DS Smith, down 3.0%, announced that it has entered into a partnership with sushi specialist, Eat Happy to develop a fully recyclable sustainable solution for the firm's disposable plastic sushi trays.
Kier Group, down 1.8%, announced that it has been selected by Trafford Council to deliver a £20m refurbishment of Altrincham Leisure Centre.
Checkit, up 14.3%, in its trading update for the six months ended 31 July 2023, announced that its ARR growth has been in line with market expectations during 1H FY24. Recurring revenue accounted for 95% of total revenue in 1H FY24. As at 31 July 2023, its net cash balance stood at £12.8m (31 January 2023: £15.6m). Moreover, the company announced the renewal of its Framework Agreement with John Lewis Plc to provide connected workflow, automated asset monitoring and digital building management solutions for a further period of three years. The contract value amounted to around £6.0m. Further, the Group intends to release its interim results on 14 September 2023.
CyanConnode Holdings, up 7.4%, announced that it has secured an order for 500,000 Omnimesh Modules from IntelliSmart Infrastructure Private Limited (IntelliSmart) to support a smart metering deployment for a Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) project for Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Limited (MGVCL), a utility located in Gujarat, India. The supply of Omnimesh Modules for this project would commence during Q3 FY 2024, and the deployment would be completed within 27 months, under a DBFOOT (Design, Build, Finance, Own, Operate, Transfer) model. 1Spatial, unchanged at 51.0p, unveiled the latest releases of core components of platform, 1Integrate and 1Data Gateway to make the most complex data supply chains even easier to manage.
GRC International Group, down 48.0%, today, announced that it has partnered with the European Centre for Certification and Privacy (ECCP) to support the implementation of Europrivacy™/® related services.
SDI Group, down 4.9%, in its final results for the year ended 30 April 2023, announced that revenues rose to £67.58m from £49.66m recorded in the previous year. Profit before tax narrowed to £5.84m from £9.88m. The Board has decided not to pay a dividend this financial year.
UK markets ended lower last week, on rate hike fears. On the macro front, Britain’s economy grew at a faster than expected pace in 2Q23, driven by increase in consumer spending, while the nation’s goods trade deficit narrowed in June. Additionally, UK’s industrial production climbed more than expected in June, while the nation’s manufacturing production rose more than anticipated in the same month. Meanwhile, UK’s Halifax house prices fell for a fourth straight month in July, amid rise in mortgage costs, while the nation’s RICS housing price index dropped to its lowest level since April 2009 in July. The FTSE 100 index declined 0.5% to settle at 7,524.2, while the FTSE AIM 100 index fell 1.0% to close at 3,595.2. Also, the FTSE techMARK 100 index lost 1.1% to end at 6,417.0
US markets ended mixed in the previous week. On the data front, US inflation rose less than expected in July, while the nation’s trade deficit narrowed less than expected in June. Additionally, the US weekly jobless claims climbed to its highest level since July in the week ended 05 August 2023, while the nation’s MBA mortgage applications dropped in the week ended 04 August 2023. Meanwhile, the US producer price index rose more than expected in July, due to increase in the cost of services, while the Michigan consumer sentiment index declined less than expected in August. The DJIA index rose 0.6% to end at 35,281.4, while the NASDAQ index lost 1.9% to close at 13,644.9.
