DS Smith, up 3.2%, in its Q3 trading update, announced that it has witnessed continued momentum during the second half of the year with progress in profitability and cash generation. Moreover, its trading performance was in line with the board’s expectations. The board anticipates a continued strong free cash flow performance for the full year with cash conversion over 100% and a further reduction in leverage from 1.9x reported as at 31 October 2021.
Frontier Developments, up 1.9%, announced that it has launched the F1 Manager 2022, a major new management simulation game. Following a licensing agreement signed in early 2020 with F1, Frontier is creating a major new game franchise to join a successful portfolio which includes Elite Dangerous, Planet Coaster, Jurassic World Evolution 1 & 2 and Planet Zoo.
Gaming Realms, up 31.1%, announced that its subsidiary, Alchemybet Limited, has won an iGaming Supplier license to provide games to Canada’s Ontario ahead of the opening of the province's regulated iGaming market on 4 April 2022.
Xaar, up 8.1%, announced that it is set to launch the new Versatex 'out-of-the-box' print engine and the latest Nitrox Elite GS3 printhead at this year's InPrint exhibition in Munich on 15th-17th March 2022.
Kier Group, up 0.7%, in its results for the six months ended 31 December 2021, announced that revenues dropped to £1,482.2m from £1,617.1m recorded in the same period last year. No interim or final dividends have been declared during the period (six months ended 31 December 2020: £nil, year ended 30 June 2021: £nil).
Bango, down 3.0%, announced that the front cover artwork created for its 2021 Annual Report is available as a range of ultra-limited NFT (non-fungible token). The NFTs are available through the OpenSea NFT marketplace and will be priced between 0.1 ETH and 1.0 ETH at release.
Oracle Power, unchanged at 0.3p, announced that it has successfully completed its maiden drill programme at its Jundee East Gold Project, located in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia (Jundee East). The drilling focussed on five priority areas identified from a comprehensive geochemical programme conducted in 2021, with results expected in around six-eight weeks.
UK markets ended higher last week, as UK’s economic growth rebounded in January. On the data front, UK’s gross domestic product grew more than expected in January, as the impact of Omicron faded. Additionally, the nation’s house prices accelerated at its fastest rate since 2007 in February, amid shortage of homes for sale, while the RICS housing price climbed to an 8-month high level in February. Moreover, the BRC retail sales rose in February, driven by strong demand for goods. Meanwhile, UK’s trade deficit sharply widened in January, following a decline in exports. The FTSE 100 index advanced 2.4% to settle at 7,155.6, while the FTSE AIM 100 index rose 3.0% to close at 4,779.3. Also, the FTSE techMARK 100 index gained 2.6% to end at 6,020.4.
US markets ended lower in the previous week, amid worries over surging inflation and ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict. On the macro front, the US consumer prices climbed to a 40-year high in February, as Russia’s invasion in Ukraine resulted in higher commodity prices. On the other hand, the US weekly jobless claims rose in the week ended 4 March 2022, while the nation’s job openings dropped in January, signalling tight labour market conditions. Additionally, the US trade deficit widened in January, while the country reported a budget deficit in February. Also, the US consumer sentiment declined to an 11-year low level in March, amid surge in gasoline prices. Separately, US President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian oil imports. The DJIA index fell 2.0% to end at 32,944.2, while the NASDAQ index lost 3.5% to close at 12,843.8.