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FI's main weakness is its thinnish margins and analysts will want to see an improvement

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FI's main weakness is its thinnish margins and analysts will want to see an improvement on that front.British Biotech will be hoping to start a new era with its finals on Wednesday. After settling its case with the sacked whistleblower Andrew Millar, the fallen star of the biotech sector has survived almost unscathed two probes by the US and UK regulators into allegedly misleading stockmarket statements.The focus should now be on British Biotech's leading product Marismastat, where trials results are due over the next few months. The much-rumoured takeover by a rival will be another talking point.The company's final numbers are less interesting, with experts going for a loss of over pounds 36.4m compared with pounds 42m last year.Another mooted bid target, the packaging group David S Smith, is due to report tomorrow. Profits will go down from over pounds 50.6m to around pounds 34 as tough markets and the strong pound have taken their toll.. AS A RESIDENT of Orlando, Florida, Jim Courier lives close enough to Disneyworld to take wide-eyed congregations for granted, whether the queues are for Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck or Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski.

The Wimbledon fantasy of a British men's singles champion is four matches away from reality, the snag being that the 14 other players of various nationalities in today's fourth round matches have dreams of their own, and some have the wherewithal to make them come true. Courier, who plays Henman, the No 6 seed, in the opening contest on Centre Court, may not be one of them. Aged 28, and ranked No 61, the twice Australian Open and French Open champion and former world No 1, may agree with a veteran joke, that the older he gets, the better he used to be.Dehydrated after staggering past his Dutch opponent, Sjeng Schalken, in the third round on Friday, 13-11 in the fifth set, Courier was taken to hospital, complaining about the All England Club's "antiquated" medical services and "brick wall of conservatism".Being so cheerful is what keeps Courier going "He's always fighting," Schalken said. "He had two incredible shots at the right time, otherwise he was exit It was a great match, great for tennis. That's why the queue is so long here."Neither Henman nor Rusedski need reminding about Courier's fortitude after his resounding five-set victories against each of them in turn in the Davis Cup at Easter, when the United States won, 3-2. For the Alamo, read Birmingham.Courier seems to revel in a big-match atmosphere, irrespective of crowd favouritism "I'm used to it," he says. "I've always heard that I shouldn't do this, or I couldn't do that. I'm used to those kind of naysayers, so maybe that's why I like to respond to that."The Davis Cup match, played on medium-pace concrete at the National Indoor Arena, was the most memorable British tennis event outside Wimbledon.

"It's a different surface," Courier says, "although the speed is fairly similar. The court in Birmingham was quick, and the court here is very quick as well The footing is not as sure here. But you never know until you step on the court what you're going to get."Courier, whose attacking groundstrokes are better suited to slow clay courts and the even bounce afforded by concrete, has described Wimbledon as "a crap shoot", because the variables of playing on grass tend to make the process of constructing points about as reliable as rolling dice.At least he is pleased to be returning to Centre Court, where he defeated Carlos Moya, the No 12 seed, in five sets in the second round, after playing Schalken on Court No 3. "It can't hurt to have the ball bounce where you expect it to," Courier says "That court [No 3] is pretty uneven The Centre Court is a lot better It's a lot flatter, and it should be nice.

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