Three things you need to know as the UK financial markets open, from Tony Cross.
With the news agenda clearly winding down, we’ll be taking a short break but will be back online on the morning of Monday 2nd September. See you in a couple of weeks’ time.
#1. Botswana Diamonds to deploy AI in quest for new reserves
In a typical quiet late summer Friday morning for news, there’s not too much around from the blue chips but a few points of interest are on the table from the smaller caps, including AIM listed Botswana Diamonds LON:BOD. The company is to use AI interrogation on its diamond database to try and identify new diamond deposits, crunching big data in a way that simply cannot be resourced by human geologists. There’s no timeline here for results but it certainly has the ability to be a positive use case for AI.
#2. Reg issues hamper Biome’s H1 fortunes, hopes for quick resolution
There’s a trading update out from Biome Technologies LON:BIOM, the bioplastics and radio frequency technology business. Group revenues for the first half were down by a third as a result of ongoing regulatory challenges but the board is confident that these can be resolved quickly and will see an improved operational performance for the remainder of the year. Whilst FY revenues will be below initial guidance, they will be up on the FY23 print and the momentum is expected to be maintained going forward.
#3. Profits treble at Fletcher King but management cautious over outlook
Property management company Fletcher King LON:FLK has full year results out today, with revenues up around 25% and a trebling of the adjusted pre-tax profit. The dividend is also being increased from the 0.75p paid a year ago to 2.25p, but management caution that the broader market remains weak and sustaining this level of financial performance will be a challenge. However with a solid pipeline of business and a loyal core client base, they caveat this with a note of cautious optimism.
