Small caps round-up: Strontium, Griffin Mining, OPG...

Professional services group Strontium increased profit after tax and exceptional items 13-fold in the six months to 31 December to £97,895. Profit on continuing activities before taxation and impairment charges rose 95% to £145,270 on revenue from continuing activities up 23% to £1.23m."Market conditions in 2010 will remain challenging but because of the steps that the company has taken to contain its costs and to maintain its focus, I am cautiously optimistic that growth will continue through 2010," said chairman Michael Metcalfe.There were also gains for India-focused OPG Power Ventures as it said a new Air Pre-Heater unit has been delivered to its 77 mega watt Chennai plant to replace the one that failed during commissioning trials.Installation is expected to take a few weeks and final commissioning trials should begin in April.News of increased grade and measured resources for Zone III at Griffin Mining's Caijiaying mine in China had its shares up sharply Wednesday."The new resource statement provides for a 35 year mine life within just the defined shallow resources at Zone III at the increased throughput level of 750,000 tonnes per annum expected to be reached in the later half of 2010," said Chairman Mladen Ninkov."This is a wonderful result for shareholders and their continued faith in the company which, in addition to the cash balances of in excess of $65m in the group, sets the company up for a successful and exciting future." A study by Swedish natural resource consultancy Raw Materials Group has shown Beowulf's Kallak deposit in Sweden contains a significant resource of iron ore close to the surface and is therefore amenable to open-pit mining.It forecasts gross revenues of about $6.8bn generated over a 15 year mine life at an extraction rate of 10 million tonnes per annum. Total operating costs are put at $3bn and potential net cash flow at $191m a year.RMG's economic model shows a pay back period on total investment as low as 3.6 years.Commercial jet leasing business Capital Lease Aviation said results covering the second half of 2009 were in line with the board's expectations 'given the present operating environment.'Profit before tax eased $2.03m from $2.54m in the corresponding period of 2008 on revenue that dipped to $7.84m from $8.23m. 'Given recent signs of recovery in the global economy, particularly in the Asia Pacific region, we remain ready to take advantage of opportunities that may be available when demand in the aviation sector rebounds,' the group's chief executive, Richard Sinclair said.Shares in antenna maker Sarantel climbed after it said it had signed an agreement with a major US defence contractor to develop a customised dual-frequency antenna solution for portable military satellite communications.The development programme will be fully funded by the defence firm, said Sarantel, whose antennas are also used in consumer mobile devices.Elsewhere in mobile-related technology firms, Belgravium, which supplies technology used in handheld and vehicle mounted computers, posted a slight rise in pre-tax profits in the year to December 31 despite lower revenues. Profit before tax increased to £405,000 from £398,000 the previous year on revenue that slipped to £8,286,000 from £8,330,000.A strong second half prevented a sharp slide in profits at LED Technology firm Dialight. In the year to December 31, pre-tax profits fell to £5.3m from £5.6m the previous year on revenues that slipped to £77.3m from £77.8.Car repair group Just Car reported a rise in revenues in the year to December 31 despite tough economic conditions. The firm, which operates 25 vehicle repair centres, said turnover increased to £42.9m from £42.6m in 2008. Profit before taxation, excluding initial losses of businesses acquired slipped to £1.22m from £1.3m. Recruiter Hydrogen saw underlying profits tumble last year as sales fell 23% to £74.1m from £96.2m. Profit before taxation and exceptionals was £0.3m (2008: £3.7m) with a loss of £5.2m after goodwill write-offs. 'We have continued to see signs of improvement in the UK since the year end, albeit against a low base in the prior year. Internationally there are more encouraging signs that markets are improving, it added.Support services training firm Melorio said the board remains confident of meeting market expectations for the year ending 31 March 2010.Recruitment at the group's Information Technology academies in February totalled 1,600, up from the September 2009 intake of 1,100 and February 2009's intake of 600.