LONDON (ShareCast) - Diagnostics supplier Axis-Shield has risen following yesterday’s full year figures in which it announced a maiden dividend of 1p a share.

Revenues increased by 5% to £101.7m in 2010, while the underlying profit dipped from £8.1m to £7.1m because of the cost of commercialising the Afinion point-of-care system.

Axis-Shield “believes that the increasing size, financial strength and operating performance of the business is such to allow it to initiate a dividend payment”. The plan is to pay one dividend each year.

Shares in scar treatments developer Renovo have fallen after RA Capital Management sold its 10m shares in the company.

Most of the stake appears to have been bought by Gartmore, whose stake has increased to 25.1%. Gartmore has been mopping up shares in the past month.

Having examined the results of the Juvista trial, Renovo has conceded that the efficacy of the treatment is insufficient to demonstrate significant benefit when tested in a broad population of scar revision patients, and has stopped all development work on the product.

In order to conserve cash, the company has put more than 100 members of its staff on notice that they are at risk of redundancy and the board will be reduced in size.

Renovo is halting recruitment to the ongoing trial of Adaprev, its flexor tendons repair device, at the current 32 out of the originally planned 44 patients. The fully recruited Prevascar proof of concept clinical trial in incisions and excisions of skin in African volunteers will continue.

Renovo had around £44m in cash at the end of February and it is considering selling its remaining intellectual property and products. Panmure Gordon reckons that if the company were liquidated it will cost up to £7m and Renovo would be worth 19p-21p a share. There could be additional value from IP sales.


FTSE TechMARK - Risers
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 5.80p +4.41%
E2V Technologies (E2V) 100.00p +3.09%
Torotrak (TRK) 30.75p +2.50%
Corin Group (CRG) 44.50p +2.30%
Antisoma (ASM) 2.45p +2.08%
Vectura Group (VEC) 61.00p +1.67%
Axis-Shield (ASD) 315.00p +1.61%
Sinclair Pharma (SPH) 35.00p +1.45%
Anite (AIE) 62.75p +1.21%


FTSE TechMARK - Fallers
Asterand (ATD) 14.00p -8.20%
RM (RM.) 150.00p -4.61%
AEA Technology Group (AAT) 3.90p -4.29%
Aveva Group (AVV) 1,528.00p -3.23%
Electronic Data Processing (EDP) 48.50p -3.00%
Promethean World (PRW) 59.00p -2.88%
Kofax (KFX) 476.50p -2.66%
Renishaw (RSW) 1,525.00p -2.06%
Renovo Group (RNVO) 14.50p -1.69%
Optos (OPTS) 196.00p -1.01%

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