Hot small caps - Sinclair Pharma soars on approach

LONDON (Reuters) - Following is a round-up of key small cap movers on the London stock market on Thursday.

12:15 p.m. - Sinclair Pharma soars on approach

Shares in Sinclair Pharma (SPH.L) soar 30 percent to 65.5 pence as the pharmaceutical firm says it has received an approach which may lead to an offer for the company. It also says it is in talks with another third party about a strategic opportunity.

One analyst, who did not want to be named, says that with the company trading at close to one-times sales an approach comes as no surprise. "Any of the big dermatological companies would be interested in the company's product portfolio," the analyst says, adding that a price of three times sales would not be unreasonable

11:38 a.m. - Fiberweb jumps on first-half pretax profit

Shares of non-woven fabric maker Fiberweb Plc (FWEB.L) jump 21 percent to 4175 pence as cost cutting helps it to a first-half pretax profit and it says it is expecting progress in its turnaround for the full year.

"This is an encouraging result and outlook although we make no changes to our 2008 pretax profit and earnings per share targets," Royal Bank of Scotland analyst Phil Lindsay says. "With the price-earnings ratio at 9.2 times and dividend yield at 12 percent, we see scope to turn more positive on Fiberweb

... and move to Add from Hold."