Syncona Share News (SYNC)

Dow Jones smallcap news is now on Twitter, allowing you to catch up on the news away from your desk. Go to http://twitter.com/DJ_UK_Smallcaps ABB LTD. (ABB), a Swiss engineer, Thursday threw in the towel in a bidding war over U.K. industrial company CHLORIDE GROUP PLC (CHLD.LN), increasing the chances of success for a rival offer by Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) of the U.S. At 0803 GMT, Chloride shares -16.4 pence or 4.3% at 369.6 pence. CH2M HILL COS. LTD., a U.S. engineer, said it dropped its offer to acquire peer SCOTT WILSON GROUP (SWG.LN), after rival bidder URS Corp. (URS) raised its offer for the U.K. firm. At 0802 GMT, Scott Wilson shares +19.25 pence or 7.2% at 285.25 pence. WILLIAM SINCLAIR HOLDINGS PLC (SNCL.LN), a horticulture specialist, said current trading remains strong, with margins "significantly ahead" of last year, although it will book an exceptional charge this fiscal following a property revaluation. At 0802 GMT, shares flat at 117.5 pence. FORTH PORTS PLC (FPT.LN), a sports company, said its expects fiscal-year earnings to be in line with its own expectations following improving trading during the first half of 2010. The company, which operates seven ports in the U.K. including Tilbury on the Thames and Dundee in Scotland, said forest products and animal feed tonnage increased on year during the first half of 2010, while there are signs of improvement for shipping construction materials. At 0801 GMT, shares -29 pence or 2.5% at 1,150 pence. ET-CHINA.COM INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LTD. (ETC.LN), a travel company, and financial adviser CLARKSON HILL GROUP PLC (CLKH.LN) were suspended after the companies failed to publish their accounts on time. Et-China suspended at 103.5 pence. Clarkson Hill suspended at 2 pence. GOALS SOCCER CENTRES PLC (GOAL.LN), a five-a-side soccer company, said it is taking a conservative view of the potential boost to earnings from the ongoing soccer World Cup, anticipating full-year earnings at the lower end of current market expectations. At 0801 GMT, shares -12.5 pence or 8.5% at 135.5 pence. OXFORD BIOMEDICA PLC (OXB.LN), a biotechnology company, said it received a grant from a charity to fund early-stage development of an experimental drug for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a form of motor neurone disease commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. At 0800 GMT, shares -0.25 pence or 2.3% at 10.75 pence. SYNCHRONICA PLC (SYNC.LN), a mobile software provider, said it has sold a batch of licenses for its Mobile Gateway product that will bring in an extra $1.25 million of revenue in its first half. At 0800 GMT, shares +0.13 pence or 6.3% at 2.13 pence. CHAARAT GOLD HOLDINGS LTD. (CGH.LN), a Kyrgyzstan-focused gold miner, said it raised GBP3.85 million to fund drilling and studies at its flagship Chaarat project. At 0800 GMT, shares -0.25 pence or 0.6% at 40.5 pence. PROSTRAKAN GROUP PLC (PSK.LN), a drug company, said marketing partner Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. (ENDP) submitted fresh data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding testosterone gel Fortesta in an effort to get it cleared for sale. The FDA said in October 2009 it couldn't approve Fortesta based on the data provided in the two companies' regulatory submissions. At 0759 GMT, shares flat at 67.25 pence. GEONG INTERNATIONAL LTD. (GNG.LN), a business software company, said it has secured a three-year facility of up to GBP5 million to use on acquisitions. At 0759 GMT, shares +1 pence or 2.9% at 36 pence. ZOTEFOAMS PLC (ZTF.LN), a foam manufacturer, said it expects its full-year pretax profit to top market expectations, following a better-than-expected performance during its first half. At 0759 GMT, shares +4.5 pence or 4.8% at 99 pence. CHURCHILL MINING PLC (CHL.LN), a coal miner focused on Indonesia, said it believes it will be able to produce an extra 10 million metric tons of coal a year from its East Kutai project. It increased its forecast production rate to 35 million tons a year after studies showed its planned mine could handle more coal. At 1758 GMT, shares -2.5 pence or 2.4% at 100 pence. LEED PETROLEUM PLC (LDP.LN), an oil and gas company, said it agreed to pay its bank higher interest rates after production problems hurt earnings and put it in breach of its loans. At 0758 GMT, shares -0.68 pence or 18% at 3 pence. METMINCO LTD. (MNC.AU), an explorer for metals in South America, said it more than tripled its resource estimate for its Los Calatos copper and molybdenum project in Peru to 926 million metric tons. The increase follows the latest drilling results for Los Calatos from Hampton Mining Ltd., in which Metminco holds a 69.4% stake. At 0757 GMT, shares flat at 9 pence. DJ UK Smaller Cos -1.2% AIM -0.8% By Jason Douglas, Hannah Benjamin and Rachael Gormley, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0) 20 7842 9272; uksmallcaps@dowjones.com (Martin Gelnar in Zurich contributed to this article.) (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 01, 2010 04:30 ET (08:30 GMT)