Burford Capital (BUR) claims its share price has been illegally manipulated by traders. The legal funding company has demanded through a High Court petition that the London Stock Exchange reveal the identity of those traders. Burford’s threats are the latest salvo in an ongoing battle between the firm and US hedge fund Muddy Waters. Burford’s lawyers claim there is ‘good reason’ to believe traders allegedly manipulating its shares ‘were acting in concert with each other and/or Muddy Waters’.
Neil Woodford is facing the axe from the Patient Capital trust that bears his name, as it emerged the value of its assets have tumbled by more than a quarter in the past six months. In Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) half-year update, the 59-year old, who has been seriously testing investors’ patience, told shareholders he was ‘very sorry’ about the ‘extremely disappointing’ period. The fund manager, whose flagship Equity Income Fund is currently frozen insisted on that his long-term investing approach would eventually pay off. However, the board of the Patient Capital trust reiterated that they are ‘talking to other potential managers’ to replace Woodford.
Motif Bio (MTFB) plunged after it outlined restructuring plans that would include selling its main asset, a trial-stage antibiotic called iclaprim. It has been in talks with the US medicine regulator to find out what it would need to do to get iclaprim off the ground. This would be a years-long, in-depth clinical trial costing tens of millions of dollars. Motif said the best step forward would be for a different company to take this on.
Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan both took aim at Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.), Both brokerages were sceptical about its upcoming third-quarter results – scheduled for release on October 22 – which JP Morgan expects to be ‘weak’. And they also expect its annual sales growth to be towards the lower end of the 2%-3% range that Reckitt set over the summer. Reckitt recently poached Laxman Narasimhan, a former Pepsico executive, as its new boss, and the firm could change its strategy under his direction.
Barclays brokers downgraded Premier Inn-owner Whitbread (WTB) from ‘overweight’ to ‘equalweight’ and trimmed its price target on the stock from 4700p to 4350p. The bank is glass-half-empty ahead of Whitbread’s first-half results, which will be published nine days before the Brexit deadline of October 31. They point to caution around the falling profits per room that hotels are making and Premier Inn’s ‘increased underperformance’. Analysts say they would like to ask management whether this is due to losing share to budget rival Travelodge. But on the upside, they say there is the possibility that Whitbread could be a take-over target – a move which would make it the latest in a line of firms that have been snapped up by overseas buyers this year.
Ukrainian iron ore miner, Ferrexpo (FXPO), was in the red after it used a stock market update to shoot down claims made by a local prosecutor on social media against its chief executive and largest shareholder Kostyantin Zhevago. Ferrexpo denied allegations that Zhevago is being investigated in relation to a business he owned in Ukraine until 2015.
