Small caps news round-up

AIM-listed explorer Europa Oil & Gas said it delivered a “strong performance” for the year despite difficult market conditions with the low price of oil as it increased its presence in Ireland. Chief executive Hugh Mackay said: “In the face of difficult market conditions for the oil and gas sector we have delivered strong performance.

Events and exhibitions organiser ITE Group warned that its bookings for next year were slightly behind this year due to challenging conditions in several markets, especially Turkey. For the current year, although like-for-like revenues fell 8% in the fourth quarter, 52-week sales will fall 2.2% to £133m.

Kennedy Ventures, an AIM-listed investment company, has announced that its investee company African Tantalum (Aftan) has successfully completed its testing programme of its plant upgrade. The company’s stake in Aftan gives it an interest in the Tantalite Valley Mine (TVM), a Namibian based operation which produces tantalite concentrate. The plant upgrade at the Homestead Project is ramping up to full capacity and commercial rate of production is expected from next week. The firm expects to achieve a higher target rate of 15,000 tonnes per month.

RedT, an Aim listed energy storage company, has announced the appointment of Cenkos Securities as its nominated adviser and broker with immediate effect. RedT develops and supplies durable and robust energy storage machines based on proprietary vanadium redox flow technology for on and off-grid applications.

YOLO Leisure and Technology, an AIM-listed company focused on opportunities in the technology and leisure sectors, announced that its investee company TVPlayer has received a £5m investment from A&E Networks and other investors. TVPlayer, a UK based online live streaming TV Platform, has been backed by A&E Networks, a US based international TV contact and channels network, existing investors and venture capital outfit Beringea.

AIM-listed Spanish gold and tungsten explorer Aurum Mining appointed Michael Joseph Stevens chief executive on Monday. He has over 25 years’ experience with global portfolio businesses in the security, cyber, aerospace, defence and high technology sectors.

Shares in AIM-listed floor covering manufacturer Victoria soared as it announced it had bought Bradford-based manufacturer Ezi Floor for £6.5m in order to increase its presence in the underlay sector. An additional £6.5m will be paid in annual installments dependent on the latter´s performance in terms of its eanings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) over the next four years.