Market report: Wandisco back in tune as founder Richards returns

David Richards needed to make a statement on his return to the helm at WANdisco and he hasn’t disappointed.

The big data firm’s founder, who was ousted by rebel directors in September before returning just a week later with the support of shareholders, filled investors with hope today that the company was on the way to turning a profit as promised.

The AIM-listed company, which helps clients including Barclays and Disney to store and manage huge amounts of data, reported record bookings in the fourth quarter of $6.1 million (£5 million), almost double what it racked up in the same period in 2015.

Bookings for the whole of 2016 rose 72% to $15.5 million.

It also slashed overheads, one of the big criticisms of Richards made by the two directors who gave him the boot before they were ousted. The cash burn was just $200,000 in the fourth quarter, compared with $6.9 million in 2015.

“We have begun 2017 with a strong new business pipeline and a significantly reduced cost base, which together will further our progress towards profitability,” Richards said.

Investors put off by the boardroom shenanigans have been piling back in and today the shares jumped 49p, or 22%, to 273p, their highest level in more than 18 months.

The FTSE 100, which had reached new highs of 7350 earlier in the day, edged 1.89 points lower to 7335.92, as banks and housebuilders retreated on the pound’s Brexit-related woes.

Aerospace and defence firm Cobham, down 3.2p at 135p, lost more ground as Goldman Sachs tipped the shares to fall as low as 110p as it downgraded to Sell. The shares nosedived last week after its latest profit warning which forced the company, which designs specialist technology for space missions, to shelve the dividend.

“A sustained cut to the dividend, beyond the suspension already announced, is the most feasible path to restoring balance sheet and investment flexibility,” Goldman said.

Gold miner Acacia Mining rose 12.8p to 431p as it confirmed merger talks with Canada’s Endeavour Mining after the market closed on Friday.

a record year of production and shipments lifted mineral sands group Kenmare Resources 14.35p, or 5.4%, to 279.35p.