Northacre jumped after disclosing that it was in takeover talks — a statement that the London housing developer is thought not to have wanted to make.

Shares in Northacre, which have risen from 17½p in December, reached 47¼p yesterday, soaring 12¼p after the Takeover Panel made contact to ask whether a statement was required. That came at a time when the company, which is 48 per cent owned by two of its directors, was scouting around options to raise capital — talks that led to two separate financial institutions to moot that the group could be taken private.

Northacre was understood to have considered that recent share gains were more to do with optimism about its prospects, particularly as buyout talks were at an extremely early stage. However, it decided that full disclosure would be the safest policy.

A profit warning sent William Ransom, the healthcare group, down 9p to 42p. A stock backlog was taking longer than expected to clear after a Middle East agent was too ambitious with sales projections.

Contract news lifted Lo-Q, which makes a beeper system allowing theme park visitors to stand in virtual queues. Its shares rose 2½p to 30½p after it agreed a three-year deal with Dollywood in Tennessee.

Aurum Mining rose 7p to 124½p after raising £100 million for construction at its gold prospect in the Kyrgyz Republic. A share placing through Arbuthnot was said to have drawn investment from about 30 funds.

LPA Group, a maker of electrical systems for the railway industry, rose 8½p to 41½p after reporting strong trading at its annual meeting. Some dealers viewed the statement as a bid defence, LPA having rejected a 25p-a-share tender offer last year from Andrew Perloff, a shareholder, who is said to be keen on turning its Saffron Walden headquarters into housing.

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