Small caps news round-up

Atalaya Mining on Monday said it has completed the construction of its Expansion Project in Andalucía, Spain, ramping copper production up to towards 9.5m tonnes per annual (mpta). The Expansion Project was declared mechanically complete in the first week of May 2016, ahead of schedule and under budget.

Marechale Capital on Monday reported an annual loss on lower revenues, reflecting difficulty in completing deals. The investment banking and corporate finance business said its loss before tax came to £91,092 in the year to 31 March 2016, down from a pre-tax profit of £150,176 the prior year. Revenue dropped to £741,680 from £965,322.

Fibre optic infrastructure designer, builder, owner, and operator CityFibre posted a trading update for the six months to 30 June on Monday, reporting continued strong demand for its national fibre infrastructure in the first half, booking record levels of new orders. The AIM-traded company said initial contract value added in the first six months totaled £53.8m, more than double the £23.2m added in all of 2015 and more than six times the £8.1m added in the first half of 2015.

Online invoice group Tungsten Corp. narrowed its full year losses as revenue grew on the back of higher total invoice volumes. The earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) loss fell to £18.7m in the year to 30 April 2016 from a loss of £25.2m in 2015. Revenue rose 16% to £26.1m from £22.5m as total invoice volumes increased 9% to 16.1m.

Shares in Highlands Natural Resources jumped on Monday after saying it has entered into a farm-in agreement with Renegade Oil & Gas Company in Arapahoe, Colorado. The deal will allow Highlands to drill up to six horizontal wells in acreage prospective for the Niobrara shale formation. Highlands is paying $500,000 to Renegande, including an initial payment of $250,000 for the right to drill the first two wells and a second payment of $250,000 for the following four.

CVS said on Monday that its revenue and adjusted earnings for the year to 30 June are likely to be modestly ahead of market expectations. The AIM-listed provider of integrated veterinary services said group revenue for the year showed total like-for-like growth of 4.8%, up from a more customary 3% in the first half thanks to strong organic growth in its practice revenues during the second half.

NetDimensions cautioned on Monday that the lower-than-expected sales seen in the first half were likely to roll over into the second part of the year. In a trading update for the six months ended 30 June, the provider of performance, knowledge and learning management systems said revenue was broadly unchanged from the prior period and the adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation loss was below $1m.

Speedy Hire's biggest shareholder has called for an emergency shareholder meeting to remove "indecisive" executive chairman Jan Åstrand. Hedge fund Toscafund Asset Management, which owns a 19.4% stake in the fully listed tool hire company, has requisitioning the general meeting as it wants to oust Åstrand and replace him as chairman with turnaround specialist David Shearer.