Shares in cyber firm dive 46pc after profit warning
Cyber-seCurity outfit Defenx saw its share price almost halve after a profit warning yesterday.
the firm had told investors a month ago that its full-year revenue would depend on a small number of high-value contracts starting.
yesterday, it revealed that those orders were unlikely to come through in the current year.
Defenx is also working on updates to its products after performance issues were identified.
the firm, which provides systems to protect PCs and mobile devices from hackers, also said that it was behind schedule in broadening its product portfolio to corporate customers.
Development is costing more than anticipated and not yet translating into more orders.
it is now expecting to report a loss for the year. investors were further spooked by the announcement the business is recruiting a group chief operating officer and chief technology officer. russ Mould, investment director at AJ bell, said: ‘smaller companies can be more prone to profit warnings as they are reliant on fewer customers or one particular product. Defenx is a classic example.’
its shares plunged 46.2pc, or 45p, to 52.5p.
the FTSE 100 closed down 1pc, or 79.33 points, at 7447.21.
the stock market was dragged lower by many of the miners. bottom of the pile was Antofagasta even as it announced copper production was up 3.3pc and gold by 1.2pc. the firm left its guidance for the year unchanged, but warned next year’s results may be slightly lower than analysts expected. shares dropped 4.4pc, or 45p, to 986p.
Fresnillo was also among the bottom of the pack, despite announcing silver production was up 24.1pc in its third quarter. Gold production was up 6.1pc on the same period a year ago, too, both due to operations at the firm’s new mine in Mexico.
but investors are nervous around commodities as the pound continues to recover ground against the dollar. A weaker dollar tends to weigh on the price of assets such as gold, silver and oil. yesterday, the copper price fell by more than 0.5pc while the gold price slipped 0.3pc to $1,271.4.
Fresnillo shares dropped 2.3pc, or 32p, to 1346p.
Negative sentiment around the sector also spread to BHP Billiton (down 2.9pc, or 40.5p, to 1352.5p) and Rio Tinto (off 2.6pc, or 93.5p, to 3496.5p). Victoria Oil & Gas plunged as it revealed plans to raise up to £19.6m from investors. the natural gas producer confirmed rumours that it is placing shares to fund its operational development and to provide working capital, and shares plummeted 9.5pc, or 6.12p, to 58.6p.
some confusion over a planning permission saw Angus Energy shares nosedive.
Angus said that after ‘careful and considered review’ it has submitted an application for continued activities at its brockham oil field site. it added that this was a ‘prudent and pragmatic step’ and reassured investors it has all the required permissions from regulators to continue production at the surrey site. shares fell 18.1pc, or 6p, to 27p. support services company DCC completed its purchase of petrol retailer esso’s network in Norway. it announced in February this year that it would buy the 142 sites for £235m. shares were off by 0.7pc or 50p, to 7110p.
Seeing Machines is teaming up with airline emirates to enhance safety training for pilots, using its technology to detect fatigue and distraction. shares surged 5.7pc, or 0.25p, to 4.62p.