News

Materials firm Low & Bonar said disposal of its flooring division, completed in September 2008, has substantially reduced its debt.

Net debt at the year end will be approximately £110m in line with the board's expectations. "We expect to remain comfortably within our financing covenants and our bank loan facilities are committed until December 2011," it said. The group added that trading for the year ending 30 November 2008 is in line with its expectations.

Cantono is to sell its managed services businesses to fellow IT services group Xploite for £3m to concentrate on developing its data centre activities.

Xploite chief executive Ian Smith said the acquisition, "continues to build our managed services business, strengthens our position in the UK mid-market managed services sector and provides considerable opportunities for cross selling."

Stockbroker and fund manager Brewin Dolphin improved Thursday despite a 13% drop in full year pre-tax profit to £36.2m, as discretionary funds held up well, easing just 4.7% to £10.2bn at the end of September.

"In a year characterised by difficult and volatile trading conditions, your company achieved a relatively resilient performance reflecting the fundamental strengths and scale of the business," said executive chairman Jamie Matheson.

Material technology firm Dyson has reported a drop in half-year underlying pre-tax profit to £3.2m from £4m a year ago, in line with expectations, on sales down by £1m to £31.5m. Earlier this month it warned that its second half performance is likely to fall significantly below expectations and said it does not expect to pay any interim dividend.

Cape Lambert Iron Ore's drilling program at its Cape Lambert South project in the coastal Pilbara region of Western Australia is on schedule and expected to complete in mid to late December. Results from this initial drilling program are not expected until after Christmas.

Qualifications and assessment firm Education Development is confident of further growth in the year ahead following an increase in annual pre-tax profit to £2.77m from £2.04m in 2007. Revenue rose 34% to £21.5m. "The education market is resilient and continues to reflect positively the ongoing investment of governments, employers and individuals in skills development," said chief executive Nigel Snook.

Aim-listed cartoon producer Galleon Holdings has signed an exclusive distribution deal in the UK with Trends UK, a major toy licensee, for BAFTA-nominated hit animated comedy-action series Skunk Fu!. The Skunk Fu! toyline is scheduled to launch at major retailers such as Toys R Us, Hamleys, Harrods, Tesco, Toymaster, The Entertainer and Amazon in the first quarter of 2009.

Cash machine advertising specialist i-Design more than doubled revenues to £2.07m in the year to September though higher admin costs meant losses only dipped from £622,000 to £536,000. ATMs available for third party advertising increased more than fourfold to 4,500 at 30 September (2007: 1,000) i-Design said, adding that the full benefits are yet to come through.

Faroe Petroleum has agreed a revolving credit facility worth NOK500m (approximately £47.5m) with Bank of Scotland and Barclays Commercial Bank to
finance its Norwegian exploration and appraisal programme. "The doubling in size of this facility further reinforces the company's already strong financial position," chief executive Graham Stewart commented.

Digital tetra radio provider Sepura saw interim profits fall to £4.6m from £5.2m before on flat revenues of £32.8m, though it still managed to pay an interim dividend of 0.42p versus nil last year.

"Predicting the exact timing of orders continues to be difficult and this is being exacerbated by the current economic conditions. The Board expects full year revenue growth to be modest," said the group.

Property firm Cardiff Property posted half-year losses of £1.54m versus profit of £1.47m in the same period last year due to a £1.13m loss on the revaluation of investment properties against £167,000 gain last year. Revenue was £609,000 versus £700,000 last time.

"In the current volatile market it is difficult to predict the immediate future, but the process of property development takes a number of years and as such should be viewed on a long term investment basis," said the group.