In brief: Broca’s share rise falters; Work Group on target; Tenon strong, and more…

BROCA Group’s share surge faltered this morning, a day after it revealed it was in takeover talks.

The AIM-listed mobile messaging specialist, which demerged from 2ergo Group in March 2007, saw its shares rise 7% to 22p in early trading but they have since dropped back to 15p.  

The value of shares rocketed by 124% yesterday following a statement to the stock exchange regarding a possible takeover.

It said: “The board of Broca, in the light of the recent share price movement, would like to confirm that the company is in discussions which may or may not lead to an offer being made.”

Broca’s market value is around £7.6m. Late last month the company said it would need a funding injection by March after revealing “significant slippage” in signing new commercial deals. 

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AIM-listed accountancy firm Tenon, which has expanded rapidly in the North West in the last two years, said today it was seeing strong demand for its insolvency services.

In a trading update Tenon said it has continued to trade in line with expectations and that “prospects remain encouraging”, despite the downturn.

“Excellent growth has been generated in our recovery and related service lines. We expect the phasing of the downturn in the economy to continue to benefit these services and compensate for the effects upon parts of our corporate finance and financial services activities,” a statement said.

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DESPITE facing increasing challenges the Work Group said it expects to post full year figures in line with expectations.

In a trading statement ahead of the marketing services firm’s annual figures chairman Simon Howard remarked on the “extraordinary” nature of 2008.

In November the group was forced to cut staff and issue a profit warning after like-for-like fee income slumped 11% in the third quarter.

But Mr Howard said the business, which owns Manchester headhunter Armstrong Craven, was now on target to hit revised forecasts and was in a strong cash position. Work Group is due to publish its full year figures on March 25.

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THE flight from equities by North West investors continues with almost a quarter of them moving savings into more cautious investments.

A report by Lloyds TSB Wealth Management found that 23 per cent of investors in the region have take refuge in cash or bonds over the last six months.

However, after a sharp drop in the average amount invested in equities in the first six months of the year from £48,700 in November 2007 to £27,400 in July 2008.