Boost for cyber security firm as revenues jump

Cyber security firm Sophos shot to the top of the FTSe 250 after posting an upbeat set of results in the wake of the WannaCry virus chaos.

The firm saw £117.8m added to its value after boasting that its customers had not been hit by Friday’s ransomware attack, which left hundreds of thousands of organisations reeling.

In fact, its program to protect against such attacks has become the fastest-growing software in its history. Customers include a number of NHS trusts, which chief executive Kris Hagerman said had been successfully defended against WannaCry.

He said: ‘It is a wake-up call for the world that IT security has to be a top priority.’

Sophos was founded 30 years ago by Oxford University friends Jan Hruska and Peter Lammer, before growing into one of europe’s biggest cyber security companies. The pair have each seen the value of their 9.25pc stakes in Sophos rise £25m since the cyber attack on Friday, with shares up more than 17pc in just six days.

The firm’s revenues also rose 10.8pc to £408.2m, while losses narrowed from £52.7m last year to £37.9m in the year to March 31.

yesterday, it saw shares rise 6.9pc, or 25.6p, to an all-time high of 395.4p.

The FTSE 100 retreated from record highs on concerns that US President Donald Trump could be impeached for attempting to influence an investigation into his election campaign. It slipped 0.3pc, or 18.56 points, to 7503.47.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals was again among the index’s biggest losers as it continued to be hit by the decision of the US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, to reject its generic version of GSK’s asthma drug Advair.

The firm faced its fourth key broker downgrade in a week yesterday as Jefferies cut it to ‘underperform’ from ‘buy’ and dropped its price target to 1450p from 2160p. It is now down 12.2pc since the drug’s rejection last Thursday. Shares fell 2.8pc, or 49p, to 1717p. retail chains Dunelm and Hal

fords each suffered after analysts at HSbC said they could be hit by the UK’s current economic climate. Analysts at the bank downgraded both from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’, warning against a ‘toxic’ combination of increasing prices and falling wage growth in the UK.

The bank also said consumers were less likely to spend money on non-essential items such as sofas and bikes.

Dunelm’s shares fell 4pc, or 24.5p, to 591.5p, making it one of the FTSe 250’s biggest losers, while Halfords was down 1.1pc, or 3.8p, to 356.3p.

Car seller Auto Trader dipped after broker berenberg gave it a ‘sell’ rating and a price target of 350p – a downsize of 16pc.

The broker said the firm was likely to be hit by a shrinking used car market, as well as by the growing popularity of electric vehicles, car sharing and self-driving cars. Shares in the firm fell 3.3pc, or 13.8p, to 405.5p.

Foam maker Zotefoams rallied after a record performance in the first quarter of the year, despite a minor pay revolt at its AGM. revenue for the first three months of the year was in line with expectations – around 28pc higher than the same period in 2016.

but at the firm’s AGM, 8pc of voters rejected its pay policy, which saw chief executive David Stirling granted a 6pc pay rise for the firm’s current financial year, taking his pay to £238,500.

He is also eligible for a bonus of up to 75pc of his salary. Shares rose 7.4pc, or 21.5p, to 311.5p.