News

Gene therapy firm Oxford BioMedica said pre-tax losses narrowed to £17.74m in the year ended 31 December from £19.39m last time.

"In 2008, we will maintain our focused and financially prudent strategy for growth," said chief executive Alan Kingsman.

"Over the next 18 months, key clinical results are expected from trials of both TroVax and ProSavin, which could dramatically enhance the value of these programmes and could support the registration of our first therapeutic product," he added.

Indian media and entertainment company Eros International said it has tied-up with Wal-Mart to sell Bollywood DVD's through the retail giant's distribution network in Canada.

Eros did not comment on any financial details of the deal but said its DVDs will be available in 27 Wal-Mart stores in Canada to start with and will subsequently be extended to the entire Canadian Wal-Mart network.

Consumer products group Jourdan said the first six months were "reasonably satisfactory" and repeated its previous warning that poor conditions in the High Street were having a negative impact on its fireplace business Suncrest.

Suncrest has also lost a major customer, which has had a "substantial impact on sales." As previously flagged, the group is now in the process of talking to employees and trade unions in order to downsize the business in its Peterlee facility.

For the half-year, pre-tax profit before exceptionals rose to £928,000 from ££859,000 before on revenue that increased 14% to £16m. Including exceptionals, pre-tax profit increased 40% to £1.47m due to the £623,000 profit from the sale of the Andover factory.

Public sector support services specialist Parkwood Holdings said its revenues are running ahead of target and it has a bumper order book to tide it through 2008.

The group's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in 2007 rose to £7.9m from £51m in 2006, on revenues that grew from £95m to £108.1m.

Pre-tax profit after exceptional items eased to £2.5m from £2.53m, largely as a result of a contract provision made for the loss making and up for sale patient transport business of Parkwood Healthcare.

The order book grew by 29% to £532m.

The final dividend has been increased to 2.2p, taking the total for the year up to 3.2p, compared with 2.6p in 2006.

The group intends to focus on improving net margins and define its strategy for the years beyond 2009.