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ITHACA ENERGY INC. (IAE.V) Wednesday said production from the
Jacky field in the North Sea has hit 11,000 barrels of oil a day,
well ahead of initial estimates of 7,500 barrels a day.
Jacky started production April 6 and flowed at rates of 8,800
barrels a day. Since then a pump has been activated and the
production increased to its current level, Ithaca said.
Average June production was 9,300 barrels of oil a day, it
added.
At 0751 GMT, London-traded shares +5.25 pence, or 15%, at 39.75
pence.
GALIFORM PLC (GFRM.LN), a kitchen maker, reported a fiscal
first-half loss, hurt by lower sales and a GBP4.4 million rent bill
from old stores, and said it will consider opening new stores if
trading improves.
Galiform, which owns Howden Joinery, said if economic conditions
remain stable then it expects sales, which have been hurt by lower
activity in the housing market, to improve during its fiscal second
half.
If its current performance is sustained during the coming months
then it will consider opening "a small number" of new depots,
Galiform said.
Still, it said it doesn't expect a marked improvement in
economic conditions and added rising unemployment might hurt
trading.
At 0752 GMT, shares +6.25 pence, or 17%, at 43.75 pence.
SINCLAIR PHARMA PLC (SPH.LN) said it expects fiscal 2009 revenue
to decline on the year because of destocking by drug
wholesalers.
The pharmaceutical company said wholesalers have been working
through their stocks rather than order new medicines because of
cash constraints. It expects revenue for the year to June 30 to be
GBP29.7 million, a 2% decline on fiscal 2008's GBP30.3 million.
Analysts were forecasting revenue of between GBP30.7 million and
GBP35.8 million.
At 0752 GMT, shares -1 pence, or 3.9%, at 25 pence.
ZETAR PLC (ZTR.LN), a U.K confectionery and snack foods company,
said it is focusing on recovering its earnings after its fiscal
year pretax profit fell 66% on the year, due partly to losses from
baked snacks, the closure of its customer Woolworths, and the rapid
increase in commodity costs.
Zetar said it is confident of growth in fiscal 2010, saying the
new period has started well, with new product launches and business
wins in both its core divisions.
At 0753 GMT, shares +3 pence, or 1.8%, at 167.5 pence.
SOLAR INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES INC. (SIT.LN), a solar panel
company, said it agreed to be acquired by Energy Conversion Devices
Inc. (ENER) of the U.S., in a deal valuing it at $16.3 million.
Energy Conversion Devices, or ECD, has agreed to pay 6.75 pence
a share in cash for Solar Integrated Technologies, a 17% premium to
Tuesday's closing price. Its shares have lost 94% of their value
over the last 12 months.
At 0753 GMT, shares +1 pence, or 17%, at 6.75 pence.
WALKER GREENBANK PLC (WGB.LN) said fiscal first-half sales were
down 12.5% on the year, but said there's evidence stability is
returning to the U.K. retail market.
The furnishings company said it is cautious about the remainder
of the year but has evidence that stability has returned to sales
of its key brands. Brands include Sanderson, Morris & Co. and
Zoffany.
At 0753 GMT, shares FLAT AT 16.75 pence.
CONNAUGHT PLC (CNT.LN) said it will raise GBP12.1 million to
fund future acquisitions after it announced two new bolt-on
acquisitions to its compliance business.
The U.K. support services firm, which last week said announced a
recommended offer for environmental services business, fountains
PLC (FNT.LN), said it has bought Fire (International) Ltd. and
Igrox Ltd. for a total of around GBP15.9 million.
The company said that the buys will allow it to deliver a
national offering in all the key compliance services, including
health and safety, fire, water, gas and electrical inspection and
testing, service and maintenance.
At 0754 GMT, shares +1 pence, or 0.3%, at 368 pence.
SPORTINGBET PLC (SBT.LN) said it has sold its loss-making
Italian operation to local management, saying the money and time
needed to generate a profit in the country would be better placed
elsewhere.
The online gambling company also said the positive start to
trading in the fourth quarter ending July 31 has continued, and it
is confident of achieving fiscal-year forecasts.
At 0754 GMT, shares -0.25 pence, or 0.5%, at 54.75 pence.
HELICAL BAR PLC (HLCL.LN) said it is looking at a number of
potential acquisitions to take advantage of overall falling
property prices, but it added the value of some properties is
starting to level out.
In a statement for the fiscal first quarter to June 30, the U.K.
property investor said that while it has seen an improvement in the
quality of tenants on the lettings it has completed, particularly
in offices in London's West End and the City, average property
values are still falling due to declining rental values.
Helical said it completed 23 lettings in the first quarter and
secured GBP850,000 of annual income in its investment and U.K.
development portfolio.
At 0755 GMT, shares -2.25 pence, or 0.7%, at 328.75 pence.
STOBART GROUP LTD. (STOB.LN), a logistics company, said its
subsidiary Eddie Stobart has gained a distribution contract with
U.K. supermarket giant Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) worth around GBP25
million a year.
The contract for Tesco's new import centre at Teesport,
Middlesbrough, involves transporting the supermarket's non-food
products and will be operational in August.
At 0755 GMT, shares +5 pence, or 5.5%, at 106.5 pence.
ERUMA PLC (ERU.LN) said it won a GBP120,000 contract to install
an emergency lighting system at a U.K. hospital, in its first move
into the health sector.
Eruma said it won a contract to install the system at Ealing
Hospital, west London, as part of a major refurbishment
program.
At 0756 GMT, shares +0.13 pence, or 8.3%, at 1.63 pence.
COHORT PLC (CHRT.LN) said one of its subsidiaries has signed a
contract to provide computer equipment and networks to seven
schools in a deal worth more than GBP13 million over seven
years.
The company, which provides technology services for defense
markets, said its subsidiary MASS Consultants Ltd. is the
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) partner to provide
new and refurbished schools for North Lincolnshire Council under
the U.K. government's Building Schools For The Future program.
At 0756 GMT, shares flat at 175 pence.
AORTECH INTERNATIONAL PLC (AOR.LN) reported a fiscal year pretax
loss at the same level as a year earlier, as cost savings helped
offset slightly lower revenue. The company said it expects to sign
new licensing deals for its Elast-Eon polymer in 2010, in
orthopedic and urological applications.
The biomaterials company said it had GBP4.2 million in cash at
the year-end, enough to fund its development plans.
At 0756 GMT, shares -7.5 pence, or 5.1%, at 140 pence.
IDATECH PLC (IDA.LN) said it received an order for 30 of its
ElectraGen hydrogen fuel cell systems from a German customer.
The order is customer b+w Electronic Systems GmbH's second order
for 30 systems. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
At 0757 GMT, shares flat at 91.5 pence.
FTSE SMALL CAP +0.03%
FTSE AIM -0.08%
-By Rachael Gormley & Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires; 44
20 7842 9308; uksmallcaps@dowjones.com
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