Hilton Food Group down 1.7%, announced that Samy Zekhout appointed as Chief Operating Officer for the West region, overseeing operations across the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Portugal and, in due course, Canada. Additionally, Melanie Chambers, has been appointed Chief Operating Officer for the East region, responsible for Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Poland and Saudi Arabia, while Angus Porter will remain on the Board as a Non-Executive Director to support continuity.
Quartix Technologies, up 12%, announced that for the year ended 31 December 2025, cash and cash equivalents stood at £5.6m at year-end. As a key corporate update, the Board intends to consolidate its ordinary and supplementary dividends into a single ordinary dividend policy and expects to recommend a final dividend of 7.5p, taking the total ordinary dividend for the year to 10p per share, subject to shareholder approval at the AGM.
Netcall up 5.0%, announced that it has secured a new £3.0m multi-year Liberty cloud contract with an S&P 500 global financial services firm, expanding an existing relationship established in H2 FY25 and increasing the customer’s annual subscription to £1.0m.
1Spatial up 0.7%, announced that discussions with VertiGIS Ltd, regarding a possible cash offer of 73p per share announced on 12 December 2025 remain ongoing, and that the Takeover Panel has consented to an extension of the deadline under Rule 2.6 of the Code. VertiGIS is now required, by no later than 5.00 p.m. on 30 January 2026, to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for 1Spatial or confirm that it does not intend to proceed, noting that the deadline may be further extended with Panel consent.
Dialight down 0.9%, announced that a $5.65m payment was made on 16 December 2025 to fully and finally settle obligations to Sanmina ahead of schedule. Net debt stood broadly stable at $10.3m as of 31 December 2025 and is expected to reduce further, underpinned by improved profitability and tighter working capital management, including a $15.9m reduction in inventory to $30.7m. Non-underlying costs for the year are expected to be around $4.0m, largely transformation-related, with full-year results due in June 2026.
UK markets closed higher last week, amid weakness in the British Pound. On the macro front, UK’s consumer credit demand advanced in November, while mortgage approvals rose in line with forecasts in November. Also, the BRC shop price index advanced in December. Meanwhile, UK’s Halifax house price index unexpectedly fell in December, while the S&P Global services PMI dropped in December. The FTSE 100 index advanced 1.7% to settle at 10,124.6, while the FTSE AIM 100 index rose 3% to close at 3,768.9. Meanwhile, the FTSE techMARK 100 index gained 6.4% to end at 8,375.7.
US markets ended higher in the previous week, as the US unemployment rate dropped in December. On the data front, US’s ISM services PMI unexpectedly rose in December, while average hourly earnings rose as estimated in December and the unemployment rate fell more than expected in December. Additionally, initial jobless claims unexpectedly dropped in the week ended 02 January 2026, while the Michigan consumer sentiment index advanced in January. Meanwhile, US’s nonfarm payrolls rose by less than anticipated in December, while private sector employment rose by less than expected in December. Also, the JOLTS job openings unexpectedly dropped in November, while the ISM manufacturing PMI unexpectedly dropped in December. The DJIA index rose 2.3% to end at 49,504.1, while the NASDAQ index gained 1.9% to close at 23,671.4.
