Shares in Trainline Plc (TRN) skidded lower after the cost of the travel booking firm’s stock market float pushed it £89million into the red. Stock dipped after it revealed its listing on the London Stock Exchange resulted in a £91.5million bill. This was made up of about £21.1million in ‘transaction costs’, which included adviser fees and staff bonuses, and around £70.4million in one-off expenses. Without the steep bill, Trainline said that it would have booked a £2million profit for the six months to August 31. That was after ticket sales rose to more than £1.8billion, up from £1.5billion during the same period a year ago. Clare Gilmartin, 44, the firm’s chief executive, said the strong growth in ticket sales was partly due to more people buying via their mobiles.
The £4billion sale of Cobham (COB) has hit a bump in the road after the Business Secretary said she needed more time to scrutinise the takeover. Andrea Leadsom said she would speak to fellow ministers to decide whether the deal poses a threat to national security. Leadsom received the CMA’s report last week. In a Parliamentary statement she said that the purdah period, when Parliament is dissolved ahead of an election, will not interfere with a decision.
The former head of the toxic restructuring arm at Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) has told how the lender was put under pressure by a Government agency to push its small business customers into financial distress. Appearing in court for the first time, Derek Sach described the fraught relationship between the bank and the Asset Protection Agency (APA) in the wake of the financial crisis. The 71-year-old, who ran the Global Restructuring Group (GRG) at RBS, was called as a witness by Oliver Morley, a property developer who is suing the bank over claims it placed him under economic duress and sold some of his properties for its own benefit.
Associated British Foods (ABF) profits at its sugar division tanked 79% to £29million on the back of lower prices in Europe, though bosses forecast they would rise again this year. But things were rosier at its grocery business, which includes Ovaltine and Dorset Cereals, where sales grew 2% to £3.5billion in the year to September 14. And at budget fashion chain Primark, profits rose 8% to £913million on £7.8billion of sales. Primark has bucked the gloom on the High Street, even though it does not offer online shopping, and ABF said a weaker dollar and tighter stock management offered the biggest boosts last year. Profits across ABF rose 2%. to £1.4billion.
Crackdowns on vaping in the US knocked sales in the Americas at Imperial Brands (IMB) new products division, which sells e-cigarettes. Sales in the US arm of its ‘next generation products’ business dived 26.5 per cent to £111million. Overall sales edged up to £31.6billion in the year to September 30, up from £30billion the year before, though pre-tax profits tumbled 7% to £1.69billion. In a separate announcement, Imperial said senior independent director Therese Esperdy will take over from Mark Williamson as chairman from January 1.
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) floundered after it was the victim of a cyber attack. It was scant on details but said it has launched an investigation and has taken the targeted systems offline.
Weir Group (WEIR) was on the up despite issuing a warning on profits in its oil and gas division, and revealing it has cut a fifth of its US workforce on the back of difficult trading in America. Shares in Glasgow-based Weir edged higher as it pledged to focus its attention on its other businesses.
Investors were nonplussed by figures from serviced office provider IWG (IWG) that showed revenues rose 9.4% to £692million between July and September. Shares in IWG, which added 66 new sites to its portfolio, were almost flat.
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) rallied after it added Tim Cobbold, who was the chief executive of money printer De La Rue between 2011 and 2014, as the company’s senior independent director on Monday.
Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) tweaked its full-year guidance after it sold 10% fewer carats of diamonds in the third quarter, becoming the latest miner in the sector to report difficult trading. The Lesotho-focused miner estimates it will sell between 111,000 and 113,000 carats in 2019, down from previous forecasts of 115,000 to 119,000.
