Darktrace, down 8.2%, in its trading update for the six months ended 31st December 2022, announced that it expects ARR as at 31st December 2022 to be at least $556.3m, representing year-over-year growth of at least 36.5%.
Hilton Food Group, up 6.0%, in its trading update for the 52 weeks ended 1 January 2023, announced that it expects to report results in line with the Board’s expectations.
IQGeo Group, up 9.8%, in its trading update for the year ended 31 December 2022, announced that revenue is expected to jump 88% to £26m (2021: £13.8m). Cash balance stood at £8.1m (2021: £11.5m) after completion of €13m acquisition of Comsof during the period.
Cambridge Cognition Holdings, up 6.7%, announced that it has acquired Winterlight Labs for a total consideration £7.0m of which £3.0m would be paid in cash and £4.0m in Cambridge Cognition shares.
Quixant, up 2.8%, today, the company in its trading update for the financial year ended 31 December 2022, that it expects to report full year revenues of $119.9m, up 38% year-on-year. Further, the Group expects adjusted profit before tax to be slightly ahead of market expectations.
Checkit, unchanged at 23.0p, announced that it has appointed Alex Curran as Non-Executive Director and to the board of directors with immediate effect.
Frontier Developments, down 54.8%, after the company lowered its revenue expectations for fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2024. Xaar, down 17.9%, in its trading update for the year ended 31 December 2022, announced that revenue is forecasted to grow 24% to £74m (2021: £59.3m).
Dialight, down 12.9%, in its trading update for the year ended 31 December 2022, announced that group revenue climbed by 29% to around £169m which was below their estimates.
Quartix Technologies, down 3.5%, in its trading update for the year ended 31 December 2022, announced that Annualised Recurring Revenue for fourth quarter is estimated to increase £2.6m (2021 £2.0m).
Feedback, unchanged at 96.0p, announced that it would release its half year results for the period ended 30 November 2022 07 February 2023.
UK markets closed higher last week, as Britain’s economy grew in November, boosting hopes that the country may avoid a recession. On the macro front, UK’s gross domestic product unexpectedly rose in November, amid growth in service sector activity. Additionally, UK’s BRC like-for-like retail sales climbed in December, while the nation’s industrial production fell less than anticipated in the same month. On the contrary, UK’s goods trade deficit widened more than estimated in November, while the nation’s manufacturing production dropped in the same month. The FTSE 100 index advanced 1.9% to settle at 7,844.1, while the FTSE AIM 100 index rose 2.1% to close at 4,150.0 Meanwhile, the FTSE techMARK 100 index marginally rose to end at 6,530.5.
US markets ended higher in the previous week, as the US consumer prices fell in December, raising expectations that the Fed might slow the pace of rate hikes. On the data front, the US consumer price index fell for the first time in more than 2-1/2 years in December, amid drop in gasoline and motor vehicles prices. Additionally, the US consumer credit climbed more than expected in November, as credit-card balances increased by the most in three months, while the nation’s monthly budget deficit narrowed in December. Moreover, the US Michigan consumer sentiment index advanced 8-month high in January. Further, the US initial jobless claims unexpectedly declined in the week ended 06 January 2023. Meanwhile, the US NFIB business optimism index declined to a six-month low in December, indicating worst sales and business conditions. The DJIA index rose 2.0% to end at 34,302.6, while the NASDAQ index gained 4.8% to close at 11,079.2.
