Johnson Matthey, up 2.4%, in its Q1 2017 trading update, announced that Group sales advanced 6% to £822m, driven by good demand in Emission Control Technologies and contribution from New Businesses. The company expects the Group’s performance in 2016-17 to be ahead of 2015-16. The stock was subject to mixed ratings from brokers.
DS Smith, up 1.9%, announced that it has acquired Deku-Pack, a specialist in Point of Sale and display products and services for in-store marketing. The acquisition is subject to clearance from competition authorities for which it expects to complete by Q3 2016.
Scientific Digital Imaging, up 28.9%, announced that full year revenues rose to £8.5m from £7m in the last year. Profit before tax surged to £496,000 from £23,000 in the previous year. FinnCap restated its target price of 70p.
Tristel, up 17.4%, announced that it expects turnover and pre-tax profit to be ahead of market expectations. The company declared a special dividend of 3p per share. They also confirmed that they have acquired the assets and business of Melbourne based Ashmed Pty Ltd, for a consideration is AUD$1.35m. FinnCap reconfirmed its target price of 130p.
Netcall, up 8.1%, announced in its annual trading update that it expects results to be in line with market expectations. Cambridge Cognition Holdings, up 6.2%, announced that it has signed a £0.5m contract for the CANTAB Connect Research product with an international biobank.
Brady, up 4.5%, announced that its first half trading was in line with management's expectations. Sphere Medical Holding, up 1.5%, announced that it has appointed Burke & Burke S.p.A. as its exclusive distributor of Proxima products in Italy. Panmure Gordon reaffirmed its “Buy” rating on the stock with a target price of 17p. Peel Hunt reduced its target price on Kier Group, up 0.1%, to 1400p from 1800p but maintained its “Buy” rating.
FinnCap reiterated its “Hold” rating on Xaar, down 0.3%. Vernalis, down 0.5%, announced that it has achieved a new milestone along with its partner Servier in their first oncology drug discovery collaboration which generated an inflow of €0.5m to Vernalis through fees and sales royalties. Canaccord Genuity restated its “Buy” rating on the stock with a target price of 84p.
Abcam, in its pre-closing trading update, projected its group revenues to grow nearly 16% on a constant currency basis and over 19% on a reported basis.
UK markets ended firmer in the last week, led by gains in insurance stocks. The country’s ILO unemployment rate surprisingly fell to an 11-year low level of 4.9% in the three months to May. The FTSE 100 index rose 0.9% to 6,730.5, while the FTSE AIM 100 index grew 2.3% to close at 3,534. The FTSE techMARK 100 index advanced 5.3% to 4,274.9.
US markets closed higher in the previous week. The flash manufacturing PMI advanced more than expected to touch a 9-month high in July. The DJIA index gained 0.3% to 18,570.9, while the NASDAQ index rose 1.4% to 5,100.2.
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