Morning news wrap: Shire, Standard Life, Balfour Beatty, Dana Petroleum, Thomas Cook

In the FTSE 100, pharmaceutical company Shire (LON:SHP) has agreed to divest Daytrana CII to Noven Pharmaceuticals. Daytrana, which is approved and marketed in the US for the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents, will continue to be available for patients through Noven.
Insurer Standard Life (LON:SL) said net flows jumped 71% in H1 2010, while IFRS operating profit before tax from continuing operations climbed 10% to £182 million.
In the FTSE 250, construction firm Balfour Beatty (LON:BBY) has signed a contract to deliver the second phase of a satellite building to support Heathrow Airport's new Terminal 2 - T2B for BAA and has reached financial close on the £230 million PPP street lighting contract for Coventry City Council. The company has also published its interim results, revealing revenues of £5.2 billion compared to £5.07 billion a year ago.

Oil and gas producer Dana Petroleum (LON:DNX) has announced that first gas production has successfully commenced from the Babbage field, located in block 48/2a some 80 kilometres off the UK coast in the Southern North Sea, where Dana holds a 40% interest.

Tour operator Thomas Cook (LON:TCG) said summer trading was broadly in line with capacity expectations and booked load factors in most of our segments are ahead or in line with last year, though there was “softness” in the UK market, which impacted margins. Total financial impact from Icelandic volcanic ash disruption is now estimated at £81.9 million by the company.
On AIM, energy investor Xtract Energy PLC (LON:XTR) has said that production from the Sarikiz-2 well in Turkey ceased due to the mechanical failure of certain components associated with the pump.  The pump was removed from the well pending replacement of these components.  Attempts are now being made to re-establish natural flow from Sarikiz-2 well.
Wind power firm SeaEnergy (LON:SEA) has signed an exclusivity agreement with Ampelmann, a high-tech offshore access solutions developer, to secure use of Ampelmann's ship-based self stabilizing platforms.
Iraq and Algeria operating Gulf Keystone Petroleum (LON:GKP) said testing on the Mus section of the Shaikan-1 discovery well in Kurdistan returned production rates of 1,250 bopd (barrels of oil per day).
Home credit and motor finance specialist S & U PLC (LON:SUS) said it was trading in line with market expectations in H1.

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