Real Estate investment firm CareCapital has announced it is to forward-sell individual projects to third party landlords in a bid to ensure that financial risk to the group is minimised without forgoing or reducing development profits. The projects have a combined value of £21.8m, of which £14.6m-worth has so far been forward-sold to investors. The firm anticipates the completion of these developments within the next two years. The firm also announced plans to save £250,000 a year by not renewing the lease on its head offices in central London.
Information and green technology outfit Ultima has reported growth in all of its operating divisions during the year ended December 31st and that it expects to report turnover and net profit ahead of market expectations. The increase comes after significant green power sales growth in continental Europe more than compensated for the difficult market conditions for luxury goods in the UK. "The continued investments in new technology with a strong R&D [research and development] effort reinforces the company's focus on achieving growth and profitability," the firm said.
Digital Learning Marketplace, a technology firm, has reported a growth in sales since April 1st 2011. During the period the company has taken an option to acquire the Digital Learning Marketplace project, a learning platform designed to allow corporations and professionals to access and build truly personalised learning from materials supplied by a diverse range of providers. The firm also said it has changed its year-end to December 31st for operational reasons and in order to align the company to the calendar year.
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Mining company Metminco has reported that it is fully funded for its 2012 work programme, with the firm set to take all of its main projects forward. During the year the company plans to drill the copper-moly project in Peru and complete a number of studies at various sites.
ZincOx Resources has announced the first delivery of feedstock at its wholly owned recycling plant in South Korea. The arrival means the plant can undergo commissioning with actual feed material, so called "Live Commissioning". The Live Commissioning marks the final stage in the development of the plant and is expected to take about four to six weeks. Production will commence immediately thereafter, in line with the first quarter schedule previously announced. The development of the plant is 95% complete and the project remains on budget.
Designcapital, the investment company dedicated to investing in the high end contemporary furniture design sector, returned from suspension sharply lower after releasing a statement which attempted to clarify its financial position and investment policy. The company has had financial support from major shareholders and Frederic Bobo, a director of the company, and the directors now have a reasonable expectation that the company will continue in operational existence at least until the end of this year.
Oil and gas exploration and production company Frontera Resources is on track to make gas sales in the second quarter of the calendar year, from the currently underdeveloped Kura Basin. The firm has possible reserves of 174m barrels of oil, with the potential to produce more than two billion barrels. The company also said it plans to raise production levels from their current figure of 220 barrels of oil per day (bopd) to around the 3,000 bopd mark, within one year, and 5,000 within two.
The Chief Executive of Armour Group, the UK's leading consumer electronics group, George Dexter, has admitted that the start of the new financial year has remained challenging for the group, particularly in terms of sales in the core consumer facing markets served by the group.
However, the executive was also keen to emphasise that the actions taken by the board in the last nine months to lower the cost base, improve gross margin performance and focus activities on the core brands have meant that the operating result for the group is much improved on the prior year. The firm expects that the Home division will return to a profit in the second half of the year and that there will be little change in the conditions in our core consumer facing markets for the rest of 2012.
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