Just when put-upon shareholders in Powerscreen had despaired of ever recouping their investment, a timely confirmation of talks which might yet lead to a bid for the company has sent the stock into orbit. Once a darling of the exchange, the stock's travails following the discovery of a sizeable black hole in its accounts are well known.

Few then will begrudge investors the advance of almost 50 per cent in the share's value to 149 1/2p sterling on the London exchange earlier this week. It finished the week a tad lighter on 146 1/2p, but, should there be substance in the talk of a management buyout, it should yet advance a fair bit.

The best guess this week was that it would take an offer of around 220p sterling (€3.26 or £2.57) per share to wrest control of the company. However battered Powerscreen's shareholders may be feeling, they can thank their lucky stars if they manage to avoid the mire into which one of its fellow Northern stars, Mackie, has sunk. At least someone appears to want to buy the former.