Beyond the Footsie: Mon close

12 April 2012

SMALLER company shares, much like their blue chip rivals, ended the session resoundingly down as investors continued to baulk at Fed chairman Alan Greenspan's downbeat assessment of the outlook for the US economy and amid growing caution ahead of the start of the US earnings season -- which kicks off tomorrow with figures from Intel.

At the close, the FTSE Smaller Cap index was off 11 points at 2,629.3, and 0.1 points shy of its low of the session.

Theratase remained sharply lower, down 4p at 66p on news that the specialist enzyme producer will omit its full-year dividend -- even though it achieved strong full-year results. The company said the dividend, which was due to be paid on March 31, was cut because of 'insufficient distributable reserves'.

Leisure group Georgica was also weak, down 6p at 94p, as news of a 'satisfactory' Christmas trading period was offset by news of a slump in like-for-like sales at its leisure division. Overall, however, like-for-like sales for the group, excluding Megabowl which is for sale, in the 26 weeks were up 3.9%.

But there were some notable risers, particularly in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector.

XTL Biopharmaceuticals gained 8 1/2p to 54 1/2p after releasing positive trial data on its new XTL-002 human antibody-based treatment for hepatitis C. Deltex Medical was another winner, rising 3 1/4p to 24 1/4p, after a fairly reassuring trading update in which the firm predicted total revenue for the current year will be about 40% higher than in 2000 at about £1.33m.

Shares in Surgical Innovations remained in demand, up 1/4p at 2 1/4p on news of a distribution contract for its new single-use scissors worth £2.5m over three years.

Elsewhere, Beaufort International, the AIM listed Pan-European business consultancy, moved on to the gainers board in late trade after it revealed a deal with Danish firm MadWaves to manage the launch of MadPlayer, an advanced digital inter-active music machine. Followers were particularly impressed by news that the value of the contract, which will in part be dependent on the level of product sales achieved, could exceed £500,000. Its shares closed 0.18p firmer at 0.91p.

NewMedia SPARK, the internet incubator, was another winner as investors cheered news that its Sputz AG unit has sold its entire shareholding in Deutsche Boerse for e37.2m. Its shares closed 1p higher at 12p.

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