Market report: Friday close

MORE misery was being heaped on

For the second day in a row, the shares were the biggest fallers in the FTSE 250 index, tumbling 36½p to 261½p as almost 7m changed hands. That stretches the two-day loss to around 50%.

It follows the failure to gain a major supply contract for BT Group's £10bn, five-year 21st Century Network project. Marconi did not appear on the list of eight preferred suppliers, losing out to the likes of France's Alcatel and Ericsson of Sweden.

Marconi boss Mike Parton may now be forced to shed 2,000 of the group's 10,000-strong worldwide workforce and has also come under pressure to put the business up for sale to safeguard its future.

This blow comes just three years after the company underwent a £4bn debt-for-equity swap that resulted in the loss of 20,000 jobs and diluted existing shareholders out of sight.

The ripples from Marconi were felt elsewhere in the market. Second-liners suffered a third consecutive day of losses. The FTSE 250 fell 11.2 points to 6727.6, raising the total loss for the three days to 231 points.

However, blue-chips rallied from opening falls, underpinned by strong opening gains for the Dow today. The FTSE 100 index was up 11.5 points at 4801.7.

The lock-in that covers an 18% stake in Jessops, Britain's largest camera retailer, expires today. The shares belong to Dutch bank ABN Amro's venture capital arm, which bought Jessops from Bridgepoint for £116m in 2002. The 18.5m shares are now effectively overhanging the market until a buyer can be found and will act as a further drag on an already-depressed share price.

Jessops was floated last November at a reduced price of 155p. It has been a bumpy and costly ride for shareholders with the price today down ½p to 87½p - just above its low of 84¼p. The company issued a shock profits warning last month that wiped about a third off its stock market price tag.

ABN Amro must soon decide if it is willing to bite the bullet and take a big hit on its remaining holding or leave the stock swinging in the wind.

Broker UBS has downgraded its 12-month target for GUS, up 2½p at 834p, from 1,065p to 1,000p.

Two weeks after ending a £32m bid for distressed Highbury House, which would have also assumed Highbury's £53m of debt, rival magazine publisher Future Network was back today, buying half its titles.

It is paying £30.5m for 38 of Highbury's special-interest magazines, ranging from Fast Car to Tea Break Quickies. Together they generate annual turnover of £34.1m. Future was unmoved on 77p. Highbury's results, which accompanied the deal, showed a thumping £92m deficit for the year. Its shares fell 1.38p to 2.88p.

Shares of Aim-listed Premier Management were suspended at 0.42p pending clarification of its financial position. The company has received a demand for repayment, which it is unable to make, from one of its debenture holders.

It was the first day of trading on Aim for Draganfly Investments following a placing by broker Teather & Greenwood at 3p. Draganfly is looking to invest in natural resources, consumer products, technology and the service sector.

The shares opened at 3.5p and touched 3.62p.