Smaller companies spotlight

EACH week, former Fleet Street City Editor Patrick Lay keeps This Is Money readers up-to-date with a neglected, but exciting sector of the stock market - smaller companies.

Come to the Congo

ONE has to admire Bernard Pryor, or 'Bernie' Pryor as the chief operating officer of Adastra Minerals prefers to be known. He has taken the recent attempted coup in the Democratic Republic of Congo in his stride, despite the fact that Adastra has just made a $5m (approx £3m) investment in the area.

'We never like having news like that,' he confessed 'but it was not much of a coup – more a disruption - nobody was injured, nobody was killed; things were a lot worse six years ago when we first went there,' he says.

So keen is he to promote the message that the DRC is a comfortable home for investors that he is planning to invite fund managers and analysts to join him on a visit in the autumn ahead of further fund raising.

Adastra has spent much of the past six years trying to get its hands on the Kolwezi Tailings Deposits -112.8 million tonnes of the residue of earlier mining operations - from which the company expects to extract 42,000 tonnes of copper and 7,000 tonnes of cobalt a year for the next 38 years by the simple process of applying high pressure water hoses to wash away the surplus.

It has now signed an agreement with the DRC government that gives it 82.5% of the operation, with the remaining 17.5% owned by the Government and the state-owned mining company.

Although Mr Pryor has no doubts about the resources – they sit on the top of the land like a giant slurry tip – a definitive feasibility study starts next month, and talks have already started with potential buyers for the cobalt.

Once all the facts are in place and a decision to go ahead is finalised, a further payment of $10m will be made.

Barring an outbreak of all-out war, it seems that decision will be made. As Mr Pryor concludes: 'It is our firm conviction that those seeking to aid a strong, free DRC cannot sit idly and await ideal conditions, but must engage the DRC and help foster those very conditions which will enable economic and political freedoms to take root and flourish. Adastra has always believed that political progress cannot precede economic progress, but rather that they must advance together.'

If only Adastra was operating in the UK, he probably would have got a knighthood for such sentiments.

Smart ID

THIS week I took delivery of my second chip-and-Pin credit card; already I am having trouble remembering which pin number goes with which card, and even mixing up the series of numbers.

I raise the point because ID Data, the smart-card systems company, tells me it has won an exclusive contract to design, develop and personalise Citibank chip-and-Pin cards for the UK market. It has also begun production for GE Capital, the UK‘s biggest store-card supplier, and has extended its contract with Electronic Data Systems to supply chip cards for the Post Office Card Account.

In a separate announcement it reveals it is taking over CardBASE Technologies, a Dublin-based provider of software for smart cards to banking, retail and security groups.

Such measures are designed to reduce the risk of fraud. An alternative idea, I could suggest, is one that was operating at petrol stations in Southern Italy which I visited this past week – no credit cards, just put your euros into a machine and the pump will deliver the amount of petrol you have paid for, but only after you have paid.

Acquisitor

I APOLOGISE for returning to the subject of the two Acquisitor companies again this week but in all the confusion of Acquisitor plc and Acquisitor Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd, I made the error of referring to Acquisitor plc (the UK-based company) as privately-owned when, of course, it is AIM-quoted and has all of 100 shareholders.

Meanwhile, the Bermudan company has raised its stake in Baltimore Technologies to 24.11% by the purchase of 350,000 shares, and in Nettec to 25.1% by the purchase of one million shares.

New issue alert

A FLOOD of new issue alerts has hit the market in the past week with ambitions to raise more than £350m in total.

Such has been the pace that I cannot guarantee all are covered here, but of those that have landed on my desk I offer the following, all of which are going for a quotation on the Alternative Investment Market.

The PFI Infrastructure Company, which, I learn, is planning to offer 70m shares to institutional investors at 140p a share, the cash to be invested in new private finance initiative projects.

Nelson Resources is also looking to raise around £100m to develop its Kazakhstan oil production.

Hotel Corporation, an investor in hotel businesses, wants £40m.

Vectura, an emerging pharmaceutical development company, seeks to raise £20m-£25m through an institutional placing.

Blueheath, a retailer, wants to raise £15m.

Biofuels is another looking for £15m.

Adventis, a specialist multi-media marketing and advertising agency has raised £3.6m.

Cubus Lux, a Croatian gaming group, is raising £1.3m through an offer for subscription at 22.5p a share, to open new seasonal casinos.

In addition, Eurocastle, an investment firm, is looking to raise £50m for a main market float and BioProgress, already on AIM is applying for its shares to be quoted on Nasdaq.

Some you may have missed

Asia Energy
Asia Energy is raising its target production at the Phulbari coal mine development in Bangladesh from 9m tonnes a year to 15m tonnes and plans to speed up the mine feasibility programme as a result of the strong world demand for coal.

Arbuthnot Securities
Arbuthnot Securities has been appointed corporate broker and financial advisers to Parity Group, the international IT group.

Vp
Equipment rental group, Vp, formerly known as Vibroplant, reports sales up 11% to £83.5m in the year to end March and pre-tax profits up 19% to £8.9m. In a series of board changes, Jeremy Pilkington, currently chairman and chief executive becomes executive chairman, Neil Stothard, currently group finance director has been appointed group managing director and Mike Holt becomes group finance director.

Huntleigh Technology
Julian Schild, chairman of Huntleigh Technology, told shareholders at the yearly meeting that trading in the first five months of the current year confirmed the strong second-half performance last year has continued. In a strategic review the board has set targets for the next three years including, growing revenue by more than 10% a year on average, improving net margins and to continue a progressive dividend policy.

Cambrian Mining
Cambrian Mining has identified high-grade gold mineralisation on its Subranum Gold Concession in Ghana.

Pharmagene
Ronald Openshaw has become a director of Pharmagene and will take up the position of chief financial officer on the departure of Dr Neil Johnston on a date to be agreed.

Clean Diesel
Clean Diesel Technologies has reported developments concerning its systems for reduction of emissions from diesel engines.

Capcon Holdings
AIM-listed investigations and risk management group, Capcon Holdings, reports a 51% rise in profits to £306,000 before interest, tax and goodwill amortisation.

Centurion Electronics
In-car audio-visual entertainment systems group, Centurion Electronics is to supply car maker Peugeot with its Plug & Play Blue portable car entertainment system.

Southern African Resources
Southern African Resources has raised £2.8m after expenses through a placing with US-based institutions.

Wyndeham Press
Chairman Bryan Bedson says Wyndeham Press Group has made a solid start to the current financial year. He says the board is 'cautiously optimistic of further progress in the current year and thereafter'.

PlaneStation
La Granja S A has raised its stake in PlaneStation Group to 3.5% through the purchase of 77.7m shares.

Sunbeach
Steve Belle and Neil Seepersad have been appointed non-executive directors of Sunbeach Communications, replacing Sir Courtney Blackman and Brian Griffith.

One to watch out for

Ennstone has received approval to develop significant additional reserves at its Breedon Quarry, so extending the working life of the site by at least another 15 years.

It has encouraged Stephen Rawlinson of Arbuthnot Securities to suggest that the shares are worth more than 50p against the current 37p.

His colleague, Michael Blogg, believes Spectris is a 'strong buy.'