News

Shares in Axis Intermodal were in demand after the transport equipment contract hire group said it has made further positive progress in the first five months of the year.

"UK market conditions have continued to improve and contract hire pricing remains very resilient," said executive chairman Robert Montague ahead of today's AGM.

"Our overall fleet of trucks and trailers has already increased by 40% and the number of new business prospects remains healthy," he added.

Mobile software developer i-mate rallied on news that it plans to offer its mobile devices to customers throughout Asia from Sept 2007.

Earlier this month, i-mate's shares plunged after it said problems experienced during the year resulted in an extremely disappointing financial outturn.

Agricultural products manufacturer Wynnstay was also up after reporting a 39% rise in half-year pre-tax profits, adding that it is positive about the outcome for the current financial year.

Pre-tax profit rose to £1.96m from £1.41m last year on turnover up by 52.6% to £79.9m, thanks to the strong performance of Glasson Group.

The group said, however, that rising costs across many of its activities and pressure on milk producers continues.

Interim dividend rose by 7.1% to 1.875p per share.

Southern Europe and North Africa focused oil explorer MedOil saw pre-tax losses widen but said it is confident of adding value in the short to medium term.

Pre-tax losses rose to £233,079 for the six month to 31 March from £176,257 last year, reflecting MedOil's continuing building activities.

"The main focus has been completing the 3D seismic survey at the company's Louza Permit in Tunisia while continuing to identify and pursue new opportunities in the Mediterranean region," said chairman John Lander.

No dividend is proposed for the period.