UK SMALLCAP ROUNDUP: Salamander Energy: Vietnam Well Dry

23rd 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 SALAMANDER ENERGY PLC (SMDR.LN), an oil and gas firm, Friday said it didn't find any oil at an exploration well offshore Vietnam, marking another setback in its drilling campaign. Salamander said it plugged and abandoned the Tom Hum Xanh-1X well as a dry hole after drilling to more than 2,000 meters without finding any hydrocarbons. Salamander said the next stage of its drilling campaign will be at the Kutei basin, offshore Indonesia. At 0746 GMT, shares -3 pence or 1.3% at 221 pence. METALS EXPLORATION PLC (MTL.LN), a gold and molybdenum miner, received a takeover offer from property tycoon Christian Candy pitched at GBP35.8 million. Candy's investment vehicle Solomon Capital offered 13 pence a share to acquire Metals Exporation, a 27% premium to the company's closing price Thursday. Metals Exploration said it is considering the offer and will respond shortly. At 0745 GMT, shares +2.75 pence or 27% at 13 pence. CLOSE BROTHERS GROUP PLC (CBG.LN), a financial services firm, said its bad debt ratio improved marginally in the five months to June 30, but warned it is still sensitive to the economic environment, and reported no increase in funds under management. At 0745 GMT, shares -10.5 pence or 1.5% at 700 pence. BEAZLEY PLC (BEZ.LN), a Lloyd's of London insurer, posted a significant rise in first-half pretax profit, boosted by a $33.7 million foreign exchange gain, but said the "intense competition" in many lines of insurance is likely to continue to hit rates. Chief Executive Andrew Horton told Dow Jones Newswires Beazley is cautious about recession-related claims on professional indemnity cover despite recent falls in claims levels on some lines of business. At 0745 GMT, shares +1 pence or 0.8% at 123 pence. W.H. IRELAND GROUP PLC (WHI.LN), a stockbroker, swung to a first-half pretax loss as revenue was hit by the loss of a major client, but said it is better positioned for difficult markets following its restructuring, and named Paul Compton as its new chief executive. At 0744 GMT, shares flat at 36.75 pence. DIGITAL BARRIERS PLC (DGB.LN), a security services company, said it has bought a division of security services company Overtis Group Ltd. for GBP3.2 million in cash. At 0744 GMT, shares +2.5 pence or 1.9% at 137.5 pence. EBIQUITY PLC (EBQ.LN), a media consultancy, reported a sharp fall in fiscal-year profit due to acquisition costs, and said it is poised to benefit from companies' increasing scrutiny of their own marketing efforts. At 0744 GMT, shares +0.5 pence or 0.8% at 60 pence. DJ UK Smaller Cos +0.24% AIM +0.18% -By Jason Douglas, Hannah Benjamin and Rachael Gormley, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0) 20 7842 9272; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 23, 2010 04:30 ET (08:30 GMT)