The share price of Internet security company, Baltimore Technology, soared by 11.4 per cent to £134.25 sterling at one stage in London yesterday ahead of today's results and on the hope that the group may be included in the FTSE 100.

Profit-taking pushed the shares lower to close at £127.37, a 5.7 per cent gain on the day. They reached a peak of £143 last Friday.

"Basically people are looking for it to be included in the FTSE index, which would make it a must-buy for many. Also, we've got figures out tomorrow which is keeping people interested," said one dealer. Baltimore's shares were as low as £4.20 last year, before soaring amid optimism about the prospects for e-commerce security products.

Interest in the shares was also aroused when the group announced the acquisition of US company, CyberTrust Solutions, which positioned it as the third-largest encryption security company in the US. CyberTrust, a subsidiary of GTE, was acquired for $150 million (€149 million) in Baltimore shares.

About 426,000 shares were traded on the London market yesterday.

On the Nasdaq, Baltimore's shares rose by 9.9 per cent to $219 7/8, up from Friday's close of $200. The market was closed on Monday for a national holiday.

Results due out this morning are expected to show pre-tax losses of some £34 million on turnover of £25 million in 1999.

Trintech, another IT company, announced that the Trintech PayGate NetAcquirer solution was immediately available for Sun Microsystems.