Sarantel A ShareCast News (SLG)

Sarantel, the maker of high performance antennas for military and consumer uses, has completed a trial of technology that records the location of photographs using GPS with a "major Japanese camera manufacturer" in Tokyo.

Sarantel said the small size and high performance of its GeoHelix GPS technology make it particularly well suited to this application and reduce the cost of manufacture, compared to the lower performance alternatives.

"We have successfully demonstrated that our technology can accomplish what many people thought was impossible - reliable standalone GPS performance in extreme urban conditions," chief executive David Wither said.

"We are confident that our technology will enable higher performing consumer products, which are more attractively styled while offering a lower total system cost."

While Sarantel has won some lucrative military contracts lately - most recently bagging an order to provide antennas for radios used by the US Army - its real aim is to provide antennas for mass-produced consumer products.

Sarantel also issued a full year trading update today. Second half unit sales were up by 21% from the same period the previous year while revenues climbed 30% despite challenging conditions. But total revenues for the full year are expected to be 24% lower than last year at £2.2m "largely as a result of the delayed orders announced at the half year stage from two of the group's largest customers," the company said.

"The board remains confident of Sarantel's potential, particularly now that GPS location is becoming an important feature on a large number of consumer applications such as digital cameras," Sarantel said.

"Although it remains difficult to predict timing and size of volume contracts, interest from potential customers is stronger than ever and Sarantel's board believes that such applications will drive the need for the higher performance and greater accuracy offered by its antennas."

At 09.25am, shares in Sarantel were up by 7% at 0.75p.

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RG