Shares in cables company Delta went haywire yesterday after the London Stock Exchange mistakenly announced the company was in takeover talks. The error sent shares in the group soaring while Delta executives scrambled to stop all trading in the company's stock.

The announcement posted on the Exchange's official information service said Delta was in talks which could lead to a takeover offer "at a substantial premium to the current market price".

The Stock Exchange put out a corrected message 13 minutes later telling traders to disregard the first announcement, but shares in Delta had already rocketed 51 pence to 201 pence. The 33 per cent climb briefly added £70 million sterling (€106.8 million) to the value of the company.