Small caps round-up: Umeco, Petroneft, Kewill...

Aerospace supplies group Umeco says it remain on track to hit full-year expectations after increasing adjusted profit before tax by 12% in the first half.Pre-tax profit rose to £11.1m in the six months to 30 September, up from £9.9m last year on revenue up to £217.2m from £198.5m.Russia-focused oil and gas explorer and producer Petroneft Resources hit a new 3½-year high after discovering a fifth oil field at Arbuzovskaya in Licence 61. "This is an especially important discovery, because of the good flow rate it confirms the wider prospectivity of a number of additional structures east of the existing producing Lineynoye oil field which can be easily tied in to the central processing facilities and pipeline at Lineynoye," said boss Dennis Francis. An open hole test was conducted over the Jurassic J1 interval and tested at a pro-rated inflow of 289 barrels of oil per day unstimulated. Logistics software developer Kewill has started looking for a new finance chief after Karen Bach said today she will leave next week, while George Elliott joins as non-executive chairman.The news came as Kewill revealed an increase in profit before tax for the six months ended 30 September to £619,000 from £549,000 a year ago. Revenue was up 6% to £28.9m.Aurum Mining lost $2.82m in the first half, up from $1.61m in 2009, following an increase in admin costs, but it's problems "off the pitch" that are of more concern to shareholders. "We expect that a restructured shareholder register will create an attractive cash shell with the potential to exploit some of the exciting investment opportunities that are currently available in the market," said chairman Sean Finlay. "We are extremely disappointed by the recent events in the Kyrgyz Republic that threaten the company's residual 10% shareholding in the Andash asset, but we remain confident that, if given a fair hearing, we can, in time, successfully defend the claims."Irish distributor DCC enjoyed "a very strong first half" that saw operating profit rise 20% to €67.9m and profit before net exceptional items, amortisation of intangible assets and tax jump 13.9%.On a reported basis, chief executive Tommy Breen expects an operating profit increase of about 10% and a mid to high single digit percentage increase in adjusted earnings per share.Desire Petroleum, which is looking for oil around the Falkand Islands, has been given the green light by regulators to drill the 14/15 Rachel North well in the waters. The company's shares moved higher on the announcement, as did those of Rockhopper, which has a 7.5% interest in the well.Video search engine Blinkx moved into profit in the six months to September 30 as traffic on the site and advertising fees climbed.The company, which is based in Cambridge, England and San Francisco, California, posted a pre-tax profit of $2.02m, against a loss of $7.35m the previous year, on revenues that soared to $27.36m from $13.09m.Oil firm Empyrean Energy said that production from the BP America A-740 well in Texas has been increased due to encouraging pressure data being observed. The company has a 10% interest in the well, which is part of the Hercules prospect.The average gas flow rate has been increased by around two-thirds while the average condensate flow rate has been upped by 54%.Potash mining group Sirius Minerals has announced that drilling has commenced on its North Dakota property. A single exploratory hole is being drilled to a total depth of approximately 8,990ft for samples. It is anticipated that the drilling, core logging and analysis will take around two months to complete.