The credit crunch is whispered to be about to claim another victim - the planned sale of Photo-Me International’s vending machine division.

The photo booth company, which is due to issue a trading update today, is understood to have shelved plans for the disposal after offers fell short of the £250 million it had sought for the division - £25 million more than Photo-Me’s stock market value. The virtual shutdown of the credit markets has also made it difficult for potential buyers to fund a purchase. Photo-Me, whose chairman and chief executive last month conceded to demands to step down, added ¾p to 63½p.

Neville Porter, the on-course betting firm named after its founding managing director, fell ½p to 1½p after an investor sold 400,000 shares at only 1¼p. It has been on the slide since a warning in June that it was running at a loss to fund internet expansion.

Absolute Capital Management fell 271½p to 118½p on the sudden departure of Florian Homm, its colourful co-founder. Ceres Power, the designer of a fuel cell boiler, added ¼p to 259p, despite Numis saying that it was “increasingly concerned” about its marketability and efficiency.

Macro 4 fell 21p to 173p after it unveiled falling sales of document management software. Prosperity Minerals, a cement-maker and iron ore trader in China, closed down 17p at 147½p, despite saying that it was on course to meet full-year targets. Play-wizewas the top small-cap performer, adding another 1p to 3½p after its software win with Ladbrokes.

Celtic Resources, the Kazakhstan-focused goldminer, rose 19½p to 222½p after receiving a takeover approach. European Goldfields, up 5½p to 262p, and Centamin, up ½p to 50p, are seen as the next potential targets. Hallin Marine, the provider of subsea services to oil and gas industry, jumped 8p to 96p to a record high on better-than-expected results and a $6.8 million (£3.4 million) contract win.

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