This week: DDD widens global reach; ESG serves strong growth; TYR gains two new patents

A good start to the New Year last week with the FTSE 100 rising almost 200 points to close the week at 6,090 points. The AIM All Share also followed the trend with a rise from 707 points to 719 points. News included a short term deal being signed on the US fiscal cliff which helped the markets to rally, whilst retail sales in the UK in December were up 1.5 per cent compared to the prior December and UK manufacturing was also said to have risen to a 15 month high in December with a PMI of 51.4 versus 49.2 the month before. The week ahead sees the Bank of England MPC announcement, UK trade figures, UK monthly manufacturing output and industrial production figures being announced.

 Disclaimer- This document, which does not constitute research, has been issued by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only- please refer to the disclaimer in full below.  

ANCR supply of product resumes, ATC Loan Extension, BSE Admission to AIM, BLUR New appointments, CGNR Metallurgical Test Work Positive, CYAN Partner deployment, DDD Expansion of Yabazam, ESG Preliminary results, GTC New contracts worth $2m, MAGP Quarterly update, MDZ interims and placing, MIRA Contract win, NPT Trading Update, MOU with Botswanan Company, PINN Board Changes, PREM granted two permits, RXP $40m equity investment, SNCL Audited Preliminary Results, SORB agreement with APAC and update on Loan Notes, TYR New Anti-Endoparasitic Composition Patents, SQS Largest Contract Win & Contract, VIY Chevron Expands Contract

Animalcare (LON:ANCR) Group (LON:ANCR 145p/£30.04m)

A leading supplier of veterinary medicines last week announced that the sale of Buprecare single dose ampoules has resumed following the break in supply announced in July 2011. A new contract has been signed with a German multinational contract manufacturer with a substantial sterile injectables facility in France and that facility has now been approved to manufacture Buprecare single dose ampoules.  Buprecare single dose ampoules from the new supplier are now available for sale in all previously supplied markets in the UK and Europe. Animalcare management is confident about the new supply of Buprecare ampoules and is also confident that levels of sales similar to those prior to the supply disruption will be reached. Buprecare multi dose vial, an analgesic for cats and dogs launched in March 2012, continues to sell well. Its strong performance is expected to complement the sale of the ampoule product.

Atlantic Coal (LON:ATC) (LON:ATC 0.26p/£10.25m)

Atlantic Coal, the anthracite coal mining company operating in Pennsylvania, USA, announced the extension and variation of the existing loans to Coal Contractors, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, from Willoughby and Mrs. MC Best. Since October 2007, Coal Contractors has had loans from Mrs. MC Best (the wife of Steve Best, Chief Executive of Atlantic Coal) and Willoughby (a company controlled by Mrs. MC Best). As at 31 December 2012 the total outstanding on the loan from Mrs. MC Best was US$1,971,466.32 and from Willoughby was £477,020.73. Interest on these existing unsecured loans had been accruing at 9 per cent per annum and was repayable in full (together with all accrued interest) on 31 December 2012. Under the terms of two loan extension and variation agreements entered into on 1 January 2013 between Coal Contractors, Mrs. MC Best and Willoughby respectively, repayment of the existing loans has been extended to 30 April 2013. In consideration of these repayment extensions, the interest rate has been increased to 15 per cent per annum with effect from 1 January 2013 until the date on which the loans are repaid in full. The terms of the Existing Loans otherwise remain unchanged. In addition Coal Contractors has agreed to repay US$221,466.32 of the loan from Mrs. MC Best on 2 January 2013, leaving the outstanding principal and accrued interest on the loan from Mrs. MC Best as US$1,750,000.00.

Base Resources (LON:BSE 16.5p/£92.47m)

Ordinary shares in Base Resources, which is developing the Kwale Mineral Sands Project in Kenya, have begun trading on the AIM market. The listing on AIM is in addition to the Company's existing listing on the ASX and is part of a strategy to expand its international profile and capitalise on substantial UK and European investor interest in the Company and its Kwale project. The project is believed to enjoy a high level of support from the Government of Kenya as well as the local community and, located just 50km from Mombasa, Kenya's principal port facility, is well serviced by existing physical infrastructure.

blur (Group)  (LON:BLUR 84p/£20.63m) Operator of the Global Services Exchange at blurgroup.com, which listed on AIM last October, announced that it has appointed two new senior managers. Belinda Wrigley who spent 5 years as FD of BT’s services infrastructure business and 7 years at Valtech, a French IT services company, takes on the role of Group Finance Director at the Company extending the Group finance function as part of its next stage of growth. Mitch Faigen who worked with CEO Philip Letts at Beenz (where he was President of the Americas) and was Global Head of Strategy and Business Development at Tradaq, will take on the role of Global Head of Exchange Development and will be responsible for development of the exchange business planning, economics and metrics and building strategic alliances.  Since the launch in 2010, the exchange has seen over 1,300 briefs with a combined value of over $19m, and with recent significant briefs being announced from eBay and a leading international healthcare group, the Company continues with its growth campaign.

Conroy Gold and Natural Resources (LON:CGNR) (LON:CGNR 1.2p/£3.24m)*

The gold exploration and development company focused on Ireland today announced that the first results of the Metallurgical test work have been received and were positive. These results relate to the Comminution test work being undertaken by Goldfields Limited including grinding, crushing and other factors in relation to mill design. Chairman, Professor Richard Conroy said: "We are delighted to receive the first results of the Metallurgical studies. This is a further important step in our planned development of a gold mine at Clontibret in Co. Monaghan. The test work is continuing and these results on the Comminution studies will be followed by results from the Flotation test work."

Cyan Holdings (LON:CYAN) (LON:CYAN 0.76p/£17.57m)

Cyan, the integrated system and software design company delivering mesh based flexible wireless solutions for utility metering and lighting control, announced that one of its strategic meter manufacturing partners in India, has deployed Cyan's integrated Advanced Metering Infrastructure solution (CyLec) as a pilot for a leading integrated power company in Mumbai. The power company is India's largest integrated power company with over 1,000,000 households, 150,000 corporate customers and a significant international presence. The installation will demonstrate CyLec across a three to six month period and the Company will use its own Meter Data Management System to manage and present the data collected from the meters. The Company also announced that the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) tender process continues and that as a result of delays in this order, the fulfilment of a substantial smart metering order placed in May 2012 will now be completed in 2013.

DDD (LON:DDD) Group (LON:DDD 22p/£29.56m)

The 3D solutions company announced the expansion of availability of its Yabazam 3D TV app for LG 3D Smart TVs to seven more countries. Previously available on both LG and Samsung 3D Smart TVs in the US, UK, Germany, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the Company has now expanded availability to LG 3D TVs in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. Yabazam offers a wide range of 3D content including independently produced 3D movies, documentaries, live action comedies and animated features from producers around the world. The Company also announced in December that it has commenced trading on the OTCQX with American Depositary Receipts.

eServ Global (LON:ESG 29.75p/£67.34m)

Global telecoms software vendor specialising in mobile money and Value-Added Services announced preliminary results for the year to 31st October 2012. Revenues strengthened to A$28.1m, averaging A$2.3m per month, which is 33 per cent higher than A$1.8m in the four month prior financial year (a change in the year end took place from June to October). Operating expenses were seen to have narrowed to A$17.7m, whilst the balance sheet dropped to A$3.8m (Oct 2011: A$10.2m), although this has been subsequently boosted since the year end by an A$9.5m fundraise. The Company’s Homesend mobile money service is the key focus of the business offering international money transfers using mobile telephones (phone numbers). eServ currently works with clients such as Airtel, Vodafone, MTN, Xpress Money and Lyca Money across a number of territories and continues to seek to grow its business to take advantage of the burgeoning opportunity, with a particular emphasis on the emerging markets (India and LATAM).

Getech (LON:GTC) Group (LON:GTC 50p/£14.65m)

Getech, the oil services business specialising in the provision of exploration data and petroleum systems studies and evaluations, announced two new sales from its gravity and magnetic datasets within the global data library with a combined value of $2m. These data sets provide structural support for the Globe platform, and the Company believes it is the increased uptake of Globe by international oil and gas explorationists that has led to this.

Magnolia Petroleum (LON:MAGP) (LON:MAGP 3.68p/£29.12m)

Magnolia Petroleum,  the US focused oil and gas exploration and production company, has reported a quarterly update on its operations across proven and producing US onshore hydrocarbon formations, including the Bakken/Three Forks Sanish in North Dakota and Montana and the Mississippi Lime and the Hunton/Woodford in Oklahoma. The total number of producing wells in which the Company has an interest now stands at 86 – a 34 per cent increase since the beginning of 2012. Nineteen wells currently being drilled / completed and a further ten are waiting to be spud. During the quarter, the Company raised £2.9m at a blended price of 4.5365p per share by way of draw down from an £10m Equity Financing Facility, of which approximately £5.3m remains to be drawn down if and when required. Looking ahead, Q1 2013 is expected to see further significant activity with numerous new wells due to come into production. Multiple well proposals are being received and this is expected to lead to further participations with leading operators.

Mediazest (LON:MDZ) (LON:MDZ 0.12p/£0.38m)*

MediaZest - at the same time as its interims to 30 September - announced a placing at 0.12p per share to raise £179,000 before expenses. Revenue for the period was £964,000 (2011 - £1,746,000) and the group made a loss for the period, after taxation, of £239,000 (2011 - £151,000) after finance costs of £55,000 (2011 - £42,000) and having paid administrative expenses of £625,000 (2011 - £754,000). The gross profit was £461,000 (2011 - £651,000). The Group had cash in hand of £33,000 (2011 - £139,000) at the period end. The results for the period reflect a difficult start to the financial year with turnover lower than the corresponding prior period, although an improvement on the preceding six months. This is partly due to timing issues, as the corresponding prior period had two larger contracts with total value of approximately £550,000 that fell into those months. The Group anticipates that revenues will be more evenly spread in the current financial year.  Despite this fall in top line revenue, an ongoing emphasis on margins and sector mix has led to a considerable improvement in gross margin from 37 per cent to 48 per cent. This is largely due to the policy of reducing the Group's historical reliance on the Education sector and to concentrate efforts on enhancing existing and developing new business in the retail and corporate sectors. As noted in the previous year's results, the year began with a difficult quarter. Since then trading has improved considerably and this trend has continued. Both sales and pipeline opportunities have grown in the months since July and the Company has already been awarded significant project business that is scheduled to be completed in calendar year 2013. This includes a large project with revenue in excess of £400,000 along with the achievement of first significant revenues that have emanated from a growing overseas effort, in this instance from the United States. Moving forward, the Board continues to believe that the general economic climate will remain difficult and the Board have taken further steps to reduce overheads by moving into new premises. The Group has experienced, over the last twelve and in particular six months, an increase in usage of audio visual services in the Retail sector in particular, and that trend appears set to continue. As part of this effort, the Group is looking to increase the number of sales people it employs to both develop and consummate business in such markets and this strategy is underpinned by the recent placing. 

Mirada (LON:MIRA) (LON:MIRA 13.25p/£4.7m)

Mirada, the audiovisual content interaction specialist, has announced another contract win in Latin America. The contract, which will contribute in excess of US$400,000 in revenue during this calendar year, is for the provision of Mirada's remote recording solution. The customer is a multi-national telecommunications operator with an extensive presence throughout Latin America, and this will be the customer's second territory in the region which will be using Mirada's solution. As part of the contract Mirada will provide its remote recording functionality to one of the operator's digital TV platforms, including the integration of the content recommendation and search engines. It is anticipated that the commercial launch will take place in the first quarter of 2013. Under the terms of the contract, Mirada will also provide support and maintenance services to the managed solution hosted in the Cloud for an initial period of twelve months after launch.

NetPlay TV (LON:NPT) (LON:NPT  12.25p/£35.06m)

NetPlay TV, the interactive gaming Company, announced continued strong growth with the Company's Q4 KPIs significantly ahead of the same period in 2011 and the prior quarter. The growth in new depositing and total depositing customers year on year has resulted in a 29 per cent increase in revenue versus Q4 2011. Mobile and tablet growth has continued to excel and the addition of a suite of mobile slot games in September has significantly improved the customer experience. The latest TV adverts for both its Supercasino.com and Jackpot247.com brands focus on the ability to play via mobile and tablets and the effect is clearly visible with 31 per cent of all new depositing players now signing up via mobile and tablets and 205 per cent growth in mobile and tablet revenue versus Q4 2011. The Directors are pleased with this continued strong performance and are confident of exceeding full year market expectations.

Paragon Diamonds (LON:PRG) (LON:PRG 18.25p/£35.61m)

Paragon Diamonds, which focuses on turning producing and exploration diamond properties into a portfolio of high value assets located within Africa, has announced that it has entered into a MoU with a private Botswanan Company, which is the registered holder of a number prospecting licences across diamond-prospective terrains in Botswana, covering 1,686km2 over several known kimberlites including one in the Orapa Kimberlite Field. These licences were issued in July 2011, are valid until June 2014 and can be extended for a further four years subject to certain conditions. The MoU stipulates a six month period during which Paragon may review data on the licences, undertake appropriate due diligence and negotiate earning an equity interest in the licences in return for funding exploration costs, on terms to be finalised.

Pinnacle Technology (LON:PINN) Group (LON:PINN 0.32p /£7.08m)

Pinnacle Technology Group, the provider of cloud based technology solutions, has announced board changes to come into effect from the conclusion of the Company's AGM to be held on 26 March 2013. William Allan, the non-executive Chairman, and John Anderson, a non-executive Director, have informed the Company of their intentions to retire from the board. They will be replaced by Dr James Dodd and Dr Tom Black as non-executive Chairman and non-executive director, respectively. A member of the Securities Institute and the Institute of Physics, Dr. Dodd is currently a member of Oriel Securities' Advisory Board and also serves on the Board of the Apollo Submarine Cable System Ltd, the joint venture between Vodafone Group plc and Alcatel-Lucent SA. Dr Black is co-founder and executive Chairman of Digital Barriers (LON:DGB 164.5p/£72.03m), an AIM-listed business focussed on the surveillance sector and which operates in the global Homeland Security Market. Prior to setting-up Digital Barriers in 2009, Dr. Black spent over 20 years with Detica Group plc, which was acquired by BAE Systems in 2008.

Premier African Minerals (LON:PREM) Limited (LON:PREM 1.75p/£5.87m)

The AIM quoted multi-commodity natural resource company with mineral projects located in Western and Southern Africa this morning announced that two gold Exploration Permits in the Dapaong area of Togo, which were stated as having been approved in the Company’s AIM Admission Document dated 4 December 2012, have now been formally issued to the Group. The total area under permit is 400 sq km. Dapaong is considered to be highly prospective for gold due to the location and geological setting. Significant artisanal activity has been seen across the licence, which has not yet been subject to a systematic exploration programme for gold. Using its existing resources in Togo, the Company intends to immediately commence exploration in order to quantify the full potential of this highly prospective area. The Project adds to the Company’s already extensive portfolio of mineral assets in Southern and West Africa, which are in various stages of development. George Roach, Chief Executive Officer of Premier African Minerals Limited, said: “This is the first announcement since our AIM listing in December 2012 and it underlines our aggressive development strategy aimed at both advancing our existing portfolio, which consists of a number of pre-production assets, and increasing our asset base to build shareholder value.  We expect to be active in 2013, as we look to continue with the development of our RHA and Katete projects, which are highly prospective for tungsten and Rare Earth Elements respectively.  In regard to these properties, we look forward to updating shareholders in due course.” The permits are valid for an initial period of three years.

Roxi Petroleum (LON:RXP) (LON:RXP 2.12p/£12.95m)

Roxi Petroleum, the Central Asian oil and gas Company focused on Kazakhstan, has announced that it has entered into an agreement to raise $40m from the issue of new Roxi shares. Mr. Kairat Alpamysovich Satylganov, a Kazakh investor, has agreed to subscribe for 355m new shares at a price of around 7p per share, being a significant premium to the closing share price of 2.125p per share as at 7 January 2013 and will represent 37.5 per cent of Roxi's ordinary share capital as enlarged by such a share issue. The first $10m will be paid on 31 January 2013, in exchange for the issue to Mr. Satylganov of 89m new shares. The remaining $30m will be called down by Roxi's Board in exchange for further 266m new Roxi shares, to fund work programme commitments at the Company's assets, principally at BNG, where the funding will allow Roxi to drill three deep wells and two shallow wells at BNG in 2013. Mr. Satylganov was previously chairman of two of the largest Kazakh banks, Halyk Bank and ATF Bank, and was also chairman of the Kazakh investment company Almex. As part of the subscription agreement, it is intended that Mr. Satylganov will join the Roxi Board.

Sorbic International (LON:SORB) (LON:SORB 6.5p/£2.93m)

Sorbic International (OFEX:SA.P) the third largest sorbates producer in China, announced over Christmas week that the required majority of holders of A and B loan notes have agreed to waive and defer their right to receipt of any interest due on 31 December 2012 pursuant to the Loan Note Instrument until the Final Redemption Date. As announced with the preliminary results of last month, the Company will continue discussions with loan note holders in early 2013 with a view to reaching agreement on revised terms of the loan notes which are due for repayment in February 2013. Sorbic also announced last week that it has signed an agreement with APAC Chemical Corporation (APAC) to form a new company; Linyi APAC Van Food Ingredients Co. Ltd to utilise the capabilities of both companies' technical strength and production capacity to further penetrate the global sorbates market. Following the formation of the New Company, APAC will be LVST's exclusive sorbic acid and potassium sorbate distributor in North America. The Directors anticipate that APAC could purchase up to 80 per cent of the Company's current capacity. The Company has been working with APAC for some time and will continue to work towards other areas of collaboration. APAC is a US based chemical company specialising in the manufacturing of sorbic acid and potassium sorbate, as well as importing and distributing food additives and other specialty chemicals. The Board believes that the agreement will enable the Company to secure more significant global customers that it is currently unable to engage with as LVST has no warehouse facility in the USA. This agreement gives the Company access to APAC's infrastructure, thereby enabling the Company to expand its multinational customer base. As announced with the results last month, the Board continues to work to seek a conclusion of the negotiations regarding the Inner Mongolia facility, and will update shareholders in due course, according to John McLean, the Chairman.

SQS (LON:SQS 255.5p/£71.27m)

Extensions Leading specialist in software quality services this morning announced that the Company has been awarded a number of significant Managed Services contracts and contract extensions/renewals worth a total of €64m over the next three years, including its largest ever contract win and largest ever contract extension. The total order intake from Managed Services contracts during 2012 was €101m, up 52 per cent from 2011. SQS has signed its largest ever contract, worth at least €25m over the next three years, with an existing client in the automotive sector. The contract is to provide Managed Services and Specialist Services to the client, where previously SQS had provided traditional testing services only. Provision of traditional testing services will continue, such that revenues from the new contract will be more than 50 per cent in addition to existing revenues from the client. The Company has also been awarded its largest ever contract extension, worth €24m. This is to provide Managed Services to a tier-1 European bank over the next two years. In addition, SQS has won a significant contract renewal, worth a further €15m in fees over the next year. This is also to provide Managed Services to a tier-1 global bank. Dik Vos, CEO of SQS, commented: “We stated at the time of our interim results in September that one of our strategic goals was to focus on securing larger contracts and we are therefore especially delighted with our recent contract wins, extensions and renewals. These expand upon what were already some of our biggest contracts to date and are clear evidence of the high value our clients place upon our offerings, as well as the successful delivery of our Managed Services strategy.”

TyraTech (LON:TYR  4.88p/£4.68m)

TyraTech, Inc., a natural life sciences Company, announced that the Company has received notices, from both the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China, granting two new patents for the Company's novel natural compositions for controlling intestinal worms and parasites. The Directors of the Company believe that these new patents are an important addition to TyraTech's intellectual property portfolio as they will provide support and protection of the Company's pipeline of anthelmintic solutions for humans, as well as companion and production animals. The issuance of these patents increases TyraTech's patent portfolio to a current total of fourteen United States and international patents protecting its proprietary screening platform and compositions.

ViaLogy (LON:VIY) (LON:VIY 2.12p/£19.69m)

ViaLogy announced that Chevron has expanded its contract for QuantumRD analysis of tracts in the Delaware Basin. The decision follows work completed by ViaLogy on a portion of the field, located in one of the Company's most important leaseholds in the continental United States. CEO Robert Dean said: "We're pleased by Chevron's decision to expand the contract area, and we look forward to working with them on ever-increasing areas of this most important field. We believe our QuantumRD offers a competitive advantage in bringing new efficiencies to placing horizontal wells, and, hopefully, to lowering the overall cost of production."

William Sinclair (LON:SNCL 116p/£19.75m)

William Sinclair Holdings (LON:SNCL) one of the UK's leading producers of commercial horticulture and branded garden products, announced its full year results to 30 September 2012. Profit before tax and exceptional items of £0.26m (2011: £3.18m) and a loss before tax of £0.40m (2011: profit before tax £3.18m). Sales at the Freeland Horticulture subsidiary are growing in line with expectations and a final dividend of 2.6p was reported making 4.5p for the year (2011: 6.2p). A new manufacturing site was acquired at Ellesmere Port and the production of industry leading peat-free SuperFyba more than doubled. Bernard Burns, Chief Executive, said: "The once in a 100 years wet weather severely impacted the European peat harvesting and garden retailing industries and the Company's profitability suffered as a consequence. Despite the severely curtailed harvest, William Sinclair's customers will receive their supplies of peat based products in 2013. Significant strategic milestones were achieved during the year and William Sinclair is now well placed to take long term advantage of its technical superiority over its competitors and increasing logistic strengths as the output at the new Ellesmere Port site begins to ramp up and the horticulture market returns to growth." The Company appointed a new Chief Executive Officer- Bernard's replacement is Peter Rush, joining on 1 March 2013. He was previously Group Managing Director at Hozelock, another supplier to the horticultural industry and before that had extensive operations experience in a number of consumer product businesses.

*A corporate client of Hybridan LLP