LONDON (ShareCast) - Fund manager Liontrust saw funds under management fall to £4.17bn as at 24 September compared with £4.707bn on 31 March but said it confident of making solid progress for the financial year as a whole.

“We believe prospects for the remainder of the year remain good for attracting net inflows, given the continuing success of our European team and the good performance across our range of UK funds,” said chief executive Nigel Legge.

Hampden Underwriting, which provides investors with a limited liability direct investment into the Lloyd's insurance market, saw half year pre-tax profits rise to £148,000 from £89,000 last time on revenues up to £899,000 compared with £174,000 previously.

“The insurance industry has generally fared well through the global crisis and Lloyd's continues to outperform its peer groups. We expect Lloyd's to continue to remain an attractive investment for 2009 and beyond,” said chairman Michael Oliver.

High-technology focused development fund Eurovestech swung to a full year pre-tax loss of £1.12m compared to a profit of £5.66m the previous year, but said it has made substantial progress across its portfolio.

Global Petroleum made a full year pre-tax profit of A$15.83m from a loss of A$9.88m last time and said it intends to focus on maximising the value of its oil and gas exploration assets in Kenya and Malta.

Lifting its client base helped Celoxica, a provider of trading products for financial services companies, raise revenues by nearly 50% in the six months to June 30. Pre-tax losses in narrowed to £540,000 from £1m over the same period a year ago, as revenue climbed to £300,000 from £210,000.

Central African Gold said it faces a critical second half after higher administrative charges contributed to a pre-tax loss of £6m in the six months to June 30, compared with £1.5m over the same period a year ago. Revenue climbed to £8.6m from £6.1m on sales of 14,521 ounces of gold at $925 (£499) an ounce.

Commoditrade’s London Metals Exchange trading team generated the commodity investor £7.75m in revenues in the six months to June 30, sharply lower than the company’s turnover of £19.8m over the same period a year ago.

Pre-tax losses totalled £12.8m, compared with a profit of £10.5m over the same period a year ago. During the period, the company started a reorganisation process that will see it concentrate on brokerage and strategic trading operations. “Early signs from trading in the third quarter indicate a return to more normalised trading conditions for the company's core operations,” chief executive David Phipps said.

Mobile data specialist Crimson Tide reported higher revenues and narrower losses and looked forward to an exciting year as it continues shifting from one-off sales to subscription-based revenues.

Shares in Meridian Petroleum fell back even as the oil and gas explorer reported a pre-tax profit of $1.3m in the six months to June 30 compared with an identical loss over the same period a year ago. Revenue rose to $8.7bn from negligible turnover in the first half of 2007. Between the second half of 2007 and the first half of 2008, average production more than doubled to 657 barrels of oil equivalent.

Fuel cell developer Proton Power shares jumped on a plan to raise £2m through a subscription by Roundstone Properties at 10p per share, a 50% premium to yesterday's closing price.

Roundstone is a family investment company of recently appointed non-executive director and shareholder Faiz Nahab. Proton's results for the six months to June showed losses up to £1.3m from £951,000 on sales of up 54% to £455,000.

Following the announcement of a multi-year supply agreement on 8 September The Scotts Company has placed its first significant order for the supply of Plant Health Care's Natural Plant Food. Scotts is the global leader in the consumer lawn and garden industry.

Latin America-focused oil and gas group Pan Andean upped annual pre-tax profits to March by 40% to £1.2m, though net profits were hit by a large tax provision in Bolivia. "We are now a major exploration ground holder in Peru. The quality of the ground is reflected in the fact that we have farmed out three blocks on good terms while we have recently won a fourth highly prized block," chairman John Teeling said.

Roc Oil's acting chief executive has had his position made permanent. Bruce Clement, who is an Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Company, has been Acting CEO since June 2008.

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