Craneware, the Edinburgh-based software company serving the US healthcare market, said it has seen a positive start to trading in the new financial year.

It said customers and partners began to look forward, beyond the macro difficulties of the recent past. As a result, revenue for the year to the end of June is expected to be towards the upper end of current market expectations at approximately $174m, a 5% increase over the prior year.

This has delivered an adjusted EBITDA increase of approximately 5% to over $54m which represents an EBITDA margin of 31%.

CEO Keith Neilson, pictured, said: “It is particularly encouraging to see the improving prospects across the US healthcare landscape in recent months. We are seeing an increasing number of opportunities enter our sales pipeline, which has been reflected in a positive start to the current financial year.

“We are confident in the demonstrable value our solutions can bring to the US healthcare market. Supported by a strong balance sheet, high levels of revenue visibility and improving market backdrop, we are well positioned to steadily build on the healthy performance delivered this year.”

DFS Furniture

Retailer DFS Furniture said underlying profit before tax and brand amortisation for FY23 is in line with previous guidance at slightly above £30m despite the market being significantly worse than expected.

Consumer demand continues to be impacted by the macroeconomic environment and market volumes are down by c.15%-20% across FY23.

The board expects the company to continue outperforming a declining market in FY24 and grow market share delivering low single digit profit growth.

James Fisher

The marine, energy and defence services company James Fisher & Sons said an encouraging start to the year was maintained through the second quarter.

Group revenue from continuing operations in the period is expected to be c.£250m, representing growth of c.16% compared to the same period in 2022.

Underlying operating profit and operating profit margin from continuing operations are both expected to show modest growth compared to the same period in 2022, with the revenue uplift more than offsetting increased investment to strengthen core capabilities within the Group.

Global markets

In quarter-on-quarter terms, data from China showed the world’s second-largest economy only grew 0.8% in the period April to June, slowing from the 2.2% growth seen in the first three months of 2023.

Miners and other Asia-focused stocks were among the worst performers in the FTSE 100. Glencore fell 13.25p to 453.75p, as metals prices weakened because of concerns about demand. Antofagasta, the Chilean copper miner, retreated 38p to 1499p and Anglo American shed 58.5p to 2290p.

The FTSE 100 sank 28.15 points to 7,406.42.