DS Smith, down 12.9%, in its final results, announced that revenues rose to £8,221.0m from £7,241.0m recorded in the previous year. The board has declared a final dividend of 12.0p per share, taking the total dividend for this year to 18.0p per share.
Kier Group, down 4.1%, announced that its subsidiary, Kier Property has appointed Willmott Dixon Interiors to redevelop 19 Cornwall Street in the heart of Birmingham's Business District, transforming it into an exemplar net zero carbon (NZC) in operation, smart-enabled office building.
1Spatial, up 10.3%, announced that it has won the first two contracts for its newly launched Traffic Management Plan Automation (TMPA) solution under the 1Streetworks brand in the UK.
GetBusy, unchanged at 65.0p, announced that it would release its results for the six months ending 30 June 2023 on 5 September 2023.
CyanConnode Holdings, unchanged at 14.9p, announced that its Indian subsidiary, CyanConnode Private Limited, has been recognised as a ‘Start-Up 50 Trailblazer’ by Dun & Bradstreet.
Oracle Power, down 15.4%, announced that it has successfully raised £363,000 through a placing of 323,000,000 new ordinary shares of 0.1p each and a subscription for 40,000,000 new Ordinary Shares, both at a price of 0.1p per share.
LPA Group, down 10.3%, in its interim results, announced that revenues rose to £9.13m from £8.63m recorded in the same period previous year.
Feedback, down 4.3%, in its trading update, announced that trading during the period was in line with the Board's expectation. Cash balance is expected to be reported at around £7.3m as at 31 May 2023.
Sareum Holdings, down 3.8%, today, announced that the first patent specifically relating to SDC-1801, its lead TYK2/JAK1 kinase inhibitor, has been granted in China.
Dialight, down 0.9%, today, announced that it has appointed Lynn Brubaker as an Independent Non-Executive Director, with effect from 01 July 2023. Moreover, the group expects to release its results for the six months ending 30 June 2023 on 25 September 2023.
UK markets ended lower last week, after the Bank of England (BoE) announced a bigger-than-expected rate hike. On the macro front, UK’s manufacturing sector activity contracted in June, while the nation’s services sector PMI declined more than anticipated in June. Meanwhile, Britain consumer price inflation accelerated for a fourth straight month in May, driven by higher prices for flights and second-hand cars, while the nation’s retail sales unexpectedly climbed in May. Additionally, the GfK consumer confidence improved to a 17-month high in June, while the nation’s DCLG house price index advanced more than expected in May. Separately, the BoE raised its key interest rates by 50 basis points to 5.0%, its highest since 2008, to curb persistent inflation. The FTSE 100 index declined 2.4% to settle at 7,461.9, while the FTSE AIM 100 index fell 4% to close at 3,630.4. Meanwhile, the FTSE techMARK 100 index lost 3.3% to end at 6,627.1.
US markets ended lower in the previous week, as hawkish comments by the US Federal Reserve stoked concerns over further interest rate hikes. On the macro front, the US initial jobless claims remained steady at 20-month high in the week ended 16 June 2023, while the US current account deficit widened in 1Q23. Meanwhile, the US housing starts advanced to a 13-month high in May, indicating positive momentum in the housing market, while the nation’s building permits unexpectedly rose in May. Additionally, the US existing home sales unexpectedly rose in May, while the US homebuilder confidence reached its highest level in a year in June, driven by robust demand and improved supply chains. The DJIA index fell 1.7% to end at 33,727.4, while the NASDAQ index lost 1.4% to close at 13,492.5.
