The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers among London Main Market small-caps on Wednesday.
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SMALL-CAP - WINNERS
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Oxford BioMedica PLC, up 13% at 274.00 pence, 12-month range 236.50-575p. The cell and gene therapy company enters exclusive negotiations with Institut Meriueux SA for Oxford BioMedica to buy ABL Europe, a pure-play European contract development and manufacturing organization. ABL has ‘specialised expertise’ in developing and making solutions for biotechs and biopharma, including gene therapy, oncolytic viruses and vaccine candidates. The acquisition would be for €15 million in Oxford BioMedica shares at an issue price of no less than 407.4p per share. The €15 million includes the value of €10 million of pre-completion cash funding from Institut Merieux, with the French firm committing a further €20 million in future funding in exchange for more shares in Oxford Biomedica. Also announces interim results. Revenue falls to £43.1 million from £64.0 million a year before, and pretax loss widens to £52.3 million from £27.4 million.
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MJ Gleeson PLC, up 4.1% at 407.00p, 12-month range 331.00p-499.00p. The Sheffield-based low-cost housebuilder and land promoter’s shares rise amid a strong performance in the housebuilder sector. UK headline inflation cooled unexpectedly in August, data on Wednesday shows. As a result, equity investors price in further cuts to borrowing costs, after mortgage rates have fallen in recent weeks. Elevated mortgage costs have damped consumer demand and hampered progress among the UK’s housebuilders in recent months. Among large-cap housebuilders, Barratt Developments PLC is up 4.3%, Persimmon PLC up 4.2% and Berkeley Group Holdings PLC up 3.2%.
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SMALL-CAP - LOSERS
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SIG PLC, down 4.3% at 34.80p, 12-month range 27.00p-45.38p. Shares in the insulation, roofing, commercial interiors and construction products supplier fall, but are up 10% over the past month. In the year-to-date, the stock is up 19%. Back in August, SIG had reported a difficult first half of 2023, as pretax profit plunged 53% year-on-year amid difficult market conditions.
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