Small caps news round-up

Vernalis warned investors on Thursday of looming supply issues with an upcoming drug it will distribute - Moxatag - as its Ireland-based supplier Suir Pharma was placed into provisional liquidation. The AIM-traded company said information was limited at this time, but it had been informed by the liquidator that it intends to seek a purchaser for the business as a going concern.

Minds + Machines served up some positive news to its investors on Thursday, notifying them that the lawsuit against the company and all other defendants - brought by Fred Krueger - has been dismissed without prejudice. The AIM-traded firm had initially announced the lawsuit on 26 February, saying it related to five million shares of the company’s stock issued to Krueger in 2007.

Shares in tech stock Mobile Streams nosedived about 30% after the company warned its full-year revenues would be lower, with EBITDA and operating losses materially higher. It blamed investment in new products like ad-funded services, scaling new geographies such as India, and ongoing challenges in its core market of Argentina.

Lifesciences company ValiRx reported on a “significant year” on Thursday, talking up its capital restructure and technical advancements in the 2015 calendar year. The AIM-traded firm, which focuses on cancer therapeutics and diagnostics for personalised medicine, said its Phase I/II clinical trial of the VAL201 compound has confirmed that it is well tolerated up to a putative therapeutic dose and has shown a high degree of safety, with no significant adverse events being reported.

Exova expects modest full-year organic growth at constant currency rates and earnings in line with previous guidance, adjusted for the just-announced sale of its Food, Water and Pharmaceutical (FWP) business in the UK and Ireland. "Given the strong pipeline, we expect our mergers and acquisitions programme to contribute significantly to overall growth," the materials-testing company said.

EnQuest has reiterated its full-year production guidance for 44,000-48,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boepd), and said it is on track to meet its cost-reduction targets. The oil and gas development and production company said production averaged 42,752 Boepd in the four months to end-April, up 39% on the year. Average output in April was 45,933 Boepd, benefiting from improving well performance at Alma/Galia.

Shares in Ferrexpo were down almost 6% as investors in the the iron-ore pellet producer soured following news it has an overdue $10 million VAT receivable that was due for repayment at end-April. The news came as the group issued a generally chipper trading update for first-quarter 2016 at its annual meeting today.

Engineering consultant Ricardo enjoyed good revenue growth in the 10 months to end-April and said group profit was tracking in line with its full-year expectations. In a trading statement covering the 10 months to April 30, Ricardo said revenue was 32% higher on the year, and on a like-for-like (LFL) basis - excluding the acquisitions of Lloyds Register Railand Cascade - was up 9%.