DS Smith, down 5.5%, announced that it has helped to achieve a 78% reduction in plastic by developing a new packaging for Jacob’s Cream Crackers packaging.
Johnson Matthey, down,5.4%, announced that it has entered into a partnership with Transform Materials to enable lower carbon and mercury-free alternative routes for PVC manufacturing.
Oracle Power, up 50%, announced that it acquired the Blue Rock Valley Copper and Silver Project in Western Australia. The project area is also highly prospective for gold, with the Eastern Hills Gold Project 11km to the north and the famous Paulsen Gold Mine 42km to the north-north-east.
Dialight, up 6.7%, in its trading update, announced that its trading performance for the last 3 months of FY2023/24 through to 31 March 2024 remained in line with management expectations and it intends to release its preliminary results in mid/late July 2024. Additionally, the company will hold its annual general meeting on 23 September 2024.
Frontier Developments, up 4%, in its FY24 trading update, announced that strong back-catalogue performance in the second half and the successful release of Planet Zoo: Console Edition in March delivered strong FY24 trading with £89m (FY23: £104.6m) revenue. Additionally, its FY24 adjusted EBITDA* also expected to be in profit, with a provisional profit of around £0.5m (FY23: loss of £4.6m), including the gain from the sale of the RCT3 publishing rights.
Gaming Realms, up 3%, announced that resolutions 1 to 4, 6 and 7 in the Notice of Annual General Meeting, of 20 May 2024, were duly passed at the Annual General Meeting held on 12th June 2024. Tristel, up 1.2%, announced that it has appointed Matthew (Matt) Sassone as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), with effect from 2 September 2024.
Checkit, down 2.1%, announced a significant expansion with Octaphama Plasma in the United States worth around £718,000 over three years. Additionally, the company has secured a first customer for the recently launched Asset Intelligence product module.
1Spatial, down 1.4%, has announced that its annual general meeting (AGM) would be held at 11:00 on 5 July 2024 at the offices of Liberum Capital Limited, Ropemaker Place, Level 12, 25 Ropemaker Street, London EC2Y 9LY.
Bango, down 0.4%, announced the appointment of Anthony (Tony) Perkins FCA as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee, with effect from 12 June 2024.
UK markets ended lower last week, following Britain’s dismal GDP data. On the data front, UK’s gross domestic product remained flat as expected in April. Additionally, UK’s industrial production dropped more than anticipated in April, while the nation’s manufacturing production fell more than expected in April. Moreover, UK’s ILO unemployment rate unexpectedly rose in the three months to April, while the nation’s RICS housing price balance index unexpectedly dropped in May. The FTSE 100 index declined 1.2% to settle at 8,146.9, while the FTSE AIM 100 index fell 2.3% to close at 3,738.3. Also, the FTSE techMARK 100 index lost 1.9% to end at 6,985.1.
US markets ended mixed in the previous week. On the macro front, the US consumer price inflation slowed in May, while the nation’s producer price index rose less than expected in May. Moreover, the US weekly jobless claims unexpectedly climbed to a nearly 10-month high in the week ended 07 June 2024, while the nation’s Michigan consumer sentiment index unexpectedly dropped in June. Separately, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) kept its key interest rate unchanged at 5.50%, as expected, but revised its outlook for rate cuts to just one in December 2024, despite inflation progress. The DJIA index fell 0.5% to end at 38,589.2, while the NASDAQ index gained 3.2% to close at 17,688.9.
