Abcam, up 12.3%, in its final results for the 18-month period ended 31 December 2021, announced that revenues climbed to £462.9m from £260.0m and profit before tax widened to £20.3m from £8.3m recorded as on 30 June 2020.
Frontier Developments, up 8.2%, announced that its games label, Frontier Foundry has introduced the final developer diary for the upcoming turn-based tactical RPG Warhammer 40,000®: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters, in partnership with developers Complex Games and Warhammer 40,000 creator Games Workshop®, which would be launched for PC on 5 May 2022.
Science Group, up 12.3%, in its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2021, announced that revenues rose to £81.22m from £73.66m recorded in the previous year. The Board has proposed a final dividend of 5.0p per share (2020: 4.0p per share) for 2021.
Sareum, up 8.5%, announced an update on the development of its proprietary TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor SDC-1801 towards first-in-human trials. The data analysis from the preclinical toxicology and safety studies required to file for an exploratory Clinical Trial Authorisation (CTA) has been completed.
Quixant, up 4.2%, announced that it expects to release its full year results for the financial year ended 31 December 2021 on 5 April 2022. Kier Group, up 2.6%, announced that it has been chosen by Oldham Council to deliver the North Chadderton Secondary School expansion.
Aferian, unchanged at 138.5p, today, announced that 24i Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Joachim Bergman, would step down from his position and from the Board of Directors of
Aferian plc, with effect from 30 April 2022. Meanwhile, the leadership of 24i will transition to Dr Neale Foster who joins 24i as its CEO. Further, Joachim would remain with the business until 30 April 2022, in order to deliver an orderly transition to Neale.
UK markets ended firmer last week, amid optimism surrounding Russia-Ukraine peace talks. On the data front, UK’s unemployment rate fell below its pre-pandemic level in the three months to January, while the nation’s average earnings including bonus climbed in January. Separately, the Bank of England (BoE), in its policy meeting, raised its key interest rate to 0.75%, for the third time since December, to contain surging inflation caused by higher oil prices. The FTSE 100 index advanced 3.5% to settle at 7,404.7, while the FTSE AIM 100 index rose 5.2% to close at 5,029.4. Also, the FTSE techMARK 100 index jumped 3.0% to end at 6,202.4.
US markets ended higher in the previous week, following the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate hike. On the macro front, the US weekly jobless claims dropped in the week ended 11 March 2022, reaching its lowest level since start of 2022, while the nation’s housing starts climbed at its fastest pace since 2006 in February. Meanwhile, the US existing home sales dropped by the most in a year in February, amid rising mortgage rates, while the nation’s building permits declined in February. Additionally, the US retail sales grew at a slower pace in February, as surging gasoline and food prices induced consumers to cut back spending. Meanwhile, the US Fed lifted its key interest rate from 0.25% to 0.50%, for the first time since 2018, and signalled six more hikes this year as inflation reached a 40-year high. The DJIA index rose 5.5% to end at 34754.9, while the NASDAQ index surged 8.2% to close at 13893.8.