Academic publisher Pearson (PSON) rises 3.5% to £11.39 on better-than-expected interims. Restructuring benefits are beginning to flow through and the North American operations are showing encouraging underlying growth.

Part-nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) jumps 12.4% to 369.8p on pre-tax profits doubling to £2.6 billion in the first half of the year. Shares examines the results in more detail in a web story, plus you can read our recent sector review.

Spectroscopy kit supplier Spectris (SXS) slides almost 4% to £21.17 as half-year figures fall short of expectations. 'We anticipate reducing our forecasts by perhaps 5% to reflect the weakness in the second quarter,' say analysts at N+1 Singer.

Mobile giant Vodafone (VOD) shows the expected fall in first quarter services revenues, although the 4.2%decline is less than some analysts had anticipated. European operation reain weak as expected bu the market is otherwise content, bidding the shares almost 3% higher to 203.15p.

A working capital share placing at technology minnow Cyan (CYAN:AIM) swipes 15% off the shares price to 0.38p. The microcap has raised £3.5 million, before costs, to pursue smart metering solutions development, and several directors have participated in the fund raise at 0.35p.

Soft drinks group A.G. Barr (BAG) fizzes 8p higher to 631p on a reassuring pre-close trading statement. The IRN-BRU-to-Tizer maker expects to report 5.6% sales growth to £135 million for the first half, underpinned by volume growth, price inflation and the recent balmy weather. For more on the high-quality names in the beverages industry, read our recent sector report.

Cancer-fighting radiation machine developer Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO:AIM) improves 3.7% to 3.5p on expectations that the US regulator will approve its technology within 15 months to sell to its growing customer list.

Wound care specialist Tissue Regenix (TRX:AIM) gains 2.3% to 27.7p on securing the European patent for its dCELL technology to create bladder implants.

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Issue Date: 25 Jul 2014