Vernalis plc (LON:VER) shares fell 0.12% to 4.25p in early afternoon trading as the pharmaceutical company put itself up for sale and began winding down its US operations.
The AIM-listed firm announced that as part of the strategic review, it has decided to seek offers for the company and will begin to wind down its US commercial business with immediate effect.
In the period through to the end of September, Vernalis will explore options for the continued commercialisation of its cough and cold drug Tuzistra XR.
The company also announced that chief executive Ian Garland and chief financial officer David Mackney will step down from their roles after disposing of the US operations in September.
Elsewhere, African Battery Metals (LON:ABM) shares jumped 15% to 0.06p as the exploration company said it expects to "significantly advance" their exploration activities in battery metals, especially cobalt, in 2018.
Roger Murphy, chief executive, said: "Cobalt is integral to the make-up of the batteries and the strong global drive to move away from internal combustion engines and to replace these with electric vehicles powered by batteries is underway and will not be derailed."
And Spirax-Sarco Engineering PLC (LON:SPX) shares rose 6% to 6.090p as the valves specialist predicted a boost in 2018 if the current oil price rally continues.
The FTSE 250-listed firm said oil equipment markets have been depressed for years but crude prices recently topped US$65 per barrel and if sustained, the recent improvement would provide growth opportunities.
That might mean more acquisitions to follow last year's spend of ?484mln, said Nicholas Anderson, chief executive.
Computacenter PLC (LON:CCC) shares rose 5.63% to 1.126p in lunchtime trading as UBS upgraded IT group's investment rating to 'buy' from 'neutral' and price target to 1.230p from 1.150p.
The FTSE 250 listed firm shares dropped on Tuesday after its 2017 financial results despite revealing improved revenue and adjusted earnings.
In a note to clients, analysts at the investment bank UBS said that shares over-reacted on the financial results, due to concerns on sales and profit growth in 2018.
They said: "While management intended to message that it is more confident in the prospects for 2018 now than it was at the start of the year, in our view this message was lost."
Meanwhile, Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO) shares jumped 3.09% to 216.8p as JP Morgan Cazenove recommended investors buy shares in supermarket giant for the first time in five years.
JP Morgan Cazenove previously had no rating for Tesco as it was Booker's corporate broker; prior to Tesco's bid for Booker, Cazenove had an 'underweight' rating and 135p price target for Tesco.
The Booker acquisition is transformational for Tesco, according to Cazenove, not least because it brings Charles Wilson on board as boss of Tesco's retail and wholesale operations in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
"We see Tesco as a visible turnaround with moving parts (eg, new management, access to new markets, synergies, cost savings, legacy assets)," the broker said.
And Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON:LLOY) shares increased 0.3% to 66.88p as Barclays Capital's analysts said they had initiated coverage on the bank with an 'overweight' rating and a 90p price target.
In a note to clients, the analysts also said Lloyds has become BarCap's new European banks sector top pick, replacing Banco Santander.
The Autins Group PLC (LON:AUTG) shares fell 13.7% at 94.0p after the firm announced that, chief executive, Michael Jennings gave notice yesterday of his intention to resign.
The AIM-listed firm, which counts Jaguar Land Rover and Bentley as customers, said Jennings will continue as chief executive during his notice period of up to 12 months in order to ensure the continued smooth running and orderly handover of the business.
The company said that Jennings has been approached by the new private equity owners of Hydro International Limited to re-join that company as its chief executive, having previously held this position prior to joining Autins.
Elsewhere, Interquest Group shares dropped 13.6% to 19.0p as the IT recruitment business reported a loss in revenue in 2017, due to reduction in contractor numbers in ECOM Recruitment Limited and certain practices within Enterprise.
The AIM-listed company reported a 25% decrease in adjusted operating profit to ?2.7mln in 2017 from ?3.6mln a year before. Revenue decreased 5% to ?136.0mln from 143.6mln.
Interquest said these results were in line with market expectations after a year of significant change, but slightly behind the board's expectations.
In a separate statement, the company announced the conditional acquisition of Albany Beck Consulting, by issuing 13.3% of the ordinary shares to the relevant shareholders of Albany Beck.
PZ Cussons (LON:PZC) shares slumped 15.5% to 233.8p as the soap and personal care products giant warned that trading has worsened and profits will miss annual targets.
The FTSE 250-listed firm said for the full year to May, profits will be ?80mln- ?85mln, down from ?103.5mln a year ago.
The Imperial Leather, St Tropez and Carex brands owner said that problems were centred on the UK and Nigeria. UK sales of established bathing and washing products have fallen as consumer confidence has weakened. New products have sold well but not by enough to make up for the shortfall.
Nature Group Plc (LON:NGR) was one of the markets biggest gainers in early morning trading, as its shares soared 28% higher to 3.65p after the firm revealed it has now received "indications of interest" from a number of parties on a possible acquisition of certain of its Maritime operations, as well as further interest in its Oil & Gas business.
The AIM-listed port reception facilities and waste treatment firm announced in a trading update last week that it was in advanced discussions with a preferred bidder for Nature Oil & Gas Holding having reached agreement on indicative terms and pricing.
Today the group said it plans to progress early-stage discussions based on the indications of interest alongside the existing proposed oil & gas subsidiary sale talks, although it added there is no certainty that any transaction will be concluded.
Meanwhile Velocys PLC (LON:VLS) shares added 4.8% at 14.3p as the renewable fuel company announced the verification of its Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs).
The AIM-listed firm said that the RINs produced at ENVIA Energy's Oklahoma plant have been verified by Weaver, an independent third party auditor, under the Quality Assurance Program approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
David Pummell, the group's CEO said: "This is a significant landmark for ENVIA and represents a further validation step for Velocys' strategy to build biorefineries that convert woody biomass to renewable fuels."
And Synairgen plc (LON:SNG) shares rose 5.5% to 14.5p as the developer of respiratory drugs said it had "ended 2017 in a strong position."
Posting full-year results, the AIM-listed firm reported revenues of ?5.03mln for the 12 months to December 31 2017, giving a profit from operations of ?1.62mln.
Synairgen said its research and development costs were just over ?2mln, down around ?400,000 on the year earlier.
Vast Resources PLC (LON:VAST) told investors that it continues to "make good progress" with Mercuria Energy Trading to close the proposed US$9.5mln pre-payment off-take agreement. The company confirmed that it has now issued 565mln share warrants, in accordance with the approvals granted at last month's shareholder meeting.
Amryt Pharma PLC (LON:AMY) has licensed a non-viral gene therapy platform technology with potential applicability across a range of genetic diseases, including epidermolysis-bullosa (EB). The technology has been licensed from University College Dublin and involves the delivery of gene therapy using high branched poly (??-amino ester) polymer technology.
MySQUAR Limited (LON:MYSQ) has announced the release of its new strategy card mobile game, Wushu King, which focuses on elements of both Chinese and Myanmar folklore.
Redx Pharma Plc (LON:REDX) has announced that its abstract has been accepted for presentation as a poster at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual meeting in Chicago in April.
Midatech Pharma Plc (LON:MTPH, NASDAQ:MTP), the pharmaceutical company focused on oncology and immunotherapy, said Dr Jim Phillips, is to step down as chief executive officer. He will be succeeded by COO, Dr Craig Cook.
Sareum Holdings Plc said a partner developing its lead drug candidate will provide a poster presentation at a top cancer conference taking place next month. Sierra Oncology will outline late-breaking preclinical results for SRA737 at the American Association of Cancer Research in Chicago.
Scotgold Resources Limited (LON:SGZ) has agreed to sell its French business, which owns the French exploration licence. The conditional sale would see Scotgold receive ?,?100,000 as an initial cash payment, along with up to ?,?900,000 of potential deferred cash payments.
African Battery Metals PLC (LON:ABM) posted a higher loss in 2017 as it switched its focus to cobalt in the DRC from gold exploration in Sierra Leone. Roger Murphy, chief executive, said: "In 2018, we expect to significantly advance our exploration activities in battery metals, especially cobalt. Big Pic on Tuesday.
Diversified Gas & Oil plc (LON:DGOC) has landed a US$500mln credit facility which is intended to fund the ambitious oiler as it acquires a large portfolio of assets in the United States. Earlier this month it closed the acquisition of Alliance Petroleum, adding 13,000 wells (addressing some 49mln barrels of reserves) in a deal worth US$95mln and it is approaching a close for a separate US$85mln acquisition which will deliver 11,000 wells (addressing 69mln barrels).