Small caps round-up
Goals Soccer Centres swung to a loss in 2015 as sales fell and the company booked an impairment charge. In the year to the end of December, the five-a-side football venue operator posted a pre-tax loss of £6.2m compared to a £6.8m profit in 2014 as it booked a non-cash exceptional impairment charge of £14.5m made up of goodwill, asset impairment and software development. Group sales fell 4.9% to £33m, while like-for-like sales slid 6.3% and the company said it now faces increased competition from new grant-aided full size 3G pitches. UK LFL sales were down 6.7% but US LFL sales rose 8.4%.
Palace Capital extended its investment reach into the heart of Halifax on Monday, announcing it had acquired the entire issued share capital of Gregory Projects (Halifax). The AIM-traded property investment company said the the target was a special purpose vehicle, and the owner of the Broad Street Plaza leisure development in the West Yorkshire town.
Irish-listed Vietnam Enterprise Investments announced on Monday it was seeking to list on the London Stock Exchange. The news came after the company merged with Vietnam Growth Fund on 31 December, with the board saying the decision was made after considering how its structure might be enhanced and modernised further.
MX Oil shored up its available funds as it prepared for a quick-turnaround transaction in Nigeria on Monday, announcing the successful raising of £2.5m via a placing of 333,333,333 ordinary shares and 66,666,667 warrants over ordinary shares.The AIM-traded oil and gas investing company said the placing was oversubscribed, and the proceeds would be used to make the final payment in connection to its investment in Nigeria prior to the start of oil production.
Recruitment company Kellan Group swung to a full year profit as revenues rose on the back of growth in temporary placements. The group reported total net profit of £0.43m in the year to 31 December 2015, compared to a net loss of £0.06m in 2014.
After posting solid results and lifting the total dividend by a quarter Frenkel Topping has received regulatory clearance to proceed with a transformational new investment management service. As indicated in recent trading update, the specialist independent financial adviser's revenue rose 11% to £6.3m in 2015 but adjusted pre-tax profit slipped 10% to £1.42m due to investment in regional expansion. The final dividend was increased by 29% to give a full year dividend up 25% at 0.8875p.
Jubilee Platinum was making solid progress on the commissioning of its processing plant at the Dilokong Chrome Mine in South Africa, the company said on Monday, despite some delays. The AIM-traded firm had previously announced it had begun commissioning of the processing plant in late February, in line with the requirements of the processing agreement between its subsidiary Pollux Investment Holdings, ASA Metals, and its associated mining and processing operations at Dilokong.
Shares in GW Pharmaceuticals rocketed up more than 120% after revealed exciting results of its cannabis-based treatment for children with a rare form of epilepsy. The company’s first major paediatric epilepsy trial for its Epidiolex drug achieved its primary endpoint with high statistical significance, showing that the treatment significantly reduced convulsive seizures in children with Dravet syndrome compared to placebo.