The Federal Reserve kept US interest rates on hold yesterday in a move that buoyed Wall Street and was expected to trigger a strong start to trading in London. However, the uncertainty surrounding sovereign debt in Europe is likely to add a sense of caution to proceedings.

Gulfsands Petroleum (LON:GPX) reported that oil production got underway last week at the Yousefieh field in Syria, 18 months after the drilling of the Yousefieh-1 discovery well in November 2008 and only three months after receiving commerciality approval from the Syrian Authorities.

Silence Therapeutics Plc (LON:SLN) saw revenues fall 22% to £1.72m last year, with pre-tax losses broadly flat at £7.5m. Silence merged with US-based RNAi therapeutic company Intradigm in January this year and today said it was still working on a programme of reorganising its resources after that deal.

Solo Oil (LON:SOLO) , the exploration group chaired by David Lenigas, said it was investing $1.65m as part of a two-stage loan deal in TSX Venture Exchange company Reef Resources. The plan is to restart production from Reef’s assets in Ontario and drill new wells, with Solo eventually taking a 50% cut of revenues.

Hightex Group Plc (LON:HTIG) , the company that makes large membrane roofs and façades, reported that the Ludgate Environmental Fund had taken a 5.3% stake in the company. The two sides are now set to work together on developing Hightex’s subsidiary SolarNext, which has developed a solar cooling system that can be retro-fitted to many kinds of structures

Last May, shares in cash-strapped US pesticides group Tyratech Inc (LON:TYR) were trading at around 75p but since January have struggled to break past 11p. Today, the company said it was close to raising £1 million from investors in order to plug its short-term capital needs.

Marine electronics group Raymarine (LON:RAY) confirmed it was in talks with larger rival Garmin over a takeover of the company. Yesterday Raymarine said that Garmin had tabled a pre-conditional offer of 15p per share but today noted that shareholders could expect a return of 17.5p.

Finally, Randall & Quilter (LON:RQIH) , the specialist non-life insurance investor, saw its full year pre-tax profits plummet to £0.26m from £8.76m last year on the back of a massive payout…

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