Small caps news round-up

Aberdeen Asset Management has reportedly appointed broker Strutt & Parker to sell a London office property, which is part of a real estate fund suspended from trading. Bloomberg cited three unnamed people “familiar with the matter” as confirming 10 Hammersmith Grove - a building with a value of £105m - will be offered by the firm.

Phoenix Asset Management partners has upped its stake in Barratt Developments PLC and Bellway PLC after stocks for Uk house builders fell signifcantly after the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union last month. Shares of Barratt and Bellway have plunged 34% and 30% respectively since June 22, the day before the historic referendum.

ZincOx announced on Monday the appointment of Donald McAlister as finance director with immediate effect.

Luxury interior furnishings company Walker Greenbank signed a licensing agreement with Indian textiles company Indo Count to sell its Sanderson, Harlequin and Scion bed linen brands in the North America and Mexico. Indo Count will launch 20 bed linen sets under the Sanderson, Harlequin and Scion brands at a trade in show in New York in September. Walker Greenbank said the company has strong relationships with American department stores.

Quantum Pharma launched the third product of its Mucodis range for the treatment of some of the side effects suffered by patients undergoing cancer treatment. Mucodis dermal spray, which reached markets on Monday, was targetted at treating radiation-induced dermatitis, a condition which most radiotherapy patients experienced, the company said.

AIM-listed Swallowfield said full year profitability would be towards the upper end of expectations with overall revenues for the full year expected to show growth of 10% to approximately £54.4m. The personal grooming and beauty products company said revenues had been bolstered by the “strong performance of innovative new products introduced during the last financial year and our developing 'owned brands' portfolio”.

Cerillion clinched a contract with a new major telecommunications customer from the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. The customer relationship management software provider said the contract was for the licence, implementation and support of its enterprise CRM and billing solution and was initially worth £2.1m.

Faroe Petroleum has confirmed its Brasse oil and gas discovery in the Norwegian North Sea. The discovery was made at licence PL740 in the Norwegian North Sea where the AIM-Listed company is 50% owner and operator.

Sound Oil gave investors a reason to cheer at the start of the week as company boss James Parsons announced an "early and potentially very material success" at one of the oil and gas explorer´s three strategic plays. Parsons announced that rigless operations continued at the recently drilled TE-6 (Tendrara) well, onshore Morocco, and that a "significant stable" flow had already been achieved, which was "already significantly above company expectations".

Optical components and systems manufacturer Gooch & Housego announced on Monday that it has completed two acquisitions, expanding its presence in the aerospace and defence sectors. The AIM-traded company confirmed the two acquisitions as Kent Periscopes - a UK-based specialist supplier of periscopes, vehicle sights and related equipment for land-based armoured fighting vehicles - and Alfalight - a Wisconsin-based designer and manufacturer of high-reliability, laser-based electro-optic systems for defence and security.

Film and TV studio Pinewood, home to Bond’s Spectre and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, reported an increase in full year revenue as it completed part of its development programme and said it does not expect to be affected by Brexit. Group revenue increased 10.9% to £83.2m for the year ending 31 March 2016 and normalised earnings per share increased 31.1% to 17.7p.