Small caps news round-up

Property investment veteran Sir John Beckwith is set to float his new to launch a new industrial and logistics property company, Pacific Industrial & Logistics, onto AIM next week after a £10m fundraising. The company, which will be headed by industry heavyweight Richard Moffitt, is being ushered to the markets by broker and nominated adviser FinnCap.

Restaurant operator Fulham Shore appeared confident about its full-year results on Monday, updating the market about the 52 weeks to 27 March ahead of the publication of its full numbers. The board of the AIM-traded company said it expected to report results in line with market expectations for the financial year, having opened an additional Franco Manca site in Stoke Newington and a franchised Bukowski Grill in Soho since December.

Gemfields revealed promising results on Monday from a recent auction of predominantly higher quality rough emerald extracted by Kagem Mining, 75% owned by the firm and 25% by the Government of the Republic of Zambia. The AIM-traded company said the auction also included higher quality amethyst from Kariba Minerals, in which Gemfields holds a 50% interest with the balance also belonging to the Zambian government.

Cambridge Cognition was preparing to show off its latest wares on Monday, announcing it was to present the first prototype of a ground-breaking new software application to improve the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of mental health, in conjunction with Ctrl Group. The AIM-traded neuroscience technology company said that, having reached prototype stage earlier than anticipated, the two firms were now set to form a joint venture called Cognition Kit to accelerate the development of cognitive testing applications for wearable and smart devices, for use in pharmaceutical research programmes as well as general healthcare.

Platform technology firm Xeros Technology launched a new, digital laundry product aimed at hotels on Monday, which combines a bead with downloadable washing machine software. The AIM-traded company described the product as a ‘first’ for the commercial laundry industry, saying it would help to extend the life of linens and reduce the number of items discarded, as it removed stains that otherwise could not be dislodged.

Scancell revealed the final results of its placing and open offer on Monday, with a few more subscriptions received since the firm’s last update on 1 April. The AIM-traded company had announced on Friday that it had received subscriptions for 16,048,593 new ordinary shares of the 22,495.068 available under the open offer.

Canada-focused miner Landore Resources has unearthed what it said is a "significant" gold prospect at its 100% owned Junior Lake property in Ontario. AIM-listed Landore said drilling at BAM East area had established gold mineralisation close to the surface and at least 30 metres wide, "open along strike to the east and west and down dip".

One of Onzima Ventures' investee companies has secured an improved deal with the University of Queensland for joint research into cancer drug delivery systems. The Australia university's commercialisation company, UniQuest, has agreed to give N4 Pharma, of which Onzima owns 49%, exclusive global rights to commercialise their nanoparticle vaccine vectors for messenger RNA (mRNA) particles.

Nature Group chairman Nigel Sandy has advised the company’s board of his intention to step down. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange on Monday, the AIM-listed maritime and offshore waste company said Sandy will remain as non-executive director until the 2016 Annual General Meeting when he will leave the Board.