Hornby lifted by Star Wars and Olympics

Model maker Hornby - best known for its Airfix, Corgi and Scalextric brands - has jumped more than 8% despite a £1.1m fall in full year profits to £4.1m. Investors overlooked the profit decline after the company said it expected a boost from its London 2012 Olympic merchandise, and also announced it had won a worldwide licence for a range of Star Wars Scalextric products. Chief executive Frank Martin said: As the [Star Wars] films are converted into 3D format by Lucasfilm over the next few years, we anticipate we will get an encouraging reaction to our new range of speeder bikes and X-wing fighters. Its shares are currently 10p higher at 129p.