Small caps round-up

Vela Technology announced the completion of a £0.15m investment on Friday, in on-demand airport luggage transfer service Portr. The AIM-traded investing company focused on early-stage and pre-IPO technology investments confirmed the funds were paid to Portr in early April.

Keras Resources was preparing to push ahead with developments at two projects on Friday, having raised gross proceeds of £1.25m in a placing. A total of 113,636,364 new shares of 0.1p each were placed with new and existing shareholders at a price of 1.1p each.

The board of AIM-traded floorcovering designer and manufacturer Victoria announced the end of discussions over a potential acquisition on Friday. It had been in talks with the shareholders of Lano Carpets about a combination of the companies, but in a statement it confirmed talks had ceased.

SnackTime unveiled a new identity on Friday, planning to name itself and its operations under the Uvenco trademark, as it ushered in a new chief executive. The AIM-traded company said the rebranding would affect both SanckTime and its vending division subsidiaries VMI and Simply Drinks.

FairFX widened its full year pre-tax loss to £3.4m from £2.8m the previous year as the multi-currency payments service boosted its investments in operations and technology. The group said the reported loss reflected an increase in marketing spend, a rise in headcount and higher charges for share options granted to incentivise management and staff.

NewRiver Retail announced a fourth quarter dividend on Friday, setting aside 4.75p per share for its stockholders. The AIM-traded real estate investment trust said the dividend per share for the year totalled 18.5p.

AIM-listed Taliesin Property Fund, which focuses on the Berlin residential market, reported a big jump in profit for the year to the end of December. Pre-tax profit rose to €44.7m from €17.4m in 2014 and the company’s portfolio valuation as at 31 December was €262.5m compared with €212.1m the previous year.

Altitude Group’s share price was rocketing ahead on Friday, forcing its board to issue a statement over the movement. The AIM-traded company said it was in early-stage discussions over the sale of its exhibition and publications business, which - if completed - would result in Altitude focusing entirely on its technology operations.

AIM-listed oil and gas exploration company Circle Oil said on Friday that the International Finance Corporation has agreed to extend the suspension of repayments due under the group’s reserve based lending facility. The deadline has been extended until 13 May 2016.