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Small caps follow blue chips as AIM All-Share and AIM 100 post marginal weekly gains

13th Mar 2010, 2:55 pm Small caps follow blue chips as AIM All-Share and AIM 100 post marginal weekly gains

Small cap moved along with the blue chips as the AIM All-Share Index gained 0.4% during the week, while the AIM 100 index added 0.2%.

StatPro Group PLC (AIM: SOG) said it has performed extremely well in its financial full year, with a marked improvement in all key financial performance indicators. For the 12 months ended 31 December 2009, the company reported a 48% increase in adjusted pretax profits to £6.9m, adjusted earnings (EBITDA) grew by 28% to £8.63m and earnings per share (EPS) increased by 29% to 9p. Revenue rose 13% year-on-year to £31.56m.

In response to StatPro’s (AIM: SOG) strong full-year sresults, in which the software company reported a 48% increase in pre-tax profit, a number of analysts have upgraded their guidance for the current financial year. Both Edison Investment Research and Cenkos Securities provided a marginal upgrade for the FY2010, before considering the potential upside provided by the two new SaaS (Software as a Service) products StatPro Seven and StatPro Revolution.

Cinpart PLC (AIM: CINP) said it appointed Professor Michael Hughes to the board as a non-executive director with immediate effect.

Allocate Software (AIM: ALL) said it has advanced against all strategic objectives during the third quarter, highlighting its expansion into Australia and New Zealand and stronger presence in the Nordic region following the acquisition of Time Care AB.

Shares in Tanfield Group PLC (AIM: TAN) soared in morning trade after the engineering group announced it received a non-binding, conditional offer from Smith Electric Vehicles US Inc (SEVUS) for the company's Smith Electric Vehicle division.

Coloured gemstone producer Gemfields (AIM: GEM) reported revenues of US$12 million for the six months ended 31 December 2009 compared to just US$0.34 million in H1 2008 after two successful emerald auctions in July and November 2009 that raised the company US$11.5 million.

Security technology specialist Westminster Group (AIM: WSG) repoerted an 89% increase in online enquiries and a 62% increase in online sales since it launched its new ‘Generation 2’ website in April 2009. According to Westminster, the website has achieved nearly a threefold increase in the average visitor number compared to the previous website, based on record unique visitor numbers in January 2010.

In its full-year results statement, Telit Communications (AIM: TCM) said it has emerged from 2009 as a much stronger company. In the year ended 31 December 2009, the machine-to-machine (M2M) communication specialist reported revenues of €63.8m, up 10.7% compared with €57.6m in the previous year and gross profit grew by 11% to €30.6m.

In its first-half results, the Syntopix Group (AIM: SYN) said it is making progress as it continues to attract a number of commercial opportunities following last year’s completion of a Phase II clinical study and its evaluation agreement with a major consumer healthcare company. The company recently appointed a new chairman, and it is finalising plans for a proposed fundraising which will enable the company to progress these opportunities.

African focused investment company Lonrho (AIM: LONR) has been promoted into the FTSE AIM UK 50 Index and the FTSE AIM 100 Index, effective from the 22 March 2010. The company’s inclusion into the key indices reflects Lonrho’s growth and its position in London’s junior market, then group said in a statement.

Planet Payment (LSE: PPT and PPTR; OTC: PLPM) has completed and received certification from TSYS Acquiring Solutions (TSYS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of TSYS (NYSE: TSS), for the company’s iPAY payment gateway on the TSYS processing platform. TSYS currently offers a Planet Payment powered Multi-Currency Pricing service which allows merchants to reach international markets through price localization. Multi-Currency Pricing allows international customers to view prices, and pay for goods/services in their domestic currencies.

Daniel Stewart & Company (DS&C) issued a note on Planet Payment (LSE: PPT and PPTR; OTC: PLPM) today, reiterating its 'buy' rating after the data and payment processor received certification from its core existing client TSYS (NYSE: TSS).

Liberty PLC (LSE:LBE) jumped 7% in early deals this morning after the London retailer confirmed that it had received several approaches “that may or may not lead to an offer” for the company MWB Group (LSE:MWB) owns 68% of the equity in Liberty.

Specialist provider of lease asset finance to the SME sector 1pm PLC (AIM: OPM) has raised £1.15 million via a placing to help the company grow its lease portfolio further and enhance receivables and cash generation.

Henderson Morley (AIM: HML) (HML) and KMS Therapeutics have commenced a 9 week due-diligence period ahead of a potential license agreement. Following an earlier agreement on 19 February, the companies have signed a further letter of intent (LOI) in respect of the intellectual property rights of HML’s ionic contra-viral therapy (‘ICVT’) human portfolio.

Emissions trading exchange owner and operator Climate Exchange (AIM: CLE) reported a better than expected 2.4x increase in pre-tax profits to £6.8 million in the full year 2009 as revenues from core businesses soared 48% to £33.6 million.  In the year to end-December 2009 two of its three operated exchanges posted better performance with improved volumes and membership figures.

Ethanol and biorefining group Lignol Energy Corporation (TSX-V: LEC) announced an agreement with UK construction prodocts supplier Kingspan Group PLC (LSE: KGP) for the joint development of commercial applications incorporating Lignol's class of High-Purity Lignin and lignin derivatives (HP-L lignin) into various products.

Mobile gambling specialist Probability (AIM: PBTY) said it has partnered with Mobenga, a Swedish provider of betting software.  Probability will integrate into Mobenga's software platform and the groups will cooperate in marketing its games capability to Mobenga customers.

Navigation equipment maker Raymarine (AIM: RAY) noted the recent hike in its share price and confirmed it has received a further approach from a third party, which may or may not lead to an offer being made for the entire issued share capital of Raymarine at approximately 3.6 pence per share.

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