FTSE-250 listed IT services provider Kainos saw its shares jump 9% in early trade following the publication of full year results. This marks the company’s 14th consecutive year of growth, active customer numbers are up by almost 14% and annual recurring revenues have increased by 26%. Shareholders are being rewarded with a 14% dividend increase and management also note that the company is making rapid progress on deploying the previously announced £10m into Generative AI solution.
Irish video game company Keywords Studios has this morning disclosed it has so far batted away four unsolicited acquisition offers from a fund which is part of private equity play EQT, but following recent market speculation has now gone public. The most recent offer of 2550p per share values the company at around £1.3bn, which is a hefty premium on the 1150p traded at the end of April. Shares had been as much as 67% higher at the open before gains abated to around 60% an hour into the day.
Property developer and investment company British Land issued an update this morning advising the market that it had disposed of its remaining 50% stake in Sheffield’s Meadowhall out of town shopping centre. The decision was driven by the company’s move to focus assets on its preferred segments, but the back story here is worth noting. The company initially bought Meadowhall for £1.07bn in 1999, sold down 50% in 2009 for £588m and disposed of the remainder for £360m. Investors gave the news a muted response with shares down by around 0.5% in early trade against the FSTE-250’s 0.5% gain.
Headlines we expect on Tuesday
Cranswick Final Results
This time last year Revenues £2323m, Adjusted pre-tax profit £140.1m, FY dividend 79.4p
Topps Tiles Interim Results
This time last year Group revenue £130.3m, Gross profit up 2.7%, Interim dividend 1.2p
