C&C stockpiles a month’s worth of Magners cider to see Brits through Brexit. Drinks maker C&C Group (CCR) on Thursday said it has stockpiled enough Magners cider to quench the thirst of Brits for at least a month after Brexit. The Dublin-headquartered manufacturer has shipped extra bottles and cans from Ireland. They are being stored near Bristol to ensure enough stock is available in case of any border delays disrupting imports once Britain leaves the EU. Boss Stephen Glancey added that C&C’s wholesale and distribution arm Matthew Clark has upped the number of wine bottles it is storing.
Brexit ‘overhang’ sparks Countrywide profit alert. A Brexit-inspired paralysis in the London property market on Thursday forced yet more bad news from ailing estate agent Countrywide (CWD) as it hit investors with a £5 million profit warning. Shares in the firm sank another 10% or 1p to 9.5p as executive chairman Peter Long blamed the current political uncertainty for the market’s woes, particularly in London and the South-East. The current slump comes after a disastrous spell for the UK’s biggest estate agent due to an ill-fated restructure by the previous chief executive, who was sacked early last year. The firm also had to raise £125 million last summer to cut a dangerous debt pile.
Aviva’s new chief sets out to streamline ‘far too complex’ insurer. Aviva (AV.) new chief executive on Thursday promised to go after “low-hanging fruit” to simplify the insurer. Maurice Tulloch, who was appointed on Monday, said he wanted to make the FTSE 100 giant run better and there were lots of opportunities to create “efficiencies”. “We are far too complex and this is holding us back,” he said. “This will change, and quickly. I plan to leave no stone unturned to drive better underlying operating performance.” He pointed to duplication of two main head offices — one for global operations and the other for UK — and too many versions of the same product as areas of focus. Analysts had speculated Tulloch may pursue a radical break-up of the company.
Melrose clamps down on loss-making contracts at GKN. GKN-owner Melrose Industries (MRO) promised to turn around loss-making contracts on Thursday as it swerved problems in the car industry. The FTSE 100 group, which won an £8 billion hostile bid for the company, said a review of GKN’s sales had found that 10% of sales were loss-making. The company, which said it would no longer enter into loss-making contracts, hopes to get that profitable by making the factories more efficient. Finance chief Geoffrey Martin said: “It’s real evidence [GKN was] entering stuff it shouldn’t have done. We can correct that by changing the cost base of GKN. There’s lot of work to do there.”
Cobham pledges to relaunch dividend but shares still drop. Aerospace supplier Cobham (COB) promised to restart its dividend for the first time in three years on Thursday but slow growth at its fighter jet radar division weighed on shares. The Boeing and Airbus supplier, led by chief executive David Lockwood, expects to make a small, 1p per share payout at interim results. The company halted payments in 2016 after a string of profit warnings, the first time in nearly 50 years Cobham had not paid a dividend. The dividend is a sign the firm is on the mend. Free cash flow also surprised coming in at £63 million, well ahead of City expectations of £10 million.
