DS Smith, down 2.8%, announced the investment of more than €50m in its packaging facilities in Portugal in response to a growing demand for sustainable fibre-based packaging solutions.
Darktrace, up 1.0%, announced that it has introduced the global Defenders Partner Program, its first formal partner program to support partners better as they go to market with the vendor.
Kier Group, down 2.1%, announced that it has been appointed to construct a new special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) school in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, UK.
Quartix Technologies up 20.0%, in its interim results, announced that revenues climbed to £16.11m from £14.62m recorded in the same period the previous year. Profit before tax widened to £2.70m from £2.40m.
Gaming Realms, up 10.4%, in its pre-close trading update, announced that it expects H1 2024 revenue of around £13.5m and adjusted EBITDA of around £5.8m, reflecting yearly increases of 18% and 21%, respectively.
Creightons, up 2.9%, announced that it has declared a final dividend of 0.45p per ordinary share, which will paid on 11 September 2024.
IQGeo Group, up 0.6%, along with Bidco, confirmed that all the conditions to the acquisition relating to specified anti-trust and regulatory approvals as set out in paragraphs 3(a) to 3(d) (inclusive) of Part A of Part Three of the scheme document have now been satisfied.
Checkit, unchanged at 26.0p, announced that its CFO, Greg Price would step down from the board on 30 September 2024.
Aferian, down 16.7%, in its interim results, announced that revenues dropped to $12.17m from $23.35m recorded in the same period previous year.
Bango down 14.2%, announced that it has signed a partnership contract with Nord Security to integrate their subscription products, NordPass and NordVPN, into Bango's Digital Vending Machine (DVM).
SDI Group, down 8.8%, in its final results, announced that revenues dropped to £65.85m from £67.58m recorded in the previous year.
Dialight, down 2.5%, in its audited preliminary results for the 15-month period ended 31 March 2024, announced that revenues climbed to $226.0m from $209.8m recorded in the previous year. The board is not declaring a dividend payment for the period ended March 2024 (2022: nil).
UK markets ended lower last week, led by losses in commodity sector stocks. On the data front, the UK manufacturing PMI climbed more than anticipated in July, while the Nationwide housing prices rose for the third straight month in July. The Bank of England (BoE) reduced its key interest rate to 5.0% for the first time in over four years. The FTSE 100 index declined 1.3% to settle at 8,174.7, while the FTSE AIM 100 index fell 1.2% to close at 3,709.7. Additionally, the FTSE techMARK 100 index lost 1.8% to end at 6,874.
US markets ended lower in the previous week, following dismal US jobs data raised fears of an oncoming recession. On the macro front, the US ISM manufacturing PMI fell to an eight-month low in July, amid a drop in new orders, while the nation’s factory orders declined sharply in June. Moreover, the US nonfarm payrolls rose less than expected in July, while the nation’s unemployment rate climbed to its highest level since October 2021 in July. Additionally, the US ADP employment advanced less than expected in July, while the nation’s weekly jobless claims rose more than anticipated in the week ended 26 July 2024. Meanwhile, the US JOLTS job openings unexpectedly rose in June, while the nation’s consumer confidence climbed more than anticipated in July. Also, the US pending home sales rebounded more than expected in June. The US Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate steady at 5.5%, as expected and indicated that officials could cut interest rates at their September meeting. The DJIA index fell 2.1% to end at 39,737.3, while the NASDAQ index lost 3.4% to close at 16,776.2.
