Darktrace, up 0.3%, announced that Jill Popelka has been appointed as its next Chief Operating Officer (COO), replacing Nick Trim, who resigned earlier this year and will step down at the end of June. Jill will assume the COO role from Nick Trim, with effect from 01 June 2024.
Sareum Holdings, up 24.3%, announced the appointment of Hybridan LLP as the company's sole broker with immediate effect.
Xaar, up 12.4%, announced that it has appointed Dr Inken Braunschmidt as Independent Non-Executive Director, effective 01 June 2024.
LPA Group, unchanged at 65.0p, in its AGM statement, announced that its first quarter's trading performance has been as expected. Sales levels were largely on target, good order books remain, and it is witnessing an increased level of activity particularly into FY25 (financial year to 30 September 2025). However, the second quarter of FY24 will be affected by late cable shipments which are now coming around the Cape but this will be made up in its third quarter.
Aferian, down 21.5%, in its annual results, announced that revenues dropped to $47.82m from $91.10m recorded in the previous year. Loss before tax widened to $64.70m from $16.91m. The board has not proposed a final dividend (2022: 1.0p/1.26 US cents per share) for this financial year.
Cambridge Cognition Holdings, down 6.7%, announced that it has completed the bookbuild and has conditionally raised around £2.5m by placing 6,250,000 new shares at the issue price of 40p per share.
Oracle Power, unchanged at 0.02p, announced that it has started a reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme at the Northern Zone Gold Project located 25 km east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, and air core (AC) drilling is also progressing well. Separately, the company announced that pursuant to its announcement of 9 April 2024, the due diligence process for the proposed 100% acquisition of the Blue Rock Valley Copper and Silver Project, located in the Ashburton Basin in the northwest region of Western Australia, is ongoing and is expected to be completed imminently. The company had a 45-day period in which to complete the due diligence process and exercise the option to acquire the project, which has now expired. However, the seller has granted the company a further 10-day period from 29 May 2024 in which it may elect to exercise the option.
UK markets ended lower last week. On the data front, UK’s BRC shop price index advanced at the slowest pace in 2-1/2 years in May, while the nation’s mortgage approvals unexpectedly fell in April. Meanwhile, UK’s Nationwide housing prices rose more than anticipated in May. The FTSE 100 index declined 0.5% to settle at 8,275.4, while the FTSE AIM 100 index fell 0.7% to close at 3,907.7. Additionally, the FTSE techMARK 100 index marginally dropped to end at 7,042.9.
US markets ended lower in the previous week, as the US annualised GDP grew slower in the first quarter. On the macro front, the US annualised gross domestic product rose at a slower pace in 1Q24, while personal spending advanced less than anticipated in April. Additionally, the US pending home sales declined by the most in three years in April, while the nation’s weekly jobless claims advanced more than expected in the week ended 24 May 2024. Moreover, the US Chicago PMI unexpectedly dropped in May, while the nation’s Richmond Fed manufacturing index remained flat in May. Meanwhile, the US consumer confidence unexpectedly rose in May, while the personal income rose as expected in April. Separately, the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) Beige Book indicated that the US economic activity continued to expand across most regions from early April through mid-May, amid weakening consumer demand while inflation continued to increase at a modest pace. The DJIA index fell 1.0% to end at 38,686.3, while the NASDAQ index lost 1.1% to close at 16,735.
