Star rises on takeover talk

Star Energy was in focus on Tuesday as traders reflected on recent stake-building news. On Monday, Petronas, the state oil company of Malaysia, lifted its stake in the company to 29 per cent. Traders believe Petronas increased its holding because it was worried that Star could receive a takeover approach.

European oil companies, including ENI of Italy, France’s Total and Norway’s Statoil, are believed to be interested in Star. The company’s primary business is storing gas in giant underground reservoirs, such as Humbly Grove in Hampshire, but it is also one of the UK’s largest onshore oil producers, operating 26 oil and gas fields, including Welton in the East Midlands. Star closed at 252¾p, up 0.2 per cent.

Cambrian Mining firmed 2.5 per cent to 101p amid speculation that the diversified mining company was set to announce a strategic review that could lead to it being broken up. Cambrian owns a diverse portfolio of energy-based assets that includes coal, iron ore, base and precious metals.

Better-than-expected full-year figures from St Ives helped the printing group gain 10.8 per cent to 237¾p.

Umbro, the sports apparel group, rose 4.4 per cent to 125½p on continued stake-building by Sports Direct International, which raised its holding to 15.04 per cent.

Amazing Holdings was flat at 231p in spite of talk that it was close to winning approval for its plan to build a luxury hotel and casino resort in the Penghu Islands, Taiwan.

After a 10 per cent fall in the previous session, Detica rallied 5.8 per cent to 317p. Kaupthing analysts said they had spoken with Tom Black, chief executive of the business and technology consultancy, who was unaware of any reason for Monday’s weakness.

SPI Lasers, the developer of optical fibre-based lasers, slumped 26.5 per cent to 62½p as it completed a fund raising at a sharp discount to its current share price.