ASX Small Cap Winners Aug 28-Sep 1

Labour hire group Ashley Services soared 82 per cent this week after announcing a narrower loss and a potential return to dividend payments next year.

Ashley’s (ASX:ASH) loss narrowed to $5.4 million – a big improvement from last year’s loss of $67.1 million

Revenue jumped to $314.7 million, up from $277 million last year.

The labour hire division, which manages 4500 workers each week, reported 16 per cent revenue growth. However revenue from the training division — which has been reduced in size — fell 10 per cent to $25.5 million.

“The underlying trading result for the year was a substantial recovery from the previous corresponding period,” said managing director Ross Shrimpton.

“We anticipate we will be revisiting the dividend policy with a view to returning to dividend payments in FY18,” he said.

The ASX’s only stock with direct exposure to digital BitCoin currency, DigitalX, zoomed up 74 per cent after finalising a much-needed cash injection.

Melbourne-based Blockchain Global handed over $2 million in cash and — of course — bitcoin, with another $2.35 million to come for 40 per cent stake.

At the end of June DigitalX (ASX:DCC) had about half the cash it needed to finance the current quarter.

DigitalX burned about $2.9 million last year leaving $232,225 in the bank at the end of June.

The company – which has been transitioning from a bitcoin trader to a developer of blockchain technology – reported an 81 per cent drop in revenue to $8 million and losses grew 13 per cent to $3.8 million.

Blockchain is a technology that provides a public ledger of transactions to support digital currencies such as BitCoin.

Tiny tech investor Ookami saw a massive move in its share price on Wednesday, despite not seeming to have done anything.

More than 34 million Ookami shares (ASX:OOK) changed hands, moving the price from 1.6c to 3.7c — more than 130 per cent.

The company — which recently acquired a financial services software platform Akela — had no new announcements before the spike.

The ASX sent Ookami a price and volume query on Wednesday (commonly called a “speeding ticket”), asking if the company knew of any reason for the increase in activity. It said it did not.

On Thursday Ookami released full-year results, showing revenue of $114,307 (up from $19,080 last year) and a loss of $503,335 compared to a $9.4 million profit last year.

Ookami burned $447,610 last year, leaving about $2.7 million in the bank at the end of June.

The shares fell back to 2.5c on Friday – up a mere 62.5 per cent for the week.

File-sharing service Zyber Holdings was also up 62.5 per cent for the week, prompting another ASX query. Zyber said it knew of no reason for the jump in trade volume.

The same day it released full-year results, showing a loss of $2 million, compared to loss of $7.5 million the previous year (including the $5.4 million acquisition of Zyber Secure Mobile Solutions.

Zyber (ASAX:ZYB) had $1.7 millon in the bank at the end of June.

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for August 28 – September 1:

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ASX Small Cap Losers Aug 28-Sep 1

At the other end of the table, zinc explorer Pursuit Minerals suffered an 81 per cent drop after re-listing following a capital raising.

Pursuit plans to explore for Zinc in Queensland’s Mt Isa Super Basin.

The offer raised $6 million after selling shares at 20c a piece.

Pursuit’s (ASX:PUR) shares relisted at 29.5c on August 25 and held steady for a day.

But by Tuesday investors had sold down the shares to as low as 23c. The shares closed at 25c on Friday.

Online luxury retailer Ahalife (ASX:AHL) fell 42 per cent after reporting a 5 per cent fall in revenue to $US5 million ($6.3 million) and a narrower loss of $US3 million compared to a $US14.7 million loss last year.

Ahalife burned through $3.6 million last year, leaving it with less than $1 million in the bank at the end of June.

China AgTech play Jiajiafu Modern Agriculture (ASX:JJF) dropped 38 per cent despite higher full-year profits and revenue for the year.

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for August 28 – September 1:

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