Range Resources Share News (RRL)

Environmental investment manager Impax Asset Management hit new highs Monday on news pre-tax profit more than doubled to £5.2m in the 12 months to 30 September - £1m from the redemption of a loan note helped - on revenue up 48% to £15.3m. Assets under management rise 44% to £1.82bn and has hit £2.25bn by the end of December."The backdrop to environmental investing has continued to strengthen over the past 12 months as governments around the world have declared ambitious policies to reduce pollution, improve energy security and stimulate the growth of domestic clean technology sectors," chairman Keith Falconer said.Range Resources has signed heads of agreement with Red Emperor Resources which will take a 20% interest in Block VIa and Block VIb in Georgia, committing it to pay 40% of the drilling costs - up to $14m - for the planned two-well programme.The AIM-listed firm will hand over 10% and Georgian partner Strait Oil the other 10%, but still maintain a 40% interest in the two blocks.North Africa-focused oil and gas group Circle Oil said preliminary analysis of open hole logging of the upper part of the recently drilled Al- Amir SE-7X well in Egypt indicates potential for hydrocarbons in the South Gharib Formation in the order of 6 feet in thickness.This interval is similar to that encountered in the Al Amir SE-6X and Al Ola-1X wells, but the interval has not been tested and, as planned, is now cased off. Bus and coach builder Optare looks to be on the right lines after it said its order book showed further improvement in the final quarter of 2010, rising from £24.4m at the end of September to more than £34m at the end of the year.The board anticipates continued growth in the order book and a stronger than forecast output in 2011, which will offset the disappointment of lower sales and earnings in the winter months of 2010. The company said the extreme weather conditions and delays in some customer orders was responsible for the lower than hoped for performance.Shares in XP Power hits a 52-week high after the manufacturer of critical power control components to the electronics industry said 2010 profit before tax will exceed current market expectations.Revenues for the twelve months ended 31 December 2010 are 36% higher than those achieved in 2009. "The group has entered the new financial year with its order books at record levels and remains well placed to deliver further revenue and earnings growth in 2011," the company said.