Mercantile Investment Trust PLC Share News (MRC)

Shares in Condor Resources took off after the Central American gold explorer announced a swap of mining rights in Nicaragua with gold producer B2Gold.The swap will result in Condor becoming the biggest concession holder in Nicaragua's La India mining district, it said.Elsewhere in Latin American precious metal mining, Mariana Resources has announced that drilling is under way at its wholly owned Deseado Massif gold district in southern Argentina.Eckoh, which develops speech recognition technology that allows customers to pay utility bills over the phone without speaking to a person, has won a three-year contract worth at least £240,000 to provide its services to gas and electricity supplier Utilita.Telecoms services company Maintel posted a rise in profits in the half year to June 30, as it continued to win contracts despite the subdued economy.Revenue climbed by 13% from the same period the previous year to £10.58m, while pre-tax profits were up to£1.48m from £1.13m.Shares in Pursuit Dynamics fizzed higher after the maker of pump technology announced an agreement to install a brewing system at German beer maker Oettinger's Braunschweig brewery. Costa Rican telecommunications group Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad has launched a mobile phone e-mail service based on mobile phone technology group Synchronica's 'Mobile Gateway.'