it is eyeing a return to growth now a broad restructuring program is approaching its end. Chief Executive Officer Ron Marsh told Dow Jones Newswires that Northamptonshire, England-based RPC, which makes plastic bottles and containers for food, personal care products and chemicals, is examining opportunities for both organic and acquisitive growth. At 1428 GMT, shares +7.25 pence, or 3%, at 248.25 pence. BIOCOMPATIBLES INTERNATIONAL PLC (BII.LN) said it will report a profit for the first six months of 2010 following strong sales of its drug-eluting beads. The company makes tiny beads that deliver drugs to where they're needed in the body and Biocompatibles said six-month trading at its oncology products division, which sells products to treat cancer, was ahead of its internal expectations. At 1428 GMT, shares +10.5 pence, or 4.4%, at 252 pence. SAFESTORE HOLDINGS PLC (SAFE.LN), a U.K. self-storage firm, swung back to a first-half pretax profit due to rising rental rates and improved occupancy and said it has had a solid start to its second half with reservations reaching pre-recession levels. "We're confident we will continue to see an upward trend in occupancy," Chief Executive Officer Steve Williams told reporters on a conference call, adding that he expects rent pricing to increase further in the second half as well. At 1427 GMT, shares +5 pence or 4.5%, at 116 pence. BANGO PLC (BGO.LN), a software company, said it expects fiscal 2011 revenue to top GBP50 million as it expands its services and gains more clients, and to remain profitable in the long term. Bango, whose technology enables firms to collect payments for services sold to Internet-connected mobile phone users, expects to grow revenue to GBP51 million this fiscal and to GBP82.6 million in fiscal 2012. At 1427 GMT, shares +2.5 pence, or 3%, at 85 pence. EASYDATE PLC, an Edinburgh-based internet-dating company, Wednesday said it plans to list on London's Alternative Investment Market at the end of June. Easydate operates a number of mainstream and niche dating websites such as DatetheUK.com, Canoodle.com and DatingforParents.com, and four of the U.K's top 15 dating sites belong to Easydate's portfolio. FILTRONA PLC (FLTR.LN), a plastics and filters manufacturer, said first-half earnings are expected to "materially" top its board's previous expectations, following stronger-than-expected trading in several divisions. The company said stronger trading in the nine weeks to June 5 was driven by continued revenue growth in the higher-margin divisions of protection and finishing products and porous technologies. At 1427 GMT, shares +28.1 pence, or 14%, at 224.2 pence. CYAN HOLDINGS PLC (CYAN.LN), a semiconductor company, said it has received its first order for wireless monitoring of electricity meters in India with a major meter manufacturer. The firm said the initial order for 10,000 units is one of the smallest of several tenders that it understands are currently open in the Indian market. At 1426 GMT, shares +0.15 pence, or 23%, at 0.79 pence. ILIKA PLC (IKA.LN), a cleantech materials company, has signed a deal to jointly scale-up and commercialize its next-generation fuel cell catalysts. It is joining forces with the Industrial Technology Research Institute--a Taiwan-based not-for-profit research and development organization--with a view to having samples available to potential customers in about 18 months' time. At 1426 GMT, shares flat at 56.5 pence. INTERTEK GROUP PLC (ITRK.LN), a quality and safety services company, has acquired an oil inspection and testing company in France for EUR7.6 million in cash, as it looks to expand its share of the French market. At 1425 GMT, , shares -2 pence, or -0.1%, at 1,447 pence. INTELEK PLC (ITK.LN), a manufacturer of electronic systems for satellites, said it has agreed terms of a recommended cash offer from New York-listed Teledyne Technologies Inc. (TDY), valuing the firm at around GBP28 million. Under the terms of the offer, Intelek shareholders will receive 32 pence cash for each share--more than double the closing price of 15.5 pence June 15. At 1424 GMT, shares more than double to 31.25 pence. BEGBIES TRAYNOR GROUP PLC (BEG.LN), a U.K. insolvency specialist, is expanding its offshore practice by opening an office in the Cayman Islands and setting up a teaming agreement with an established insolvency practice in the Isle of Man. At 1424 GMT, shares -1 pence, or 1.7%, at 59 pence. DJ UK Smaller Cos +0.16% AIM -0.01% -By Rachael Gormley, Jason Douglas & Hannah Benjamin, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0) 20 7842 9272; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 16, 2010 11:00 ET (15:00 GMT)