Small Cap Wrap: Uber acquisition for Ubisense, Clarity is crystal clear and great sounds from Chime

The FTSE 100 opened last week at 5,000 points and closed at 5,300, whilst the AIM All Share closed the week in line with where it opened- at 695 points. The markets have continued with a lack of predictability, though this has somewhat been eased by the voting of Eurozone states on measures to increase the powers of the Eurozone bailout fund (increasing the funds’ capacity to EUR 440bn) in order to help tackle the European financial crisis - 16 of 17 member states have given approval, with Slovakia yet to vote. The week ahead sees British Retail Consortium retail figures being released, together with unemployment figures (forecast to hit 8 per cent) and average earnings, and the purchase of £5bn of gilts by the BoE as part of its quantitative easing programme (QE2).

AdEPT Telecom ( ADT 31.5p / £6.64m)

Adept Telecom (LON:ADT) announced this week that it has been awarded a 3 year Voice over IP migration contract with an existing customer worth an estimated revenue of £2.5m over the life of the contract with one of UK’s largest wholesalers. This contract covers 395 sites across 5 subsidiaries. Ian Fishwick, CEO said that this is one of the largest VoIP contracts placed so far in the UK, and an initial pilot covering 90 sites is anticipated to be followed by a phased roll-out of the other 300 sites.

Angle (LON:AGL) (AGL 59.5p/£21.1m)

Since the announcement that Parsortix's cell separation device can capture cancer cells added to blood (announced on 28 September), ANGLE has increased its holding in Parsortix Inc to 90 per cent. ANGLE completed an equity fundraising to raise €1.25m in July 2011, 80 per cent of which has been allocated to Parsortix to fund the definitive validation of its initial findings (now complete), to optimise the separation device and commence beta testing with cancer clinics. ANGLE has agreed the terms for this further investment in Parsortix and, in addition, has acquired part of the holding of George Hvichia, the Chief Technical Officer and the original inventor of Parsortix's separation device. Following the acquisition of part of Mr Hvichia's shareholding, ANGLE's holding in Parsortix has immediately increased to 90 per cent allowing ANGLE to ensure Parsortix is a qualifying subsidiary for the purposes of deploying funds raised under the EIS and VCT schemes. Mr Hvichia has retained a 10 per cent interest in Parsortix, and remains integral to the development of the business.

Angle also held its 2011 AGM last week, at which its chairman, Garth Selvey said: “Last week ANGLE achieved a major milestone by validating that Parsortix’s patented cell separation device can capture cancer cells added to blood. This breakthrough opens up a large market opportunity for Parsortix with the potential for early revenues through the launch of a research use tool targeted for mid 2012. We are also targeting FDA approval and a European CE Mark by mid 2013 to enable launch of the device for a number of different clinical applications...This leaves ANGLE in the enviable position of having a diversified business model, with a number of potential streams of income and opportunities for substantial returns.”

 

Arbuthnot Banking (LON:ARBB) Group (ARBB 282.5p / £ 41.30m)

Arbuthnot last week announced its intention to float its wholly owned subsidiary, Secure Trust Bank on AIM. Secure Trust has a diversified lending portfolio including motor finance, retail point of sale and personal unsecured lending. Secure Trust has enjoyed significant growth in new lending and demand for banking services with its loan book up from £66.5m as at June 2010 to £89.5m as at December 2010 and up to £123.9m as at June 2011. The combination of its focus on higher margin lending and the absence of large fixed overheads in the form of a branch network mean it can offer competitive deposit interest rates to attract deposits. The flotation will be affected by means of a placing of new and existing shares in Secure Trust with Arbuthnot retaining a substantial majority shareholding. The IPO will provide Secure Trust with further capital to support significant expansion of the loan book including, to make selective acquisitions of loan books and businesses and to grow within its chosen markets.

Avacta (LON:AVCT) Group (AVCT 1p/£16.67m)

A leading provider of analytical and diagnostic technologies and services to the pharmaceutical and animal healthcare sectors last week announced that it has entered into an agreement with Pall Corporation (NYSE:PLL), a global leader in filtration, separation and purification, to sell and distribute Avacta’s market leading protein drug development tool “Optim” in South East Asia. This agreement extends Avacta’s commercial partnership with Pall, with whom the Group is already making good progress on sales and marketing of Optim in North America. The biopharma market for South East Asia is set for growth, with Singapore as a particular hotspot. Several leading global pharmaceutical companies have recently announced significant investments to set up major biologics facilities in the region. The prospects for the South Korean bio-industry also look very promising due to strong government support and investments by international and regional businesses.

Avisen (LON:AVI) (AVI 3.75p / £ 8.5m) & 1Spatial (SPA 24.5p / £5.19m)

The happy couple - 1Spatial and Avisen have announced the terms of a merger whereby Avisen will acquire the entire issued share capital of 1Spatial. On completion, the enlarged Group will transition to a single 1Spatial brand. Each 1Spatial Share will receive 5.761 fully paid new Avisen Shares. The Proposal values the entire issued share capital of 1Spatial at approximately £4.74m (22.35p per share) based on the Closing Price of 3.88p per Avisen Share on 6 October 2011. The Proposal represents a discount of 10.6 per cent. to the Closing Price of 25 pence per 1Spatial, but a premium of 17.3 per cent. to the Closing Price of 25 pence per 1Spatial Share on 6 October 2011, relative to the average Closing Price for Avisen Shares of 5.09 pence over the three month period to 6 October 2011. The Proposal will be implemented by means of a Scheme of Arrangement, which requires the approval of 1Spatial Shareholders and the sanction of the Scheme and confirmation of the Reduction of Capital by the Court. The Proposal is also subject to approval by the Avisen Shareholders of certain resolutions at an Avisen General Meeting. The Enlarged Group will be led by a management team drawn from the boards of both 1Spatial and Avisen.

 

Bloomsbury Publishing (LON:BMY) (BMY 101p / £74.92m) 

Bloomsbury Publishing announced this week that it has signed a long term licensing deal with leading sports and entertainment management firm FidelisWorld FZ LLC for the rights to Wisden India. Rights will also extend to the regions of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Middle East and North America. Wisden India will be launched in early 2012, and the first edition of the annual Wisden India book, which will focus on all areas of the Indian game including Test matches, One day internationals, the IPL and domestic cricket, will be published in October next year to coincide with the start of the domestic season. Wisden Sri Lanka is also expected to be launched in 2012. Working with various media partners to deliver year-round content on a range of platforms and the introduction of a Wisden India Hall of Fame, is also on the agenda. The Wisden India team will include Richard Charkin, Charlotte Atyeo of Bloomsbury, existing Wisden editorial and management people in the UK and senior sports marketers Navneet Sharma, CEO and Sanjay Khuller, VP Cricket of FidelisWorld. Bloomsbury will be responsible for recruiting the editorial team. Richard Charkin, executive director said that Wisden India will deliver excellence in its reporting of cricket in the sub-continent and will be the independent voice of the next generation of Indian cricket fans.

Chime Communications (LON:CHW) (CHW 190.25p / £153.49m) 

Chime Communications, a leading marketing services group, announced this week that it has acquired 100 per cent of the share capital of Gulliford Consulting Ltd for an initial consideration of £2.5m comprising of £1.5m in cash, £0.5m in cash to be paid on 1st January 2012 and the issue of 264,830 new ordinary shares in Chime. Further tranches of deferred consideration totalling a maximum of £2.25m may be payable depending upon the future trading performance of Gulliford. Up to 30 percent of the deferred consideration may be satisfied through the issue of new Chime ordinary shares, at Chime’s option.

Clarity Commerce Solutions (LON:CCS) (CCS 23p /£9.5m)

Clarity is crystal clear: Clarity Commerce Solutions has considered the unsolicited offer made on 27 September 2011 by Enigmatic, for the entire issued share capital of the Company. The Board believes that the offer is highly opportunistic and undervalues the Company and its prospects. The Board points out that though the results to 31 March 2011 showed a loss, principally due to reduced demand in the retail sector, the Company has now restructured operations and has achieved significant cost reductions; the UK and New Zealand Hotels businesses have been divested and group sales and operations have been focused on Clarity's core markets. The Company's cost reduction programme is progressing to plan and the UK redundancy programme, which completed last month, will remove a further £1m from the cost base. As a result the Board strongly advises shareholders to take no action in respect of the offer and to reject the approach. The Directors are unanimous in their rejection of the offer.

Cyprotex (LON:CRX) (CRX 3.375p / £7.6m)

Cyprotex the preclinical ADME-Tox services company announced the launch of its new Genomic ADME service providing drug researchers with actionable data about genomic differences in drug response at the early stages of drug development. The new service, named gADME™, enables drug developers to identify which enzymes play a role in the metabolism of their drugs, to understand the impact of genetic polymorphisms on that metabolism, and to devise dose adjustment strategies. This gives drug developers the opportunity to substantially improve patient care through identifying and compensating for variability in patient drug response, and enabling personalised dose regimens.

Energetix (LON:EGX) Group (EGX 30.75p/ £20.04m) 

Energetix, which develops and commercialises alternative and efficient energy products, announced the appointment of Tony Stiff as commercial director of the Company. Having worked in the UK energy market space, including performing as Commercial Director of Bglobal, the AIM listed smart metering company, Tony has been brought on board to help execute the Company’s commercial strategy. At Bglobal, Tony worked to secure contracts with leading energy suppliers, and also helped find Atlantic Electric and Gas Limited, an independent energy supplier back by the US-based Sempra Energy Inc. Last month, the Company announced interim results for the 6 months to 30 June 2011 in which turnover increased to £0.10m (1H10: £0.01m), operating loss decreased to £1.20m (1H10: Restated £1.80m) and cash and cash equivalents of £2.00m (1H10: £3.30m). During the half, they transformed from a product development company to a group focused on commercialising its two leading products underpinned by significant IP and compelling value propositions across its key markets. The first of their two products is Genlec, their microCHP boiler development which is now complete and CE certification has been achieved. They are currently manufacturing 50 Kingston microCHP boilers for field trials this winter. The other product is Pnu Power, a compressed air powered UPS battery which has received repeat orders from the National Grid, UK and USA; a first Pnu Power DC100 Data Centre; and further orders from Switzerland and South Africa. The CEO Chris Hutchings and Chairman Clare Spottiswoode have both bought stock since.

Epistem (LON:EHP) (EHP 375p/£29.75m)

The biotechnology and personalised medicine company last week announced the formation of a human DNA Identification collaboration with the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA). Epistem and the NPIA will be evaluating Epistem’s Genedrive™ molecular device as part of the NPIA’s ADAPT programme (Accelerated DNA Profiling Technology programme). The NPIA provides critical national services to support frontline policing. It helps the police to save money and operate more efficiently. If trials are successful, the NPIA could use Genedrive™ to enable rapid and accurate DNA analysis at a crime scene leading to improved speed of identification, reduced cost and more efficient policing leading to a safer environment. Genedrive™ provides a breakthrough in molecular diagnostic testing by providing a rapid (less than 30 minutes), low cost, simple to use device with high sensitivity and specificity. Positioned as a handheld device, it brings a new ‘Point of Need’ approach to disease diagnosis and identification across a broad spectrum of DNA related areas from human identification for policing purposes, to pharmacogenomic use in oncology, virology, ophthalmology and the detection of infectious diseases such as TB, HIV and sexually transmitted disease. The ADAPT evaluation programme in the NPIA will continue into 2012, following which, if successful, it will be rolled out into a number of police forces across the UK.

Flybe (FLYB 64.13p / £48m)

Flying Finn: Flybe issued a Close period trading update noting that in September a significant slowdown in sales across our UK domestic network had brought down the revenues for H1 2011/2012, by around one per cent lower than management's expectations, with costs remaining in line. H1 saw a total of 6.4m seats flown, an increase of £0.2m over H1. But after adjusting for the impact of volcanic ash disruption in 2010, H1 2011/12 seat numbers were down on H1 by 1.7 per cent on an underlying basis, reflecting the flat year-on-year ('YOY') capacity programme implemented and announced earlier this year. The acquisition of Finnish Commuter Airlines (a joint venture between Flybe and Finnair), which was announced on 1 July 2011, was completed on 18 August 2011. Flybe's share of the total acquisition price, including net cash at completion, was EUR21m. This is the first step in fulfilling Flybe's strategic aim of increasing operations within continental Europe. Flybe Finland has announced ten new routes, and tickets are now on sale. The revised network will commence operation at the beginning of the IATA winter season on 30 October 2011. As at 30 September 2011 the Group had total cash balances of £87.5m. 

Greenko (LON:GKO) Group (GKO 153p / £ 216.71m)

Greeko, the Indian developer, owner and operator of clean energy projects, this week announced that a newly created wind holding company (and subsidiary of Greenko) entered into a conditional share subscription agreement with a division of GE Energy, which is a subsidiary unit of General Electric. GE has agreed to invest $50m to support the development of the initial 500MW out of Greenko’s planned development of 1GW of wind energy project across India. This follows the $80 m placing in June 2011 with existing and new shareholders for the deployment of the Company’s strategy. 

Hummingbird Resources (LON:HUM) (HUM 130p/£69.36m)

Hummingbird Resources, the Liberian focused gold explorer, this week announced its results for the year ended 31 May 2011. Since its establishment in November 2005, the Company has been active in Liberia, West Africa and is currently the holder of the largest area of mineral exploration ground in the highly prospective Birimian geological region of eastern Liberia. During the year the Company listed on AIM with a $40m fundraising and recently announced a resource upgrade making its Dugbe F project one of the fastest growing gold resources in West Africa this year.

I-Design (LON:IDG) (IDG 64.5p / £9.1m)

i-design, the developer and supplier of a leading market solution for ATM’s and self-service machines, provided a trading update for the 12 months to 30 September 2011 in which it stated that it expected to report a maiden profit, ahead of market expectations which reported a loss before taxation. Sales are likely to be around £3.5m and cash and cash equivalents of £0.9m, helped by the signing of Barclays in May 2011 (the contract to supply atmAd, covers Barclays entire UK estate of c. 4,000 ATM’s and kiosks) and YourCash Limited in October 2010 (the largest independent supplier of ATM solutions in Europe). 

Immunodiagnostic Systems (LON:IDH) Holdings (IDH 1,010p/£285,19m)

A leading producer of diagnostic testing kits for the clinical and research markets last week announced a trading update for the six month period to 30 September 2011. Turnover from continuing operations for the period is 21 per cent ahead of the comparative period for last year at £27.3m (2010: £22.6m). The Company has made continued progress in placing IDS-iSYS systems into reagent rental accounts as well as outright unit sales. During H1 IDS sold or placed 81 systems compared to 66 systems in H1 2010, an increase of 23 per cent. Overall trading continues to grow and the Board remains confident that, as in previous years, H2 revenues will exceed both those of H1 and of the corresponding period last year due to both the enlarged estate of IDS-iSYS system placements and an expanded IDS-iSYS product menu. 

Intercede (LON:IGP) ( IGP 64.5p / £ 31.16m)

Double dose of good news at Intercede, where they announced an order for the supply of Intercede MyID Identity and Credential Management software licenses worth in excess of US$1m. This contract is in support of the issuance of ICAO(1) compliant smart card travel documents. The country and partner cannot be named at this time. This contract will contribute more than $1m to current year sales as well as generating a long term annuity support and maintenance revenue stream. At a time of global recession and spending cuts, this new government related order underscores the resilience of Intercede’s business model and places Intercede on track to meet full year market trading expectations. They also announced that the Intercede MyID solution for provisioning Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Credentials to a Blackberry phone has been selected as a finalist in the Cartes 2011 SESAME award competition. The system allows BlackBerry smart phones to be enabled for secure email, signing and authentication. The solution makes use of the inherent security within MyID, ensuring keys are delivered in a secure manner and that the credential holder is strongly authenticated as part of the credentialing process. PIV is a US government standard defining the form and content of smart cards used for identity verification.

IQE (LON:IQE) (IQE 27.25p / £143.08m)

The developer of semiconductor materials announced this week the introduction of customizable silicon on insulator (SOI) with improved thickness and doping control. SOI has been integrated into a steadily growing number of applications including advanced microprocessors, high-voltage devices and complex MEMs and sensors. The benefits of replacing silicon wafers with SOI include the reduction of parasitic device capacitance and resistance to latch-up. IQE Silicon Limited is now able to offer this new range of SOI products that allows customers to customize the SOI parameters to their own specifications in terms of doping and device layer thickness. Having announced last month a 28 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to £2.8m on a 16 per cent rise in revenue to £38.3m, IQE seems to be intent on delivering continued improvements in financial performance.

MDM Engineering (LON:MDM) Group (MDM 95.5p/£35.58m)

MDM last week announced that it has signed an agreement with Atomising Systems Limited (ASL) of Sheffield, United Kingdom, to exclusively market ASL's specialised atomising equipment and technology which is used throughout the powder industry but has also been established in the mining industry as a direct route from pyro- to hydrometallurgy. Atomising processes and equipment will compliment alloy and slag granulation processes which MDM acquired when David Norval joined MDM and forms part of the range of process solutions which MDM provides to its customers worldwide. Martin Smith, MDM CEO said: "MDM look forward to a long working relationship with ASL and we are excited about securing its first technology supply agreement, which we believe will open the door to a new area of business for MDM, while enhancing our offering to existing customers."

Media Square (LON:MSQ) (MSQ 2.5p/£0.90m)

International marketing communications group provided an update prior to entering into a closed period in advance of the announcement of its interim results for the period up until the 31st August 2011. At an operating level, the Group has continued to make good progress in a challenging environment. Headline operating profit and revenue for the period is expected to be broadly similar to the equivalent period in the prior year. The Group expects net debt as of 31 August 2011 to be an increase over the position as of the 28 February 2011 (when underlying net debt was £19.5m). This cash outflow for the first half is in line with historical working capital patterns (which typically see an outflow in H1 followed by a corresponding inflow in H2). However, given the current economic environment and resulting pressures on working capital being experienced by the Group's clients and suppliers, the Board recognises that there is a possibility that this build up in working capital may not be reversed over the course of the second half of the year, as it has been in prior years. Looking forward at a revenue and headline operating profit level, the Board anticipates that the Group's results for the full year will be in line with previous expectations. However, the general trading environment as well as the potential additional working capital pressure on the Group's financial structure means that the Board remains cautious about Media Square's future prospects.

Mouchel Group plc (MCHL 16. 5p / £18.54m)

Ouch! Mouchel the Public Sector consulting and services group had reported in June, that it expected a significant one-off profit on one of its long-term contracts to offset lower profitability than originally expected on a number of contracts. The Group was very recently informed that, as a result of an actuarial error, the one-off gain will be £4.3m lower than previously expected which has an immediate and corresponding impact on the profits the Group will report for the year to 31 July 2011. In addition, as part of the year-end audit process, Rod Harris, the new Finance Director, has reviewed contract risks and project claims, taking into account the continuing challenging business environment. As a result, the Group has decided to increase provisions in respect of these contract risks and project claims by a similar amount to the reduction in the one-off gain. The reduction in the one-off gain and the increase in provisions relate to non-recurring and non-cash items. Richard Cuthbert, Chief Executive, has tendered his resignation with immediate effect, and he will work with the Group for a short period to ensure an orderly handover. Bo Lerenius will become executive Chairman until a new Chief Executive has been appointed. The Board will make a further announcement as appropriate.

Next Fifteen Communications (LON:NFC) Group (NFC 73p/£40.63m)

Worldwide digital marketing communications group has announced the acquisition of Munich-based Trademark PR and Trademark Consulting, on behalf of its subsidiary, Bite Communications. This follows a multi-year partnership between the two firms. Trademark represents an impressive portfolio of brands across the consumer electronics, technology and telecoms, entertainment and lifestyle, and beverage sectors. Current clients include HP, Harmon Consumer International, Creative, Amazon Web Services, and BRIO. The move gives Next Fifteen an 80 per cent shareholding in Trademark, a business with €2.11m of revenue in calendar year 2010 delivering adjusted profits before interest and tax of €0.57m. The initial consideration for the share purchase is €1.38m satisfied in cash with further payments, at multiples of PBIT ranging between 5 and 6, dependent on the PBIT and margin levels achieved by Trademark over five years. The maximum consideration payable is €4.5m.

Omega (LON:OME) Diagnostics (ODX 14.12p / £12.04m)

The AIM listed medical diagnostics company announced a trading update for the six months to 30 September 2011. Trading in the first half of this year is slightly ahead of management expectations and performance in the second half will depend on the successful roll-out of the Allergozyme products, and continued growth with core products such as Genarrayt and Good Detective. In R&D, good progress has been made with the IDS-iSYS development programme with a functional total IgE assay that is calibrated against the international standard. The priority of distributing Allergozyme though the Omega distribution network has advanced with the official launch at the end of September of the full 600 range of products, including an improvement in certain product components. Turnover is expected to be £5.53m (2010: £3.30m) in the period, with the increase being largely due to the contribution from the allergy business acquired in December 2010. Allergy and autoimmune revenue is expected to increase to £2.28m (2010: £0.27m), food intolerance revenue to $1.84m (2010: £1.65m) and infectious disease and other revenue to £1.41m (2010: £1.38m). The company recently established a wholly owned subsidiary; Omega Dx (Asia) Pvt Ltd, to set up a direct presence in India. This will enable the company to retain control over the supply chain of allergy products to end users and act as a resource that can provide distribution to other companies’ products that could provide near term benefits. 

Ovoca Gold (LON:OVG) (OVG EUR 0.04/ EUR3.67m)

The Russian gold mining company reported this week that the Russian State regulatory body concerning the certification of states resources has granted a Certificate of Discovery to Ovoca, a key milestone in the process of obtaining of a full license. The certificate relates to Olcha and allows the Company to apply for a mining permit on presently drilled reserves, with licenses typically lasting 25 years. Currently, certified reserves are equal to 279,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 13.4g/t and 655,000 ounces of silver at a grade of 31.6 g/t. The Company has a number of licenses across Russia, including the 100 per cent owned Stakhanovsky, Rassoshinskaya (in which Olcha is hosted) and Nevsko-Pestrinskoye licenses. It continues to make progress in exploring these regions, with Stakhanovsky’s initial independently established resource being announced in February this year and the Company intends to put Stakhanovsky into production by 2013.

Rockhopper (LON:RKH) Exploration (RKH 169.75p / £438.53m)

The AIM listed North Falkand Basin oil and gas exploration Company, announced an update on the 14.10-8 exploration well which was designed to investigate reservoir and hydrocarbon presence within the Sea Lion Main Complex in an area with relatively low amplitudes, and for exploration on both the Casper and Kermit prospects. The thickness of the reservoir encountered in the well has increased the Company’s confidence that a good quality reservoir is likely to be present in other relatively low amplitude areas within the SLMC. The Company has refined its methodology for the depth conversion of seismic data over Sea Lion, which is an improved fit to all of the wells and provided an accurate prediction from 14/10-8. The Company believes that potential of 90 mmbls remains in the Casper prospect to the west of the structural saddle and the new management estimates for oil initially in place within the SLMC on Rockhopper’s 100 per cent owned acreage are 844 mmbbls for low, 1297 mmbbls for medium and 1428 mmbbls for high. The 14/10-8 well will now be plugged and abandoned as planned and the Ocean Guardian drilling unit will drill well 14/10-9 to investigate reservoir presence and hydrocarbon charge within the SLMC towards the southern edge of the Company’s acreage and exploration on eastern side of the Casper prospect. 

Tissue Regenix (LON:TRX) (TRX 12.38p / £ 58.23m)

Tissue Regenix, the regenerative medical devices company which uses animal or human tissue to replace damaged or worn out parts of the human body, this week announced its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 July 2011. The Company was formed in 2006 in order to commercialise new technology developed by Leeds University in the field of regenerative medicine. Its proprietary platform technology, known as dCELL, is used to create biological scaffolds by decellularising human or animal tissue. When used to replace damaged or diseased body parts in humans these scaffolds have been shown to be capable of regeneration and become integrated into the patient’s body. In April 2011 the Company entered into a commercialisation and IP agreement with its development partners in Brazil. This agreement gives it worldwide rights (excluding Brazil) to the clinical data arising from the use of the dCELL process with human donor heart valves. This will enable the Company to develop its technology faster and more cost effectively. Cash and short term deposits as at 31 July 2011 were £4.8m.

Tricorn (LON:TCN) (TCN 27.75P / £9.27m)

Tricorn Group plc the tube manipulation specialist, gave a trading update for the six months ended 30 September 2011; ahead of entering its close period. First half sales are expected to be over 20 per cent higher than in the corresponding period last year, reflecting both the progress with its major blue chip OEM customers and continued strong global demand. It is those customers' extensive geographic reach that ensures the Group has the benefit of significant exposure to worldwide markets with approximately two-thirds of Tricorn's product ultimately destined for overseas use. Operating profit margins for the Group continue to improve with the focus on the Aerospace Division yielding the most significant progression.

Ubisense Group (LON:UBI) (UBI 199p/£43.10m)

The market-leading location solutions Company last week acquired Realworld OO Systems Ltd, a geospatial location solutions consultancy, for £2.4m. The cash consideration consists of £1.25m on completion and a performance based payment of up to £1.15m over the next two years. Realworld, a UK-based leader in the provision of location solutions to telecoms companies throughout the world, has 20 employees and has developed a suite of location aware telecoms specific products. Its blue-chip customer base, including Cable & Wireless and Global Crossing, will increase Ubisense’s presence in the UK. Realworld has developed the capability to integrate geospatial applications into corporate IT systems to enable corporate enterprises to more effectively and efficiently manage their assets. In the year to 31 March 2011, Realworld had revenues of £2.8m and reported a net loss of £0.1m. Richard Green, Ubisense CEO, commented: “Realworld are very well known to us, being located within the same building as our Cambridge operation. We will be able to utilise their skills to expand our existing team and support our customers such as Mini, Aston Martin, Airbus and BAE.”

 

Ultrasis (LON:ULT) (ULT 0.68p / £ 10.16m) 

Ultrasis, the provider of interactive health care services, has released two updates over the past week. The Company delivers computerised healthcare products to the NHS, the corporate sector and other healthcare providers in the UK and internationally. Its flagship treatment programme is a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy called “Beating the Blues” which treats depression and anxiety. It first announced the formal launch of U Squared Interactive LLC, its 50:50 owned joint venture with UPMC Insurance Services, which will be used to launch the US-specific version of “Beating the Blues” to the US market. It then announced that it had entered into a partnership agreement with Maia Psychology Centre to make “Beating the Blues” available in the private pay market in Malta.

*A corporate client of Hybridan LLP