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CPP GROUP PLC (CPP.LN), an international Life Assistance
business which helps customers when they have their wallet, mobile
telephone or keys stolen or in the event of identity theft,
Thursday reported a 60% jump in full year profit and is now
planning to enter Brazil later this year, according to Chief
Executive Eric Woolley.
At 1552 GMT shares +8 pence, or 2.6% at 298 pence.
Howden Joinery Group PLC (HWDN.LN), a Kitchen and joinery
products retailer, Thursday reported a 47% rise in fiscal-year
pretax profit, reflecting an improvement in gross margins, and said
it is considering reinstating dividends in 2011.
Chief Executive Matthew Ingle said the increase in pretax profit
is mainly due to significant investments made in design, product
ranges and services over the last year. He added that the firm
intends to continue investing by opening 30 more depots in 2011.
The company opened 27 branches during the year, bringing its total
to 489.
At 1553 GMT shares -3 pence, or 2.7% at 113 pence.
ITE Group PLC (ITE.LN), an organizer of trade exhibitions, said
Thursday it bought Russian counterpart Krasnodar Expo LLC for 410
million rubles ($14.5 million).
ITE said the acquisition will be funded from existing cash and
debt facilities and is expected to be earnings enhancing this
fiscal year. Half of the transaction amount will be paid to the
current owners of Krasnodar, a group of private shareholders, on
completion and half will be deferred until audited figures are
confirmed.
At 1553 GMT shares -1 pence, or 0.1% at 242 pence.
TRINITY MIRROR PLC (TNI.LN), a newspaper publisher, said
Thursday trading will be challenging during 2011, and didn't
reinstate its dividend despite a sharp rise in full-year profit,
sending its shares lower.
The publisher of titles including the Daily Mirror and the
People forecast a "volatile and slow" recovery in the U.K. economy,
and said that advertising and circulation revenue for its existing
titles continued to fall.
At 1554 GMT shares -19 pence, or 22.0% at 66 pence.
RENOVO GROUP PLC (RNVO.LN), a biotechnology company, said it
will cut more than 100 jobs and may sell assets after partner Shire
PLC (SHP.LN) decided to drop its flagship anti-scarring product
Juvista following disappointing clinical trial results.
Renovo in a statement said the failure of Juvista in a Phase III
trial in Europe, announced last month, was a major blow for Renovo
and prompted partner Shire to return rights for the treatment in
the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
At 1555 GMT shares -15 pence, or 1.6% at 15 pence.
Oilex Ltd. (OEX.LN), an oil explorer, said that Northwest Pty
Ltd., the operator of the WA-388-P permit, offshore Western
Australia, has now proposed to start drilling the first exploration
well in April, after bad weather caused delays.
The well will target the "La Rocca" prospect in the Intra
Mungaroo channel zone, Oilex said, adding that the well had
originally been scheduled to start drilling as early as
mid-February but significant cyclone activity delayed activity
during the first quarter of 2011. The permit contains seven
prospects.
At 1555 GMT shares +2 pence, or 8.3% at 26 pence.
COMMUNISIS PLC (CMS.LN), a marketing services provider, said
statutory pretax profit for 2010 rose 89% despite marginal revenue
growth, adding that it is well positioned to cater for growing
demand for targeted marketing campaigns.
The company paid an interim dividend of 0.89 pence a share,
bringing the full-year dividend to 1.29 pence, in line with the
2009 figure.
At 1537 GMT shares unchanged at 31 pence.
CHURCHILL MINING PLC (CHL.LN), a manganese and coal miner,
requested that trading of its securities on the Alternative
Investment Market, or AIM, be temporarily suspended pending an
announcement.
A spokesperson for the company wasn't able to comment.
At 1556 GMT Shares -65 pence, or 72.2% at 25 pence
JJB SPORTS PLC (JJB.LN), a U.K. sports retailer, said it will
close 43 stores by April 2012 and review the performance of a
further 46 stores in a bid to stave off collapse.
The troubled retailer is attempting to renegotiate its lease
agreements using a form of arrangement known as a Company Voluntary
Agreement. Under the arrangement JJB will need to win landlord
backing for the agreement to be approved.
At 1556 GMT shares -3 pence, or 14.3% at 18 pence.
ROXI PETROLEUM PLC (RXP.LN) said it expects its interest in the
BNG contract area in Kazakhstan to increase to 29.7% after Canamens
BNG BV told the company it won't make the final $12 million payment
due under the second stage of the sale and purchase agreement, or
SPA, approved by Roxi shareholders in November 2009.
Under the terms of the SPA, Roxi expects Canamens to forfeit a
6.25% interest in the BNG Contract Area to Roxi, raising its stake
to 29.7% from 23.4%. Canamens' holding will fall to 28.8% from
35%.
At 1557 GMT shares -1 pence, or 14.9% at 5 pence.
SPIRENT COMMUNICATIONS PLC (SPT.LN), a network testing firm,
posted a 32% rise in 2010 pretax profit, and said it expects
further profitable growth in 2011.
The company, which tests the performance of IT and
communications systems, said demand in 2010 was boosted by the
growth of remote computing services and mobile internet use.
At 1557 GMT shares -3 pence, or 2.1%, at 152 pence.
SYSTEM C HEALTHCARE PLC (SYS.LN), an information technology
company, said it has agreed to a GBP87 million cash takeover offer
from U.S. healthcare giant McKesson Corp. (MCK).
System C, which provides software for managing patients' records
to hospitals, said the deal so far has the backing of 33% of
shareholders.
At 1558 GMT shares +11 pence, or 18.6% at 70 pence.
NOVAE GROUP PLC (NVA.LN), an insurance company, said it had
doubled its adjusted pretax profit in 2010 but said it was still
measuring the impact of New Zealand's February earthquake, which
was likely to outstrip losses from a 2010 earthquake in the
region.
The company proposed a full-year dividend of 15.7 pence-a-share,
which is higher than the 2009 dividend of 12.4 pence.
At 1559 GMT shares +13 pence, or 3.4% at 401 pence.
JOHN WOOD GROUP PLC (WG.LN) said that a bidding group led by
Mustang Al-Hejailan Engineering, a Wood Group company, has received
a five year, general engineering services contract from Saudi
Arabia's national oil company, Saudi Aramco.
It didn't disclose financial details.
Wood Group will supply engineering, procurement and construction
management services to support onshore and offshore oil and gas
projects in Saudi Arabia. The five-year contract also comes with
three one-year extension options.
At 1559 GMT shares +6 pence, or 0.9% at 656 pence.
DJ UK Small-Cap +1.01%
AIM +0.81%
-By Tommy Stubbington, Mario Christodoulou and Iain Packham, Dow
Jones Newswires; +44 (0) 20 7842 9272; uksmallcaps@dowjones.com