Watchstone Group rockets as it resumes trading

Shares in Watchstone Group, the insurance technology firm formerly known as Quindell, were 115% higher as they resumed trading on AIM.

The shares had been temporarily suspended ahead of a court hearing and a share capital reduction.

They were also temporarily suspended in June after the Financial Conduct Authority began an investigation into the company’s accounting practices.

Shareholders in Watchstone will receive one consolidated share in the group for every 10 shares held.

Watchstone announced in early November that it planned to return £415m to shareholders this month, following the sale of its professional services division.

Early last week, Watchstone said it had been hit with a £9.4m ‘class action’ legal claim filed by a group of 342 disgruntled shareholders.

The claim was filed under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the company said, without giving further details.

Watchstone said it was not yet "in a position to verify the assertions in the letter of claim" but that the letter of claim "details the expected value of the potential claims against the company to be approximately £9.4m".

At 1343 GMT, shares were up 129% to 192p, having risen to as much as 198p earlier in the session.