Market Report: Taking Stock

Boustead, suspended when it became a cash shell, is on its way back to market.

Diamond Ace, a Hong Kong company, has acquired a 61.9 per cent stake and will make a mandatory bid at 20.65p a share. Boustead, in turn, is paying pounds 13.5m for Sunlink, a Diamond associate, involved in civil engineering. Its current year profits should approach pounds 2m.

LotteryKing, one of the AIM companies to fall well short of profit expectations, is striving to redeem itself.

Profits were pounds 4,000 against hopes of pounds 850,000.

A pubs lottery, withdrawn after the Gaming Board questioned its legality, did the damage.

Its clubs lottery operation is going well and, with two directors not drawing pay, a sharp recovery is expected. The shares are 1.75p.