LONDON (ShareCast) - Coal of Africa said significant progress continues to be made toward the development of its coal projects in South Africa.

The latest coal resource update for the Makhado Project has increased resources to in excess of 1.3bn tonnes, of which over 230m tonnes are in the 'measured' category.

The South African miner added that it remains in a strong financial position with over A$240m cash at bank and no debt.

Shares in Develica Deutschland were sharply lower after the AIM-listed German property investment outfit swung to a full-year pre-tax loss of €63.34m compared with a profit of €7.04m previously.

Net rental income rose to €56.14m in the year ended 31 March from €5.54m last year.

“The next 12 months are likely to be challenging, and with that in mind the board continues to review its options to add shareholder value, but in the meantime we have the benefit of both robust cash flow and high quality assets,” said chairman Derek Butler.

Autoclenz said trading levels at its core valeting business have stabilised at lower levels after suffering a 14% reduction in the first quarter of 2008.

Despite the difficult condition experienced by its core business the group saw revenue rise to £14.51m from a restated £13.5m a year earlier. However, this did not stop the company slipping into the red, with a loss before tax of £23,000, versus a profit of £352,000 in 2007.

UK and Germany-focused healthcare real estate developer CareCapital saw net asset value per share, excluding deferred tax on the property portfolio revaluation, rose to 22.5p in the first half of 2008 from 21.4p a year earlier.

Gross rental income moved above the £1m barrier to £1.3m from £0.95m. Profit before tax slumped to £20,049 from £0.68m, after the surplus on revaluation of investment properties this year fell to £0.25m from £0.96m a year earlier.

Holding company China Western Investments saw pre-tax losses narrow in the first half of the year to £0.48m from £0.68m a year earlier.

The group, which came close to breaking even prior to interest charges of £0.45m, said expenses will continue to out-run income until its Lanzou property is completed.

The group remains on the look-out for investors to contribute to the development of the Lanzou project.

• News Channel