News

Environmental engineering company Tinci plummeted Wednesday after it warned a decline in sales will lead to a significantly reduced profit in the second half of 2008.

Profit for the year ending 31 December 2008 is expected to be similar to that for the six months to 30 June 2008. Tinci blamed the situation on the postponement or withdrawal of desulphurisation projects at power stations in China.

Managed Support Services, which provides building services, said full year figures will "comfortably exceed" current market expectations. The group upped its guidance for the year after it saw "good" first half trading.

Net cash balances at 30 September 2008 improved to £7.9m versus the £5.2m reported in the EGM in June.

Australian mining group Dwyka said it has decided to halt expenditure on the Philippines-based Daguma/Bonanza Coal in order to preserve cash

The group said it will cease work with immediate effect on the coal project because continuing with the current work programme and acquisition timetable would deplete Dwyka's cash reserves.

"The directors of Dwyka announce a change in the company's strategy as an immediate action to optimise its cash position to ensure that the Company is best placed for future growth, when global market and commodity conditions stabilise," it said.

Karelian Diamond Resources has discovered a significant north-east extension to its Seitaperä diamondiferous kimberlite pipe in Finland.

"Eight holes drilled across the central portion of the main pipe intersected substantial zones of primary kimberlite," it said.

Namakwa Diamonds reported strong progress in developing its African mining projects following its IPO and said it was well placed to cope with global economic uncertainty.

The company mined 27,177 carats of diamonds in the year to August 31, in line with its target of 25,000 to 30,000 and posted turnover of $41.7m. Losses amounted to $39m.

"We have witnessed a strong pricing environment over the course of the year and, although the global economic uncertainty will result in increased volatility, Namakwa's integrated business model is especially well suited to changing and uncertain markets," the company said.

Sensor networks company ViaLogy said its analysis tool located a significant oil find in Texas but faults in the oil trap meant the economic extraction of the oil was unviable and the well had to be plugged

Atascosa Exploration, which is drilling the locations, said the drilling outcomes was a result of its not giving ViaLogy the correct information and added that ViaLogy will continue to receive its expected payments.

Chip licensing technology firm Arc International announced that one of the top 10 system-on-chip design companies in Taiwan is incorporating its low power solution into cellular baseband designs targeting the worldwide cellular handset market.

"Our new Taiwan-based customer is the latest example of how ARC's solutions are being integrated into high volume consumer electronics devices," said Paul Holt, vice president of the SoC products business unit.

"We're very pleased to welcome this new customer to the growing list of ARC licensees, and to be an important part of their cellular baseband strategy," he added.

The share price of oil and gas explorer Empyrean Energy shot up after the company gave its latest update on operations at its Sugraloaf prospect in Texas, USA.

The Kowalik-1H well has been completed and the production test will soon commence, probably within the next three days.

The Weston-1H well is the next to be drilled and is expected to take about 65 to 90 days from the spurt date to complete.

Platinum miner Platinum Australia said latest results from its drilling programme on the Kalahari Platinum project have revealed additional broad zones of target grade mineralisation in the Sirius and Vela Deposits as well as the Mira Prospect..

Further good results have also been identified in the Scorpio Prospect and Orion Deposit, the company said.