GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is well advanced in developing a suite of vaccines which will guard against respiratory viruses in children and lung diseases in adults – part of a pipeline of 17 ground-breaking treatments. The British drugs giant is the world leader in vaccines with a turnover of £5.9billion in the first nine months of the year. The company’s Shingrix vaccine, used to defend against shingles, is a global blockbuster, widely available in the US, Germany and Canada, and has generated £1.3billion of sales so far in the current financial year – double the sales of a year earlier. The speed of the take-off in Shingrix has led Glaxo to update sales projections twice this year and the group is adding a new production line to meet unexpectedly strong global demand.
Canadian gold miner Endeavour has abandoned plans for a £1.5billion merger with Centamin (DI) (CEY). Endeavour said it had received ‘insufficient’ information about Centamin’s books before a deadline last night. Endeavour had been hoping Centamin would extend the deadline – which meant it had to put in a firm offer or walk away – but when this was rejected it decided to abandon the tie-up. The two companies began talks in December to strike a better deal after Centamin rebuffed an initial £1.5billion bid, which would have seen its investors receive Endeavour shares. Centamin, which is now hoping to bolster production in Egypt at its main mine, insists there were ‘comprehensive’ negotiations but its board was not convinced the deal would pay off for shareholders.
The former boss of Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) who took the company to court in a fiery boardroom battle has dumped his 5% stake in the firm. Andrew Tinkler sold 375m shares on Monday, according to stock market filings. It is not known how much they were sold for, but at market prices they are worth £21million. Tinkler, who was chief executive from 2007 to 2017, oversaw the break-up of the firm in 2014 when he sold the trucking part of the business, Eddie Stobart Logistics, to private equity firm Douglas Bay Capital.
A builder and his wife could rake in millions from dividends after a North Sea oil company said it would start handing cash back to shareholders. David and Debbie Hardy own an almost 11% stake in Serica Energy (SQZ) worth £39million – making them the firm’s second largest shareholder. Serica said it will announce its maiden dividend when it releases full-year results in April.It follows a ‘strong’ year in which it paid off its remaining debts to BP, after it bought the oil major’s stake in three North Sea sites in 2018, and the amount of oil produced rose 13% to around 30,000 barrels a day.
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) cheered ‘increased political stability’ in the UK following last month’s General Election as it posted a rise in sales. The housebuilder said the market had remained stable in 2019 despite Brexit uncertainty, with the number of homes the company sold rising 5% to 15,719. The average selling price rose 1% to £305,000 during the year, and it ended 2019 with a record order book worth £2.2billion. Boss Peter Redfern said: ‘The environment is more positive at this point than we have seen for the past couple of years. ‘There is a bit of pent-up demand there.’
Weybridge based recruitment company Pagegroup (PAGE) posted lower fourth quarter profits. Slowdowns in China and the UK have been blamed by the firm for a 0.4% fall to £205.6 million. The company still managed to register a 5% increase in annual profits for the 2019 financial year to £856million. PageGroup say the drop in the final part of the year was caused in part by Brexit-related uncertainty. It attributed trade tariff uncertainty in China, the Hong Kong democracy protests, and the devastating bushfires in Australia as the reasons for the performance in Asia.
Boohoo.com (BOO) enjoyed ‘record’ results in the final four months of last year and has upped its performance forecasts, throwing its ailing bricks-and-mortar based counterparts into the shade. The group said all its brands, including Boohoo, Nasty Gal and Pretty Little Thing, performed ‘exceptionally’ over the period. Bucking the recent retail trend for profit warnings and disappointing results over the festive period, Boohoo raised both its full-year revenue and margin outlook.
The boom times keep on coming for fantasy games company Games Workshop Group (GAW) as the Warhammer maker posted record half-year profits. Higher licensing income and trade volumes helped the fantasy miniatures giant also score a record £148.4million in sales. Online sales grew by 15% to £24.2million at the Nottingham firm, while retail sales expanded in every country. Kevin Rountree, CEO of Games Workshop, said: ‘Our business and the Warhammer Hobby continue to be in great shape. We are pleased to once again report record sales and profit levels in the period. ‘The global team have worked their socks off to deliver these great results. My thanks go out to them all.’
Live Company Group (LVCG) was on the up after inking a three-year deal with Entertainment One Limited (ETO). This will give it the rights to use characters from the phenomenally successful cartoon series Peppa Pig in its Brick Live tours in the UK and Ireland. It expects to launch the first Peppa Pig-themed tour, where under-12s take part in brick-building games and activities, later this year.
The uncovering of an elaborate scam sent shares in Lekoil Ltd (DI) (LEK) crashing to an all-time low. The oil company had been duped into believing it had secured a £142million loan from the Qatar Investment Authority, which it was going to put towards further drilling off the coast of Nigeria. So sure was it that it had clinched the loan, it announced the deal to the stock market on January 2, causing shares to more than double. But it had actually been tricked into paying £462,000 to individuals based in the Bahamas at a company called Seawave, who were pretending to represent the sovereign wealth fund. It took more than a week for the Qataris to confirm they had nothing to do with the loan. Lekoil is now scrambling to find nearly £31million by next month or it could be forced to sell its stake in the same field it is trying to develop.
Mcbride (MCB) had a bruising day after it warned profits will be around 15% lower than expected this year. The cleaning product maker said costs were going up as sales were falling. It appointed a new chief executive, Ludwig de Mot, in November and is reviewing the business. But shares dropped as investors fretted that it may still have a long way to go to get back on track.
