Shares in the consume goods company Reckitt Benckiser were knocked significantly lower on Friday as markets reacted to a court ruling from the US, which found one of the company’s products as having been the cause of an infant’s death. A change of $60m was levelled against Reckitt , although they dispute the findings and said they would appeal the ruling in a statement issued shortly before Friday’s close. This morning the stock was up around 2.5% in early trade, but given losses on Friday were at one point almost 20%, the losses here have been significant and given the typical pace of judicial processes, this story can be expected to play out for some time yet.
One of the biggest fallers in London this morning was Bytes Technology, the software security and cloud services specialists, who published a full year trading update this morning. Strong demand has resulted in double digit growth for both gross profit and adjusted operating profit, whilst gross invoiced income is expected to rise by more than 25%. Management are confident that the growth trajectory can be maintained, but separately the business also provided another update on the circumstances relating to the resignation of the former CEO last month. Further instances of undisclosed dealing in the company’s stock have been revealed, arguably overshadowing the fundamentals and leading the shares some 14% lower in the first hour of trading on Monday.
Electrical retailer Currys provided the market with a trading update this morning following the expiry of the offer period last week, running in the wake of an unsolicited bid from a Private Equity play. The company noted that adjusted pre-tax profits for the full year were now expected to be no lower than £115m, up from the previously guided £105-£115m, adding that exceptional cash costs were also set to fall dramatically starting in the next financial year. Shares added around 3% in early trade and the stock continues to sit well above levels seen before the first offer was tabled.
Headlines we expect to see on Tuesday
Close Brothers Interim results
This time last year Adjusted operating profit £12.6m, Dividend 22.5p, Bad debt ratio 3.6%. Also watch for updates on the car financing saga.
Trustpilot Final results
This time last year Revenue $149m, Adjusted EBITDA loss $4.4m, Year end cash $73.5m.
Company expects positive adjusted EBITDA for the full year.
