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London afternoon: Stocks sail on Greek tailwinds

Tue, 31st May 2011 14:21

Optimism about a resolution to Greece's latest dire need for a bail-out is giving equities a boost today, providing some much needed focus on a day that is short of block-busting company news. Serco, the outsourcing company whose activities include running prisons and London's Docklands Light Railway, has announced the acquisition of India-based service provider Intelenet for up to £385m."The acquisition is in line with Serco's strategy which is focused on driving organic growth, supplemented by strategic acquisitions of skills and capabilities to enter new markets and sectors where it sees strong opportunities to enhance growth and margins," said Prime Markets' head of dealing Richard Curr.Elsewhere in the sector, outsourcing specialist Capita has acquired specialist healthcare recruitment firm Team24 for £24m, with up to £2m more payable depending on the firm's performance in the year to 31 March, 2012. Team24 made a pro forma operating profit for its financial year to 31 March 2011 of £4.2m on turnover of £32.7m.In the FTSE 250, Pace is higher after it announced that the chairman of set-top box maker is stepping down after a troubled end to his five years in charge of the company. Mike McTighe will be replaced by Allan Leighton, former non-executive chairman of the supermarket Asda. Leighton joins the board today and is expected to take over as chairman in summer. Industrial chain maker Renold pared back pre-tax losses as it looks to emerging markets for fresh sales momentum. Pre-tax loss narrowed to £1.3m from a loss of £13.6m before.Sweden-focused mineral exploration company Beowulf Mining endured a harsh winter of epic proportions but remains on course to complete its drilling programme by the end of the second quarter of 2011. In the first three months of 2011 it lost £0.13m before tax, compared to a loss of £0.01m in the first quarter of last year.Ceramic Fuel Cells, the low emission power products developer, pulled well clear of its 52-week low after it announced it second-ever largest sales order. The company is to sell 25 of its BlueGen gas-to-electricity units to Ausgrid, the organisation formerly known as Energy Australia.Stockbroker and investment manager Brewin Dolphin is set to buy Ireland-based fund management firm Tilman Asset Management for a total consideration of €35.9m (£23.1m), payable in shares.Investors at Desire Petroleum were given a reason to buy after the company announced positive 3D seismic data from the East Flank Play Fairway. The group - which is wholly-focused on the North Falkland Basin - said that its 3D seismic acquisition programme is now complete and the full-fold area of coverage is around 1,416 sq km. However, a planned extension of the survey was curtailed as a result of poor weather.Chariot Oil & Gas expects to move towards starting its drilling campaign off the coast of Namibia later this year after making "significant progress" over the past 12 months.
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