Rank rose another 3p to 242p on break-up bid talk while buns-to-guns conglomerate Tomkins climbed

Rank rose another 3p to 242p on break-up bid talk, while buns-to-guns conglomerate Tomkins climbed 16p to 249p amid rehashed takeover hopes.Fashion retailer Matalan stretched 30p higher to an all-time peak of 872.5p on hopes of buoyant trading, while jeweller Signet sparkled 2p up to 53.25p after a good first quarter.Sterling's strength hammered chemical groups Croda, down 9.5p to 289p, Laporte, 13p off at 738.5p, British Vita, 4 lower at 242.5p and BTP, 9p down at 402.5p ahead of next week's results.Chip-maker ARM Holdings lost 30p to 567.5p after a heavy US sell-off of technological stocks.The tiny bookie Surrey Group pocketed a 0.25p win to 1.50p on hopes of an imminent Internet link-up. Racetrack owners Arena Leisure galloped 3p ahead to 21.5p after the pounds 16m buy of rival RAM Racing. Hotels group Queens Moat firmed 1.75p to 31.25p in heavy volume on vague hopes of corporate action.Profit warnings hit management consultant Proudfoot, down 2.75p to 20p, and electronics group Roxspur, 2.5p lower at 26.5p. TV company West 175 shed 6p to 117.5p despite confirmation of a management contract for a New Zealand regional channel.SEAQ VOLUME: 996.5mSEAQ TRADES: 65,722GILTS INDEX: 106.36 -0.16INFOBANK, a developer of electronic commerce software, could soon produce some good news.The shares, which topped 312p last year, logged on a 1.5p rise to 101.5p yesterday amid talk of deals with major credit card groups. The company recently signed a strategic agreement with Visa and is in talks with other providers of plastic credit.The deals would enable Infobank to sell its e-commerce kit to the credit card operators' clients.THE MEDICAL equipment minnow Advanced Medical Solutions could be active over the next few months.Several healthcare groups are believed to be interested in licensing AMS' wound-healing products. Some of the medicines are already distributed by Boots and partners could include the US Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson, and UK group Smith & Nephew AMS shares closed unchanged at 30p yesterday.. FIRST-QUARTER profits at Signet jumped pounds 6.7m to pounds 9.5m before tax, boosted by Americans buying Valentine's Day gifts, the jewellers group said yesterday.

But sales at Signet's 610 H Samuel and Ernest Jones outlets in the UK fell pounds 1m to pounds 68.2m and losses deepened from pounds 1m in the first quarter last year to pounds 2.6m. The group, which generates most of its business in the US, saw off a break-up attempt earlier this year from the US fund manager Resurgence Asset Management, which wanted a partial sale of the group's US business, claiming the value of the US arm was not reflected in Signet's share price because of difficult UK trading.Yesterday Signet said this had not been taken forward and it has no plans to sell its US business.The group's pre-tax profit for the 13 weeks to 1 May was pounds 9.5m, up from pounds 2.8m for the same period the previous year, on sales of pounds 224m.The US accounted for pounds 156.4m of group sales - up 21 per cent on the previous year.Shares in Signet closed up 2p at 53.5p.. RURAL PUB group Eldridge Pope yesterday reported its first results since chief executive Peter Phillipson joined in January, and received a positive reception from the City as shares jumped 6 per cent. The half-year results coincided with the news that the group was closing its beer trading division and looking to sell its three wine businesses to focus on its 129 English pubs under management. The group owns the branded chains Fireside Inns and Slurping Toad, but is heavily weighted to its 107 unbranded community "wet-led" pubs - drinks rather than food orientated.The shares closed up 13.5p at 232.5p as half-year pre-tax profits of pounds 2.03m showed a 16.3 per cent rise on the year.. MERANT, the computer company formed from the merger of Micro Focus and Intersolv, is a rare beast.

Despite being involved in the Internet and expecting profits this year, the company trades on just 13 times forecast earnings. Merant is perceived as a millennium bug company whose business is on the verge of oblivion. It has specialised in vetting computers which use the now-superceded Cobol language Among its clients are 96 of the US's Fortune 100 companies. But Merant's rating misses the point that these companies, having invested heavily in checking their systems are compliant, will retain Cobol-based systems after the millennium. That's an opportunity for Merant to supply services to those wanting to update Cobol systems for e-commerce. And because everyone thought Cobol was heading for oblivion, Merant has few rivals. Yesterday's results, showing revenues of $374.2m (pounds 233m) down from $379m a year earlier, show the merged group is holding its own.

Analysts expect pre-tax profits of pounds 31.3m this year and earnings of 12.7p, rising to pounds 50.7m and 20.0p per share in 2001 The shares are too cheap.. JAMIE DUNDAS, the former finance director of property group MEPC, took over as chief executive yesterday and said MEPC was eyeing up opportunities to buy business parks. The hunt is part of an ongoing restructuring of MEPC's portfolio. The group, the UK's third largest property company, has disposed of smaller holdings in favour of larger lots in the south-east.

That helped it lift net asset value 5 per cent to pounds 575m. MEPC's business is fairly evenly spread across its three retail, office and business park divisions. Business parks doubled to 28 per cent of the pie, while retail still occupies 27 per cent Offices account for 38 per cent of the total. Mr Dundas said MEPC would be snapping up business park opportunities in the area west of London, along the M4 corridor, the M3 and M40.Analysts upgraded forecasts for NAV next year to 600p and expect pre- tax profits of pounds 110m for the year. The shares rose 5.5p to 519p yesterday and still look good value as a defensive play.. NEW LOOK, the value-for-money womenswear retailer, yesterday proved that it is possible to make money in the high street, after posting a 14 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to pounds 44.2m. Although like-for-like sales grew 11 per cent, the shares fell 10p to 204.5p on a downbeat current trading statement showing that year-on-year sales figures for this May were sharply down on last year when trading was boosted by a heatwave Fortunately, New Look has strengths to offset such risks.