Member Info for jange

Explaining the company's ownership of a Latvian operation, Chief Executive Officer Gerry Madden explained to Sharecast that "the world was a very different place when we formed in 2005." In those far flung days, the company was planning global operations but its new focus is on Ireland and the UK. "You have to play with what is in front of you. Our focus used to be the whole world," Madden joked, before adding that "the market is very unforgiving". That certainly seems to be the case with the reaction to the results, as the shares lost a tenth of their value, sliding to 1.45p, having dipped to 1.39p at one stage.

Revenue more than doubled to €11.76m from €5.41m the year before as the company transferred the initial portion of the generating plant to its joint venture company Newry Biomass, realising €7.2m in turnover. The non-core wood processing business in Latvia, which the group is trying to get shot of, chipped in with turnover of €4,4m and earnings before interest,tax, depreciation and amortisation of €0.61m.

Kedco, a clean energy producer, is hoping its success in gaining finance for its power generating plant in Newry will be the springboard to catapult it into the black. The company, which has been cutting back costs to conserve cash, saw loss before tax narrow to €0.37m in the six months to the end of 2011 from a loss of €1.43m the year before. The group made a profit at the operating level of €0.39m versus a loss the year before of €0.45m, but chunky finance costs of €0.57m (2010: €0.79m) and a share of losses (after tax) on joint ventures of €0.19m (2010:losses of €0.20m) tipped the company into the red.

Mining firm Kirkland Lake Gold is set to purchase Queenston's 50% interest in the seven joint venture properties the two companies own in the Kirkland Lake camp. The transaction will cost Kirkland $60m, which will be paid in installments throughout the year. There is also the potential for royalties.

ATH Resources, a UK coal producer, has revealed that its sales volumes for the first six months of the year are expected to be about 0.79m tonnes, 12% ahead of the same period last year. However, the group continues to be affected by the continued rise in gas oil prices, combined with a weakening international price of coal. Furthermore, in recent weeks the group's sales of high margin domestic product have not recovered from the low demand due to the mild winter and are unlikely to pick up in the remainder of the year given the high stock levels being held by customers. If the current situation continues, total annual expected sales volumes for the group will fall to about 1.65m tonnes (2011: 1.67m). Together, these issues are expected to result in a loss of revenues for the remainder of the year of over £4m and the loss of reserves will also likely lead to an exceptional write down of deferred (non-cash) stripping costs (work in progress) of approximately £2m. Debt levels at the end of March 2012 are expected to be slightly lower than at the last year end.

Ormonde Mining has reported further positive gold assay results at its Zamora Gold Project. Drilling of the nine-hole programme, which is being funded by the firm's joint venture partner Aurum Mining, has been completed and assay results received for the initial three holes (ORMP 13, 14 and 15). The nine-hole programme is designed to test and expand the gold structure over 600 metres.

"This year has seen good, profitable progress at Greenko and, against the backdrop of a difficult market, we are financed to meet our 1,000mw operating target by 2015," claimed Anil Chalamalasetty, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Greenko. "We see the new financial year to be predominantly about execution although we will continue to evaluate additional opportunities to enhance shareholder value if they meet our financial criteria," Chalamalasetty said.

The group announced the acquisition of an additional 56 megawatts of output capacity with the €42.7m purchase of two plants, one of which is still under development. As for the group's wind power assets, Greenko said it has over 260 megawatts (mw) of capacity under construction across three projects, with the first set to come on stream before the 2012 monsoon season. Greenko's operating 36.8MW gas project performed in line with expectations while the 58.4MW gas project under development is now targeted for commissioning at the end of 2013 as a result of the well-publicised issues in obtaining gas supplies from the Reliance Krishna Godivari KG D6 field

Electricity output for the year will be in the region of 770 gigawatt hours (GWh), and revenue is expected to be about €39m (about £32.6m). Current market forecasts are for full year revenue of £38.3m. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation is expected to clock in at €20m, excluding development gains. Greenko's hydro-electricity assets are continuing to perform well, the group said. The average plant load factor (PLF) achieved at the group's northern hydro assets was 65%, with 37% achieved elsewhere. The group maintains these are both good levels bearing in mind the very different hydrology profile

Greenko was looking off-colour as the Indian clean energy firm reminded investors of the weak market for Certified Emission Reduction Units (CERs) in its pre-close trading update. The group reiterated previous advice that results for the year to March 31st will be hit by adverse currency movements and a smaller contribution from its biomass division, as well as the subdued market for CERs.

Presenting the data at a conference in Melbourne, Australia, Professor Simon Lovestone, who has worked with Proteome for the National Institute for Health Research said: "As new treatments for Alzheimer's disease are being developed, there is an increasing need for accurate and accessible markers of disease severity and progression. We will move quickly to support the development of clinical tests based on these biomarker panels."

It is estimated that 60% of people with Alzheimer's disease have not been properly diagnosed and therefore are not being given the correct drugs and care. The capability to distinguish between different levels of the disease will enable drug developers to improve patient care and people with mild symptoms are likely to benefit the most from new disease-modifying drugs. The key is that Proteome may be able to develop a simple blood test to determine progression of Alzheimer's as opposed to the current diagnostic methods of invasive lumbar punctures or expensive MRI scans

Pharma group Proteome Sciences has had a strong morning on the markets after announcing success in its project to develop better diagnostic tools for Alzheimer's disease. A study of 1,000 patients has shown three distinct "biomarkers" in people's blood which can discriminate between mild "cognitive impairment" (a syndrome often preceding Alzheimer's), Alzheimer's itself and control groups who do not have the condition. Proteome Sciences is filing patents for the "panels" in the blood that contain the biomarkers.

It added that temporary exclusivity granted to Jinchuan in relation to Ipilan had now expired and the companies were free to go on the hunt for alternative investors. Toledo's shares fell 7% on the news, which brought with it uncertainty as to the future of development at its Berong nickel mine. The firm previously said the sale of its Ipilan stake would help it press on with development at the site on Palawan Island.

Toledo Mining has turned down a bid for its Ipilan nickel operation in the Philippines. The firm said that together with its joint venture partners it had concluded an offer by Chinese group Jinchuan was "wholly unacceptable". The offer would have valued Toledo's 40% stake in the mining operation at around $17.4m. The refusal had been communicated to Jinchuan, and Toledo and its partners were waiting for their response, the firm said.

As of November 5th last year net debt was a whopping £357m. The firm's market capitalisation is only £41.58m. In line with the whole newspaper industry Johnston has suffered from a decline in advertising revenue.

Shares in the troubled owner of The Scotsman and Yorkshire Post, Johnston Press, have dropped dramatically after the company announced a delay in publishing its preliminary results. Johnston has moved the date from April 3rd to April 25th. In the same announcement the firm says it has been in "constructive discussions" with its lenders over a three year extension to its credit facilities. Crucially, it does not say it has actually got the extension.

Faroe Patroleum hailed a 'truly exceptional year' for the company as it charged back into the black with pre-tax profits of £14.3m. This was a dramatic improvement on the £26m loss the year before. The company put the result down to a dramatic boost to production, proven reserves and cash flow, together with continuing success from its exploration portfolio. The firm has plans for five new wells in 2012, three in Norwegian waters and two off the UK coast. It said 2012 capital expenditure would be up to £180m, including up to £100m on exploration and up to £80m on developments and producing fields, all of which was fully funded.

Total earnings per share fell from 6.2p to just 2.4p, while the final dividend will be decreased from 2p to 0.7

Joe Walden, HR Owen's Chairman said: "Our success in new cars, partly from converting customers from used to new cars, did however mean that used car trading fared less well." He's not kidding, used car sales fell 14% on a like-for-like basis. Total revenues for the year were 25% up on 2011 at £192.4m but pre-tax profits were down 10% at £1.8m versus £2m in the prior yea