UK SMALLCAP ROUNDUP: Soco Intl Sells Thai Unit To Salamander

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 SOCO INTERNATIONAL PLC (SIA.LN), an oil and gas company, Tuesday said it sold a Thailand-based subsidiary to peer Salamander Energy PLC (SMDR.LN) for $105 million. SOCO Thailand LLC owns a 40% interest in the Bualang field, offshore Thailand, and the deal gives Salamander full control. Bualang is estimated to contain 22.5 million barrels of oil and is expected to produce 8,500 barrels of oil a day in 2010. At 0740 GMT, Soco shares -1.2 pence, or 0.3%, at 415.2 pence. Salamander shares -0.3 pence, or 0.1%, at 225.7 pence. PETRA DIAMONDS LTD. (PDL.LN) said higher production, improving diamond prices and the sale of rare and exceptionally valuable diamonds discovered at its Cullinan mine in South Africa led to an 88% rise in fiscal-year revenue. At 0741 GMT, shares flat at 62 pence. QUEEN'S WALK INVESTMENT LTD. (QWIL.LN), the publicly traded debt fund managed by London hedge fund group Cheyne Capital Management (UK) LLP, said it will continue buying asset-backed securities after it spent EUR11.3 million on them in the first quarter of its 2011 fiscal year. At 0742 GMT, shares flat at 2.28 pence. WICHFORD PLC (WICH.LN), a U.K. property investment company, said it has extended its GBP46 million banking facility with Lloyds TSB for another two years and agreed a loan-to-value covenant waiver on another of its facilities. At 0742 GMT, shares +0.1 pence, or 1.3%, at 7.55 pence. SUPERGLASS HOLDINGS PLC (SPGH.LN), an insulation company, said sales of its products were hit by uncertainty over the future of a government scheme to cut emissions. At 0742 GMT, shares -3.5 pence, or 15%, at 19.5 pence. DAIRY CREST GROUP PLC (DCG.LN) said first-quarter sales of its five core brands have increased 3% from a year earlier and it expects to make a "meaningful reduction" to its year-end debt. At 0743 GMT, shares -0.4 pence, or 0.1%, at 388.1 pence. SPEEDY HIRE PLC (SDY.LN) said it has a cautious view on recovery prospects in the U.K. for the remainder of this year and next as it awaits the outcome of the U.K. government's Autumn Spending Review. In an update on first-quarter trading to June 30, the U.K. tool and equipment hire firm said group revenue, excluding fleet equipment sales, was down 0.7% on year compared with a fall of 14% on year in the same period of 2009. At 0743 GMT, shares +0.75 pence, or 3.3%, at 23.25 pence. DELTEX MEDICAL GROUP PLC (DEMG.LN) said first-half revenue grew 12% on year to GBP2.9 million, aided by a major new contract in the U.S. and the publication of hospital guidelines about its technology by the U.K.'s state-run National Health Service. At 0743 GMT, shares +0.75 pence, or 7.5%, at 10.75 pence. SYNDICATE ASSET MANAGEMENT PLC (SAM.LN), a U.K. fund manager, said it returned to profit in the first quarter of its 2011 fiscal year due to lower costs and higher revenue and is now cash generative. At 0743 GMT, shares +0.1 pence, or 5.9%, at 1.8 pence. HAMPSON INDUSTRIES PLC (HAMP.LN), an aerospace engineer, said it has hired a new chief executive from Paris-based aerospace firm Safran S.A. (SAF.FR). Hampson named Norman Jordan, chairman of Safran unit Labinal SA, as Kim Ward's successor. At 0744 GMT, shares +1.5 pence, or 2.9%, at 54 pence. DJ UK Smaller Cos +0.15% AIM -0.05% -By Rachael Gormley, Jason Douglas & Hannah Benjamin, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0) 20 7842 9272; uksmallcaps@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 20, 2010 04:30 ET (08:30 GMT)