Debenhams to announce £40m short-term cash injection. Move aims to buy department store time to arrange long-term finance and shop closure plans. Debenhams (DEB) is expected to announce a short-term cash injection of about £40m as it buys more time to arrange a longer-term refinancing and store closure plan. The ailing department store chain, which has 165 outlets and employs 25,000 people, is battling to reach a deal with its banks and bondholders after a difficult Christmas capped off a lacklustre 2018, during which it issued three profit warnings. Lenders have agreed to extend the company’s overdraft limit in an attempt to give it time to refinance its debts, and an announcement about the extension could come as soon as Tuesday. The rescue process is likely to involve the closure of tens of stores and lenders taking a stake in the company
Just Eat shareholder wants merger with rival instead of hunt for CEO. ‘Lack of online food delivery experience’ in roles at UK firm concerns US hedge fund. Just Eat (JE.), the British online takeaway service, has come under fresh pressure from an activist investor, which is calling for it to merge with a rival rather than appoint a new chief executive. Cat Rock Capital Management, a US hedge fund that owns a 1.9% stake in Just Eat, sent an open letter to its board to demand a merger with another online food delivery company within the next few months. It expressed “deep concern regarding the board’s recent appointment of executives who lack online food delivery experience to critical roles at the company, repeating the mistake the board made by appointing Peter Plumb as CEO.”
Lloyds apologises after customers hit by online banking glitch. Lender’s problem comes as IT outages in the sector come under increased scrutiny. Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) has apologised to customers for problems with its online banking service that lasted about 24 hours. The bank said on Monday it was aware of customers having intermittent problems logging on to their online bank accounts. It only affected Lloyds customers, rather than the group’s Halifax and Bank of Scotland brands, and has not affected app logins. However, the bank sent notice that the glitch had been resolved by 5pm on Monday. A spokesperson for Lloyds said: “The intermittent issues with online banking services have now been resolved. We apologise for the disruption some customers experienced today.” Customers started complaining on social media on Sunday evening, with one user posting concerns about access to online banking services from 5pm. “Is your banking app/website down for maintenance? My internet is fine but I cannot access my bank on any device,” the user said.
