STOCK WATCH

SERICA Energy shares posted a second day of heavy losses as the threat of US sanctions on Iran begin to bite.

On Wednesday, it said it was evaluating the impact of the sanctions on its Rhum field in the North Sea, which it jointly owns with the state-controlled Iranian Oil Company – an announcement that knocked nearly 14pc off the value of its shares. Yesterday, they fell another 11.3pc, or 8p, to 63p.

Serica bought Rhum, and two other fields, from BP for an initial £12.8m in November.