DS Smith, up 6.5%, announced that its annual revenues soared to £6.1b from £5.5b reported in the last year. Its profit before tax rose to £350m from £260m reported in the previous year, while its basic earnings per share advanced to 33.3p from 30.7p. The Board declared a final dividend of 11p per share.
CyanConnode Holdings, up 38.5%, announced that it performed in line with the Board’s expectations in the five months ended 31 May 2019. The company expects renewed orders for its Omnimesh Advanced Metering Infrastructure platform from its largest market, India, in near future.
Frontier Developments, up 4%, announced its first publishing partnership agreement with Haemimont Games under its new Frontier Publishing initiative in order to expand its portfolio. Liberum Capital reiterated its “Buy” rating on the stock with a target price of 1800p. Shore Capital reissued its “Buy” rating on the stock.
Elektron Technology, up 3.5%, announced that its annual revenues climbed to £33.7m from £29.8m reported in the last year. Its profit before tax increased to £4.6m from £2.7m in the previous year, whereas its basic earnings per share rose to 2.1p from 1.1p.
Science Group remained unchanged at 199p, announced that its portfolio company, Frontier Smart Technologies Group Limited (unrelated to Frontier Developments), received a preliminary approach from a credible industry player, to execute a corporate transaction. The company criticized Frontier for continuously frustrating its proposal of a takeover and that it has not received any tangible progress from Frontier, seeking clarification for the deliverability of this second approach. It highlighted possible risks to Frontier from further delay of the process and advised its board of directors to conclude the transaction with Science Group within the stipulated time.
Numis Securities reconfirmed its “Buy” rating on Horizon Discovery Group, down 0.5% with a target price of 280p.
Marshall Motor Holdings, down 3%, announced the resignation of Sarah Dickins as the Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee. As a result, the company’s Chairman, Richard Parry-Jones, will assume the role of an interim Chairman of the Remuneration Committee.
Sareum Holdings, down 6.3%, announced that its two preclinical TYK2/JAK1 inhibitors in autoimmune diseases and cancer has attained intense clinical validation convincing that SDC-1801 and SDC-1802 represent strong and well-differentiated candidates. The company expects the first in-human clinical trials to commence in 2020.
Kier Group, down 16%, announced that its Chief Executive, Andrew Davies, will lead a strategic review to streamline its resource allocation and recognize further paths for cash generation. Liberum Capital trimmed its target price on the stock to 320p from 400p and gave a “Buy” rating.
UK markets closed mostly higher last week, led by a weaker Pound. The UK unemployment rate remained unchanged at a 45-year low in the three months ended April 2019, while the average weekly earnings rose more than expected in same period. Meanwhile, Britain’s economy contracted more than anticipated in April, whereas the manufacturing production surprisingly declined to a 17-year low in the same month. The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.2% to settle at 7345.8, while the FTSE AIM 100 index fell 0.5% to close at 4898.8. Meanwhile, the FTSE techMARK 100 index gained 0.7% to end at 5065.5.
US markets ended in the green in the previous week, supported by gains in technology sector stocks. The US annual inflation advanced less than expected in May, whereas the nation’s budget deficit widened in the same month. Furthermore, the US advance retail sales jumped less than anticipated in May, while the Michigan consumer sentiment index fell in June. The DJIA index rose 0.4% to end at 26089.6, while the NASDAQ index gained 0.7% to close at 7796.7.