Tuesday March 25, 12:43 PM
UK small caps rise at midday; Petards soars on upbeat outlook
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The FTSE small caps continued to rise in midday trades with Petards more than doubling its share price as it said it expects to report full-year 2007 results in-line with its Dec 20 update and offered an upbeat outlook for its business.
At 12.01 pm, the FTSE small cap index was 36.3 points higher at 3014.6, while the FTSE 100 soared 199.2 points to 5694.4.
Petards' shares rocketed 0.15 of a penny to 0.4, as it said the group received orders for its continuing business, excluding UK government and commercial software, totaling 12.5 mln stg in the six months ended Feb 28. The company said it expects the majority of the orders will be delivered in 2008.
The orders news helped offset news that it expects to post a wider-than-expected operating loss for the year to end-Dec, as sales were estimated to fall below market expectations.
Also on the rise was Cambrian Mining (LSE: CBM.L - news) , lifting 25 pence to 101, after its shares were reinstated on AIM this morning.
Despite reporting a fall in pretax profits when it announced its 2007 results on March 20, the company gave an upbeat outlook on future progress.
Fellow miner Central African Mining and Exploration climbed 2-1/2 pence to 51, as White Nile Ltd (LSE: WNL.L - news) said it is taking a 49 pct stake in CAMEC Kenya, a Kenyan subsidiary of Central African Mining and Exploration Company PLC in return for funding 49 pct of the past and future cost.
The news overshadowed an announcement that the AIM-listed oil and gas exploration company posted a wider pretax loss of 799,000 stg compared to 699,000 stg.
Encore Oil (Berlin: OIR.BE - news) shares were boosted by news that it has started drilling operations on the Cobra (Milan: COB.MI - news) gas appraisal well on Southern North Sea block 48/2c.
The company said the main objective of the 48/2c-5 well will be to establish whether the reservoir is capable of flowing at commercial rates
Its shares were up 2-3/4 pence at 46.
Meanwhile, NetPlay TV (LSE: NPT.L - news) attracted buyers 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.
NetPlay shares shot up 2-1/2 pence to 20-1/2.
LMS Capital PLC, up 4-1/2 at 75-3/4, said it was in talks on the sale of Energy Cranes, in a statement issued in response to recent press speculation.
A further announcement will be made by the company when appropriate.
Sandvine (LSE: SAND.L - news) shares continued to rise, climbing 6 pence to 67-1/2, after saying that 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.
It (Frankfurt: A0MLX5 - news) added that First Media is planning to increase its broadband uptake from 18,000 subscribers in mid-2007 to 150,000 in 2008 and its overall subscriber base to 1 mln by 2009.
Coe Group (LSE: COE.L - news) 's swing to a pretax loss failed to discourage investors as its shares stayed a penny higher at 21/1/2, after it countered that it expects new business wins in the second half to help the company register growth.
The CCTV installation company posted a pretax loss of 490,000 stg for the six months to Dec 31, 2007, from a pretax profit of 127,000 stg in the first half of 2006.
Revenue growth prospects buoyed Ceres Power (LSE: CWR.L - news) shares as the company's hopes for further growth in commercial revenues offset its first-half pretax loss, with KBC Peel Hunt staying positive with a 'buy' rating.
Its shares edged 3/4 of a penny higher to 183-3/4.
However, among the fallers, Erinaceous Group (LSE: ERG.L - news) plunged 0.86 pence to 1.35, as it said it continues to review the sale of its insurance division, Erinaceous Insurance Services, as part of its on-going strategic review, which is investigating a range of options to reduce the group's unsustainable debt levels.
It said it is highly unlikely that any value can be attributed to its existing ordinary shares, regardless of whether the plan is successful or not.
News of a share suspension forced Range Resources (NYSE: RRC - news) to tumble 4-1/4 pence to 10-1/4. The group said its shares have been suspended on the Australian Securities Exchange 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) dropped 21-1/4 pence to 113-1/2 as it cautioned on short-term uncertainties, offsetting its swing to a full-year pretax profit.
The group said the economic environment in 2007 became significantly harsher and it now expects recovery to take longer than originally envisaged.
The comment offset its swing to a 2007 full-year pretax profit before significant items of 1.9 mln stg from a loss of 21.9 mln in the nine months to Dec 31, 2006.
Numis Securities kept its 'buy' rating on the stock, although it said it is concerned by management's comment that maintaining UK profits in 2008 at 2007 levels is increasingly challenging, especially given UK profits were 7.5 mln stg in the second half and only 5.9 mln for the full year, it said.
But Panmure Gordon advised investors to 'sell', saying it thinks its results will, on balance, continue to disappoint investors.
RM (LSE: RM.L - news) lost 12-1/2 pence of its share price to 191-1/2 after saying it faced a number of challenges in the first half, including a delay in converting orders for its learning platforms.
But it expects the outcome for the year to be in-line with expectations.
Finally, Leyshon Resources (LSE: LRL.L - news) slipped 1-1/4 to 24-1/4. It said the capital cost estimate for the Zheng Guang gold-zinc project in Northeast China is 323.2 mln yuan, lower than the company's previous estimate of 400 mln.
Despite the share price fall, Seymour Pierce kept its 'buy' rating on the stock, saying it views the well-constrained capital costs and the project's rising momentum as positives.
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