News

Online fashion retailer EBTM surged ahead after it said sales will surpass £1.3m for the year, which is 299% increase year on year.

Progress in the second half of the financial year has been in line with expectations and will now show a loss 'significantly' below the first half of the year. The group said it is now moving steadily towards operational profit on a monthly basis.

Vane Minerals said the drilling programme for the Miller, Big Red and Red Dike Pipes in Arizona need to be modified. Exploration programmes are required to be completed within one year of approval.

Due to limited rig availability and adverse weather, one of the three drill holes planned for Miller Pipe was completed and the rig was then moved on to Big Red, followed by Red Dike in order to satisfy those work commitments.

It also announced year-end results today with pre-tax losses narrowing to £871,000 compared with £985,000 in the same period last year on turnover that rose to £1.5m from £286,000 previously.

Oil and gas explorer Chaco Resources said it has been a year of "a year of disappointing progress." Pre-tax losses for the year increased to £5.4m compared with the loss of £811,000 from the same period last year on nil turnover again. Losses increased due to an impairment item of £4.2m.

"The new board anticipates an improvement in exploration results as the company moves to becoming an oil producer from lower risk exploration acreage with the known presence of hydrocarbons," said the group.

Recruitment group Prime People said it expects profits for the year to be £2m, an increase of 14% on the previous year. The group said net fee income for the year ended March 2007 grew by 23% to £10.8m with the four overseas offices opened during the year already contributing 10% of total net fee income in the period.

IT training services provider iTrain said the year has been 'disappointing' as a number of factors hit figures.

As previously announced, under performance in 2006 included a continuing delay from a banking technology client in rolling out new IT systems to some 470 branches, a decision by a publisher not to continue call centre sales of its generic products and a decision by a major computer manufacturer to take eLearning development in house.

The group slipped into pre-tax losses of £1.6m compared with the profit of £203,000 in the same period last year. Turnover fell to £1.2m form £1.8m previously.

Nanoscience, a company that invests in emerging technologies, said Future Waves, in which has a 29% equity interest, has secured a significant design win from Pure Design, a market leader in digital radios.