MARKET REPORT: Shares in IT firm Kainos fall as boss quits

Shares of Kainos fell after the CEO canceled his 22 years at the helm.

Brendan Mooney, who became head of the IT group in 2001, will leave at the end of September after the company’s annual general meeting.

That will end his time at Kainos, where he worked for more than three decades, having joined in June 1989 as a trainee software engineer.

During his tenure, Mooney led the company to the London stock market in July 2015.

His replacement, Russell Sloan, who has been the director of digital services at Kainos since 2013, also joined as a software engineer-in-training a decade after Mooney.

“My decision to step down was not an easy one, but it made it easier to know the talent and motivation of the team that runs the company today,” Mooney said.

Sloan said, “Kainos is a thriving, growing and global company. I am excited to take over as chief executive in September and look forward to building on the success created over the decades.

“We have a lot to be proud of as a team and look forward to many more successes in the future.”

Belfast-based Kainos is an IT provider to the private and public sectors, with its digital services division accounting for more than 60 percent of group revenue.

Shore Capital analyst Martin O’Sullivan said, “Brendan Mooney has been an exceptional leader to Kainos, whose character, drive, vision and collegial approach have been critical to the group’s success.”

In a note last month, the broker said the mood music for Kainos in both the public and commercial sectors remains “extremely upbeat” and that it “should benefit from AI and intelligent automation-related transformations, which we believe will be rampant in the years ahead’.

Stock Watch – Music Magpie

Music Magpie has welcomed a recovery in trading after being hit by postal strikes and poor consumer confidence at the start of the year.

The refurbished electronics retailer said profit was 42 per cent higher year on year than last year to £2m in the second quarter to May 31, on the back of stronger trading from February.

It was aimed at tightly controlling costs and increasing profit margins rather than increasing revenues on less profitable products. Shares rose 4.2 percent, or 0.75 pence, to 18.5 pence.

Shares, which floated 139p, fell 5.7 percent, or 80p, to 1337p.

The FTSE 100 fell 0.7 percent, or 52.74 points, to 7588.48, and the FTSE 250 fell 0.9 percent, or 176.6 points, to 18854.29.

Asia-focused stocks fell into negative territory on fears of China’s faltering recovery.

Burberry lost 1.4 percent, or 32p, to 2257p and miners slid across the board, with Glencore down 1.7 percent, or 8p, to 459p, Anglo American fell 2.4 percent, or 61p, to 2484p and Rio Tinto slumped 1.6 percent, or 86p, to 5214p.

Russ Mould, director of investment at AJ Bell, said: “The post-Covid surge expected in China appears to be losing momentum and there is uncertainty about how authorities in the country could get things moving in the right direction.

“That was reflected in a weak performance by Chinese technology companies.” Britain’s homebuilders lost ground as data from property website Rightmove (-0.9 percent, or 4.6 pence, to 529 pence) showed house prices fell in June for the first time in six years.

The sector also prepared for another expected rate hike this week, with the Bank of England forecasting to raise the benchmark level from 4.5% to 4.75%.

Persimmon fell 0.7 percent, or 8p, to 1178p, Taylor Wimpey lost 1.9 percent, or 2.05p, to 107.85p, and Vistry Group dropped 2.2 percent, or 15.5p, to 707p.

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has set its sights on yet another High Street retailer.

The company, which owns Sports Direct, Jack Wills and Flannels, among others, has taken an 8.9 percent stake in Currys.

Shares in Frasers Group, which this month increased stakes in Asos (4.1 percent, or 15.02 pence, to 385.42 pence) and AO World (4.8 percent, or 3.9 pence, to 84.7 pence ) rose 2.2 percent, or 15p, to 712p, and Currys added 3.5 percent, or 1.8p, to 52.95p.