Business in brief: FSA | Omega | Cecil Jacobs | I–Design

THE City watchdog has said that 19.8 per cent of merger announcements last year were preceded by unusual share price movements.

However, in its final report before being wound up next year, the Financial Services Authority said the number of unexplained moves, seen as a possible sign of insider trading, was the lowest since 2003.

Omega kit to speed up Aids testing

LIFE sciences firm Omega Diagnostics yesterday signed a deal with the Burnet Institute in Melbourne, Australia to develop testing kits for Aids and syphilis.

Alva-based Omega said current tests for both diseases need to be carried out in centralised laboratories, whereas the kits now being developed could be used in the field, speeding up diagnosis.

Shutters closing on Jacobs photo shops

The administrator of camera retailer Cecil Jacobs yesterday closed all but one of the company’s stores with the loss of 87 jobs.

PKF said 11 stores had closed, including branches in Edinburgh and Glasgow, leaving the firm with one outlet in Leicester. Jacobs went into administration on 1 June.

US contract pushes I–Design shares up

Shares in I-Design closed up nearly 20 per cent after the Dundee-based software house signed a deal with US cash machine operator First Data.

I-Design’s software allows banks to show adverts on their cash machines and, after the latest deal, the Scottish firm’s program will run on 28,000 machines, up from 21,500.