Latest Economic and Market News

Oil company Mosman Oil and Gas said it had raised £0.9 million via a share placing to fund well activity in Texas. New shares in the company were offered at 0.125p each and came with a one-for-two...

Sensor system provider Transense Technologies booked a deeper annual loss, but said it was breaking even in the first quarter of the new financial year following the signing of a recent deal with...

Employment background verification services provider ClearStar said it had applied to cancel its shares from trading on the London stock exchange on 17 November, as Hanover Bidco had acquired, or...

Technology investor Vela Technologies said it had tipped £2.35 million into a company developing a potential Covid-19 treatment for diabetic patients. Vela said it was funding the investment via a...

Biodegradable plastics company Symphony Environmental said it had secured €6 million of financing for a green algae project in France. The financing comprised loans provided by HSBC, Banque...

Biomaterials and regenerative medicines maker Collagen Solutions said it would become part of US-based Rosen Diversified after the latter declared its offer to acquire the company unconditional....

Oil company Solo Oil welcomed news that Helium One Global, of which it owned 12%, had secured licence renewals in Tanzania. Helium One has received renewal offer letters for 12 of 16 prospective...

Pharmaceutical services company Open Orphan said it had signed a contract with the UK government to develop a Covid-19 human challenge study model. Challenge studies involve participants...

Soft drinks maker Britvic said it had reached an exclusive 20-year franchise bottling agreement with PepsiCo to produce and sell its carbonated soft drink brands including Pepsi, 7UP and Mountain...

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said its non-small-cell lung cancer drug candidate had been been given a regulatory nod for priority review in the US. Tragrisso had received acceptance for a...

Train and bus ticket distributor Trainline said chief executive Clare Gilmartin would stand down at the end of February. She would be replaced by current operations head Jody Ford, a previous CEO...

Litigation finance provider Burford Capital said trading of its shares had commenced on the New York Stock Exchange. The company said it had become the first legal finance firm to be publicly...

Investment company UIL said it expected its sale of Bermuda power company Ascendant to be completed in mid-November, now that all the remaining conditions of the deal had been met. Ascendant owned...

Life science research tool provider Abcam said it had launched an offering of American depositary shares, to be listed on the Nasdaq. The around 8.9 million ADSs represented one ordinary share of...

Commercial property investor Land Securities said it would cut its exposure to the hotel, leisure and retail park sectors as part of a strategy overhaul. Landsec said its exposure to those sectors...

Diamond producer BlueRock Diamonds said it had sold 2,900 carats at an average price of US$300 per carat for US$870,165. 'This is the third successful private sale conducted through an agent in...

i-Nexus global said it was proposing to raise £1.325 million through convertible redeemable loan notes. The noteholders would have the right to convert the convertible loan notes into ordinary...

Biodegradable plastic producer Symphony Environmental Technologies welcomed news that Turkey's Uno Bakery had launched a biodegradable packaging program, with Symphony as their technology partner...

Caspian Sunrise said it had completed the acquisition of Caspain Explorer for $3.2 million. The company announced said the re-registered shares in Prosperity Petroleum, the sole shareholder of KC...

Life sciences investor RTW Venture Fund welcomed news that portfolio company Tarsus Pharmaceuticals had priced an $88.0 million initial public offering and made a positive debut on the Nasdaq....

Mining company Pensana Rare Earths said initial field programmes had commenced at its Coola project in Angolo, adjacent to its advanced-stage Longonjo project there. The programmes were testing...

Mining company Serabi Gold said it had acquired the Sao Domingos exploration license in Brazil, located to the west of the Sao Chico deposit there. The asset was acquired from Brazil Americas...

Workflow management software company Checkit said it had won a contract from John Lewis to supply connected workflow, asset monitoring and building management solutions for a period of three...

Lead-zinc and silver developer Europa Metals said it had been received an interest-free loan through a grant of €466,801.50 for its Toral lead, zinc and silver project located in the region of...

Specialist financing group Orchard Funding said it had withdrawn its application for a UK banking licence, due to uncertain economic conditions owing to Covid-19. Orchard Funding said it would...

Business spend management group Proactis said it had signed a seven-year contract with Union Sanitaire et Sociale Aude Pyrenees in France. 'This contract win represents a strategically important...

Leak detection technology group Water Intelligence said it had raised $4.8 million (£3.7 million) from a planned oversubscribed placing and subscription. New shares in the company were issued at...

Biopharmaceutical company Amryt inked an agreement with Switzerland-based Swixx BioPharma to distribute the company's for cholesterol disorder drug across the Central and Eastern Europe. Under the...

UK stocks opened higher on Monday amid hopes that US lawmakers can agree on a fresh round of stimulus, as the Covid-19 caseload continues to surge around the globe. At 0826, the benchmark FTSE 100...

Microcap investor JZ Capital Partners said it had agreed to sell its stakes in certain US microcap portfolio companies to a secondary fund led by Hamilton Lane Advisors for $90 million and a stake...

Consultancy company Elixirr International said it expected adjusted core earnings for the year to top market expectations following another month of record revenue in September. The company...

Scientific instrument sector investor Life Judges Scientific said it had acquired Korvus Technology, a maker of vapour deposition systems, for an initial £2.64 million in cash. 'The acquisition...

Guarantor loans provider Amigo Holdings said it had entered into an asset voluntary requirement with the Financial Conduct Authority that will require regulator approval of dividends, or director...

Real estate investment trust Home REIT said it had acquired a portfolio of five properties located across the North West, North East and Midlands regions of England for an aggregate £9 million....

Specialist asset manager Mercia said it had sold performance management data business Clear Review to Advanced Business Software and Solutions for up to £26 million. Mercia said it held a 4.0%...

Esports company Guild Esports said it had signed a £3.6 million three-year sponsorship deal with a European fintech company serving esports fans. Guild Esports said it was was first major...

Online fashion retailer Boohoo said PricewaterhouseCoopers was still its auditor but was not part of a tender process for a new auditor. The update came as media reports claimed that PwC was...

Biotechnology company Midatech Pharma reported encouraging headline results from a phase-one study in the US in patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, which is a primary brain tumour. The...

Oil company Nostra Terra said partner Cypress Minerals had begun construction of a drilling pad in preparation for a new well at the Pine Mills oil field in Texas. The rig was on standby next to...

Data company WANdisco said it had won a contract worth around $0.45 million with 'one of the world's three largest mobile operators by number of subscribers'. The contract had been won through the...

Security company G4S said it would be writing to shareholders within the next 14 days outlining its reasons for recommending that shareholders reject a 190p-a-share offer from GardaWorld. The...

Iron deficiency focused Shield Therapeutics welcomed news that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries had withdrawn appeals regarding patent rulings. Shield said that Teva had withdrawn both its appeal...

Specialised products and services provider Diploma said it had completed the acquisition of Windy City Wire Cable & Technology Products. The conditions to complete the acquisitions had been...

Office and industrial property investor McKay Securities said it had collected 70% of rent due for the September quarter. The company said the rate would increase to 87% 'on receipt of agreed...

Infrastructure investor John Laing said it had agreed to sell a portfolio of Australian wind farms to First Sentier Investors for $285 million, or about £157 million. The sale value represented a...

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said its diabetes drug had been recommended for marketing authorisation in the European Union to treat chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction in...

Disease test kit supplier Omega Diagnostics said it had signed a supply contract with Abingdon Health, which is leading a UK rapid testing consortium for Covid-19. Omega Diagnostics said the...

Shares in Finnish group Faron Pharmaceuticals fell 18% on Friday after the results of a World Health Organization trial showed that a potential treatment for Covid-19 did not reduce mortality in...

US retail sales rose 1.9% in September to $549.3 billion, according to the Census Bureau. That beat market expectations of a 0.7% increase. Core retail sales, which exclude motor parts and...