Greene King, down 3.3%, said that it has approached the Board of Spirit Pub Company in relation to a potential combination of the two companies. Oriel Securities reaffirmed its “Buy” rating, while Panmure Gordon restated its “Hold” rating with a target price of 860p.
CSR, down 0.6%, announced that the Takeover Panel has granted an extension to the deadline for Microchip Technology to make a bid for the company, to not later than 5.00pm on 25 September 2014. Zacks upgraded its rating from an “Underperform” to a “Neutral”, while Jefferies Group restated its “Hold” rating with a price target of 569p.
Aveva Group fell 1.7% in response to a reduced price target from JP Morgan of 1,825p from 2,450p. Sareum Holdings surged 22.2%, after it announced that it has been granted a patent for an invention associated with its ‘CHK1’ cancer programme with the Cancer Research Technology Pioneer Fund and BACIT Ltd, issued by its European Office.
FinnCap has initiated coverage on Sphere Medical Holding, up 12.3%, with a price target of 45p. Horizon Discovery Group, up 1.6%, announced that revenue rose 36% £4.06m, while operating loss widened 47.4% to £2.55m. On a separate note, the company’s business unit, Horizon Diagnostics, signed a Master Services Agreement with a major global diagnostic development company and a US biopharmaceutical company, for a total consideration of about $1.2m.
Domino Printing Sciences, up 0.1%, has teamed up with Aegate to work together to resolve some of the authentication coding challenges created by the EU Falsified Medicines Directive (EU FMD). Panmure Gordon restated its “Buy” rating on Brady, which remained unchanged, with a price target of 94p.
Westhouse Securities reaffirmed its “Buy” rating on Kier Group, down 2.3%, with a target price of 2,110p.
Bango recorded a pre-tax loss of £2.6m in the six months ended 30 June, compared with £1.8m in the last year, and fell by 2.9%. Dialight, down 6.9%, announced the availability of its new CE compliant and UL-certified Vigilant LED High Bay fixture with integrated controls and cloud based monitoring for industrial applications.
Netcall retreated 7.8%. The company, in its results for the year ended 30 June 2014, announced that its revenue stood at £16.9m, up 5% from £16.1m from the last year. Profit before tax was £1.89m, after accounting for accelerated share-based payment charges of £1.07m, compared to £2.26m last year.
UK markets finished the week lower, after BoE’s Governor Mark Carney hinted that lending rates in the UK could be raised in the near future. The FTSE 100 index declined 2.8% to 6,649.4 and the FTSE techMARK 100 Index dropped 2.0% to 3,318.5. The FTSE AIM 100 Index retreated 1.7% to 3,212.2.
US markets closed lower in the past week, amid renewed geopolitical worries after the US and its allies launched airstrikes in Syria. A slump in the nation’s durable goods orders for August also affected the markets. However, losses were curbed to some extent, after the release of upwardly revised Q2 GDP data. The DJIA index fell 1% to 17,113.2, while the NASDAQ index lost 1.5% to 4,512.2.
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