Small cap news round-up
Glanbia is to sell a 60% stake in its Irish dairy business, to Glanbia Co-operative Society for €112m.
Glanbia Foods Ireland is currently 100% owned by Glanbia and is comprised of two business units, Glanbia Consumer Foods Ireland and Glanbia Agribusiness.
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As part of its restructuring plans, offshore drilling contractor Seadrill has agreed with Archer, an oil services company, and its lenders to cancel about $253m in financial guarantees provided by Seadrill in exchange for a cash payment of about $25m.
The Bermuda-based company said that it continues to be talks with Archer and its lenders to extinguish the remaining $25m worth of financial guarantees in exchange for another cash payment representing 10% of their face value.
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Shares in Crawshaw Group tumbled after the butcher announced it has entered into a supply chain partnership with 2 Sisters Food Group, one of Europe's largest meat and food producers.
The three year deal will see Crawshaw to buy fresh meat and other products from 2 Sisters. It will also provide immediate access to surplus fresh poultry to prevent unnecessary food waste.
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Shares in Rosslyn Data Technologies dived more than a quarter after it agree to conditionally acquire Integritie (UK) Ltd for total initial consideration of £2.588m, plus an earn-out and plans to raise up to £5m.
There was an earn-out of up to £750,000 based on revenue targets. The company was also raising a total of about £5m. This was via placings of £2.29m and £2.21m at 4.5p a share, plus an open offer of up to £500,000.
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Mariana Resources has agreed to merge with US based royalty company Sandstorm, which sees the AIM-listed explorer's shares valued at 109.71p and would see its shareholders own 19% of the enlarged group.
NYSE- and Toronto-listed Sandstorm and Mariana's directors agreed to recommended a share and cash acquisition of Mariana's shares by Sandstorm, which currently owns 7% of the company and warrants over around half that amount.
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Rockhopper Exploration's shares rose more than 3% after it confirmed that the 2017 drilling campaign on the Abu Sennan Concession in Egypt had got underway.
The oil and company, which had interests in the North Falkland Basin and the Greater Mediterranean region, had a 22% working interest in the Abu Sennan Concession.
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Luxury interior furnishings group Walker Greenbank posted a jump in full-year profit and upped its dividend on Wednesday.
In the year to the end of January 2017, sales were up 5.2% to £92.5m, with adjusted underlying pre-tax profit up 17% at £10.4m.
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Investors in security and surveillance system software developer Petards were gathering in Guildford, Surrey on Wednesday morning for the company’s annual general meeting, with chairman Raschid Abdullah confirming a previously-flagged significant order.
The AIM-traded firm had been successful in securing a £4.3m order from Stadler Bussnang for the provision of Petards eyeTrain CCTV and Automatic Selective Door Opening Systems, Abdullah said.
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Kosovo and Balkans-focussed marble quarrying and finishing company Fox Marble announced on Wednesday that it entered into a minimum €0.4m sales agreement with Simsekler Mermer Company, one of Turkey's largest natural stone groups, to supply its IIIirico Selene and Sivec marble product.
The AIM-traded firm said Simsekler owns nine marble quarries in Turkey as well as three factories and two showrooms and warehouses located in Ankara and Istanbul.
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Shares in Nighthawk are down more than 2% as its gross and net production for the first three months of 2017 came in below that for the same period in 2016.
Output for January, February and March was 118,444 barrels, from 127,059 a year earlier. Net output was 83,710, from 104,012.
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Shares in Devro rose more than 4% after it said its expectations for 2017 remain unchanged.
The manufacturer of collagen products for the food industry said trading from 1 January to date was in line with directors' expectations.
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Shares in IGas Energy are up almost 3% after the company said it is is positioned strongly for the future after successfully completing its financial restructuring.
"We have a healthy balance sheet, supported by operating cashflow from our production assets, which will enable us to focus on delivering the significant potential of both our production and development assets and provide a solid foundation for the longer-term future of the company," said CEO Stephen Bowler.
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Property management, insurance and ancillary services provider HML Holdings announced an update on trading for the 12 months to 31 March on Wednesday, ahead of the expected release of its full year results in late June.
The AIM-traded company said that, during the 12 month period, it continued to execute its acquisitive growth strategy completing six acquisitions.
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Materials innovation and solid-state battery technology company Ilika announced the launch of its ‘Stereax P180’ product on Wednesday, extending the operating temperature range of the Stereax family of solid-state batteries.
The AIM-traded firm said it followed the launch of ‘Stereax M250’ solid-state battery in April 2016, which focussed on miniaturisation of the solid-state battery technology.
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Shares in Kefi Minerals are up almost 16% as it confirmed the company and the Ethiopia government had finalised the Tulu Kapi community resettlement plan.
"Tasks include property survey and data updates plus new lands site preparations," said Kefi in a statement.
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AIM-listed explorer Kodal Minerals’ initial assay results have confirmed high-grade lithium mineralisation within the pegmatite intersections at its Bougouni project in Mali.
The results showed lithium mineralisation at new prospects, Sogola-Baoule and Boumou, within the pegmatite intersections.
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Ukraine-focussed shopping centre developer and operator Arricano Real Estate posted its final results on Wednesday, with recurring revenues increasing by 13.3% year-on-year to $23.1m.
The AIM-traded company owns and operates five completed shopping centres comprising 147,800 square metres of gross leasable area, a 49.9% shareholding in Assofit and land for a further three sites under development.
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Shares in PCI-PAL surged on Wednesday after the contact centre solutions provider announced it had won a contract with an automotive repair company.
The AIM-listed company will provide its technology and services to help solve the customer's mandatory payment card industry requirement, initially in one country and for not less than three years.
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Online trading platform provider Plus500 reported a 9% drop in revenue for the three months to the end of March, as it announced a change of chairman.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 25% to $45.8m, but revenue declined to $77.5m from $85.2m in the first quarter of last year.
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Soft drinks group Nichols cautioned on Wednesday that the UK soft drinks market will remain challenging this year, as it said full-year earnings are anticipated to be in line with market expectations.
In a statement ahead of its annual general meeting, the group said its trading performance for the first quarter of 2017 has been in line with management expectations. In the UK, the Vimto brand continues to outperform the market, with reported sales up 3.4% compared to the first quarter of last year. This compares favourably to the total soft drinks market growth of 1.2% in the same period.
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Shares in ULS Technology rose almost 9% after it flagged full-year results ahead of market expectations, with adjusted pre-tax profit up about 15% to £4.4m.
It also saw revenue ahead by about 8% to £22.3m.
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High technology solutions, information and services provider Oxford Instruments announced on Wednesday that it had agreed to sell its Industrial Analysis business to Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (HHT) for a consideration of £80m on a cash and debt free basis.
The London-listed firm said HHT would acquire the companies, assets and liabilities that comprised the Industrial Analysis business.