Small cap news round-up

Gemstones producer and developer Richland Resources announced its interim results for the half year ended 30 June on Tuesday.

The AIM-traded firm reported $0.64m in revenue from continuing operations, up from $0.28m in the first half of last year.

Virtual reality content creator EVR Holdings’ subsidiary MelodyVR made a strategic partnership with Telefónica Germany to showcase its application.

Telefónica agreed to show the lite version of MelodyVR’s music application across its O2 stores in Germany for a year starting in September.

Mobile Streams, a mobile content retailer, announced that its Indian subsidiary has reached over 50,000 active subscribers.

Active subscribers are those customers who have made a purchase from the company in the past 60 days.

Shares in mineral sands producer Sierra Rutile fell nearly 17% on Tuesday morning as it was announced that its proposed $375m merger with Australian zinc miner Iluka Resources is to be delayed by a German regulator calling for a longer review of the deal.

Reportedly the German antitrust authority needs more time to consider the merger due to the complexity of the mineral sands market, and initiated phase two proceedings which will take up to three months to conclude.

Serica Energy updated the market on its operations on Tuesday, after Lomond platform operator Shell advised that the issues concerning the re-commissioning of the platform’s export facilities have been resolved.

The AIM-traded firm said as a result, Erskine oil and gas production resumed on 29 August.

Tasty, a UK restaurant operator, reported on Tuesday a loss in the first half due to impairment costs for five of its sites.

The firm’s revenue for the period ended 3 July 2016 rose by 28% to £21.8m. Operating profit before pre-opening costs increased 14% to £1.9m. The company however incurred a pre-tax loss of £2.3m after taking into account impairment charges of £3.6m for five of its sites.

UK-based developer of cell-based therapeutics ReNeuron Group provided a trading update ahead of its annual general meeting on Tuesday.

The AIM-traded firm reported that all patients have been treated in the PISCES II Phase II clinical trial of its CTX cell therapy candidate for patients with motor disability as a result of ischaemic stroke.

Irish petrol retailer Applegreen’s half year revenues increased as it said it was not significantly impacted by the Brexit vote, but it could be affected by the euro/sterling exchange rate in the future.

For the six months ended 30 June, revenue increased 7.4% to €556m and profit rose 20.4% to €68.5m compared to the same period last year.

Developer of next-generation proton therapy systems for cancer treatment, Advanced Oncotherapy, announced on Tuesday that it has appointed Richard Amos as international director of medical physics, a non-board position, with effect from 1 November.

The AIM-traded firm said Amos was joining from University College London Hospitals NHS Trust, where he was operational lead for proton therapy physics at the Department of Radiotherapy Physics.

PowerHouse Energy Group announced on Tuesday the completion of its system-wide testing program for the G3-UHt unit in Brisbane, Australia.

The AIM-traded firm’s ultra-high temperature gasification reactor testing program has utilized feedstock which has included both shredded plastic and tyre crumble, and has successfully cycled the system repeatedly.

Irish hotel operator Dalata Hotel Group’s half year revenues increased as it traded ahead of expectations, but was “disappointed” by the Brexit vote as it reduced euro denominated UK earnings.

For the six months ended 30 June, revenues increased by 33% to €130.1m, compared to the same period last year, which generated profit before tax of €18.2m. Revenue per available room increased significantly by 11.2% to €74.90.

Weak sterling exchange rate in the first half of the year reduced euro denominated UK earnings by €600,000.