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Tricorn, which develops pipe solutions, said half year results will be in line or ahead of the corresponding period and in line with expectations for the full year.

The group said Malvern Tubular Components has seen record levels of demand through the first half, which has more than offset the weaker market conditions of Redman Fittings. At Maxpower Automotive, sales have been slightly ahead of expectations.

Irish builder CRH has scrapped the scrip dividend for the six months ended 30 June after the value of the shares fell way below the scrip dividend offer price of €18.37.

As the firm's Articles of Association prohibit the resetting of the scrip price, the interim dividend of 20.5 cents a share, announced at the end of August, will now be paid wholly in cash.

The scrip dividend allows shareholders to take their dividends in the form of shares rather than cash. CRH said it planned to continue offering the scrip alternative.

Drug delivery specialist Biocompatibles expect full year revenue in the range £15m to £17m. The mid point represents growth of 76% on 2007 and is in line with previous expectations. The group added it expects the share premium account to be cancelled by the end of October and to pay its first dividend of £2.0m, or approximately 5p per share, in May 2009.

Early stage tech company investor Amphion Innovations' DataTern subsidiary has agreed a non-exclusive license of its key ObjectSpark database patents to VISA Inc. and VISA USA. DataTern is wholly owned by Amphion and was established in order to commercialise the intellectual property within Amphion's Partner Companies.

A US court has dismissed a lawsuit against Vane Minerals seeking to stop the miner's exploration drilling program in the Tusayan Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest.

The Forest Service, which approved Vane's drilling program, will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the level of environmental impact of exploratory drilling in the area following opposition from three environmental groups. A draft of the EIS is due next March ahead of the final EIS and decision scheduled for December 2009.

Shares in Molins fell after the engineering firm said underlying performance is unlikely to reach the levels of last year.

"Despite the deteriorating economic conditions, the Group still expects to produce a much stronger second half of the year than first half, but underlying performance is unlikely to reach the levels of last year," it said.

The financial position of the group is broadly comparable with that at 30 June 2008, it said.