Shares digital

Leisure entrepreneur Trevor Hemmings has acquired a 2.5% stake in troubled pub operator Mitchells & Butlers (MAB). Hemmings owns around 600 tenanted pubs including Trust Inns and Herald Inns & Bars, a chain of late-night... READ MORE >>

Detailed production plans released on Monday by gold producer Peter Hambro Mining (POG:AIM) ‘wipe the slate clean’ for recently misleading investors over its expansion according to stockbroker Ambrian. It says Hambro’s latest development update should be taken as a positive, given that... READ MORE >>

Real estate giant British Land (BLND) has seen the value of its property portfolio slashed by almost 9% in the three months to December. Net asset value per share fell even heavier, by 16.7% to £14.01, thanks to a widening of the market value discount to assets. This slump means the... READ MORE >>

Southampton-based ships and support services firm VT Group (VTG) is on a shortlist of four bidders for a £4 billion Ministry of Defence deal to source and maintain some 90,000 Army vehicles including jeeps, vans, trucks and armoured cars over nearly 20... READ MORE >>

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) has picked up new exploration acreage in a licensing round offshore Alaska. The bid of $2.1 billion for the blocks in the Chukchi Sea was the highest tendered. The oil & gas industry’s move into the area has drawn fire from environmentalists, already... READ MORE >>

Customised electronic devices expert Laird (LARD) has bought Ezurio, a privately-owned supplier of wireless data applications, for £12.5 million in cash. The deal will expand Laird's presence in a growing machine-to-machine market. Ezurio's turnover was £4 million in 2007, it reached... READ MORE >>

Although Delcam (DLC:AIM) issued a profit warning last November, the computer aided design/computer aided manufacture (CAD/CAM) software expert made monthly record sales in December for the fourth year running. Helped by last January's acquisition of Crispin for £500,000, Delcam's sales... READ MORE >>

Software behemoth Microsoft's (MSFT:NDQ) eye-popping $44.6 billion cash-and-stock bid for Yahoo (YHOO:NDQ) may be grabbing all the headlines but merger and acquisition activity remains rampant all the way through the technology food chain. Both translation software expert SDL (SDL) and... READ MORE >>

The shares of healthcare detection and monitoring systems developer IDMoS (IDO:AIM) tumbled by more than 70% to 8.5p after it revealed that its performance is likely to fall significantly below market expectations and that it is considering putting itself up for... READ MORE >>

With Global Radio chomping at the bit to takeover struggling GCap Media (GCAP), new chief executive Fru Hazlitt has unveiled recovery plans for the company, which she hopes will convince investors its shares could be worth more than the 190p offer it rejected last month. Hazlitt is... READ MORE >>

Construction firm Kier (KIE) has sold its 50% stake in a Scottish PFI project, to the other stake holder, Innisfree, for £13.8 million in cash. The hospital, near Glasgow, was was Kier's first PFI investment and reached financial close in 1998, returning around five times the original... READ MORE >>

Shares in environmental services group Eaga (EAGA) jumped 7% to 178.75p after winning a BBC contract. Under the status of ‘preferred bidder’, it will run a scheme over the next five years to help television viewers with the switch-over from analogue to digital services. Eligible persons,... READ MORE >>

A £10 million placing priced at 10p is the latest step in Plasmon’s (PLM) attempts to break a long-running sequence of annual losses. New chief executive Stephen Murphy, who was appointed in November last year, will use the cash to fund a major new growth strategy for the optical storage... READ MORE >>

Life sciences group Celsis International (CEL) has reported strong H2 trading, in line with expectations, sending its shares up 6% to 182.5p. The Rapid Detection division is benefiting from strong demand across all geographical regions and sectors of the business, while its Vitro... READ MORE >>

Patent and trade mark attorney Murgitroyd (MUR:AIM) should unveil a new acquisition within the next week as it continues to benefit from growing demand for European intellectual property services. Chief executive Keith Young refused to disclose details of the purchase, but indicated that a ... READ MORE >>

Shareholders in Business Systems Group (BSG:AIM) got a welcome boost this week when the IT solutions expert announced the arrival of industry heavy hitter Vin Murria as non-executive chairman. City-based Business Systems’ shares rose 4% to 12.25p, just below their 13p, 12-month... READ MORE >>

Investors in Carpetright (CPR) can breathe a sigh of relief after it revealed that it will still meet its full-year targets despite a slowdown in UK sales. The company has been helped by its ambitious overseas expansion plans in Belgium, Holland and Poland, which now account for around 23%... READ MORE >>

Derivatives broker IG Group (IGG) is tipped to increase revenues almost seven-fold over the next eight years following overseas expansion. Analysts at independent broker Landsbanki predict sales from the financial business – Contracts for Difference (CFDs) and spread betting on financial... READ MORE >>