SDI Group, up 13.4%, announced that it anticipates revenues and profits for the year to be ahead of market expectations. Moreover, the board expects FY2023 to be the Group's best year yet, also ahead of current market expectations.
Tristel, up 3.2%, announced that it would be presenting at the Shares and AJ Bell Media investor evening on 12 May 2022.
Frontier Developments, up 2.8%, announced that its games label, Frontier Foundry has unveiled the turn-based tactical RPG Warhammer 40,000®: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters in partnership with Warhammer 40,000 creator Games Workshop®.
Bango, up 0.6%, announced that it has signed an agreement with McAfee Corp. to expand its global user base through partnerships with service providers.
Aferian, unchanged at 142.5p, announced that Non-Executive Director and current chair of the Board's Audit Committee, Erika Schraner, is set to leave the company, with effect from 29 July 2022.
Netcall, unchanged at 65.0p, announced that it has launched Liberty Artificial Intelligence (Liberty AI), which would bring new AI capabilities to the Liberty platform.
Checkit, unchanged at 36.5p, announced that it has entered into a two-year renewal contract worth £360,000 (including £52k of upsell) with Center Parcs Limited. GetBusy, unchanged at 64.0p, announced that it witnessed strong trading performance in the first four months of 2022.
GRC International Group, unchanged at 28.0p, announced that its strong performance in 2021 continued into 4Q of 2022, resulting in its best month of billing, despite the economic and geopolitical headwinds.
Oracle Power, unchanged at 0.3p, announced the appointment of Strand Hanson Limited as the company's joint broker, with immediate effect. Additionally, Strand Hanson Limited would also continue to act as the company's nominated adviser.
UK markets ended lower last week, after the Bank of England (BoE) warned of a rapid economic slowdown. On the data front, UK’s construction PMI fell to a 3-month low in April. Meanwhile, UK’s manufacturing PMI rose in April, while the BRC shop prices climbed at its fastest rate since 2011 in April, amid rise in energy prices. Additionally, the Halifax house prices advanced for a tenth consecutive month in April. In a major development, the BoE raised its key interest rate by 25 basis point to 1.00%, marking its highest level in 13 years and warned of a recession next year with inflation above 10%. The FTSE 100 index declined 2.1% to settle at 7,387.9, while the FTSE AIM 100 index fell 5.3% to close at 4,620.2. Meanwhile, the FTSE techMARK 100 index lost 2.0% to end at 5,932.8.
US markets ended in the red in the previous week, amid rising fears over stagflation. On the macro front, the US ISM manufacturing PMI declined in April, reaching its lowest level since September 2020, amid rise in workers quitting their jobs, while the nation’s service sector activity weakened in April. Additionally, the US weekly jobless claims rose in the week ended 29 April 2022, while the nation’s private sector employment rose less than expected in April. Further, the US trade deficit widened in March, driven by jump in imports. Meanwhile, the US factory orders advanced in March, while the country’s non-farm payrolls climbed by more than expected in April. Separately, the US Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points to a target rate range of between 0.75% and 1.00%, marking its largest hike since 2000. Also, the central bank announced plans to shrink its $9t asset portfolio starting next month in an effort to curb inflation. The DJIA index fell 0.2% to end at 32,899.4, while the NASDAQ index lost 1.5% to close at 12,144.7.
