Profits warning

One of the companies to be given a licence under the deregulation of the postal service has warned annual profits would be about £4.5m below expectations.

The Slough, Berkshire-based Business Post Group said it was going to invest in buying leases on 31 franchised depots - which handle parcels and mail across the UK.

This would give it more control over the future of its franchises, it said.

As a result profits for the year to the end of March will now be about £9m.

Good game

Poker players attracted by the potential riches of the blackjack tables helped online gaming firm PartyGaming to beat market hopes for fourth-quarter revenues.

PartyGaming said 44 per cent of gamblers on its flagship PartyPoker.com website had played blackjack since it was introduced in October and this brought "a substantial and sustained impact on the profitability of the group".

Balding tests

A company working on a hair cloning treatment to tackle baldness says it was looking to raise £15m through a stock market flotation.

Proceeds from the proposed listing will enable Cambridge-based Intercytex to fund new tests on its ICX-TRC baldness treatment which is about to enter mid-stage clinical trials on patients and could be on the market by 2010.

Digital roll out

Photographic specialist Jessops has confirmed the roll out of a digital photo processing service to more than 200 stores across the UK.

The plan, which will offer up to seven processing kiosks and an in-store digital expert, comes after a successful trial in 16 sites.

Strong sales

Womenswear retailer Hobbs says it has started the year in confident mood after an 18.5 per cent increase in sales from September 1 to New Year's Eve.

The upmarket chain said it enjoyed "particularly strong" sales in November and December - up 27 per cent and 32 per cent like-for-like respectively.

No takeover

Gases giant BOC says that it rejected a £7.6bn bid approach from a German rival partly because it feared a takeover would be bogged down by regulatory concerns.

At the annual meeting of shareholders, chairman Rob Margetts said BOC would "inevitably" have suffered a period of uncertainty if it had backed the indicative offer from Linde.