LPA Group, up 1%, announced in its interim results for the six months ended 31 March 2019 that revenues declined to £10.1m from £13.9m reported in the same period last year. Its loss before tax stood at £0.2m against a profit of £1m reported in the previous year. Its basic loss per share came in at 1.2p compared to earnings of 6.95p in the previous year. The company’s board declared an interim dividend of 1.1p per share, payable on 27 September 2019 to shareholders on the register as at 6 September 2019. FinnCap restated its target price of 131p.
IQGeo Group, down 3.2%, announced that Andy MacLeod has been appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director with immediate effect.
Frontier Developments, down 4.2% announced in its trading update for the year ended 31 May 2019 that it anticipates annual revenue to more than double to £89m, citing significant growth of its Jurassic World Evolution game. Moreover, it expects to report an operating profit margin of approximately 21% for the period. Peel Hunt, Liberum Capital, Shore Capital and Jefferies reconfirmed their “Buy” ratings on the stock.
Kier Group, down 9.4%, announced that Andrew Davies, Chief Executive Officer, will commence a strategic review, as it aims to improve its resources allocation and identify new sources for cash generation. Kier will dispose its non-core activities including Kier Living, Property, Facilities Management and Environmental Services, amid high debt levels. Also, the company has planned to axe around 1200 jobs as a part of its restructuring plan for delivering annual cost savings of £55m from 2021, resulting into reduction of its average net debt.
UK markets closed mostly higher last week, led by gains in energy and mining sector stocks. The UK’s annual consumer prices rose as estimated in May, while the public sector net borrowing reported a larger than expected deficit in May. British annual retail sales advanced less than anticipated in May. The Bank of England, in its latest policy meeting, held its key interest rate steady and warned that the UK economy might come to a standstill in the second quarter. The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.8% to settle at 7407.5, while the FTSE AIM 100 index fell 0.8% to close at 4859.2. Meanwhile, the FTSE techMARK 100 index gained 0.4% to end at 5085.1.
US markets ended higher in the previous week, amid hopes that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) might cut interest rates this year. US building permits unexpectedly rose in May, while existing home sales climbed more than expected in May. On the other hand, the US manufacturing PMI touched its lowest level since September 2009 in June, while the services sector activity unexpectedly fell in the same month. The US Fed, in its latest monetary policy meeting, left its benchmark interest rate unchanged. The DJIA index rose 2.4% to end at 26719.1, while the NASDAQ index gained 3% to close at 8031.7.