Kainos to start listing on FTSE 250

Kainos, the Belfast-headquartered IT group, which listed on the London Stock Exchange just four years ago, has been promoted to the FTSE 250 and will join the ranks of some of the biggest companies on the index including Aston Martin, Domino’s Pizza and JD Wetherspoon.

Kainos will be a rarity on the index when it makes its first appearance later this month as it will be the only Northern Ireland-headquartered company on the FTSE 250.

The North has, in general, a scarcity of listed companies with just Newry headquartered First Derivatives, Belfast-based Fusion Antibodies and Diaceutics currently listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

The FTSE UK index series, which includes the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250, is reviewed on a quarterly basis each March, June, September and December.

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Companies are admitted to the FTSE UK indices by their full market cap at the close of business the night before the review, the latest of which took place earlier this week.

Soaring market cap

Kainos market cap soared above £762 million by close of markets on Thursday as it continues to attract strong interest after recently declaring a significant 56 per cent rise in annual turnover to £151.3 million and a 52 per cent jump in pretax profits to £23.3 million for the year ending March 2019.

Kainos, which was established in 1986, began life as a spin-out company from Queen’s University and is now heralded as a role model for budding entrepreneurs not just in Northern Ireland but throughout the UK university network.

The firm, which has an estimated 300 global clients, has grown its operations to 11 offices across the UK, Europe and the United States and its workforce to 1,300 people.

Brendan Mooney, chief executive of Kainos, believes its promotion to the FTSE 250 is a “recognition of the hard work of our teams, the services we provide to our customers, and our continued ambition to grow our business”.

“Our business has been built around what our people achieve in partnership with our customers,” Mr Mooney added.