Results Round-up

Shares in Alexander Mining plummeted on Friday, after the mineral processing technologies group said its commercialisation efforts were hindered and weighed on results.

The group narrowed its annual pre-tax loss by 39.4% to £848,000 as sales jumped from £26,000 to £507,000.

Despite a promising start, progress throughout 2014 was not as rapid as envisaged, the company said, citing the termination of the commercial agreement and financing with Ebulio Group, its largest shareholder, as the reason.

In February, Ebulio opted to terminate the agreement to acquire Red Crescent Resources in Turkey, but Alexander Mining confirmed the two groups continued to have a close commercial relationship.

Alexander has since signed a deal with Compass Resources which will provide it with an AmmLeach licence and technical and management services for use at Compass's Browns Oxide copper-cobalt mine in Australia.

The group added that Compass was in the process of completing a financial facility with institutional investors, with proceeds set to be used to fund payment due to Alexander.

Welsh textile design company Laura Ashley saw its full-year revenues and profits go up despite facing a competitive retail sector.

Revenues were up 3% to 303.6m while profits before tax increased 14.6% to £23.5m, driving earnings per share up from 2.15 in 2013 to 2.51p in 2014.

Chairman Khoo Kay Peng said to be pleased with the results despite "ongoing challenges of a competitive retail sector", which were helped by strong online growth and improvements in its digital platform.

Its UK furniture sales decreased by 0.3% due to a competitive market while its fashion and decorating departments sales fell 2.8% and 1.5% respectively.

However, home accessories sales in the UK increased by 3.5% thanks to broader and improved product ranges.

Internationally, revenues were up 10.3% but franchise revenues fell 1.5% to £27.8m due to weaker Japanese economy and challenges in some European economies.