UK SMALLCAP ROUNDUP: RM Revenue Threat From UK Spending Cut

6th 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 RM PLC (RM.LN), a provider of educational products and services, Tuesday said GBP200 million of future revenue is under threat from the U.K. government's decision to slash spending in schools, as seven Building Schools for the Future projects where it has been named preferred bidder could be axed. At 0759 GMT, shares -11 pence or 6.8% at 151 pence. SPICE PLC (SPI.LN), a utility support services group, said it has received an increased conditional proposal from European buyout firm Cinven Group Ltd in the range of 62 to 65 pence a share, but said this offer still undervalues Spice. At 0759 GMT, shares +5.5 pence or 10% at 59.5 pence. BIOCOMPATIBLES INTERNATIONAL PLC (BII.LN), a medical technology company, said it has bought some patents to protect its bead products for $4.5 million from Biocure, which will improve margins in its oncology products division and immediately add to profit. At 0800 GMT, shares +3.5 pence or 1.3% at 267 pence. N. BROWN GROUP PLC (BWNG.LN), a home shopping retailer, said trading has been "subdued" since the U.K. general election, with comparable sales ticking up just 0.1% in the 18 weeks to July 3. At 0800 GMT, shares -8 pence or 3.1% at 246.9 pence. GRESHAM COMPUTING PLC (GHT.LN), a provider of IT to financial services firms, said it continues to trade ahead of its management's expectations, as the improvement in trading it announced during the first quarter has continued through to the half year. At 0800 GMT, shares +0.75 pence or 4.9% at 16 pence. ITHACA ENERGY INC. (IAE.V), an oil and gas company, reported increasing production throughout the second quarter as the Beatrice field came back online after an outage in the first quarter and its Jacky field performed above its own expectations. Ithaca said oil production in the second quarter averaged 10,217 barrels a day, in total and 4,914 barrels a day net to Ithaca. At 0801 GMT, shares +3 pence or 2.6% at 120.5 pence. EXPANSYS PLC (XPS.LN), an online consumer electronics retailer, said it has bought two businesses controlled by major shareholder and entrepreneur Peter Jones for GBP38 million as part of its plan to build a global online technology superstore. The purchases of Data Select Network Solutions Ltd. and PJ Media Ltd. is being largely paid for by a placing of 535,714,286 new shares at 5.6 pence each to raise GBP30 million. At 0801 GMT, shares -3 pence or 22% at 10.5 pence. ANITE PLC (AIE.LN), a software company, swung to a full-year pretax loss as sales fell and it invested more in new products, but said it has made a solid start to the current fiscal and is eyeing a return to profit. At 0801 GMT, shares -0.25 pence or 0.7% at 35 pence. DJ UK Smaller Cos +0.3% AIM +0.3%| By Jason Douglas, Hannah Benjamin and Rachael Gormley, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0) 20 7842 9272; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 06, 2010 04:30 ET (08:30 GMT)