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In contrast, B&Q owner Kingfisher (KGF) walks on fundamental water, a point underlined once again at the end of March when the group revealed like-for-like sales had risen 1.3%, while adjusted pre-tax profit rose 20.4% to £807m from £670m the previous year, just above market expectations. The Kingfisher share price is now some 15% off the peak seen at the time of the update, so there may be an opportunity to buy the dip if another solid performance is reported.

Given the £130m of new bank facilities agreed during the year, the average maturity of its debt is now 2.7 years, up from 2.1 years in 2011, at an average cost of debt of 4.1%, down from 4.35%.

He said that the group is increasingly redirecting its hard-earned equity to London and the South-East markets, currently representing 47% of the portfolio. "The next few years are all about Central London and happily that is where we hold our most exciting assets. The prospects for substantial profits in respect of our London and retail developments provide cause for optimism for the future performance of the company."

Net asset value per share slipped 1% to 250p, from 253p the year before. The full-year dividend per share was raised by 5% from 4.9p to 5.15p, better than consensus expectations of a 5p payout. "We have performed strongly over the year and the continued efforts to address the imbalance in our business by increasing the company's weighting towards income producing properties has been vindicated by Helical's return to profitability," said Chief Executive Michael Slade.

During the year, Helical Bar sold £50m of investment assets and £26m of development sites, recovered £16m of cash through the sale of 50% of its retail development at Gliwice in Poland and re-cycled these proceeds in over £100m of investment assets. This helped its share of net rental income jump by 29% from £17.8m to £22.9m. However, the firm said that the Eurozone crisis and its potential impact on the UK led to decreased valuations for a number of its development site which led to a write-down of £4.5m, still well under the £14.9m write-down the year before.

Not only did property development and investment firm Helical Bar swing back into the black in the year ended March 31st, it recorded profits well ahead of analysts' forecasts, helped by its increased London activities. Pre-tax profit totalled £7.4m, ahead of expectations of £6.4m and compared with a loss of £6.3m the year before.

Kryso Resources' largeset shareholder, China Nonferrous Metals Int'l Mining, is planning to fund the company's gold mine in the Republic of Tajikistan. China Nonferrous Metals, which has a 26% stake in the company, will loan Kryso $10m and RMB 530m (c.$83.5m) to finance the design, construction, operation and administration of the gold mine, of which Kryso has 100% ownership through its indirect subsidiary, Pakrut. Kryso expects to draw down the loan by June 20th of this year. The loans have an annual fixed interest rate of 9.0%, together with a one-off management fee of 0.5%, which is payable upfront. The loan will be repaid in instalments from Nover 2014.

The company is continuing to talk to the Italian government about the group's ability to progress the Ombrina Mare project off the coast of Italy, after the Italian government changed the rules on offshore developments in June 2010. In addition, the company is also working with external legal counsel on the analysis and implementation of alternative courses of action as a contingency plan. In the meantime, work on the project remains suspended.

As a result of the company's restructuring in May 2011, MOG's financial position was materially strengthened with £19.1m in new equity (post transaction expenses) being raised and the company being left free of debt. Cash and cash equivalent at the end of 2011 stood at €3.7m. "The group is now in a strong financial and operational position, which will enable MOG to actively seek strategic growth opportunities while progressing its portfolio of production, development and exploration assets," said Chief Executive Officer, William Higgs.

The average gas sales price achieved during 2011 was €0.32/scm ($12.70 per thousand cubic feet), an improvement on 2010, when the average gas sales price was €0.28/scm ($10.70 per thousand cubic feet). Revenue in 2011 rose to €5.65m from €3.49m in 2010. Profit before tax was €2.83m, versus a loss of €7.78m the year before. Earnings per share totalled two cents, versus a loss per share of 20 cents in 2010.

Mediterranean Oil and Gas (MOG) moved into the black in 2011 as the start of production at its Guendalina gas field gave a boost to revenues. The group's revenue momentum is starting to build as it cranks up production of gas. In 2011, the firm produced around 17.6m standard cubic metres (scm) of gas, up 44% on 2010, largely due to the commencement of gas production at the Guendalina gas field in late October 2011.

Earlier in the week, OXY, a subsidiary of US oil and gas giant Occidental Petroleum , signed up to use the McLaren Software enterprise application suite in a deal worth $2.0m in the first year of operation.

Document management specialist IDOX said McLaren's Enterprise suite will initially be deployed within the Energy & Chemical Division of the US firm to support the vendor document management requirements of one of CH2M's clients.

CH2M Hill is a major player in the consulting, design, design-build, operations and programme management arena, with headquarters in Englewood, Colorado. The firm has 30,000 employees in regional offices worldwide with gross revenues of $6.3bn in 2010.

Software and services provider IDOX has announced the second contract win of the week for its McLaren Software unit. McLaren Software has entered an agreement to supply the McLaren Enterprise application software suite and related services to US firm CH2M Hill in a deal worth $405,000 in the first year.

Basic losses per share were 4.8p compared to earnings of 12.5p the corresponding period. During the reporting period the company experienced increased demand for its expanded product range, giving it confidence that the future looks "encouraging". Full year results will be adversely affected by a delay in the receipt of a major contract, however this will positively affect 2013 earnings.

Manroy, a UK defence contractor, doubled its revenues, but more than quadrupled its losses in the six months ended March 31st after costs and expenses soared. Revenue increased from £0.32m to £0.63m year-on-year, while cost of operations rose from £0.18m to £0.39m, admin expenses jumped from £0.27m to £0.94m and the company incurred relocation costs of £0.27m. Loss before tax climbed from £0.24m to £1.33m.

Agriterra, a pan African agricultural company, has announced that following its instigation of international arbitration proceedings, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining of the Republic of South Sudan has agreed to pay just over £11.37m in compensation, which will be paid within one year. The compensation is partial recompense for the work undertaken and the substantial investment made by the company on the Block Ba oil concession area in Southern Sudan, when the company was known as White Nile, an oil and gas exploration company. The firm still holds a 20% stake in the area, where initial results have been "highly positive".

McKay Securities, a commercial property developer, has re-let its 100,000 square foot large office property in Glasgow city centre to the Student Loans Company, which now occupies the building as its main head office and administration centre. Its existing leases were due to expire in December 2013 and it has now agreed with McKay to enter into a new lease for the whole building, extending its occupation for up to 10 years. In December 2013 the Student Loans Company will pay an annual rent of £1.97m, subject to a 15 month rent-free period.

"Whilst economic conditions in Europe continue to be volatile, we remain cautiously optimistic for the year. The group has today paid its shareholders an increased dividend of €11 cents per share, compared to the €10 cents per share GVC paid in 2010."