Kainos trades in line with FY consensus forecasts, Ascential acquires German media services firm

Stocks to watch

IT provider Kainos said on Tuesday that full-year revenues and adjusted profits were both expected to meet current consensus forecasts as trading continued to be "very strong", new and existing clients maintaining or increasing their levels of investment in digital solutions.

Kainos stated that against a backdrop of "strong market demand in the UK", its digital services teams delivered "major transformation programmes" to new and existing clients across the public, commercial and healthcare sectors. While international engagements also grew in scale, with positive progress in both Europe and Canada.

Specialist information, analytics and ecommerce company Ascential said on Tuesday that it has bought Germany-based Sellics, which provides media execution services to challenger brands trading on Amazon for an undisclosed sum.

Headquartered in Berlin, Sellics provides a mix of advertising spend optimisation, campaign automation and profit analytics to brands that trade on Amazon across the US and Europe.

Newspaper round-up

G20 countries are being urged by a group of renowned economists to use the crackdown on oligarchs' wealth amid Ukraine sanctions as a spur to tackle tax havens once and for all.

An open letter sent to the 20 finance ministers before they meet on Tuesday called on them to implement a global register to link assets, companies and structures to their owners so they could no longer deprive countries of what they owed. - Guardian

The Russian offensive to seize eastern Ukraine and the "battle for Donbas" has begun, Ukraine's president Volodymr Zelenskiy said.

"Now we can already state that the Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, for which they have been preparing for a long time," he said in a video address, adding that a "significant part of the entire Russian army is now concentrated on this offensive". Presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said: "The second phase of the war has begun." - Guardian

Boris Johnson's mobile phone was analysed by cybercrime investigators after Downing Street was targeted by hacking software, it has been reported.

The Pegasus spyware, which can effectively turn mobile phones into listening devices, is said to have been found on multiple occasions within the heart of government in 2020-21. The Downing Street attack was orchestrated by an organisation linked to the United Arab Emirates, according to the international cybersecurity body that unearthed the infiltration. - The Times

Jacob Rees-Mogg has demanded that cabinet ministers do more to get their civil servants back to the office after the vast majority of Whitehall departments were found still to be operating at less than half of their normal capacity.

The minister for government efficiency has told colleagues to monitor staff attendance fortnightly, warning: "We have significant progress to make." An audit conducted across Whitehall shows that calls by ministers for civil servants to return to the office have gone largely unheeded almost three months after work-from-home guidance was lifted. - The Times

British households have cancelled their streaming subscriptions in record numbers so far this year as families continue to grapple with the rising cost of living.

A little more than 1.5 million video-on-demand accounts were scrapped in the first three months of 2022, according to figures from market research firm Kantar, leaving platforms such as Disney+, Apple TV+ and Now concerned. Netflix and Amazon Prime, on the other hand, were found to be "the last to go when households are forced to prioritise spend". - The Independent

Boris Johnson has been accused of showing "no respect for law and order", as he prepares to face a grilling from MPs in his first parliamentary appearance since being fined by the Metropolitan Police.

As the Commons returns from its Easter recess, the prime minister, who is also marking 1,000 days in No 10, is expected to again offer a "full apology" for breaking the Covid regulations his government designed. In a statement at around 1530 BST on Tuesday, Mr Johnson will "have his say" on the scandal that has destabilised his premiership and "outline his version of events" before taking questions - The Independent

US close

Wall Street stocks finished lower on Thursday as market participants digested quarterly earnings from a number of the country's largest banks.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.33% at 34,451.23, while the S&P 500 lost 1.21% to 4,392.59 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out he session 2.14% weaker at 13,351.08.