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Proactive Investors Mid & Sml Cap Roundup - Cloudbuy finds silver lining down under

Published: 18:30 16 Aug 2014 AEST

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Three stocks riding the wave of e-commerce were among the best small-cap performers this week.

They all address slightly different areas of e-commerce, with Cloudbuy focused on corporate procurement, Planet Payment on international payment and transaction processing, and Proxama on near field communication payments through mobile phones.

Cloudbuy (LON:CBUY) advanced 16% this week on the back of a contract win down under. The £40 million-valued AIM company has been asked to build an e-marketplace for a state government, and the contract could be worth up to A$7.2 million (£4.5 million) to the firm over time.

For a company that is projected by City analysts to rack up £4.5 million in revenue for the whole of this year that is a hefty silver lining for Cloudbuy.

Planet Payment (NASDAQ:PLPM) has had a tough time of it over the last couple of years but things look to be picking up for the “Pay in your Currency” specialist as the benefits of restructuring start to show through.

Revenues for the three months to June were little changed at US$11.9 million, but underlying profits more than doubled to US$2.8 million and net income jumped five-fold to US$1.5 million.

Before you all rush to check out the shares, which are up 13% this week, it is worth noting that the company delisted from AIM on Friday.

The bulk of the company’s shares are traded on NASDAQ, the exchange of choice for most technology firms, and for all the talk of Silicon Roundabout and Britain emerging as a challenger to the dominance of the US in the Internet age, this looks like another example of a pioneering British company upping stakes and decamping to a less hostile environment.

Talking of less hostile environments, Liverpool is a fantastic place to visit, and not just for Beatles fans; it has some marvellous buildings, two tremendous football teams (“Liverpool and Liverpool reserves” – Bill Shankly) and a lot of history.

Mobile tech specialist Proxama (LON:PROX) has launched a digital experience in Liverpool to further enhance visitors' time in the city.
It is the first project of its kind in the UK and was showcased at the International Festival of Business.

The technology is operated via a mobile app called "I'm@app" available on Android and iOS (Apple) devices, or users can download from the iTunes store or Google Play.

Visitors can receive messages straight to their smartphone with exclusive content provided by the creators of the city's top arts and culture venues; the messages arrive as people walk past various beacons.

Shares in the company rose 8% this week.

If the blood pressure of Everton fans is rising after the Bill Shankly quote above then they will emphasise with Bellzone Mining shareholders, who saw the value of their holdings halve this week.

Financing is the bane of small resource companies and Bellzone, an iron ore producer and mineral developer, is no exception.

Having informed shareholders in June it had sufficient funds to keep operating for a couple of months, August has now rolled around and the company still has not secured long term financing.

On the plus side, the company is in advanced discussions with China Sonangol over the possibility of short term US$4 million loan that would be secured against the company’s Kalia asset in the Republic of Guinea.

Another resource company in the doghouse this week is President Energy, after it revealed the results of its exploration well at Jacaranda, in Paraguay.

The company claimed the exploration well was a success, even though its primary reservoir target is not viable.

What it did find was the source rocks that confirm the targeted petroleum system, which is already seen in nearby Argentina and Bolivia, is present in Paraguay’s Pirity basin.

In doing so, President claims it has now proven the concept that provided the initial impetus to explore the region in the first place.

Shares lost almost a third of their value this week, but the company is clearly not disheartened with how things are going in Paraguay, as on Thursday it took a 40% stake in the Hernandarias concession located immediately north of the Pirity concession.

Hernandarias, together with the Pirity and Demattei concessions, gives President control and operatorship of the entire Pirity Rift Basin.

Australian Strategic Materials signs US$600 million LoI

Rowena Smith, CEO and managing director of Australian Strategic Materials Ltd (ASX:ASM, OTC:ASMMF), joins Jonathan Jackson in the Proactive studio to discuss the company’ s Dubbo Project, in Central West New South Wales. This project aims to extract and process critical minerals and rare earth...

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