News

Kitchen and furniture supplier Smallbone posted an impressive set of figures today and issued maiden dividends.

The groups swung into pre-tax profits of £119,000 compared with the loss of £214,000 in the same period last year on turnover that rose 33% to £47m.

It paid out a maiden dividend of 1.0p.

"2006 was a year of investment for the group and we are delighted with the achievements made. 2007 will, we believe, start to really see some of the benefits of this investment both to our sales and profits," said the group.

Georgica, which operates snooker halls and ten-pin bowling centres, saw a number of factors affect its underlying year-end figures.

Pre-tax profit for the year to December increased to £3.9m from £2.4m but the group said underlying trading was lower due to high summer temperatures, the World Cup in June, macroeconomic pressure on consumers, increased utility costs and the introduction of the smoking ban in Scotland.

"Your board estimates that excluding the benefits of the 53rd week in 2005 in order to give a comparable basis, EBITDA was approximately £3.5m lower than in 2005 at £17.8m," it added.

Revenue for the year to December fell to £125.6m from £129m previously.

Bar and nightclub operator Ultimate Leisure said it has made progress in a challenging trading environment for the year to December.

Pre-tax profit slumped to £2,000 compared with £1.6m last year, which were in line with expectations and reflect the decline in sales in its un-invested core values. Turnover rose 4% to £18.2m.

Manufacturer of energy products Ceramic Fuel Cells saw revenues for the year rise to A$2.5m (Australian dollars) from A$0.5m last time, while net losses fell 9.2% to A$7.9m.

LO-Q shares received a boost after it announced the installation of its Guest Services System into the Dollywood theme park in the US.

Manufacturer of polymer displays MicroEmissive Displays saw pre-tax losses for the year rise to £6.2m compared with £5.3m in the same period last year. Revenue rose to £31,000 from £5,000 before.

Miner Target Resources said it is pleased to announce the acquisition of Pride Diamonds, a Delaware incorporated company, which operates in Sierra Leone and specialises in socially responsible diamond mining.

The initial consideration is $1.6m, satisfied by the issue of 2.3m new ordinary shares. As deferred consideration, the vendors of Pride will collectively receive a 3% royalty on Target's future diamond sales, which is capped at $1.9m.