In an era when the oil price is rising at frightening speed and when energy costs are soaring, perhaps it is no surprise that investors have one eye on backing potentially lucrative alternatives. No time better than the present, then, for Ceramic Fuel Cells (CFCL), the designer and developer of a prototype domestic boiler fuel cell.

The AIM-listed company is thought to have attracted an institutional investor willing to take a stake in new shares, which should speed up CFCL’s move to production and commercial sales. The deal, if agreed, could come as early as next week. The news lifted the shares by ½p to 23¼p.

Silverjet, the business-class airline, rose 2½p to 17p after receiving a £50 million bailout from an investor in the United Arab Emirates. Those watching the sector believe that its business might be made sustainable if it is able to roll out new routes from Dubai, using it as a hub, rather than the single Luton to Dubai route that it has at present.

Desire Petroleum, which is exploring north of the Falkland Islands, rose 1p to 91¼p even though its final results failed to identify the significant exploration company partner that will fund drilling on three of its prospects and revealed that it had still not secured a drilling rig. Daniel Stewart reiterated its “sell” recommendation and 20p price target.

Corvus Capital, Andrew Regan’s bombed out investment firm whose net asset value is around 13p a share, rose ¼p to 2.625p on massive volume amid talk that an institutional backer was buying a stake. SkyePharma rose 0.53p to 10p after the Phase III trial of its Flutiform drug for asthma met its targets, bringing it a step closer to applying for US regulatory approval.

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