Results round-up

Chemring Group said production at its flare manufacturing factory has been suspended after a blast left one worker dead and another badly injured.

A full investigation has been launched in co-operation with the local regulatory authorities after the explosion late on Friday afternoon at a Chemring Countermeasures facility, near Salisbury, causing damage to parts of manufacturing operations.

Local police confirmed the man killed was a 29-year-old from Southampton. The second man caught up in the explosion was a 26-year-old from Pewsey.

As a result of the incident, Chemring said full year underlying operating profit from the countermeasures arm is now likely to be £10-20m lower than the £15m previously expected for the the final quarter of the financial year to 31 October 2018. There is likely to be a corresponding impact on the group's operating cash flow and net debt.

Management said a detailed analysis of the possible impact of the incident on the group's financial prospects has begun but the precise impact on 2018 and 2019 financial years "cannot be accurately quantified at this stage as it will be dependent on insurance recoveries, the timeline for the investigation to be completed and the site to re-open, remediation work to be completed and at what rate production resumes".

Chemring said a further update will be provided when it publishes its next trading statement, which is expected on 4 September.

Fusion Antibodies shares crashed on Monday morning after the Belfast-based researcher revealed that year-to-date trading had been "slower than anticipated".

The AIM-listed antibody engineer warned investors that trading had been hindered by "increasing competition" and "consequential pricing pressures", as well as delays in securing several large contracts.

While Fusion anticipates its results for the year ended 31 March to be in line with market expectations, the firm cautioned that its results for 2019 would likely be "significantly behind current market expectations".

However, based on the group's current pipeline, Fusion's board still expects to achieve a "modest year-on-year revenue growth".

Fusion will turn in its results for the year ended 31 March on 16 August.

In other news, Fusion has completed its laboratory capacity expansion on time and within budget as the group attempted to continue to build upon its sales and marketing capabilities across the globe.