The Cross effect continues to boost Parkmead shares

SHARES in Parkmead, the company where Tom Cross is hoping to replicate the success he delivered for investors in Dana Petroleum, soared yesterday after a boardroom reshuffle.

Former Dana non-executives Philip Dayer, who has a background in corporate finance, and banker Ian Rawlinson have taken up similar board roles with Parkmead, replacing ex-energy minister Brian Wilson and Faysal Hamza, who will both continue to act as advisers for the company.

Shares rose to 13.25p, up 29.3 per cent on the day.

Investor frenzy over Parkmead's shares have seen them rise by more than 600 per cent since Cross's appointment as executive chairman at the company. His own stake in the company is now worth around 20m.

Cross turned an initial 1m investment in Dana into a 1.8 billion company when it was recently sold to South Korea's state oil firm and investors have piled in to Parkmead in the hope he will deliver similar dramatic success.

Meanwhile, shares in Aberdeenshire-based Xcite Energy rocketed again yesterday to reach record highs following positive news from its North Sea well. Shares rose above 400p following the news and eventually closed at 385p, up 19.6 per cent.

The company said a flow test on a well on the Bentley field in the North Sea had been successfully completed and that the results demonstrated the commercial viability of the field.

Richard Smith, chief executive, said: "This is an outstanding outcome for the Xcite team and for the industry contractors to deliver this successful well test on Bentley. This flow test fully demonstrates the commercial potential of the Bentley field and the long-held belief that Xcite has maintained in this major North Sea asset. We now move on to the first stage production planned for 2011 with an excellent platform."