Business news in brief: Premier Oil | Wow Stuff | Maven | Jessops | Babcock

SHARES in Premier Oil jumped more than 7 per cent yesterday after it said it had made an “encouraging” discovery at the Carnaby well, which is part of the giant Catcher oil field in the North Sea.

The group, which has a 50 per cent stake in the well, saw its shares close up 24.2p at 353.2p after the news. Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy, which has a 15 per cent stake in the well, closed 13.8p higher at 289.7p, an increase of 5 per cent.

Flying fish firm bites counterfeits

A TOY company founded by a pair of Scots entrepreneurs has launched legal action against 16 firms over counterfeiting claims.

Wow Stuff has the European rights to Air Swimmers, a range of remote-controlled flying fish. The firm – launched by Kenny McAndrew from Fife and Graeme Taylor from Aberdeen – believes it is suffering from “one of the biggest global counterfeiting operations against a single product”.

Maven exit deemed a profitable one

MAVEN Capital Partners, the Glasgow-based private equity firm, has sold Birmingham-based railway carriage engineering firm Transys Project to German outfit Vossloh Kiepe.

Although Maven, which backed a management buyout at Transys in 2002, refused to reveal the sale price, it claimed it was a “profitable exit” that boosted the value of its venture capital trust by 6.9 per cent.

Jessops turnaround continues to click

CAMERA retailer Jessops yesterday posted a jump in profits to £5.7 million in 2011 from £4m in 2010 as HSBC continues to turn around the high street stalwart.

The bank took a 47 per cent stake in the business in 2009 through a debt-for-equity swap, with the government’s Pension Protection Fund and Jessop’s management holding the remaining shares. Sales rose by 3 per cent in 2011 to £236.8m.

Babcock set to join shares top 100

ENGINEERING support services group Babcock International will join the FTSE 100 index following its latest reshuffle, it was confirmed last night.

As part of the rebalance, Man Group will leave the top blue-chip index and enter the FTSE 250. Meanwhile, a number of firms, including Edinburgh-based logistics outfit John Menzies and fashion business Ted Baker, are poised to enter the FTSE 250 index.