Abcam, up 2.7%, announced a partnership with SomaServe Limited for the commercialization of the cell delivery potential of the polymer-based bionic nanoparticles, that can carry a range of payloads directly to live cells.
Tristel, up 8.7%, in its AGM trading statement, announced that it expects unaudited pre-tax profit for H1 FY2020 to be at least £2.8m, compared to £2.4m in the same period last year, with positive contribution from its operations in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Italy.
Netcall, up 8.2%, announced the launch of an in-platform Test Studio within its low-code platform, Liberty Create, for supporting the mission critical applications involving current adaptions and testing.
Scientific Digital Imaging, up 7.3%, in its interim results for the six months ended October 2019, announced that revenues jumped to £11.4m from £8m posted in the same period last year. Its profit before tax rose to £1.5m form £1.2m reported in the previous year, whereas its basic earnings per share advanced to 1.4p from 1.1p.
CyanConnode Holdings, up 6.7%, announced that it has received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from its partner Genus Power Infrastructures Limited for the provision of 142,000 units of smart metering deployment for a government-owned utility company in South India.
Kier Group, down 1.4%, announced that it has appointed Matthew Lester as Chairman of its Board, replacing Philip Cox. Mr Lester will be the Chairman of the Nomination Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee.
Marshall Motor Holdings, down 3.8%, in its trading update, announced that it has performed well in 2019 and despite weak trading conditions in Q4 2019, the Board has kept the full year outlook unchanged. Further, the company announced that it has acquired the business and assets of a portfolio of Volkswagen and ŠKODA passenger and commercial vehicle franchises from Jardine Motor Group UK Limited for £22.3m.
Horizon Discovery Group, down 5.4%, announced that its Chief Executive Officer, Terry Pizzie, will be presenting an overview and company update as well as host meetings with investors at the 38th Annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference between 13-16 January 2020 in San Francisco, California.
Checkit, down 5.8%, announced the resignation of Giovanni Ciuccio as a Non-Executive Director from the Board, with effect from 31 January 2020.
Sareum Holdings, down 16.5%, in its AGM trading statement, announced that two milestone payments worth approximately $5m from its partner Sierra Oncology Inc are likely to be delayed, possibly beyond the end of the financial year ending June 2020.
UK markets closed in the green last week, buoyed by gains in energy and mining sector stocks. The UK’s annual inflation rose as expected in November, while the nation’s consumer confidence surprisingly rose in December. Meanwhile, the UK manufacturing PMI unexpectedly dropped to its lowest level since July 2012 in December. The Bank of England held its benchmark interest rate steady at 0.75% and lowered its growth forecast for the UK economy for 2019. The FTSE 100 index jumped 3.1% to settle at 7582.5, while the FTSE AIM 100 index climbed 3.1% to close at 4856.7. Meanwhile, the FTSE techMARK 100 index gained 2% to end at 5920.2.
US markets ended higher in the previous week, amid rising optimism surrounding the US-China trade deal. The US economy rose as expected in the third quarter, whereas the nation’s industrial production rose more than expected in November. Meanwhile, the US existing home sales unexpectedly dropped to a 5-month low in November. The DJIA index added 1.1% to end at 28455.1, while the NASDAQ index rose 2.2% to close at 8924.9.