Small cap round-up

Specialist cancer drug discovery and development business Sareum announced on Wednesday that the Chinese Patent Office and the Hong Kong Patents Registry have issued notifications that patents will be granted for inventions associated with the company’s Aurora+FLT3 Kinase Inhibitor programme.

The AIM-traded firm said these patents describe compounds that inhibit the activity of Aurora and FLT3 kinase enzymes, and the medical use of the compounds - particularly in the treatment of cancer.

InterQuest took a majority stake in Rees Draper Wright with a view to expanding its footprint in the US and Europe.

The specialist recruiter in the technology, analytics and digital market said the transaction would be financed in part via the issue of 728,000 new ordinary shares which were expected to begin trading on 9 August.

Flat panel broadband antenna manufacturer MTI Wireless Edge announced its unaudited results for the six months to 30 June on Wednesday, with revenue increasing 41% year-on-year to $11.3m, from $8.0m, due to the acquisition of Mottech.

The AIM-traded firm also boasted a strong second quarter, with revenue of $6.1m up 15% over the first quarter, and an operational profit of $0.6m compared to a $0.1m loss in the prior three months.

Lloyd's insurance underwriting company Novae said it was cautious about Brexit but remained “confident” that a London insurance company outside of the EU can flourish, as it reported a rise in half year profits.

For the six months ended 30 June, profit before tax and foreign exchange rose significantly by 31% to £37.9m compared to the same period last year. Gross written premiums for the first half of the year increased by 11% to £513.1m, 6.4% at constant rates of exchange.

Contract research organisation Venn Life Sciences said it has signed a new contract worth €2.8m with an unnamed European biotechnology client.

Venn, which provides drug development, clinical trial management and resourcing solutions to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device clients said clinical trial is a phase II study in the area of immunotherapeutic treatments for multiple sclerosis and involves patients in six countries across Europe.

The trial will start in October 2016, it added.

Lower production costs and a favourable tailwind from movements in foreign exchange rates helped to offset falling sales volumes, especially in China, at Devro in the first six months of the year.

However, markets reacted poorly to news that its new projects in the US and in Asia´s largest economy would take longer than expected before they began contributing to the company´s bottom-line.

Revenues at the sausage skin manufacturer rose by just 0.2% to reach £112.9m.

Full year results are likely to be at the low end of forecasts for Game Digital as the retailer continued to endure challenging conditions in its markets.

For the 53 weeks to 30 July, revenues will be down by around 6% to £815m, driving roughly a 40% decline in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to a projected £28.1m.

Red24 said on Wednesday that it is currently engaged in discussions with iJet International over a possible offer at 24p in cash per share.

“The board would like to emphasise that these discussions are at a preliminary stage and that there can be no assurances that any offer will be made nor as to the terms on which any offer would be made.”

Red24 confirmed on Monday that it was in discussions with iJet that could lead to an offer being made for the crisis management firm.