ARM Holdings’ share price fell 9.9% despite announcing in its final results for the year ended 31 December 2015 that revenues climbed 21.8% to £968.3m compared with the previous year. Profit before tax also jumped by 31% year-on-year to £414.8m. The board has proposed a final dividend of 5.63p per share amounting to £79m, subject to shareholders’ approval. The stock received mostly positive ratings from brokers.
AlphaValue upgraded its rating on Johnson Matthey, down 3.6%, to “Buy” from “Add” with a target price of 2,668p. HSBC reissued its “Buy” rating on the stock with a target price of 3300p.
Canaccord Genuity upgraded its rating on DS Smith, up 4.2%, to “Buy” from “Hold” with a target price of 430p. The stock received mostly “Buy” rating from various brokers.
Greene King, down 0.6%, in its trading statement, announced that the like-for-like sales of retail business grew by 2.2% while the Spirit Managed business’ sales edged 1.1% higher. The company’s overall expectation for the full year is unchanged, despite the current global economic uncertainties. The stock was subject to mixed ratings from various brokers.
Cyan Holdings, up 14.3%, announced that it has been awarded an order from telecommunications contractor Micromodje worth £67,000 for fitting 2,000 units of its smart meters into street traffic cameras in Iran. The company will receive an upfront payment of £50,000 for the order. The stock was subject to positive reviews from various brokers.
Ubisense Group, down 1.2%, announced that it has formed a strategic partnership with Van Meter Inc. to aid the advancement of smarter manufacturing processes in North America. Investec reiterated its “Hold” rating on Dialight, down 2.6%, with a target price of 585p.
Kier Group, down 3%, announced that it has been awarded a significant package of road maintenance services contract from Surrey County Council worth approximately £160m, as part of a four-year extension to the current contract.
Frontier Developments, down 5.1%, announced in its half yearly results that its revenues rose by 49% year-on-year to £10.9m. Profit before tax stood at £0.4m compared to a loss of £1.9m reported last year. Numis Securities reiterated its “Buy” rating on the stock with a target price of 337p. Investec reconfirmed its “Buy” rating on Xaar, down 10.2%, with a target price of 510p.
UK markets ended lower last week, led by losses in banking and commodity stocks. The FTSE 100 index fell 2.4% to 5,707.6, while the FTSE AIM 100 Index declined 4.1% to finish at 3,086.6. The FTSE techMARK 100 Index slid 4.2% to 3,521.7.
US markets closed lower in the previous week, due to sell-off in the banks and technology stocks. Additionally, dovish comments from the Federal Reserve Chief, Janet Yellen, weighed on the stock markets. The DJIA index edged 1.4% lower to 15,973.8, while the NASDAQ Index eased 0.6% to 4,337.5.
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