Small caps news round-up

Audioboom Group was celebrating a major contract win on Wednesday, having been selected as a content partner for the Google Play store - the world's most popular smartphone application and media marketplace.

Rockhopper Exploration was facing more disappointment this week, after an about-face of Italian legislation sent its Ombrina Mare exploration project grinding to a halt. The AIM-traded oil and gas exploration and production company said that, further to the announcement on 6 January, it had been informed by the Ministry of Economic Development that the ban on exploration and production activity within 12 nautical miles of the Italian coast.

KEFI Minerals moved a step closer to commencement at its Tulu Kapi Gold Project on Wednesday, announcing the successful selection of its preferred senior secured lenders. The AIM-traded gold exploration and development company, which has projects primarily in Ethiopia, said the lenders were a leading African mining bank and a leading African development bank.

Arria NLG's intellectual property protection strategy received a boost on Wednesday, with the granting of a fresh US patent on its 'method and apparatus for updating a previously generated text'.

Shares in EKF Diagnostics bounced off their all-time low thanks to a trading update that reiterated full-year profit guidance and emphasised its total focus on point-of-care. After a dark end to 2015, in which one director died and the company announced a significant profit warning, the company admitted defeat in its experiment with personalised medicine by selling wholly-owned subsidiary Selah back to its founders.

Accsys Technologies was a step closer to realising its Tricoya dream on Wednesday, with fresh interest and funding coming from BP Ventures. The AIM-traded chemical technology group focused on the acetylation of wood said Tricoya Wood Elements are produced using Accsys's proprietary technology, for use in the fabrication of panel products such as medium density fibreboard and particleboard.

Thor Mining said on Wednesday the company buying its Spring Hill gold project for A$3.5m has received an unconditional financing officer from a San Francisco-based precious metal private equity fund.

Specialist digital financial services provider Vipera has teamed up with Serco’s ExperienceLab to collaborate on next generation mobile centric user experience design.

Kennedy Ventures was talking up the tantalising future at its majority-owned tantalite operation on Wednesday - the Tantalite Valley mine in southern Namibia. The AIM-traded firm focusing on tantalite production through its 75% holding in African Tantalum (Aftan), said the first delivery of the mine's high grade tantalite concentrate to its offtake partner was now expected to take place at the end of February.

TechFinancials was eagerly looking at an expansion of one of its trading platforms on Wednesday, announcing a joint venture with Hong Kong-based IBID Holdings. The AIM-traded developer of software for online brokers described IBID as a company specialising in the development of high-growth, online-oriented companies.

Surface Transforms was moving closer to profitability with its advanced carbon fibre products on Wednesday, updating the market on its first half results to 30 November 2015. Turnover at the AIM-traded carbon fibre-reinforced ceramic manufacturer increased to £782,000 during the period - up from £623,000 a year earlier.

Walker Greenbank was looking at positive growth in at the end of its financial year, updating the market on Wednesday ahead of its preliminary results. The AIM-traded luxury interior furnishings group said its sales for the year were expected to be up 5.8% on the previous year, at £88.2m.

Eagle Eye Solutions was celebrating its first big international win on Wednesday, having reached an agreement with Canada's Loblaw Companies for its AIR platform. The AIM-traded software as as service company, which validates and redeems digital promotions in real time for the grocery, retail and hospitality industries, said the contract would contribute material revenue for Eagle Eye over the next few years.

Foxtons proposed a final and further special dividend after a solid year of revenue growth and margins stability despite an 11% decline in property transactions in its London heartland in 2015. A trading update from the group, which dropped out of the FTSE 250 in December, revealed that revenue rose 4% to £150 on a 4% increase in volumes and 32% sales growth from mortgage broker Alexander Hall.

Eastern European Property Fund finalised the sale of its Turkish office space this week, disposing of space at the Nils Passaj property in Beyoglu.

Porta Communications was reporting a strong second half on Wednesday, with some sizeable earnings growth amid the shuttering of a number of operations. The AIM-traded company said gross profit was almost £2.5m higher than in the same period in 2014, despite the closure of the Brussels and Frankfurt officers.