DS Smith, down 7.4%, in its AGM trading statement, announced that its overall trading has been in line with market expectations, driven by continued resilient pricing and strong cost control measures.
Darktrace, up 9.1%, in its final results, announced that revenues climbed to $545.4m from $415.5m recorded in the previous year.
Hilton Food Group, up 4.3%, in its interim results announced that revenues rose to £2.1b from £2.0b recorded in the corresponding period last year. Moreover, the company has declared an interim dividend of 9.0p per ordinary share.
Kier Group, up 3.8%, announced the acquisition of all the rail assets from Buckingham Group Contracting Limited and their HS2 contract supplying Kier's HS2 joint venture, EKFB, for a cash consideration of £9.6m.
Tristel, up 9.8%, announced the submission of its application to Health Canada to approve Tristel ULT as a Class II Medical Device for endocavity ultrasound probes and skin surface transducers.
Sareum Holdings, up 6.5%, announced that it has successfully completed dosing of the first subjects in the multiple ascending dose part of its Phase 1a clinical trial for lead programme SDC-1801.
GRC International Group, up 4.0%, in its audited year end results for 12 months ended 31 March 2023, announced that revenues rose to £14.66m from £13.90m recorded in the previous year. The Group has decided not to pay dividend.
Xaar, up 0.5%, announced that its results for the six months ended 30 June 2023 would be published on 19 September 2023.
Nexteq, up 0.4%, in its interim results, announced that revenues rose to $56.29m from $53.29m recorded in the same period a year ago. Profit before tax widened to $5.14m from $2.84m.
GetBusy, down 13.2%, in its unaudited interim results announced that revenues rose to £10.5m from £9.1m recorded in the same period previous year. Loss before tax narrowed to £0.8m from £0.9m.
IQGeo Group, down 3.1%, announced that it would release its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2023 on 25 September 2023.
Frontier Developments, down 3.0%, announced that it intends to release its full-year financial results on 13 September 2023. Feedback, unchanged at 87.5p, announced that it would publish its full year results for the year ended 31 May 2023 on 12 September 2023.
Cambridge Cognition, unchanged at 92.0p, announced that it would release its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2023 on 26 September 2023.
UK markets ended higher last week, amid hopes that the Bank of England (BoE) would pause its rate hike cycle. On the macro front, UK’s BRC like-for-like retail sales rose in August, as consumer sentiment improved. Meanwhile, UK services PMI fell to a 7-month low level in August, due to low demand. Additionally, the Halifax house price index declined at its fastest pace in nine months in August, while the nation’s construction PMI eased in August. The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.2% to settle at 7,478.2, while the FTSE AIM 100 index rose 0.5% to close at 3,554.2. Also, the FTSE techMARK 100 index gained 0.8% to end at 6,417.2.
US markets ended lower in the previous week, amid concerns over further rate hikes by the US Fed. On the data front, the US services PMI fell in August, while the nation’s factory orders declined in July, registering its first decline in four months. Additionally, the US trade deficit widened in July, driven by rise in imports. Meanwhile, the ISM services PMI accelerated to its highest level since February 2023 in August, while the US initial jobless claims unexpectedly dropped to a 7-month low level in the week ended 01 September 2023. Separately, the US Fed, in its latest Beige Book report, indicated that the US economic activity grew at a modest pace during July and August. The DJIA index fell 0.7% to end at 34,576.6, while the NASDAQ index lost 1.9% to close at 13,761.5.
