Thursday May 15, 05:16 PM
UK small caps close higher; Tower Resources soars on upbeat update
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - UK small caps slogged their way through Thursday's session, closing higher, as the wider markets also endured a topsy-turvy day, with the bulls piling into Tower Resources (LSE: TRP.L - news) , up 252 percent, as tests at Namibian Licence 0010 confirm oil potential.
At the close, the FTSE Small Cap index was up 10.2 points at 3,223.2, while the FTSE 100 was up 35.8 points at 6,251.8.
Tower Resources topped the small-cap gainers, lifting 7.875 pence to 11, after it said seismic tests have confirmed the potential for 10 billion barrels of oil from three prospects at Licence 0010 offshore northern Namibia operated by Arcadia Petroleum Limited.
Works Media showed resilience, staying up 0.25 pence at 1.875 as director Crispin Barker ramped up his share holding in the company to 22.9 percent of the equity, after buying 75,000 shares at a price of 1.60 pence each.
Share buying by the chief financial officer lifted Hellenic Carriers 22 pence to 243.
The bulls also tucked into Persian Gold (LSE: PNG.L - news) , the Republic of Ireland-based Iranian gold explorer, up 1-1/4 to 11-1/4, following news the Chah-e-Zard gold discovery is advancing to pre-feasibility stage.
Pactolus Hungarian Property (LSE: PHU.L - news) managed to fight off the bears, up 5-1/4 pence to 42, despite announcing a slump in profit as it managed to maintain its full-year dividend at 2.1 pence.
Emerald Energy (LSE: EEN.L - news) softened but still finished 10-3/4 higher at 356 after the group said its pretax profit for the quarter to end-March was $6.20 million, while its revenues from oil sales in the period were $12.96 million.
European Minerals (EPM.TO - news) resumed trading and closed at 47-1/2, up 5, following the appointment of Grant Thornton Corporate Finance as the company's nominated adviser.
European Minerals on Wednesday signed a joint venture deal with Lero Gold (LER.V - news) .
CLS Holdings (LSE: CLI.L - news) closed up 11-1/4 pence at 348 after it said first-quarter underlying profit had been strong, with increased net rental income and tightly controlled costs.
Somero Enterprises (LSE: SOM.L - news) plummeted 38-1/2 pence to 46-1/2 -- a 45 percent fall -- after taking a cautious view on any potential recovery of large line US sales. It said it would expect total revenue for the year to end-December 2008 to decline by about 10 to 15 percent compared with the previous year and, as a consequence, it expects results for 2008 to be materially below market expectations.
Matra Petroleum (LSE: MTA.L - news) was down 1.875 pence to 5.25 following a disappointing drilling update, while specialist pharmaceuticals company Meldex plunged 13-3/4 pence to 45 as news of its maiden full-year profits was offset by the absence of any concrete news on bid talks.
Numbers news forced Blinkx (LSE: BLNX.L - news) 6-1/2 pence down to 26-3/4 as it saw Interim losses, Clinton Cards (LSE: CC.L - news) retreated 3/4 pence to 53-1/4, after third-quarter sales reflected the more challenging trading conditions and a cautious outlook.
Finally, Shares in orthopaedic devices maker Corin Group (LSE: CRG.L - news) fell 95 to 255 as Stryker's decision not to re-order any new products until December 2008 triggered analysts' downgrades.
Investec (LSE: INVP.L - news) slashed its 2008 earnings-per-share forecast by nearly 60 percent, telling clients the forecast risk remains high and Stryker will not make a bid in the short term. The broker shifted its stance on the stock to 'sell' from 'hold' with a new 300 pence price target.
At Brewin Dolphin, Chris Glasper downgraded his 2008 earnings per share estimate to 8.7 pence and next year's to 12.2. The analyst moved his recommendation to 'reduce' from 'hold'.
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