Tuesday March 25, 05:26 PM
UK small caps close higher; Petards up on bullish outlook
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - UK small caps closed higher today, as the wider market was also in buoyant mood, and as Petards shares rallied after the company said it sees full-year 2007 results being in-line with its Dec 20 trading update and a bright outlook.
At the close the FTSE small cap index was 35.6 points up at 3013.9, while the FTSE 100 index rose 193.3 points to 5689.1.
Shares in Petards closed up 0.085 pence at 0.335, as the surveillance systems company said that it anticipates a net debt position that is lower than the 3 mln stg indicated in December.
In a bullish statement the company added in the six months ended Feb 28 the group received orders for its continuing business, excluding UK government and commercial software, totaling 12.5 mln stg.
The company said it expects the majority of the orders will be delivered in 2008.
Cambrian Mining (LSE: CBM.L - news) rose 22-1/2 pence to 98-1/2, after its share suspension was lifted.
The company also gave an upbeat outlook on future progress despite conceding a fall in pretax profits to 1.37 mln stg, when it announced its 2007 results on March 20.
Investors favoured Central African Mining and Exploration, which closed up 1-1/4 pence at 50, after White Nile (LSE: WNL.L - news) said it was taking a 49 pct stake in its Kenyan subsidiary CAMEC.
The news came at the same time the company announced a wider first-half pretax loss of 799,000 stg, compared to 699,000 stg a year ago.
Meanwhile, Encore Oil (Berlin: OIR.BE - news) , climbed 1 pence to 45, as drilling operations started on the Cobra (Milan: COB.MI - news) gas appraisal well on Southern North Sea block 48/2c.
Encouraging news on Oxford Biomedica (LSE: OXB.L - news) 's 'Trovax' drug, gave its shares a boost, up 1-1/4 pence to 21-1/2.
The Gene therapy specialist said it got encouraging results from the first phase II trial for the 'Trovax' drug in prostate cancer.
CLS Holdings (LSE: CLI.L - news) let the last available floor at Westminster Tower to Trustwave Ltd after agreeing a five-year lease worth 113,150 stg a year. The news pushed its shares 29 pence higher to 341-1/4.
LMS Capital was buoyed by bid talk for one of its subsidiaries. Its shares rose 2-3/4 pence to 74-1/4 after confirming it was in discussions with a potential buyer for its offshore crane supplier, Energy Cranes.
Sandvine Corporation (LSE: SAND.L - news) lifted 6 pence to 66-1/2 after saying PT First Media Tbk (KBLV.JK - news) , the largest broadband provider in Indonesia, has been using its products since June 2007 and has 'aggressive goals' to ramp up its broadband subscriber uptake to 2009.
Still with the risers, NetPlay TV (LSE: NPT.L - news) jumped 2-3/4 pence to 20-3/4, as it said it will launch a new Celebrity TV Bingo programme, following the acquisition of bingos.com, a pan-European online bingo operator, for an aggregate of 6.25 mln stg.
On to the fallers, Erinaceous Group (LSE: ERG.L - news) slumped 0.67 pence to 1.58, on news its banks have committed to provide on-going funding to the group and is in the advanced stages of a plan to achieve a solvent financial solution.
The company also said it has concluded that it is highly unlikely that any value can be attributed to its existing ordinary shares, regardless of whether the plan is successful or not.
Meridian Petroleum (LSE: MRP.L - news) slipped 1/2 a penny to 6-1/4 after it said all talks relating to an offer for the company have ceased and it is no longer in an offer period.
Range Resources (NYSE: RRC - news) plummeted 4-1/4 pence to 10-1/4, after saying the Australian Securities Exchange suspended its shares pending the release of an announcement relating to clarification from Puntland on its relationship with the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia.
Uniq (LSE: UNIQ.L - news) 's cancellation of its final dividend and gloomy outlook sent its shares diving 27-1/2 pence to 107-1/4. The announcement also prompted Investec Securities to downgrade the stock to 'hold'.
The news took the gloss off its reported 2007 full-year pretax profit before significant items of 1.9 mln stg.
However, the company said the economic environment has become significantly harsher during 2007 and it now expects the recovery to take longer than originally envisaged.
Finally, a challenging outlook meant RM (LSE: RM.L - news) shares fell 6 pence to 200 as it said it faced a number of challenges in the first half, prompting Investec (LSE: INVP.L - news) to take a slightly cautious view but reiterate its 'buy' recommendation.
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