The Morning News Update with Experian, IP Group and Coms

FTSE 100

Imperial Tobacco (IMT) – confirms it is in discussions with Reynolds and Lorillard to evaluate a possible acquisition of certain assets and brands owned by Reynolds and Lorillard.

Experian (EXP) –  For Q1, total revenue growth was 4%, total revenue growth at constant exchange rates was 3% and organic revenue was unchanged year-on-year.

FTSE 250

IP Group (IPO) – portfolio company Ceres Power, a developer of low cost, next generation fuel cell technology for use in distributed generation and other applications, intends to raise approximately £20 million (approximately £19.6 million net of expenses) by way of an oversubscribed placing at 8.5 pence per share.

Synthomer (SYNT) – the result of weaker margins in the nitrile business and adverse currency translation means that full year profit before tax is expected to be broadly in-line with the level achieved in 2013.

Small Caps

Ilika (IKA) – has entered into a proof of concept contract with a global OEM for solid state batteries in Wireless Sensor Network applications. This six month project, with an existing European headquartered customer, takes the level of committed revenue for the current financial year to in excess of £600k, which is significantly ahead of £215k committed revenue at the same point last year.

EMIS Group (EMIS) – Trading for the first half was in line with management expectations with continued organic growth in revenues and profits.

Thalassa Holdings (THAL) – has experienced good trading in the year to date and continues to experience healthy levels of order enquiry. Remains confident it will deliver another satisfactory performance for the year ending 31st December 2014.

Coms (COMS) – trading across all of the group’s business has been encouraging and remains confident that the company is on track to meet market expectations for the current financial year.