Convatec sales outlook for InnovaMatrix improves, Kainos ends year as expected
By Josh White
Date: Monday 14 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 144 points higher on Monday, having closed up 0.64% on Friday at 7,964.18.
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Medical products group Convatec has said the sales outlook for InnovaMatrix has improved after an announcement by the US government late last week. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Friday postponed so-called local coverage determinations (LCDs) for certain products used to treat diabetic foot ulcers and venous leg ulcers, meaning that Medicare patients with those conditions will continue to benefit from access to InnovaMatrix. As a result, guidance for InnovaMatrix sales this year has been hiked from $50m to $75m.
Kainos said in an update on Monday that it expects to report full-year revenue and adjusted profit in line with consensus forecasts, supported by a stronger fourth quarter and disciplined cost management. The FTSE 250 software company said its Workday Products division delivered robust growth, with annual recurring revenue exceeding £72m, while Digital Services saw renewed momentum in public sector and international markets despite ongoing weakness in the commercial sector. Although Workday Services demand remained subdued, early signs of recovery and recent international wins offered cautious optimism amid a challenging macroeconomic environment.
Newspaper round-up
British Steel is to deploy emergency measures in a race against time to save the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe, as the business secretary refused to guarantee the plant could get what it needed in time. The company is understood to be looking at offers of help from more than a dozen businesses to obtain materials such as iron ore and coking coal, potentially allowing it to avoid the temporary shutdown of one of the two furnaces. - Guardian
The ticket resale platform Viagogo has been accused of failing to prevent "misleading and potentially unlawful" practices on its platform, despite facing intense scrutiny as the government consults on new anti-touting laws. Ministers are weighing up plans to cap the price at which tickets can be resold, after Labour pledged in its election manifesto to tackle ticket touts using platforms such as Viagogo and StubHub to charge fans huge mark-ups for in-demand shows. - Guardian
Britain's biggest businesses are preparing to slash hiring and scale back investment plans to stave off the threat posed by Donald Trump's trade war. Plans are being drawn up for the deepest hiring cuts since 2020, according to Deloitte's quarterly survey of finance chiefs, which will see workers bear the brunt of aggressive savings. To cope with the impact of the US president's global tariffs, companies are set to water down planned pay rises to an average of 3pc, despite predicting that inflation will rise to 3.1pc over the course of next year. - Telegraph
The tariff regime for America's technology giants was plunged into more chaos as Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary, backtracked on exemptions granted less than two days earlier. On Friday, President Trump's administration excluded smartphones, computers and other electronic products, mostly sourced from China, from the 145 per cent tariffs on the country and the baseline 10 per cent import duty on goods from most other nations. - The Times
Neil Woodford, the discredited asset manager, has defended his Guernsey listings tactic and his controversial asset swap gambit which raised eyebrows in the months leading up to the collapse of his £17 billion empire. The fund manager, who is fighting a regulatory finding of failings in running the main Woodford Equity Income fund, responded for the first time to public questioning on some of the questionable stratagems he adopted to try to save his empire as clients defected in droves in 2019. - The Times
US close
US stocks ended Friday's session with strong gains, capping off one of the most volatile weeks for Wall Street in recent history, as the sporadic nature of Donald Trump's trade policies continued to steer market sentiment.
The Dow gained 1.6% to 40,213, the S&P 500 rose 1.8% to 5,363, while the Nasdaq jumped 2.1% to 16,725.
Despite the (shaky) comeback experienced over the past five days, the three indices each still remain around 5% below levels seen before Trump's sweeping tariff barrage came into force on 2 April.
Tariffs remained in focus on Friday after Donald Trump paused his country-specific tariffs for 90 days, instead implementing a universal rate of 10%, with the notable exception of China which he slapped with a 145% levy.
China then retaliated by raising duties on US products to 125% from 84%. The Commerce Ministry announced the increase saying the country was ready to "fight to the end".
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