Small cap-focused trust Henderson Smaller Companies achieved a total return of 22.1% for the half-year to 30 November, putting the benchmark index - up 12.7% - in the shade. The trust, which increased total pre-tax profit from £37.9m to £42.6m, said it expects the markets to remain "choppy", but to make progress over the coming months. Forte Energy is raising A$15m (£9.35m) from a placing at 12.5 cents (about 8p) to pay for drilling at its A238 uranium anomaly in Mauritania and a pre-feasibility study at the Firawa uranium project in Guinea. Managing director Mark Reilly said the fundraising was "significantly oversubscribed" following commitments from new and existing institutional investors in the UK, North America, Asia and Australia.Vane Minerals has agreed a joint venture with Jose and Hector Ruiz in the La Rastra gold-silver district of Mexico covering four concessions: La Colorada, La Valenzuela, Maria Fernanda and Jorge Luis.The AIM-listed firm will oversee the exploration and mine planning, provide project financing and make available its SDA Mill, while the Ruiz brothers will be responsible for mining and transporting ore to the mill. Net profits will be split on an 80:20 basis in Vane's favour until it has recovered 150% of the cost of upgrading equipment. After that, any net profits will be split on a 60:40 basis in Vane's favour.European Nickel has started preparing for drilling programs on the Acoje nickel project and the Zambales chromite deposit in the Philippines, due to begin late May.Co-founder and executive deputy chairman Simon Purkiss will leave the company at the end of the month, but still provide technical expertise. Chairman David Whitehead is also leaving, but not until the AGM in August.Cambium Global Timberland lost a "disappointing" £6.1m before tax in the six months ended 31 October compared with a £961,000 profit in 2009 on revenue up to £770,000 from £570,000. The firm, which has a global portfolio of timberland properties, reported a drop in fair value of investment property and plantations of £2.54m and a net foreign exchange loss of £223,000 versus a £3m profit last time.Berkeley Resources has raised A$55m through a placing at A$1.70 per share to finance its uranium joint venture with Enusa. The new venture will be 90% Berkeley with ENUSA retaining a 10% free carried interest and will own and operate the Salamanca Uranium Project.The cold weather knocked tenpin bowling group Essenden with like for like outlet sales down 5.3% for the 53 weeks ended 2 January 2011. Trading over the six week Christmas and New Year period to 9th January 2011 was down 10.6%. Nick Basing, chief executive, said, "The extreme weather in peak trading periods held back our recovery plan. Some of the initiatives to turn the business round have shown encouraging signs, but I remain cautious about the challenges of the year ahead."Media and marketing insights firm Ebiquity saw revenues and profits rise at the interim stage, helped by the successful integration of recent acquisitions. Total group revenues in the six months to 31 October rose 122% to £20.5m, or by 4% with the effects of acquisitions stripped out. Underlying profit before tax rose to £1.2m from £0.7m the year before, though on a statutory basis the company registered a loss of £2.3m, versus a profit of £0.2m the year before, due to the integration costs relating to the acquisition of Xtreme Information.Toys and games developer Character Group expects first half revenues ending February to be 33% ahead of last year after a strong Christmas for its key brands, which include Postman Pat and Doctor Who."We believe that the group will continue to make good progress and deliver another solid performance in both this financial year (ending 31 August 2011) and the 2011 calendar year as a whole," says chairman Richard King. Character launched a new 'Character Building' range Wednesday which is expected to become a significant factor in the group's growth.IT healthcare group Instem Life Science Systems said that profit for the year ended December was in line with expectations. The group, which joined AIM in October, said that several of the world's leading pharmaceutical businesses have been early adopters of its Centrus product, "which the directors' believe bodes well for future progress."A strong final quarter for financial administration services provider Jarvis Securities has resulted in full-year revenues being ahead of market expectations and pre-tax profits in excess of £2m. The group expects to announce its first quarterly interim dividend next month.Manufacturing group Stadium said that revenue at constant forex rates increased by 25% for the year and net cash balances stood at £1.5m. Following the disposal of its non-core plastics business, the group says it is solely focused on activities in the high growth electronics sector, providing design, product engineering and manufacturing solutions.
