Russian oil producer Exillon Energy (EXI) gushes up 19% to 185.6p after putting itself up for sale following a number of preliminary approaches. Back in July (30 Jul) the firm, which used to be a constituent of the FTSE 250, announced it was subject to bid interest from its founder, Kazakh businessman Maksat Arip.
Barclays (BARC) dives 6% to 281p as 3.2 billion new shares were issued under the terms of its £5.8 billion share sale, which we covered in July. On the same day it agreed to refund £100 million of personal loans due to paperwork errors.
Ukraine-based iron ore producer Ferrexpo (FXPO) has paid $80 million for a 14.4% stake in Brazilian iron ore miner Ferrous Resources which has a 4 billion tonne reserve and resource base. Ferrous has failed on two occasions to list on the London stock market. BHP Billiton (BLT) has been linked to takeover talk in the past with rumours of a $3.2 billion deal. Brazilian miner MMX has also been linked with merger talks a few years ago. Ferrexpo dips 0.7% to 182.4p on today's news.
Biotech BTG (BTG) rises 2% to 384.5p as its multiple sclerosis treatment Lemtrada wins approval in Europe. The product is to be sold in the region through pharmaceutical giant Sanofi?s (SAN: EN) subsidiary Genzyme, from which BTG receives undisclosed royalties. This is the latest product to graduate from its vibrant pipeline.
A short and sweet update flags significant improvement in outlook for education software supplier RM (RM.), sparking a near 20% spike in the shares to 112p. Analysts at Numis note that most of the busy summer workload stemmed from winding down Building Schools for the Future contracts, but second half cashflow looks likely to be strong.
Mobile money specialist Monitise (MONI:AIM) rises 2.5% to a record 63p after news that its platform sits at the heart of the new 'MyGalaxy' app launched by Samsung.
Airline catering provider Journey (JNY:AIM) rises 5.1% to 133.5p after interim pre-tax profit increased more than three-fold to £937,000 from £254,000 a year earlier. The £16.3 million cap has £4 million net cash and the results have prompted house broker N+1 Singer to upgrade full-year pre-tax profit by £200,000 to £1.8 million. We remain very sceptical of the business model which is extremely easy to copy. Journey uses local restaurants to make the food, thereby avoiding the need to invest in big food preparation centres.
Chinese branded sportswear maker Naibu Global (NBU:AIM) jumps 8.8% to 68p after posting strong half-year figures. For the six months to June, taxable profits rose 16.1% to a record RMB 214.8 million or £22.8 million on sales up 20.5% to RMB 950.1 million. Expansionist Naibu, flush with RMB 389.8 million of net cash, also pleases by proposing a maiden interim dividend of 2p.
The long-awaited takeover of Fiberweb (FWEB) has finally come through, making the nonwoven fabrics specialist one of the biggest market movers. PGI will pay 102p cash per share and investors also get to keep the 1.2p dividend declared at the recent interims. Fiberweb's price therefore nudges up 6.4% to 102p, in line with PGI's contribution.
Insurance broker Brightside (BRT: AIM) slips 2.4% to 20.2p as management warns it will miss this year?s growth targets. Pre-tax profits are expected to fall some 15% to 20% below the £17.5 million it made in 2012. Following the news chief executive Martyn Holman is to leave by the end of the year. We said to get out of the stock last month.
Wireless smart metering technology microcap Cyan (CYAN:AIM) jumps over 6% to 0.52p after striking a CyLec kit deal in Brazil. Market estimates suggest Brazil's smart grid market could be worth $50 billion over the next 10 years. Cyan has also brought in local energy veteran Carlos Ferreira as a deal fixer.
Profit takers moved in on marketing communications group Cello (CLL:AIM) following interims, the stock down 2.9% at 66.5p after a 33% run in the past three months. Revenues were up 14.3% to £71.5 million and headline profit before tax 11% ahead at £3.5 million.
Damille Investments (DIL) plunges 96% to 0.38p on news the company is to delist next month (15 Oct). Investors have decided they?ll get more from selling in the market than from the voluntary liquidation process.
