Aecon road crews work on Highway 407, north of Toronto.Kevin Van Paassen
Inside the Market's roundup of some of the Canadian small caps making news and on the move today. This post will be updated during the trading day.
Aecon Group Inc. missed estimates by a wide margin in the second quarter, reporting a loss of 26 cents per share compared to expectations of a 12-cent gain. A weak quarter for mining has seen revenues fall 18 per cent to $590-million from $698-million last year, while adjusted EBITDA was down 62 per cent to $13.8-million from $36.7-million. The company said that weakness in revenues was due to delays in securing additional mining work that is now booked and temporary client production shutdowns in the oil sands.
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Pure Technologies Ltd. reported an EPS of 1 cent in the second quarter, below expectations of 4 cents. Revenues for the water pipeline monitoring company have risen 27 per cent to $20.45-million from $16.1-million last year, with equipment sales, inspection and consulting services and technical support all seeing increases. The company said that it has also secured "significant" projects in Australia and Qatar . Shares have risen by 15 per cent since the beginning of the year.
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True Gold Mining will receive $100-million in financing to assist in the construction of a gold mine in Burkina Faso. 75 per cent will come from Franco-Nevada and 25 per cent will come from Sandstorm Gold Inc., with the agreement stating that True Gold will deliver an aggregate of 20,000 ounces of gold per year for five years, while Franco-Nevada and Sandstorm will pay 20 per cent of the spot price of gold on each ounce delivered.
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Endeavour Silver Corp. beat expectations, reporting nil second quarter earnings per share compared to analyst estimates of a loss of 2 cents. Revenues have decreased 23 per cent to $54.8-million while EBITDA has decreased 20 per cent to $13.4-million. The company reported that although silver production rose by 9 per cent, gold production fell 24 per cent, along with silver equivalent production at 6 per cent. Shares have skyrocketed 77 per cent so far this year.
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Guardian Capital Group Limited beat earnings estimates of 25 cents per share with a reported 32 cents. Net revenues were up to $29.2-million from to $25-million last year, with the company stating that all segments of operations contributed positively to the overall growth in operating earnings.
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The Intertain Group Limited came in well below estimates in the second quarter, reporting a gain of 1 cent per share compared to expectations of 15 cents per share. Revenues were at $5.2-million. The online gaming firm completed its IPO earlier in the year, and has also recently completed an acquisition of Mandalay Media, which owns a range of U.K. online bingo sites. Since its IPO in February, shares have shot up 84 per cent.
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ShaMaran Petroleum Corp. has suspended its operations at the Atrush Block in Iraq due to escalating instability around the Kurdistan region. The area has been affected as Islamic militants have continued their advance across Iraq. ShaMaran is not the only company to suspend its activities in the region, with the company joining Talisman Energy and Oryx Petroleum, among others.
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Entrec Corporation reported an EPS of 1 cent for the second quarter, just above estimates of nil earnings. Although revenues are up 6 per cent to $52.9-million, gross profit was down 6 per cent to $16.4-million. The heavy lift and haul provider said that it continued to experience lower levels of equipment utilization due primarily to the lag in construction projects in the oil sands, with good demand due to LNG production in B.C. and Northwest Alberta unable to make up for the losses. Shares are down 15 per cent year-to-date.
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Star Navigation Systems Group Ltd. said its man-machine interface division received additional orders for upgrades of displays from a major Fortune 100 aerospace company and another overseas customer. "The total business value of these increasing activities more than doubles the $200,000 value of the orders for defence activities announced in June 2014, to over $430,000 (U.S.) in the first four months," it said.
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Black Iron Inc. said its subsidiary Shymanivske Steel LLC was awarded a mining allotment certificate by the Ukrainian government for an iron ore project in Kryvyi Rih. "The mining allotment is a major permitting milestone leading to obtaining construction approval for the project," the company said. "Receipt of the mining allotment signifies that local and central governments now recognize that the project will be built." It also includes approval of the pit shell configuration on the mapped ground surface plan and will let the project be included in future city plans and development initiatives, such as infrastructure connections.
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Matrrix Energy Technologies Inc. said chief financial officer Imran Gulam resigned from his position, effective September 1, 2014, to accept a position outside the oil and gas industry. The company has commenced a search for a new CFO.
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TransGlobe Energy Corp. announced a quarterly dividend of 5 cents (U.S.) per common share, which will be paid in cash on September 30, 2014 to shareholders of record on September 15, 2014.
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Innovente Inc. said it has obtained an interim loan of $400,000 that would enable it to meet liquidity needs as it undergoes due process in accordance with the provisions of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.