Leonie Schroder to replace her late father Bruno as non-executive director at her family firm. Schroders (SDR) has given a seat on the board to a member of its founding family who has no experience in high finance. Leonie Schroder will take up the non-executive role at the fund manager made vacant when her father Bruno died two weeks ago. The 44-year-old heiress has several part-time jobs including as a trustee of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust. Moves to put the divorced mother-of-three on the 215-year-old firm’s board last year were abandoned after disquiet from investors. It is normal for family members to work at the firm before joining its board. Bruno spent two years on the payroll before taking up his seat.
Mike Ashley last night launched an audacious bid to take control of Debenhams (DEB). The tycoon called for the removal of all the members of the Debenhams board bar finance director Rachel Osborne. And he demanded an executive role so he can take charge and ‘focus on the Debenhams business including building a strong board and management team’. The 54-year-old, who owns 29.7% of Debenhams, even said he would stand down as chief executive of Sports Direct to concentrate on reviving the department store. The attempted coup came days after Debenhams issued its fourth profit warning since January 2018. Analysts expect it to make losses of £30million this year. They also questioned why Ashley doesn’t launch a takeover bid for the company, which is valued at just £38million. It was worth £1.7billion when it listed on the stock market in 2006.
The City watchdog has waded into the battle for Provident Financial (PFG) with a stark warning that its customers must not be exploited for higher profits. The Financial Conduct Authority said borrowers’ rights must be protected and there can be no relaxation of lending rules if bidder Non-Standard Finance (NSF) wins control of the firm. It is an unprecedented intervention by the regulator and will be seen as a serious shot across the bows of NSF, which is run by the Provvy’s former boss John Van Kuffeler.
Aviva (AV.) new boss is preparing a radical overhaul of the business as he looks to make it simpler and cut unnecessary costs. In a harsh assessment of the way the insurer was run by predecessor Mark Wilson, Maurice Tulloch said it was far too complicated and a major shake-up was needed to improve performance. He did not spell out exactly where the axe might fall, but said divisions and investments which do not boost shareholder returns are likely to go. Aviva unveiled a 2% rise in profits for 2018, up to £3.1billion. It also set aside an extra £175million to compensate victims of past mis-selling by life insurer Friends Provident, which it bought in 2014.
Melrose Industries (MRO) has made a £550million loss following its £8.1billion hostile takeover of British engineering stalwart GKN, largely due to costs related to the deal. Bosses were upbeat about the progress of the deal, which was doing better than City analysts had expected and the company said it had made an underlying profit of £784million. Shares in the FTSE 100-listed takeover specialist rose as much as 6% after management said its performance in 2018 had been ‘transformational’ and beaten the board’s own hopes. Melrose narrowly won a bitterly fought contest last year to take over GKN, in the biggest hostile bid since Kraft swooped on Cadbury in 2009. Melrose brought in £8.6billion of revenue in 2018, up from £2.1billion the year before – reflecting the size of the GKN acquisition. It boosted its annual dividend by 10%, meaning investors will take home 4.6p per share.
Alfa Financial Software Holdings (ALFA) shares surged 21% higher after the firm said its prospects were improving. Despite posting a 30% fall in profits to £18.2million for 2018, Alfa said its second-half sales had picked up and revealed it was in talks with a potential new customer. The share price rally came after a near-70% slump in value in the past year.
Investors cheered solid growth at internet lender Funding Circle (FCH) amid hopes of a revival in its flagging fortunes. Traders were wooed by a 55% jump in loans under management to £3.2billion last year. This solid growth helped them overlook a £51.6million loss, 40% deeper than in 2017, largely driven by investment in growth. The business allows savers to lend their cash directly to companies over the internet, making money from the interest. Boss Samir Desai exuded confidence, saying that the firm’s strategy is on track and in time the market will see its merits.
United Arab Emirates’ healthcare provider NMC Health (NMC) was the biggest faller, down 344p, to 2656p, after its annual results disappointed investors. Jefferies analysts said NMC’s earnings were lower than expected while financial charges were much higher.
Event manager and publisher Informa (INF) shares rose 16.6p, to 728.2p, as its revenues topped market view. In the second tier, shares in Inmarsat soared after it unveiled a sharp rise in revenue from its aviation business.
Shares in Inmarsat (ISAT) soared after it unveiled a sharp rise in revenue from its aviation business. The satellite communications group’s kit allows airlines to offer in-flight internet services to passengers, with partners including British Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Norwegian. Such is its growing popularity that Inmarsat clocked a 40.9% rise in revenues from its aviation business last year. And bosses believe this could soon become the firm’s biggest source of income, despite its traditional focus on providing tracking and communications for ships.
Cobham (COB) paid a dividend for the first time since 2016, signalling the struggling defence contractor has turned a corner after a disastrous few years. Britain’s third biggest defence company said it will pay 1p per share this year as it revealed profit before tax rose 2% to £71million compared with 2017, though revenue fell 2% to £1.86billion. Chief executive David Lockwood said it was proof that Cobham – which in the last few years has issued five profit warnings, launched two rights issues and cancelled its dividend – was through the hard part of any turnaround and on the way to ‘becoming a normal company’ again. He said: ‘It’s been an interesting two years – I’ve lost a lot of hair and put on weight.’
