Marks & Spencer shocks City with £600m hit and divi cut for Ocado. The City was sent reeling on Wednesday as Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) said it would have to tap investors for £600 million and slash its dividend to fund its dramatic £1.5 billion tie-up with Ocado Group (OCDO). The High Street giant slashed its dividend by 40% as it revealed the terms of the joint venture. M&S shareholders were unimpressed as the shares fell 7%, or 23p, to 279p. The retailer paid out £303 million in dividends in its last financial year but today’s final dividend cut is a £75 million blow to shareholders, with more to follow. Steve Rowe, the M&S boss, argued the dividend cut was a “proactive step to strengthen our balance sheet”, which is laden with £1.8 billion in debt. Under the joint venture, which the Evening Standard first revealed details of yesterday, M&S is buying half Ocado’s UK retail business for £750 million. Ocado is set to receive £562 million upfront, allowing it to invest in the company’s as-yet-unprofitable technology business, plus a deferred payment of £187.5 million. Ocado will also get around £50 million a year for running the joint venture.
Metro Bank’s RBS money in danger as it dives 20% on £350 million share placement. Metro Bank (MTRO) was today fending off suggestions it may lose a £120 million bursary won only last week as part of government plans to boost competition in banking. Under-fire chief executive Craig Donaldson, already reeling from an accounting blunder, today saw shares in the bank crash 20% to 1051p. That was in response to a £350 million share placement unveiled last night to fill a hole in the books left by the miscalculation on the value of loans. Donaldson offered to resign but says the board want him to stay. He will forfeit his 2018 bonus. Rivals were already surprised that Metro landed the biggest chunk of money from a Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) fund being paid out as part of its 2009 bailout.
Rio Tinto hands investors surprise $4bn payout after earnings hit high. Rio Tinto (RIO) rewarded fund managers with a special dividend on Wednesday, taking the amount of cash shovelled back to shareholders to a colossal $13.5 billion. The FTSE 100 mining giant, led by Frenchman Jean-Sebastian Jacques, surprised investors with a special one-off payout of $4 billion after earnings hit a four-year high. The payout is in addition to other cash returns in 2018 including the $5.3 billion full-year dividend and $3.2 billion of buybacks. Jacques said: “These strong results reflect the efforts of the team to implement our value-over-volume strategy as we continued to strengthen the portfolio and invest in future growth.” Underlying earnings rose 2% to $8.8 billion and sales rose by $500 million to $40.5 billion due to higher prices for aluminium and copper and increased iron ore volumes.
Student digs firm Unite forecasts drop in customer numbers from EU. Unite Group (UTG) on Wednesday predicted the number of EU nationals staying in its UK student housing blocks could fall by up to 25%. The FTSE 250 property developer has around 2500 undergraduate customers who hail from the continent. It thinks that could fall to 1880 by 2023. Chief executive Richard Smith said Brexit “is creating a cloud of uncertainty for the business”. However, he pointed out that students from the bloc account for just 8% of Unite’s customer base. Smith added: “We have a good degree of insulation because we have robust demand for accommodation from international (non-EU) and UK students, underpinned by positive future demographic drivers in this country.”
Capco set to speed up Earls Court demerger. Covent Garden landlord Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) on Wednesday said it was ready for a “prompt” demerger of its Earls Court development as the value of the scheme took another hit. It said nine months ago it was considering a spin-off of Earls Court into another listed vehicle, although the move has also flushed out would-be buyers including Li Ka-Shing’s CK Asset Holdings. “Others have come into the pot,” according to chief executive Ian Hawksworth. But the tough nature of London’s residential market saw the firm take yet another writedown on the Earls Court assets, which fell by £101 million to £658 million last year. That drove a slight 2.4% decline in the overall value of Capco’s portfolio to £3.3 billion.
Brexiteer Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos to invest £1bn in the UK. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire Brexiteer chemicals tycoon behind Ineos, on Wednesday outlined plans to invest £1 billion in the UK. Manufacturing giant Ineos, founded by 66-year-old Ratcliffe in 1998, will spend £500 million on the Forties Pipeline System, prolonging the life of the North Sea’s main oil and gas artery into the 2040s. It wants to overhaul the reliability of the 500km pipeline system. The Forties Pipeline System opened in 1975. The rest of the money will go towards creating a new energy plant in Grangemouth and a factory in Hull to create vinyl acetate monomer, used in adhesives, packaging and textiles.
