LONDON (ShareCast) - Ceramic Fuel Cells said net operating cash outflow for the third quarter was A$3.6m, which was A$1m lower than the previous quarter.

Net operating cash outflow for the three quarters from 1 July to 31 March was A$12.9m, an average of A$4.3m per quarter.

Third quarter expenditure on Research and Product Development was lower than the prior quarter and total cash and financial assets at the end of the quarter was A$39.2m.

Pharmaceuticals firm Cyprotex narrowed pre-tax losses to £543,102 in the year ended 31 December from £760,811 last time and said 2008 should be the year in which to prove its business plan. Revenues increased by 3.7% to £3.63m.

“The value of the group's unique technology is clearly recognised through its expanding international customer base. This should bear fruit in the coming months,” said chairman Nikolas Sofronis.

Africa-focused miner AIM Resources said it expects to raise its first ore from the Perkoa zinc mine in Burkina Faso in November.

Excavation began on the mine in April and the company now has over 200 staff working on the project, AIM said. It said a site had been prepared for construction of a processing plant, with components expected to arrive in July.

IT consultancy firm Tikit said the encouraging start to the new year has continued into April. "Business activity levels remain high and we are engaged with a number of clients in the specification, sizing and pricing of further projects due to commence in the second half of 2008," said the group.

First quarter revenue grew 144% to $22.7m at Russian internet web portal Rambler Media, with like-for-like sales up 63% year-on-year to $15.1m.

Losses at drug research group Syntopix grew to £966,207 from £770,432 in the six months ended 31 January as R&D costs rose around £178,000 to £668,883.

Bosses remain confident they will be able to raise sufficient additional funds and expect further commercial opportunities in the next 12 months.

Sefton Resources expects an upswing in production levels after its TEG USA unit said four new wells drilled at the Tapia field are now on full time.

Speech recognition group Telephonetics has made a successful start to the year, trading in line with expectations. It is seeing a healthy pipeline of new business with the continued roll out of its hospital results service.

Business supplies group Office2Office performed as expected in the first quarter. The group, which is in the process of acquiring printing technology group TripleArc, added it looks forward to the rest of the year “with confidence”.

Veterinary drug distributor Dechra continued to trade in line with expectations with both its pharmaceuticals and services divisions adding to the growth seen in the first half of the financial year.

Dealing software specialist Patsystems signed a deal with Ascot Financial Services Limited to implement and deploy Patsystems technology in Hong Kong. Ascot will be taking a full installation of the Patsystems solution, and will be deploying it to its customers as an ASP model.

Trading in all three of chromium producer Elementis’s continuing businesses in 2008 is ahead of last year, continuing the trends seen in the latter half of last year. The board said it expects full year results to be in line with expectations.

• News Channel