THE manufacturing and financial companies which dominate the London Stock Exchange look positively dull in comparison to some of the latest offerings in the City. Tracy the genetically altered sheep will come to the London market next month when PPL Therapeutics seeks a listing on the exchange with a £100 million flotation.

The company, which farms genetically engineered animals to produce drugs, said it would raise up to £30 million of new money to consolidate its leading position in the field. Investors will pile in, no doubt, on the basis that they might as well lose their shirts for a sheep as a lamb.