Small Companies report: Monday close

 

SMALL caps remained on positive ground supported by a raft of positive company news as AorTech International and Henderson Morley were spurred by contract wins, sending the FTSE Small Cap index 7.7 points higher at 3,612.4.

AorTech International made a hefty 90p gain to 364p, after securing an exclusive contract to allow St Jude Medical to use their Elast-Eon bio-material for research into the management of heart rhythm problems. Henderson Morley also gained, up 0.35p to 2.30p on volume of 10m shares. The AIM-listed drug discovery company has signed a contract for its Ionic Contra Viral Therapy. The contract is with an unnamed dermatological pharmaceutical company based in the US, and relates to a potential licensing deal.

Shares in Immedia Broadcasting advanced 2.5p to 18p after the in-store radio stations announced the roll out of its 'Impulse Live' radio station, initially to up to 1,000 convenience stores across Ireland. A trickle of comment from the weekend press also provided a few features, with Romag Holdings up 3p at 126.5p following positive comment in Saturday's Daily Mail.

'Buy' advice in The Sunday Telegraph gave a boost to environmental science company Accsys Technologies, 0.02p firmer at 1.28p, specialist property investment funds manager Speymill, 4p higher at 79.5p, and media company SMG 2p firmer at 86p. Shares in Holidaybreak added 58p to 788p after the European specialist holiday group confirmed a weekend press report that it has received several expressions of interest to acquire its camping division. The company said if a sale were to go ahead, it is unlikely to be completed for several months.

Elsewhere, CSS Stellar was 1.75p higher at 35.5p after the entertainment and sports management and marketing group disclosed full-year results ahead of previous forecasts. Buyers also came to Spiritel, 0.25p at 6.5p, after the telecommunications services business signed its first managed services contract. Win jumped 7.5p to 320p after the wireless data services reported bumper Full-year numbers, with pre-tax profit rising 93 pct to £3.1m.

BNS Telecom Group was one of the main losers, as its share price plunged 20.5p to 39.5p after the telecom services company revealed a sharp fall in first-half pretax profit and warned its full-year numbers would be 'materially behind' its earlier expectations. A weak set of results also weighed on Global Brands, shaving off 20p to 102.5p after the group swung to full year losses.