Market Report

Security & General Media, a printer, slumped 22p to 27.5p. A trading report saying losses were higher than expected did the damage. The struggling loss maker was revamped last year after Philip Davies, who runs the Warm Welcome hotels and pubs group, and John Gulliver, an American lawyer, moved in.

Landround, a promotions group, jumped 31p to 225p, a peak. Last week it reported interim profits up 250 per cent to pounds 405,000. Audrey Carroll at stockbroker WH Ireland expects pounds 825,000 for the year and pounds 1.1m next. The group is thought to be on the verge of clinching a highly ambitious promotions deal.

WH Smith's surprise pounds 9.4m bid for internet bookseller Bookshop.Co. sent the Ofex shares soaring 165p to 250p. Another Ofex company, IMS Communications, an internet music retailer related to Bookshop, gained 17p to 82.5p.