Goliath beat David in a battle of brokers. Renesola, which makes solar cells out of old computers, climbed 55p to 449p after Merrill Lynch started coverage with “buy” advice. The Wall Street bank’s research eclipsed a downgrade from Ambrian, a boutique house, which had tipped the stock six weeks ago when it was below 200p.The China-based Renesola has been an AIM success since floating in August at 79p. The stock surged to record highs this week as management sold the story to American investors. That task was made easier by Merrill, which said that shares looked cheap at just over ten times forward earnings and could rise to 800p. Ambrian was less certain, moving to “hold” from “buy”. Profit prospects look bright, but the valuation looks stretched, given the company has yet to deliver on promises, Ambrian said.
ProStrakan jumped 12½p to 105½p after positive final-stage trial results for its lead project, a nausea-suppressing patch for chemotherapy patients, which should reach the market next year. Reneuron rose 4.88p to 19¾p on news that it had applied to the US drugs regulator to start testing its pioneering stem-cell stroke treatment. Gasol added 1¼p to 7½p after forming a joint venture with Sociedad Nacional de Gas to develop natural gas projects in Equatorial Guinea.
Redline, a maker of WiMax internet equipment, rose to 108½p on its market debut after an institutional placing at 100p apiece. The Canadian group had been aiming to raise £40 million to grow its footprint but settled for only £13 million.
Chariot UK, the company behind the Monday lottery flop, sank 0.23p to 0.52p after giving warning that it may wind down if it cannot sell assets or attract investments. Shares have dropped 99.8 per cent since April.