Friday's Small-Cap Winners & Losers

Women's apparel company Nitches (NICH) agreed to buy the Saguaro mark and related trademarks from Impex. Since January 2005, Nitches has been manufacturing and distributing Saguaro apparel to specialty and catalog retailers under an arrangement with Impex.

As of May 31, Nitches' backlog for Saguaro products totaled $12 million. Specific terms of the stock and cash transaction weren't disclosed. Shares of Nitches were advancing 66 cents, or 15.2%, to $5.01.

Multimedia Games (MGAM) gained after the electronic bingo and lottery machine maker was upgraded by Banc of America Securities to buy from neutral. Shares climbed 80 cents, or 8.3%, to $10.43 in recent trading.

HMS Holdings (HMSY), a provider of various services to healthcare payors and providers, was on the rise after the company said it agreed to acquire a unit of Public Consulting Group. HMS will pay $80 million in cash, 2 million shares and a contingent payment of up to $15 million if certain revenue targets are met in the next year.

The business being acquired by HMS is expected to have revenue of about $46 million in its current fiscal year. HMS said the acquisition should add to its earnings in 2007. Shares of HMS gained 66 cents, or 6.6%, to $10.69.

Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) slid as the toy-animal seller said it now expects earnings for fiscal 2006 to be at the low end of its forecast range of $1.44 to $1.53 a share. The company said North American sales during the second quarter have been lower than planned and sales so far in the month of June, which accounts for the majority of sales in the quarter, have been below expectations.

North American same-store sales for the year are expected to be flat to down in the low single-digit range. The guidance includes the acquisition of the U.K. retailer Bear Factory, stock-based compensation expenses of about 8 cents a share and distribution center transition costs of around 4 cents a share. Build-A-Bear dropped $2.18, or 8.1%, to $24.82.

Sunterra's (SNRR) shares were diving 16% a day after the company said it put President and CEO Nicholas J. Benson on paid administrative leave pending the completion of an investigation by its board's audit and compliance committee. The probe is related to various allegations, including accounting improprieties, made by a former employee with Sunterra's Spanish operations.

Board member James A. Weissenborn will serve as the company's interim president and CEO. Additionally, Steven E. West, executive vice president and chief financial officer, is resigning. West has been in discussions with another company for the last several weeks and decided to accept its job offer. Robert A. Krawczyk was named CFO. Sunterra, which runs vacation ownership resorts, was losing $1.40 to $7.27.

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