LONDON (ShareCast) - Drug developer Phytopharm narrowed half year losses and said it expects to submit its Hoodia extract for approval from the US Food and Drug Administration approval in late 2009.

Pre-tax losses came to £1.8m in the six month ended 31 March compared with a loss of £2.9m last time, while revenue fell to £1.4m from £1.6m previously.

Marketing and advertising agency Adventis said revenue and profit in the first four months of 2008 are slightly below expectations as a result of the poorer trading environment and investments made in the new operations, but higher than in the same period last year.

Touch screen manufacturer Zytronic saw pre-tax profits rise 45% to £666,000 on sales that increased to £6.99m from £5.96m before. Interim dividends were maintained at 1p per share. The group said it is confident in future growth in sales and profitability.

Antrim Energy is raising $100m through the issue of senior unsecured convertible debentures. Agents for the private placement are Wellington West Capital and RBC Capital Markets. Antrim plans to use the net proceeds from this financing to fund its appraisal and development projects and for corporate working capital. Final terms for the debentures will be set on 29 May.

Shares in Angel Biotechnology gained more than 10% after the Edinburgh-based bio-manufacturing company announced a contract to make stem cells for ReNeuron, a firm developing treatments for stroke sufferers.

“We believe this represents an endorsement of Angel's commitment to quality and service provision,” Angel’s chief operating officer Gordon Sherriff said.

“We look forward to further collaborations with ReNeuron in the future.”

Fire and rescue services support provider AssetCo said its strategy of concentrating on its core market was paying off as it more than doubled pre-tax profits on lower revenues.

Pre-tax profits in the year to 31 March climbed to £9.4m from £4.3m, while revenue slipped to £68.8m from £90.6m as the group gave up non core activities such as fleet management.

The company said trading in the first two months of this financial had been in line with expectations, helped by new contracts in the UK and the Middle East.

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