Hemera Technologies
Major Drilling said net income for the first quarter rose to $17.9 million or 25 cents a share, up from a $5.1 million or 7 cents a share in the previous corresponding period, boosted by higher precious metal and base metal prices. Revenue in the quarter rose 50 per cent to $164.2 million.
ADF Group Inc. posted second-quarter net earnings of $833,000 or $0.02 per share (basic and diluted), compared to $744,000 and the same $0.02 per share for the second-quarter of the previous year.
"Besides the negative impact of currency fluctuations and a different revenue mix, this decline is attributable to the non-recurrence of certain favourable items recognized last year, the realization of lower exchange gains than the previous year and a higher tax rate," it said.
Revenue increased slightly to $13.1 million. ADF announced the payment of a second semi-annual dividend of $0.01 per subordinate and multiple voting shares, which will be paid on October 17, 2011 to shareholders of record as at September 22, 2011.
On its outlook, ADF said its order backlog as at July 31, 2011, stood at $53 million, the execution schedule of which should extend until the end of the second quarter of the corporation's 2013 fiscal year. ADF is involved in the design and engineering of connections, fabrication and installation of complex steel structures, heavy steel built-ups, miscellaneous and architectural metals for the non-residential construction industry.
Evertz Technologies Ltd. is up 9 per cent in early Wednesday trading after reporting $17.6 million in net earnings during the three months ended July 31, down from a $20.4 million profit in the year-ago profit. Revenues rose 6 per cent to $75.1 million. Earnings per share for the maker of video and audio infrastructure equipment in the latest period was 23 cents, down from a 28-cent gain last year. The company also said it purchased and cancelled more than 1.5 million shares during the quarter through its normal course issuer bid.
Suroco Energy Inc. took an 8 per cent hit this morning after suspending testing on the Poyato-1 exploration well in the San Antonio Block of Colombia after finding no natural flow in several zones during initial tests. Suroco spudded the well July 21 and drilled a total of 8,550 feet, encountering crude oil and natural gas in the Mirador and Une formations. The first two tests ultimately swabbed only fresh water, with similar results in subsequent testing, although 24.4 barrels of crude oil were recovered in the upper Mirador interval during seven hours of swabbing operations. Suroco owns a 28 per cent stake in Poyato-1 with its net costs from drilling and testing expected to reach about $900,000.
Coastal Energy Co. is seeing a 5 per cent advance today after saying its Bua Ban North A-05 well offshore Thailand was drilled to a total depth of 5,650 feet TVD, encountering 35 feet of net pay in the Miocene reservoir with 27 percent average porosity. The results add an additional 1,200 acres to the structural closure area and Coastal said it now plans to drill five to six additional evaluation wells at Bua Ban North before moving the rig. Three other wells in the Bua Ban North area have been completed and are producing an aggregate 8,200 barrels per day. Total company production is averaging 15,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
PyroGenesis Canada Inc. is down 1 per cent with the company saying last night that the U.S. Air Force has accepted the itss waste-to-energy system and has contracted PyroGenesis to operate the plasma resource recovery system at Hurlburt Field in Florida for an initial term of three and a half months. According to the company, the facility is the only commercial plasma gasification plant now operating in North America and was designed to convert hazardous and non-hazardous municipal waste into electricity along with a glassy rock-like substance that can be used as a construction material. The PyroGenesis system has been in use at Hurlburt Field since late 2010, and in a statement, CEO P. Peter Pascali said he is confident his firm will soon sign a longer term operations pact with the Air Force.
North Arrow Minerals Inc. , together with Springbok Holdings Inc., has formed a joint venture with Harry Winston Diamond Corp. on a massive swath of property adjacent to Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories. North Arrow and Springbok together own nearly 300,000 acres forming the Lac de Gras joint venture property while Harry Winston is a 40 per cnbt owner of the Diavik mine. In order for the option to vest and the company to earn a 55-percent stake in Lac de Gras, Harry Winston will need to spend at least $5 million for exploration over the next five years. North Arrow and Springbok will own equal shares of the remaining 45 percent stake. The companies also said a systematic basal till sampling program is slated to begin in early 2012.
Trading of Strachan Resources Ltd. shares resumes with the opening bell this morning, nearly a week after the firm scrapped a deal to purchase property in Mexico from Silver Sun Resource Corp. (SSU-V), effectively slamming the brakes on Strachan's bid to become a Tier 2 mining issuer. The June 20 agreement called on Strachan to pay $300,000 in cash and stock for the so-called Yoreme property, consisting of a single claim about 400 hectares in size in northern Mexico. Strachen did not say what factors influenced its decision, which followed more than two months of due diligence, but said it is again seeking to quickly identify and execute a qualifying transaction meeting TSX Venture Exchange rules.
Iplayco Corporation Ltd. last night said it signed a sales agreement with an unidentified corporate customer to design, build and install a large indoor play structure for a corporate customer. Value of the contract is $1.36 million with most of the revenue expected to be received during the first two quarters of Iplayco's 2012 fiscal year starting Oct. 1. The company, which manufactures a variety of indoor and outdoor play structures for children, previously announced deals totalling nearly $3.9 million since late May.
Contact Exploration Inc. has signed a deal with an unidentified energy production company to participate in an oil and gas project in Deep Basin region of Alberta. Under terms of the agreement, Contract will pay a land equalization fee and is committing to assist in drilling of the Contract-operated well. The company also said it continues to see excellent growth potential from its two horizontal wells in the Stoney Creek field in New Brunswick, with daily production continuing above 100 barrels and netbacks of about $70 per barrel.
Prime Dividend Corp. said it has scheduled a special meeting on Nov. 3 for holders of its preferred stock to consider a resolution extending the mandatory termination date for the investment firm from Dec. 1, 2012 to Dec. 1, 2018. If the extension is approved, shareholders will be receive special retraction rights designed to provide them with an opportunity to retract their Shares at a price calculated the same way it would have been determined had the termination proceeded as originally scheduled. Prime Dividend invests in high-yield financial service and utility companies.
Second Wave Petroleum Inc. is seeing an 8 percent advance in early trading after reporting continued drilling success at Beaverhill Lake, including two light-oil wells testing at combined gross rates of 3,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day over 15 days. Current daily production company-wide is now 2,300 barrels of oil equivalent, consisting of 72 percent liquids as well as about 225 barrels of established Pekisko/Ellerslie production.
Opta Minerals Inc. is up more than 13 percent today after announcing plans to explore strategic alternatives, retaining Canaccord Genuity Corp. to act as its exclusive financial advisor during the strategic review. Organic food processor SunOpta Inc said the company's growth potential was not reflected in the stock price. SunOpta currently holds a 66 per cent stake in Opta Minerals.