Beyond the Footsie: Friday close
FORMER control systems group
Brancote Holdings added 26 1/2p to 178p after revealing it has received an approach from another company which may lead to an offer.
Geared Income Investment Trust led the fallers after revealing it has been unable to raise further capital, sparking a sell-off of its peers. Geared Income lost 2p at 1 3/4p, while its split capital fund, Geared parts fell 9 1/2p to 1 3/4p and its zero dividend preference shares were 6 3/4p off at 1 3/4p
Geared Income said that it has been informed by the Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB that they have no present intention of demanding immediate repayment of the loans, given that it remains in default under the terms of its facility agreements.
A raft of fellow investment trusts weakened in sympathy: Enhanced Zero Trust halved to 5p, Income and Growth Trust lost 4p at 6 1/2p, BFS Income & Trust shed 2 1/2p to 7p and LeggMason was 2p lower at 10 1/2p.
Biotech minnows Biocompatibles and British Biotech suffered after announcing that a six month pre-clinical study on a key treatment showed no evident benefit to patients. Biocompatibles lost 73 1/2p to 74p, while British Biotech was down 2p to 12 3/4p.
Elsewhere, Goshawk Insurance was down 19p at 76 1/2p after the Lloyd's insurer said it is increasing its World Trade Centre liabilities to £11m from £8.2m as well as making provisions of a further £11.5m related to other events.
The FTSE Smaller Cap Index closed up 1 point at 2533.6.
