Shares in Dominion Petroleum lost a third of their value after the AIM-listed oil and gas explorer said that it had abandoned its Mihambia-1 well in Tanzania after failing to find oil.

Investors had expected positive results from the well, but, as Seymour Pierce pointed out to clients, with a success factor of only 20 per cent, it was always fairly risky. The broker also noted that all costs on the well were met by Maurel & Prom, the partner. A second exploration well on the licence will be drilled this year. The shares fell 3¾p to 7¼p.

Local Radio Company’s shares halved, falling 1p to 1p, after the commercial radio group reported a full-year pretax loss of £5.6 million because of a slowdown in advertising spending and said that it needed to raise £1.5 million to avoid insolvency.

Robert Walters fell 2p to 83p and SThree lost 11p to close at 164¾p after both recruitment groups updated investors on the dire state of the jobs market.

Shares in PipeHawk, a landmine detection specialist, soared 1¼p to 3¼p after it said that its QM Systems division had been awarded two contracts worth “several hundred thousand pounds” by a UK-based premium car-maker for a new vehicle power supply and charging system. The deal fits the group’s strategy of diversifying its business into new markets.

LonZim, the Zimbabwe-focused investment group, fell 1p to 30p after reporting a £1.2 million loss for the ten months to August 31 as its shares returned to trading. The shares were suspended last week after it emerged that the group had been buying shares in Lonrho, up 0.62p to 4.3p, its majority shareholder, with which it shares several directors. The company has appointed Beaumont Cornish as its new adviser after Collins Stewart resigned.

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