Shares in Aga Rangemaster rose more than 12 per cent after the cooker maker said it would reverse first-half losses to report a full-year profit.
The group, up 15p to 139p, said full-year orders were down 12 per cent on the prior year. Orders had been about 20 per cent lower in the first half but improving customer demand meant that its order book finished the year above where it was a year ago.
William McGrath, chief executive, said the recent cold weather highlighted the virtues of its products, with the bounce in its Rangemaster range particularly encouraging.
Elsewhere in the kitchen, Portmeirion, the tableware maker, also pleased investors by saying its full-year results would be better than expected. The Stoke-on-Trent group said its Royal Worcester and Spode ranges, which it bought last April, were making a bigger contribution to group sales than it initially anticipated. The shares rose 22½p to 352½p.
London Capital lost 10½p to 135¾p despite signing a three-year contract with PartyGaming, down 1¼p to 260¾p, to provide a spread-betting platform.
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Dialight, which makes parts for traffic lights, rose 12p to 239¾p after raising its full-year earnings guidance for a second time.
Circle Oil gained ½p to 34¾p after the oil and gas explorer said its KSR-8 well in Morocco had started extended test production.
Empyrean Energy slumped 2p to 11¾p after it suspended operations at its Kowalik-1H well in the US.
Braemar Shipping Services rose 8p to 421p after it issued an upbeat trading update, saying that the dry bulk market had been stronger than expected last year amid big demand from China for raw materials.