Deutsche Bank reiterated its “Buy” rating on Johnson Matthey, up 1.2%.
DS Smith, down 0.5%, announced that it has issued €750m of notes due 26 July 2024 and £250m notes due 26 July 2029 with a coupon of 1.375% and 2.875%, respectively. The net proceeds of the issue will be utilised to outspread its borrowing tenure and refinance the bridge facility entered during the acquisition of Interstate Resources. Numis Securities lowered its target price rating on the stock to 520p. Credit Suisse restated its “Outperform” rating on AVEVA Group, which is up 5.6%.
Horizon Discovery Group, up 21.3%, announced that it has signed a deal with General Electric Company to buy Dharmacon for a total consideration of $85m. The company hopes to fund this by raising £76.4m by issuing 39m new ordinary shares at a price of 205p. Royal Bank of Canada raised its target price on the stock to 245p from 220p.
Tristel, up 19%, announced in its trading update for the year ended 30 June 2017 that it expects turnover to exceed the £17.1m recorded in the last year, while it anticipates the pre-tax profit to be at least £4m for the period. FinnCap raised its target price to 225p from 195p.
Vernalis, up 3.4%, announced in its trading update for the financial year ended 30 June 2017 that it expects revenues to be ahead of current market expectations and operating loss to be less than estimated.
RhythmOne, unchanged at 38.3p, announced that it has made a deferred consideration payment of $5m in cash in relation to the RadiumOne, Inc. acquisition.
Quixant, down 0.6%, today announced that its half-yearly trading performance was stronger-than-expected with revenue generated of approximately $56 m.
Gaming Realms, down 5.7%, announced in its trading update for the six months ending 30 June that its revenue is expected to rise to £15.7m from £14.9m. Separately, the company stated that the asset purchase agreement with RealNetworks Inc. has been amended for which a final payment of $4.5m will be made to RealNetworks by 15th December 2017. Peel Hunt maintained its “Buy” rating on the stock with a target price of 30p.
UK markets finished in positive territory in the last week, as the nation’s retail sales data recovered from a four-year low level in June. Meanwhile, British inflation advanced at its weakest pace since October 2016 in June, diminishing the odds of an imminent interest rate hike by the Bank of England. The FTSE AIM 100 index climbed 1.9% to settle at 4,868.68, while the FTSE 100 index rose 1% to close at 7,452.91. The FTSE techMARK 100 index added 0.6% to end at 4,511.99.
US markets ended mixed in the prior week, as gains from by positive corporate earnings were overshadowed by investor jitters arising out of political uncertainty in the nation. The US housing starts jumped to a four-month high level in June, while the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell more-than-expected in the last week. The NASDAQ index advanced 1.2% to close at 6,387.75, while the DJIA index lost 0.3% to end at 21,580.07.
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