Equities are up marginally in thin Christmas Eve trading.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Sell recommendation Smith & Nephew (SN.) has completed the acquisition of Healthpoint Biotherapeutics for $782m.
ITV (ITV) has confirmed plans to expand further in the US after paying $60m for a 61.5 per cent stake in Gurney Productions, a producer for US networks. Buy.
Property business Redefine International (RDI) is to acquire a newly finished retail property for a total cost of €4.18m. We keep our buy rating.
KEY STORIES:
Micro Focus (MCRO) has reached an agreement to acquire several product lines from software business Progress Software Corporation for $15m.
Software as a service specialist Globo (GBO) has signed up a second European mobile network operator for the commercial launch of its GoEnterprise software which allows businesses to optimise their systems for use on mobile devices.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Daniel Stewart’s (DAN) interim results illustrate how tough life is for small cap brokers with revenues dipping from £3.6m to £3.1m but the company says that recent trading has shown an improvement.
Shares in Ascent Resources (AST) have taken a battering this morning after the company said it had agreed a convertible loan note with Henderson Global Investors worth £5.5m.
