Jefferies International restated its “Buy” rating on Johnson Matthey, up 0.3%, with a target price of 3615.0p.
DS Smith, up 1.6%, announced that its Plastics Division, DS Smith Plastics, has appointed Kevin M. Howard as Vice President of Sales & Marketing of their Rapak business in North America.
Greene King, up 1.7%, announced that it has completed the terms of a tap of its secured financing vehicle of £300.0m Class A6 notes due 2035 with a 4.06% coupon.
Marshall Motor Holdings, up 22.3%, announced that it has acquired the entire issued share capital of Ridgeway Garages (Newbury) Limited for a cash consideration of £106.9m.
Scientific Digital Imaging, up 15.8%, in its annual trading update, announced that the Board expects profit before tax to be in line with expectations while its recent acquisition, Sentek, also contributed to the company’s profitability at par with the board’s expectations. FinnCap reissued its “Corporate” rating on the stock with a target price of 29.0p.
Blinkx, up 15.0%, announced that RhythmOne, its trade entity, will take part in the Trustworthy Accountability Group's ‘Certified against Fraud’ program.
Elektron Technology, up 9.3%, announced that it has successfully sold its wholly owned subsidiary, Agar Scientific Limited, to a MBO vehicle backed by Foresight Group.
Frontier Developments, up 1.5%, announced that it has launched 'The Engineers', the next major expansion of its ‘Elite Dangerous: Horizons’ game. Numis reconfirmed its “Hold” rating on the stock with a target price of 210.0p.
AVEVA Group, up 0.6%, in its annual results, announced that its revenues fell to £201.5m from £208.7m in the previous year. Profit before tax dropped to £29.4m from £54.9m reported in the last year. The Board has proposed a final dividend of 30.0p per share, subject to shareholders’ approval. The company stated that it is confident of accomplishing current financial year targets as well as the medium term goals while it identifies various market challenges. The stock received mixed ratings from various brokers.
Quixant, remained unchanged at 219.0p, announced that it has signed a multi-year contract with a gaming solutions manufacturer, Ainsworth Game Technology, wherein Quixant will provide Ainsworth with the next generation of computer platforms for its gaming machines till 2021.
Horizon Discovery Group, down 0.9%, announced that it has entered into an agreement with Ubiquigent Ltd, in which Ubiquigent will be able to utilise Horizon’s X-MAN® cell lines as part of its ubiquitin system focused Drug Discovery Services.
Cyan Holdings, down 17.9%, announced that it is considering various financing options to raise nearly £12.5m via placing of shares. The funds would be used for a possible acquisition and working capital requirements.
UK markets closed higher in the last week, led by gains in the mining sector and energy companies. Meanwhile, second estimate of the UK GDP came in line with the preliminary estimate in the first quarter. The FTSE 100 index advanced 1.9% to 6,270.8, while the FTSE AIM 100 Index gained 1.5% to end at 3,459.1. Moreover, the FTSE techMARK 100 Index rose 1.5% to 3,810.8.
US markets finished firmer previous week, following hawkish comments from the US Federal Reserve regarding the interest rate hike in June. Moreover, positive economic data on durable goods orders and home sales in April raised investor sentiment. The DJIA index jumped 2.1% to 17,873.2, while the NASDAQ Index surged 3.4% to 4,933.5.
____________________________________________________________________