Shares in Lighthouse Group, the financial advice and wealth management group, plunged on Monday after the company proposed to cancel its listing on AIM. The group must receive approval from shareholders representing at least three-quarters of the company's shares for the cancellation to be approved. The firm will officially propose the cancellation at a general meeting on July 31st. If a cancellation is approved, it is expected it will take effect on August 8th.
Verona Pharma, a biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for chronic respiratory diseases, has begun a new trial with its lead drug candidate, RPL554. The trial is designed to test the anti-inflammatory properties of RPL554 in healthy subjects in relation to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The trial is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study that will enrol 24 subjects and is expected to finish around year-end. The trial is the first that is designed to evaluate specifically the anti-inflammatory properties of RPL554 in human subjects.
Manroy, a UK defence contractor, has secured a new £4.1m contract with an existing export customer. Under the agreement Manroy will supply a variety of ancillary equipment which will be delivered around three months after the award of Manroy's export licence from the UK government, meaning the income generated from the contract will appear in the results for the next financial year.
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Forbidden Technologies, an owner and developer of the FORscene cloud video platform, has announced that Lion Television is using FORscene as its logging and rough cut editing platform at its facilities in Scotland. The contract follows a long-standing relationship between the two firms, with Lion Television a long-time user of FORscene at its London facility.
Asset tracking and location identification technology firm Ubisense has added car manufacturer Hyundai Kia to its customer list, expanding its footprint in Asia. Hyundai Kia has deployed Ubisense's real-time locating systems (RTLS) solution on its assembly line manufacturing plant in South Korea. "The addition of Hyundai Kia significantly strengthens our position in Asia and highlights the increasing traction our RTLS product is gaining in the automotive market," the firm said.
DDD Group, a three-dimensional (3D) solutions company, has launched the Yabazam 3D movie app for Samsung Smart TVs with 3D capability. The free-to-download application streams 3D movie trailers from the growing collection of 3D movies available at Yabazam.com. Later this month customers will be able to download full length 3D movies for a pay-per-view fee. The firm said the new 3D app expands Yabazam's reach to a much wider audience and gives the owners of Samsung Smart TVs with 3D capabilities access to an even greater range of 3D content.
Tristel, a manufacturer of infection prevention, contamination control and specialist hygiene products, has made its first major shipment of sterile-packed disinfectant products to Basan Germany as part of the supply and distribution agreement with Basan which became effective on April 1st of this year. The shipment provides Basan with its initial stocking inventory of Tristel disinfectant products for use in the clean rooms of pharmaceutical manufacturers, medical device manufacturers, life sciences and biotech companies. "This shipment of all the sterile-packed product lines in our Crystel range marks the end of a long process of mobilisation and the beginning of our thrust into the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology market," the firm said.
RAM Active Media, the media company specialising in pumping adverts and content to shopping centres and trains, has bagged a contract for the Stratford shopping centre in East London. The group's subsidiary, RAM Vision, has signed a capital sale and advertising sales contract with property owners CEPF Chariot and asset manager Catalyst Capital for the Stratford Centre, London. RAM Vision will source and install a large format landscape video screen within the Stratford Centre's main central square and manage a five-year contract for broadcasting advertising sales, scheduling and content. The Stratford Centre has recently benefited from a strong increase in custom and now accounts for an annual footfall in excess of 24m. The contract will deliver immediate revenue enhancement.
Targeted Internet advertising technology company Phorm has begun commercial activities in Turkey following a previously announced agreement with an Internet service provider (ISP) in the region. The company, which has been dogged by complaints from Internet privacy campaigners during its history, has installed its system within the network of Turkish ISP, TTNET, which has around six million Turkish broadband lines. The firm is in the process of sending opt-in invitations to TTNET's subscribers and said it has been "delighted" with the results, which are now above its expectations. Commercial activities have begun and it is now serving advertisements using its system.
Camco International, a global developer of clean energy projects and solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has appointed Jonathan Marren as Chief Financial Officer with immediate effect. Marren was most recently Deputy Head of Corporate Finance at Singer Capital Markets, prior to which he was at Peel Hunt between 2000 and 2010, where he was a Director in the Corporate Department with responsibility for their new energy and clean tech franchise. He acted as an advisor to Camco at both Singer Capital Markets and previously at Peel Hunt. Acting Chairman Jeff Kenna described Marren's experience as "extremely valuable".
Telit, a leading machine-to-machine wireless technology company, has said that it expects its unaudited revenues in the first half of 2012 to be around $99m, an increase of 22% over revenues in the same period the previous year ($81.1m). Net debt at June 30th is expected to be around $1.0m (December 31st 2011: net cash $0.5m). Earlier this year Telit launched its managed services, under which the company initiated pilots with more than 80 customers. The company estimates that the pilot customers alone represent a potential market of more than one million annual subscriptions. A number of the pilot customers have already become fully-fledged commercial customers, the firm said.
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