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ZYTRONIC PLC (ZYT.LN), a touch screen technology group, expects
improving margins to continue to offset the effect of subdued sales
amid weakness in Europe, its chief executive said Tuesday.
"We're focused on margin improvement and we expect that to
continue," Chief Executive Mark Cambridge told Dow Jones Newswires,
adding that the company is likely to see continuing sales declines
in its lower margin non-touch screen technology activities, in line
with a planned focus on touch screens.
At 1530 GMT shares -32 pence, or 9.28%, at 313 pence.
BERKELEY MINERAL RESOURCES PLC (BMR.LN), a metals processing
company focused on Zambia, said that it intends to appoint Ascot
Group Ltd. to oversee and manage the design finalization,
installation and commissioning of a lead and zinc extraction plant
at the historic Kabwe mine deposit in Zambia.
Shares +0.2 pence or, 6.7%, at 2.4 pence.
CONNEMARA MINING COMPANY PLC (CON.LN), a gold explorer focused
on Ireland, Tuesday said it has discovered a number of areas of
gold enrichment on its licenses in Wicklow and Wexford, following
completion of a reconnaissance soil sampling program.
Shares +0.5 pence, or 5.7%, at 9.25 pence.
GREKA DRILLING LTD. (GDL.LN), an independent and specialized
unconventional oil and gas driller in China, Tuesday said it has
signed a contract with Petro-king Oilfield Technology Ltd., a local
company servicing Sinopec, to drill 100 wells in the Ordos
Basin.
Shares +0.13 pence or, 1.41%, at 9 pence.
CARPETRIGHT PLC (CPR.LN) plans to close stores in some towns and
small cities in the U.K. and replace them with smaller stores in
urban hubs, including greater London, in an effort to cut costs,
its chief executive said.
Chief Executive Darren Shapland didn't say which stores would be
closed or where exactly it plans to open new stores. He said those
around London would be within the M25 area, a 117-mile motorway
that encircles the city.
Shares +1.5 pence, or 0.2%, at 668.0 pence.
ASOS PLC (ASC.LN), the online fashion retailer, Tuesday said it
remains positive in its outlook and continues to trade in line with
expectations as it reported a 30% rise in first-quarter retail
sales to 165.8 million pounds ($266.7 million).
Shares +76 pence, or 3.1%, at 2,540 pence.
HIGHTEX GROUP PLC (HTIG.LN), an engineering company which
installs large area membrane roofs and facades, said the group and
its Brazilian construction partner have been selected to engineer
and install the inner liner membrane structure of the roof of the
Arena das Dunas in Natal, one of the venues for the 2014 FIFA World
Cup.
Shares +0.1 pence, or 4.6%, at 1.7 pence.
OVOCA GOLD PLC (OVX.DB), a Dublin and London-listed gold miner
focused on Russia, said it has agreed to sell its subsidiary Olymp
Ltd., which holds a mining and exploration license for the Olcha
gold-silver deposit, to a subsidiary of Polymetal International PLC
(POLY.LN) for 775,000 Polymetal shares, or about GBP8.4
million.
Shares inn London +2.25 pence, or 23.7%, at 11.75 pence.
IMAGE SCAN HOLDINGS PLC (IGE.LN), a real-time x-ray imaging
firm, said it swung to a full-year profit but sustaining
profitability remains a challenge with relatively limited cash
resources. The company's year-end cash balance was GBP74,000
compared with GBP945,000 the same time last year.
Shares -0.1 pence, or 5.3%, at 2.25 pence.
AKERS BIOSCIENCES, INC. (AKR.LN), the rapid diagnostic screening
and testing products group, said it has received an order to
manufacture 3.5 million units of a custom breath alcohol detector,
based on the company's BreathScan product, for $1.05 million.
Shares +0.1 pence, or 15.6%, at 0.9 pence.
DOMINO PRINTING SCIENCES PLC (DNO.LN) reported a 6% drop in full
year profit to GBP53.9 million but said it is optimistic about its
prospects for the future.
Shares -39.5 pence, or 6.5%, at 570.5 pence.
FTSE Small-Cap -0.1%
AIM +0.1%
Write to Jana Weigand, Iain Packham, Tapan Panchal and Rory
Gallivan at uksmallcaps@dowjones.com