The two newest companies on the London Stock Exchange continued their downward slide yesterday, as investors sold stock in Funding Circle (FCH) and Aston Martin Holdings (AML). City bankers working on the two floats have been criticised for pricing them too highly. Online lender Funding Circle hit the market on Wednesday with a value of £1.5billion, but shares are now trading 100p below the original 440p price. James Bond’s car-maker Aston Martin, meanwhile, has lost the same amount as its shares have dipped from 1900p to 1800p.
Gfinity (GFIN) scored a goal for investors as it announced it would operate the first ePremier League tournament. It has signed an agreement with the Premier League to run a competition where UK competitors play online football game EA Sports Fifa 19 in a three-month tournament. The live final will be in the Gfinity Arena, London, and be broadcast on Sky Sports and Premier League social media channels.
DFS Furniture (DFS) slumped 6.5p, to 203.5p as it revealed a near-50% decline in profits over the past year. It blamed the hot summer for putting off customers, even though rival SCS reported rising profits. Problems at Felixstowe port delayed some imports, but chief executive Ian Filby was downbeat as he referred to a ‘subdued’ market.
American-style restaurant chain TGI Fridays is up for sale, as its private equity owner is planning to sell off companies and close. Electra Private Equity (ELTA) said the business had recently been valued at £149million. It also owns Hotter Shoes, which it will be trying to sell for around £50million. Electra has sold its stakes in photo printing company Photobox for £98million and property company Knight Square for £34million.
Ocado Group (OCDO) was one of the biggest losers, dropping 7.8%, or 71.2p, to 843.8p.
Smith (DS) (SMDS) fell by 30.5p, to 460.9p as it hosted a presentation for analysts and investors which failed to impress.
Audioboom Group (BOOM) took a dive as it said revenue for the year would be between £8.8million and £10million, below expectations. The loss-making company, which has recently signed deals with Formula One and Jonathan Ross, blamed its botched £142million acquisition of Triton.
Billionaire property investor John Whittaker is planning a swoop on shopping centre owner Intu Properties (INTU). The 76-year-old tycoon, who is deputy chairman of Intu and has a stake of around 27% through his firm Peel Group, has joined forces with Brookfield Property Group of Canada and Saudi Arabia’s Olayan Group to plot a takeover. The move comes as High Streets and shopping centres across Britain fight fierce online competition from the likes of Amazon. Intu, which is valued at £2billion having seen its shares fall more than 40% this year, owns 14 shopping centres including the Trafford Centre in Greater Manchester, Lakeside in Essex and Eldon Square in Newcastle.
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) has been rapped by regulators for failing its customers in a new PPI scandal. It forgot to send 14,060 people with payment protection insurance an annual statement detailing their costs and their right to cancel their policies. In another 2,884 cases it miscalculated the amount customers had paid up when sending the statements out. This meant many had no idea how much they were spending on PPI policies, and some may not even have realised they were still paying for one.
Regulators have given CYBG (CYBG) the green light to plough ahead with its £1.7billion takeover of Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.). The combined group will be branded as Virgin Money and have around six million customers.
