Redrow (RDW) founder branded Help to Buy a ‘godsend’ as his firm prepared to hand him almost £22m in a dividend bonanza. Steve Morgan, the builder’s executive chairman, said ministers would be ‘crazy’ to scrap the taxpayer-backed scheme which doles out loans to families buying new-build homes. The comments came as the company reported record revenues and profits and promised shareholders a dividend worth 28p a share – putting Morgan in line for £21.7million.
WPP (WPP) boss has called for a radical overhaul of the group as he seeks to move on from the reign of founder Sir Martin Sorrell. Just 24 hours after he was made chief executive, Mark Read said the advertising empire built by his predecessor had become too unwieldy and needed to revamp its image to attract talented young recruits.
The founder of ‘legal loan shark’ Amigo Holdings (AMGO) is stepping down from its board amid growing criticism of the company’s methods. James Benamor, who floated the high-interest lender earlier this summer, is quitting as a non-executive director at the end of this month to focus on developing private companies.
Halfords Group (HFD) delighted investors today by wheeling in a sales rise and maintaining its forecasts for the full-year. The bikes and car parts specialist posted a 2.8% jump in like-for-like sales for the five months to mid-August, despite enduring two periods of extreme weather and what it described as a ‘challenging retail environment’.
Housebuilder Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) dropped 160p, to 3510p as it came under fire for making millions in profits while calling affordable housing targets ‘unviable’.
TLA Worldwide (TLA) was booed off the pitch as it issued a trading update yesterday. The firm had failed to organise as many events as expected this year, meaning financial results would be ‘significantly below market expectations’. Debt would be much higher, and it was likely to breach repayment agreements with its lender.
WPP (WPP) reported disappointing half-year results, causing shares to drop 80p, to 1196.5p.
The boss of Halfords Group (HFD) motored into investors’ good books as the company bucked retail gloom to reveal sales were rising. Customers bought more motoring and cycling products in the first 20 weeks of the year, and like-for-like sales increased at its car repair centres too.
There was a glitch in the system for Alfa Financial Software Holdings (ALFA), one of the world’s largest software providers to asset managers. Revenue dropped by 27% to £32.9million, as operating profit plummeted for the first half of the year by 39% to £8.6million. Even though it had warned in June there were ‘delays in contracts’, shareholders still expressed their displeasure as Alfa slipped 10.4p, to 148p. Chief executive Andrew Denton insisted, however, that there was a ‘healthy’ pipeline of new business.
Seeing Machines Ltd. (SEE) saw shares crash 2.9p, to 7.3p. It blamed delays in the manufacture and shipping of its Guardian hardware, which uses sensors in lorry drivers’ cabs to measure their fatigue and distraction levels.
