Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase reissued their “Buy” ratings on ARM Holdings, up 4.7%, with a target price of 1275p and 1200p, respectively.
Berenberg Bank lowered its target price to 3250p and maintained its “Buy” rating on Johnson Matthey, up 1.5%. Goldman Sachs reiterated its “Neutral” rating on DS Smith, up 5.6%.
Greene King, up 2.5%, announced that its revenues jumped 57.6% YoY to £2.1bn in the last year. and profit before tax rose to £189.8m from £118.2m. The Board recommended a final dividend of 23.6p per share. The stock received mostly “Buy” ratings from brokers.
AVEVA Group, up 4.9%, announced that Christopher Humphrey has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director, with effect from 08 July 2016.
Xaar, up 4.1%, announced that it has acquired Engineered Printing Solutions for $18.5m. Peel Hunt reconfirmed its “Buy” rating on the stock with a target price of 570p.
Frontier Developments, unchanged at 182.5p, announced that Jonathan Miller resigned as a Non-Executive Director with Charles Cotton taking his place, with immediate effect.
Ubisense Group, unchanged at 27p, announced that it has entered into collaboration with Bosch Rexroth, to launch a new solution at Aerospace Valley Congress.
LPA Group’s share price fell 1.2% despite announcing that its half year revenues advanced to £10.5m and profit before tax increased to £782,000 from £19,000 in the previous year. The Board declared an interim dividend of 1p per share. The company commented that its current outlook for the UK market is positive while it eyes the encouraging export market opportunities, in Europe, Asia and Australasia.
Kier Group, down 7.7%, announced that it has appointed Constance Baroudel as a Non-Executive Director, with effect from 1 July 2016. The company released its trading update for the year ended 30 June 2016, indicating that its trading was in line with management’s expectations since the announcement of its interim results in March.
Sepura, down 45.5%, announced that its annual revenues surged to €189.7m from €131.2m in the prior year. However, it incurred a loss before tax of €19m, compared to a profit of €16.7m in the previous year. It also stated that it has raised £65m through share placing.
UK markets closed on a stronger footing in the previous week, after the Bank of England Governor signaled that the central bank could cut interest rates this summer to boost the nation’s economy. The FTSE 100 Index climbed 7.2% to 6,577.8, while the FTSE AIM 100 Index rose 1.9% to close at 3,404.0. The FTSE techMARK 100 Index jumped 5.3% to 3,947.3.
US markets ended higher in the last week, led by gains in the banking and energy sector stocks. Additionally, US ISM manufacturing rose to its highest level in 16 months in June while the consumer confidence advanced more than expected in June. The DJIA Index gained 3.2% to 17,949.4, while the NASDAQ Index advanced 3.3% to 4,862.6.
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