Small caps round-up

Juridica reported a considerable loss for the 2015 calendar year on Thursday, and it pressed on with its strategy of running off its investments and avoiding any new acquisitions.The AIM-traded provider of strategic capital for corporate legal claims reported a total comprehensive loss of $49.2m (£34.2m), though a substantial part of that was indicated at the time of its interim results.

Cyprotex was touting its solution to the problem of detecting hepatotoxic potential on Thursday, announcing the launch of a new advanced 3D liver model. The AIM-traded specialist ADME-Tox and Bioscience Contract Research Organisation (CRO) described hepatotoxicity as a major cause of drug attrition, with preclinical animal studies often failing to detect it.

European Metals Holdings took a major step in the development of its Cinovec Lithium Project in the Czech Republic on Thursday, appointing Dorfner Anzaplan to conduct the next level of advanced test work following positive results from recent independent studies. The AIM-traded company had announced in 15 January that it was conducting independent studies to evaluate a number of existing lithium extraction methods.

Full year results from Hilton Foods were better than expected but the retail meat packer said its forecasts for 2016 were unchanged for now. Although volumes were up 5.5% to 244,140 tonnes of sausages, mince, steaks and other juicy cuts to thirteen European countries and Australia, sales for the 53 weeks to 3 January were just below flat at £1.1bn due to the strong pound weighing on revenues to the tune of 7.4%.

Electrocomponents announced the retirement of Rupert Soames as non-executive director on Thursday. The FTSE 250 company said Soames had served on the board for nine years.#

MySQUAR’s goal of monetising the burgeoning Burma smartphone market continued apace in the second half of 2015, with the company showing progress in its half yearly report on Wednesday. The AIM-traded company, focused on the development and commercialisation of Myanmar-language mobile applications, reported $350,000 revenue for the six month period from implementation of the MyPAY payment solution.

BlueRock Diamonds was ramping up production at its two plants, it reported on Thursday, with a strategic review underway to ensure it was operating at maximum efficiency. The AIM-traded company appointed specialist mining consultancy VBKOM to join its management team, and to review its mining strategy and produce a life-of-mine plan in January.