Johnson Matthey, down 2.3%, announced the official launch of its state-of-the-art Advanced Cracking Evaluation (ACE) units and associated equipment acquired last year from Kayser Technology Inc., a leader in catalyst and additive testing. This investment is focused at enhancing JM’s innovation capabilities in the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) additives space.
Quartix Technologies, up 5.7%, today, in its full-year results, announced that revenues advanced to £32.40m from £29.88m recorded in the previous year. The company has proposed a final dividend payment of 3.00p per share (2023: 1.50p).
Tristel, up 1.6%, in its interim results, announced that revenues advanced to £22.57m from £20.94m recorded in the same period of the previous year. Profit before tax widened to £3.66m from £3.43m. The board declared an interim dividend of 5.68p (2023: 5.24p), which will be paid on 11 April 2025. Avingtrans, up 0.7%, in its interim results, announced that revenues advanced to £79.02m from £65.19m recorded in the same period of the previous year. The board declared an interim dividend of 1.9p (2024 H1: 1.8p), which will be paid on 27 June 2025.
Bango, down 9.2%, announced that it has introduced all-in-one Super Bundling technology of its Digital Vending Machine, used by top subscription hubs like Verizon +play and Optus SubHub.
Feedback, down 2.7%, in its interim results, announced that revenues rose to £0.45m from £0.44m recorded in the same period of the previous year. Loss before tax narrowed to £1.95m from £ 2.09m. The group's cash position as at 30 November 2024 was £0.73 (30 November 2023: £0.54, 31 May 2024: £0.39).
Oracle Power, unchanged at 0.02p, announced that its partner at the Northern Zone Gold Project, Riversgold Limited has confirmed further details regarding the upcoming planned drill programme. It expects 1,280m RC programme drilling to a depth of 100m to 120m to start imminently with the RC rig due to arrive on site tomorrow. Additionally, the RC programme will test extensions at depth to previous holes that ended in mineralisation and high-grade shallow intercepts.
UK markets ended mostly higher last week, lifted by upbeat corporate earnings. On the data front, the UK Nationwide housing prices rose more than expected in February. The FTSE 100 index advanced 1.7% to settle at 8,809.7, while the FTSE techMARK 100 index gained 1.6% to end at 6,579.4. Meanwhile, the FTSE AIM 100 index fell 2.2% to close at 3,388.9.
US markets ended mixed in the previous week. On the macro front, the US annualised gross domestic product grew as expected in 4Q24, while the nation’s durable goods orders rebounded more than expected in January, as a rise in aircraft demand. Additionally, the US Richmond Fed manufacturing index advanced more than expected in February, while the nation’s personal income rose more than anticipated in January. Meanwhile, the US pending home sales dropped more than expected in January, while the nation’s consumer confidence fell more than expected in February. Moreover, the US weekly jobless claims climbed more than expected in the week ended 21 February 2025, while the nation’s new home sales declined sharply in January, amid persistent high mortgage prices. Also, the US personal spending unexpectedly fell in January. The DJIA index rose 1.0`% to end at 43,840.9, while the NASDAQ index lost 3.5% to close at 18,847.3.
