Aston Martin sets aside £30m for Brexit as revenues rise by 25%. Carmaker’s plans for no deal or disorderly exit from EU include £2m for revised supply routes. Aston Martin Holdings (AML) has set aside £30m in preparation for any Brexit-related disruption as the luxury carmaker reported strong revenues in its first set of annual results since its stock market debut. The company said it was setting aside the cash in readiness for no deal or a disorderly Brexit, including £2m for revised supply chain routes. It has hired a new supply chain chief and has made plans to fly in components or bring them in through naval ports. Andy Palmer, the chief executive, said a delay to Brexit would be a “further annoyance”. MPs could potentially vote on whether to delay Brexit on 14 March, a fortnight before the scheduled departure date of 29 March. Palmer added: “You’re holding that contingency stock for longer, which means that your working capital is tied up for longer. More importantly, what you’re doing is you’re creating continued uncertainty.”
London property slump pushes Foxtons to first annual loss since IPO. Nationwide says house prices dipped 0.1% in February from January to average of £211,304. The London estate agent Foxtons Group (FOXT) slumped to its first annual loss since its stock market debut six years ago, blaming a further fall in the number of homes sold and warning of a prolonged downturn in the capital’s property market. Foxtons, known for its hefty commissions and fleet of Mini Coopers, said low consumer confidence because of Brexit uncertainty, the impact of higher stamp duty introduced in 2016 and low affordability in London after years of rapid house price growth were weighing on the market. Nic Budden, the chief executive, said: “2018 was one of the toughest sales markets we have ever had in London, with transactions falling from [the previous] year’s historically low levels.” The agency sold 2,529 properties last year, down 15%, with the average price of a Foxtons sale dipping to £581,000, from £582,000 in 2017. The grim outlook came as Nationwide, Britain’s biggest building society, said house prices dipped 0.1% in February from January to an average of £211,304, while the annual growth rate in prices edged up to 0.4% from 0.1%.
Taylor Wimpey reports £811m in profits boosted by help-to-buy. Housebuilder says it has yet to see any signs of Brexit-related slowdown in demand. Taylor Wimpey (TW.) is the latest housebuilder to report bumper profits for last year, boosted by the government’s help-to-buy scheme and low mortgage rates, as it signalled a strong start to 2019 despite Brexit uncertainty. Britain’s third largest homebuilder posted a pretax profit of £810.7m for 2018 – up 19% on the previous year – after selling 15,275 homes. Shares rose 3% making it one of the top risers on the FTSE 100. Pete Redfern, chief executive, said the firm had yet to see any sign of a Brexit-related slowdown in demand. “Despite ongoing macroeconomic and political uncertainty, we have made a very positive start to 2019 and are encouraged to see continued strong demand for our homes.”
Metro’s share price tanks after second cash call in seven months. Challenger bank investigated by City regulators following major accounting failure. Metro Bank (MTRO) shares plunged to fresh lows on Wednesday, after the lender shocked markets with plans to raise a further £350m just months after its last cash call. The high street challenger also revealed that it is under investigation by City regulators, the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority, over a major accounting failure first disclosed last month. The announcements were made alongside the bank’s annual results on Tuesday night. Metro Bank’s share price slumped once again on Wednesday and was down more than 26% at about 950p shortly before the London market closed. The company’s shares have lost 50% of their value since the accounting issue was announced.
M&S agrees £750m food delivery deal with Ocado. Marks & Spencer will buy 50% stake and take its food offerings online for first time. Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) is to launch a £600m cash call on its shareholders in order to bring its ready meals and other food hall favourites to internet shoppers for the first time in a £1.5bn deal with the online delivery firm Ocado Group (OCDO). M&S will pay Ocado £750m for a 50% share of the new Ocado.com joint-venture, which will begin trading in September 2020, when Ocado’s deal to supply Waitrose products expires. Steve Rowe, Marks & Spencer’s chief executive, said he had “always believed that M&S food could and should be online” and combining M&S’s upmarket food range with Ocado’s technology and delivery network was a “win-win” deal that would “drive long-term growth”
Interserve’s biggest shareholder says rescue plan is ‘terrible’. Lenders’ proposal would leave shareholders with just 5% of the government contractor. The largest shareholder in debt-laden Interserve (IRV) has described new financial restructuring plans put forward by the government contractor as “terrible” and warned it is prepared to sue the company’s board and lenders if rescue talks fail and the company falls into administration. Interserve, which employs 45,000 people in the UK, is at the centre of an increasingly acrimonious showdown over its future, just a year after fellow outsourcer Carillion collapsed into administration. Interserve said the restructuring plan was “critical to our future”, warning it would run out of cash unless investors wave through the plan at a vote on 15 March.
Barclays bosses ‘celebrated a services deal made with Qatar’. Witness tells trial of former Barclays executives the deal was ‘entirely separate’ from rescue package. Barclays (BARC) bosses openly celebrated a services deal struck with Qatar in 2008 that was “entirely separate” to its multibillion-pound rescue package and did not disadvantage other investors, a court heard on Wednesday. Glenn Leighton, a former director at Barclays’ financial institutions group, was the second witness to give evidence during the landmark trial linked to the bank’s crisis-era fundraising, and the first to be cross-examined by the defence. He faced questions on Wednesday by both prosecutors for the Serious Fraud Office and William Boyce QC, defence lawyer for Barclays’ ex-European financial institutions head, Richard Boath. Boyce asked whether Leighton understood at the time that the advisory services agreement struck with Qatar – which is at the centre of the criminal trial – was in exchange for assistance gaining a foothold for its business in the Middle East. “Yes,” Leighton replied.
