Small caps news round-up

Dart Group’s low cost airline subsidiary Jet2started accepting bookings for its eighth UK base at Birmingham Airport on Thursday, and said the addition would bring 200 jobs to the city. The leisure airline, which focuses on hubs outside of London and the south east, will fly to 15

Capital Drilling has confirmed first-half revenue up 6% to $41.1m amid improving trading conditions and said rising metals pricing has boosted demand from existing clients for its services. It also confirmed the award of a four-rig deep hole exploration directional drilling contract by a subsidiary of Canada's Nevsun Resources.

Jaywing, an AIM-listed UK-based firm specialising in the application of data science, said it has bought Massive Group, a search marketing agency based in Sydney, Australia. The company will make an initial cash payment of AUD$2m for a 75% stake, plus an earn out consideration of up to AUD$2 million, which will be payable in three instalments over the next two years, subject to the future performance of Massive.

Oil and gas company Faroe Petroleum was awarded a new three-year licence option in the Irish offshore by the 2015 Atlantic margin licensing round (AMLR). The 16/23 licensing option covers 960km in the Slyne/Erris Basin. It is one of the second tranche of awards made under the AMLR.

Irish drinks manufacturer and distributor C&C on Thursday reported a rise in drink volumes but was cautious of Brexit uncertainty as they could be affected by the weakened pound. In the company’s trading update in the three months to 31 May, it said its volume shipped by brand was a “considerable improvement” compared to last year.

Pawnbroking company H&T have had a good start to the trading year with the number of loans issued increasing by 10.8% to £45.2m, due to larger amounts offered at low interest rates. The group’s pledge contracts, wherein customers can exchange some personal items for a loan, has increased by 4.3% to £39m. Meanwhile the firm’s personal loans rose 82.4% to £6.2m.

Shares in Boxhill Technologies flew higher as investors warmed to the company's expectation that it will provide an update, by close of play on 8 July, on 'merit-less' winding-up petitions received earlier this year. In early June, Boxhill said it had received the winding-up petitions purportedly issued under the Insolvency Act against itself and subsidiary Prize Provision Services Ltd.

DekelOil Public Ltd said it expects to book first-half EBITDA materially higher than the previous-same-period's €2.2m, citing a strong operational performance in the six-month period. "In addition, the recent strengthening of the euro against GBP sterling is expected to have a positive impact on DekelOil's results, which are reported in euros," the company said.

Shares in Satellite Solutions Worldwide (SSW)wheeled almost 7% higher as it unveiled an acquisition that will turn it into UK's leading satellite broadband provider. The transformational deal of Avonline Satellite Services Holdings will more than double its existing customer base of about 17,000 to roughly 35,000 across Europe.