Small caps news round-up

Minerals production and development company Strategic Minerals announced its final numbers on Monday, with a cash position of $1.05m on 31 December 2015. The AIM-traded firm said that during the year, it secured an early agreement to extend the Cobre mining rights to March 2017, and maintained a tight control on overheads with those falling 26% despite the increased activity.

Highland Gold Mining issued its maiden quarterly operations report on Monday, with a slight decrease in total production. The AIM-traded firm said that in the three months to 31 March, total production at Mnogovershinnoye, Novoshirokinskoye and Belaya Gora reached 56,889 ounces of gold and gold equivalents, compared with 57,421 in the first quarter of last year.

Shares in Sovereign Mines of Africa plunged as it moved to fully impair the value of its exploration assets after failing to sign a strategic partner to fund the advance of the Mandiana Gold Project to a definitive feasibility study. The company booked a full-year pre-tax loss of £1.42m, from a loss of £3.88m in the preceding 12 months. The results included a £1.28m impairment of intangible fixed assets, from £3.7m a year earlier. Sovereign's shares sagged almost 22%.

Specialised computing platform provider Quixant announced the signing of a multi-year contract on Monday, with gaming solutions manufacturerAinsworth Game Technology. The AIM-traded firm said that under the terms of the deal, Quixant will supply Ainsworth with new generation computing platforms for its gaming machines, securing the relationship for a further five years to 2021.

Workforce management software company ServicePower Technologies announced a new contract win on Monday, securing a deal with Canada-based preventative auto maintenance services firm Kambio for its Nexus FS Field Service Management software. The AIM-traded firm said Kambio has also joined its partner ecosystem as a reseller of Nexus FS within the automotive industry.

Parliamentary communications company Dods Group reported on a year of improved revenue and earnings on Monday, with revenue rising to £19.6m from £18.3m in the 12 months to 31 March. The AIM-traded firm’s gross profit margin widened to 39%, compared with 28% a year ago, and its adjusted EBITDA was £3m, up from £1.2m.

Strategic natural resource investor Metal Tiger announced the creation of a chief technical officer position on Monday, to “further build the management team”. The AIM-traded firm had already announced a strategic and operational update confirming the appointment of a chief financial officer, company secretary, institutional liaison manager and office manager on 25 February.

Early clinical trials of 4D Pharma's treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have successfully shown Blautix to be safe and well tolerated. Blautix, which contains live bacteria, like all 4D's products, was delivered orally to 56 healthy volunteers and IBS patients.

Shares in lithium company Bacanora Minerals are up more than 9% after it confirmed raising about £7.7m through the placing of 9.75m units at 79p each with certain funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. Bacanora is developing the Sonora Lithium Project in northern Mexico.

Chinese marine foods and seafood processor and producer Aquatic Foods Group reported a drop in revenues and profits on Monday, citing growing pressure from a slower domestic economy. The AIM-traded firm said unaudited aggregate revenues for the three months to 31 March were 7% lower year-on-year at CNY 214.8m (£22.5m), although volumes were up 17% as demand for its products continued at lower average prices.

Online soft gaming operator Stride Gaming declared a maiden interim dividend on Monday as it reported a rise in revenue but a drop in profit. For the six months ended 29 February, pre-tax profit fell to £228,000 from £1.6m the year before while basic earnings per share were down 103% to 0.1p from 3.3p in 2015.