UK SMALLCAP ROUNDUP: Hydrogen Group's 1H Beats Own Views

Dow Jones smallcap news is now on Twitter, allowing you to catch up on the news away from your desk. Go to http://twitter.com/DJ_UK_Smallcaps HYDROGEN GROUP PLC (HYDG.LN), a professional recruitment business, Thursday said first-half trading was ahead of its own expectations, boosted in part by a larger proportion of business overseas, and it is now looking to expand further internationally. At 1050 GMT, shares +8 pence, or 6%, at 132 pence. ABB LTD. (ABB), a Swiss engineer, Thursday threw in the towel in a bidding war over U.K. industrial company CHLORIDE GROUP PLC (CHLD.LN), increasing the chances of success for a rival offer by Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) of the U.S. At 1050 GMT, Chloride shares -16.4 pence, or 4.3%, at 369.6 pence. GREENE KING PLC (GNK.LN), a U.K. pub group, plans to accelerate the growth of its estate of managed pubs while shrinking its tenanted pub business as it further increases its exposure to the more profitable eating-out market. In the year to May 2, its pretax profit before exceptional items climbed 3.8% to GBP123 million, meeting analysts' expectations. At 1050 GMT, shares +2 pence, or 0.4%, at 394 pence. 888 HOLDINGS PLC (888.LN), an online gambling company, Thursday said its independent subsidiary Dragonfish has inked a deal with MTV Networks UK & Ireland to launch the music television station's first online gaming website. 888 said the bingo offering, being branded as Up Your Bingo, will initially be layered in to its Dragonfish network and will receive significant marketing exposure across the existing MTV and VIVA network on both TV and online. At 1050 GMT shares -0.25 pence, or 0.7%, at 35.25 pence. CH2M HILL COS. LTD., a U.S. engineer, said it dropped its offer to acquire peer SCOTT WILSON GROUP (SWG.LN), after rival bidder URS Corp. (URS) raised its offer for the U.K. firm. At 1050 GMT Scott Wilson shares +19 pence, or 7.2%, at 285 pence. GOALS SOCCER CENTRES PLC (GOAL.LN), a five-a-side soccer company, Thursday forecast full-year results at the lower end of market expectations, adding that while the soccer World Cup will likely boost its second half performance it is taking a conservative view of any potential uplift. At 1050 GMT shares -8 pence, or 5.4%, at 140 pence. LEED PETROLEUM PLC (LDP.LN), an oil and gas company, said it agreed to pay its bank higher interest rates after production problems hurt earnings and put it in breach of its loans. At 1050 GMT shares -1 pence, or 25%, at 3 pence. ET-CHINA.COM INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LTD. (ETC.LN), a travel company, and financial adviser CLARKSON HILL GROUP PLC's (CLKH.LN) shares were suspended after the companies failed to publish their accounts on time. Et-China suspended at 103.5 pence. Clarkson Hill suspended at 2 pence. CHAARAT GOLD HOLDINGS LTD. (CGH.LN), a Kyrgyzstan-focused gold miner, said it raised GBP3.85 million to fund drilling and studies at its flagship Chaarat project. At 1050 GMT, shares -1 pence, or 1.8%, at 40 pence. GEONG INTERNATIONAL LTD. (GNG.LN), a business software company, said it has secured a three-year facility of up to GBP5 million to use on acquisitions. At 1050 GMT shares -4 pence, or 11%, at 31 pence. PROSTRAKAN GROUP PLC (PSK.LN), a drug company, said marketing partner Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. (ENDP) submitted fresh data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding testosterone gel Fortesta in an effort to get it cleared for sale. The FDA said in October 2009 it couldn't approve Fortesta based on the data provided in the two companies' regulatory submissions. At 1050 GMT shares -1 pence, or 1.9%, at 66 pence. ZOTEFOAMS PLC (ZTF.LN), a foam manufacturer, said it expects its full-year pretax profit to top market expectations, following a better-than-expected performance during its first half. At 1050 GMT shares +7 pence, or 6.9%, at 101 pence. METMINCO LTD. (MNC.AU), an explorer for metals in South America, said it more than tripled its resource estimate for its Los Calatos copper and molybdenum project in Peru to 926 million metric tons. The increase follows the latest drilling results for Los Calatos from Hampton Mining Ltd., in which Metminco holds a 69.4% stake. At 1050 GMT shares +1 pence, or 5.3%, at 17 pence. CAPE PLC (CIU.LN), an oil and gas industrial services company, is setting its sights on forming a joint venture in Turkmenistan after earlier announcing a joint venture with SOCAR, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, and expects to make an announcement within the next six to 12 months. At 1050 GMT, shares +3 pence, or 1.4%, at 203 pence. DJ UK Smaller Cos -1.5% AIM -1.2% -By Hannah Benjamin, Jason Douglas and Rachael Gormley, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0) 20 7842 9298; uksmallcaps@dowjones.com (Martin Gelnar in Zurich and Michael Carolan in London contributed to this article.) (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 01, 2010 07:30 ET (11:30 GMT)