(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers among London Main Market small-caps on Wednesday.
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SMALL-CAP - WINNERS
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Severfield PLC, up 8.3% at 66.28 pence, 12-month range 46.65p-67.50p. The structural steel firm says its annual profit and revenue grew by double digits, driven by increased activity. Pretax profit for the year ended March 25 climbs 29% to GBP27.1 million from GBP21.0 million a year before. Revenue for the year is GBP491.8 million, up 22% from GBP403.6 million a year prior. This is driven by increased activity from the company's Indian joint-venture, JSSL, which produced a record output of 100,000 tonnes.
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Mila Resources PLC, up 4.9% at 1.29 pence, 12-month range 0.62p-5.66p. The gold exploration firm hails progress at its project in Western Australia, with drilling due to restart next week. The new drilling regimen at Kathleen Valley will consist of a six-hole reverse circulation programme for 820 metres, with depths from 90 to 180 metres. It is designed to extend known mineralisation along strike to the north-west, where the land is open and untested. Previous drilling identified high-grade mineralisation at depth including 1 metre at 27.60 grams of gold per tonne, and 47.50 grams of silver per tonne from 211 metres.
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SMALL-CAP - LOSERS
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Robert Walters PLC, down 15% at 397.00 pence, 12-month range 371.00p-620.00p. The recruitment firm says annual profit will be "significantly lower" than current market expectations. Net fee income for the first two months of the second quarter of 2023 was down 9%. Robert Walters adds it has not seen sustained improvement in candidate confidence or hire times, despite its prior expectations. Recruitment market fundamentals such as job flow, candidate shortages and wage inflation remain solid, it says, meaning that when market confidence recovers, there will "likely be a return to meaningful growth". Robert Walters is focused on protecting its "strategic core" to ensure it can "fully benefit" from future growth opportunities.
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Castillo Copper Ltd, down 5.6% at 0.59 pence, 12-month range 0.55p-1.55p. The Australia and Zambia-focused metal explorer says work by specialist consultant ANSTO has ratified the earlier assay results from the BHA project's east zone. ANSTO performed metallurgical test-work on six samples from the Fence Gossan, Reefs, and Tors Tanks prospects. The total rare earth element plus yttrium grades for the six samples ranged from 227 to 1,632 parts per million. Says it is now reviewing the ANSTO's recommendations on how to improve the metallurgical results.
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By Heather Rydings, Alliance News senior economics reporter
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Severfield (SFR)
Robert Walters (RWA)
Mila Resources (MILA)
Castillo Coppe. (CCZ)