Shares in Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) have risen by 10% after the group announced its latest quarterly revenues jumped by 19% to £104.9million. The comparison site’s results were bolstered by a 70% increase in business across its Home Services arm, with a sharp rise in the number of customers switching energy providers. A year ago, the group’s share price was hovering at around the 345p mark. The revenue boost was, in part, triggered by the acquisition of Decisions Technologies last year which added £6.2million to the pot. Home Services had an ‘exceptional’ quarter, with revenue soaring 70%, but the group said this was expected to ease throughout the course of the year.
Demand for ice cream and in certain emerging markets helped Unilever (ULVR) deliver a 3.1% rise in sales the last quarter. The Ben & Jerry’s maker said quarterly figures for the UK and Italy were bolstered by ‘strong ice cream performance’, while retail conditions in Germany remained ‘extremely challenging.’ ‘Growth was led by emerging markets and was balanced between volume and price’, the group said. The group reported a 1.6% dip in turnover to £10.74billion, while emerging market sales rose 5% over the quarter. The decline in headline turnover was due to the disposal of group’s spreads business, which completed in July last year. The unit, which included brands such as Flora and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, was sold to KKR for £5.92billion. Unilever said growth remained weak in developed markets, while high inflation weighed on global market volume growth. In Europe, underlying sales grew by just 0.7%.
ASOS (ASC) co-founder Nick Robertson has pocketed £15.3million after selling 410,000 shares at 372p each. Despite the huge sell-off, he still has a 5.5% stake in the online fashion firm, worth £178.5million. Robertson, 51, co-founded Asos in 2000 with his business partners Andrew Regan and Quentin Griffiths, and served as chief executive of the business until 2015. A year later he was forced to sell £70million worth of shares to fund the divorce settlement with his ex-wife, Janine. The payout was equivalent to almost a third of Robertson’s £220million net worth at the time.
The City watchdog has issued a stark warning over the treatment of customers to the firm targeting Provident Financial (PFG), in one of the most bitter takeover battles the City has seen for years. Andrew Bailey, head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said that he will not tolerate efforts to exploit the Provvy’s 2.4m customers if the bid by rival Non-Standard Finance (NSF) succeeds. NSF, run by the Provvy’s 70-year-old former boss John van Kuffeler, has pledged to boost the lender’s profits. But its plans, and the hostile nature of the bid, have sparked fears of a squeeze on vulnerable borrowers. In a highly unusual intervention, Bailey told the Mail that the FCA will use its powers to stop that.
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) has slashed prices on almost 500 of its most popular food items as it scrambles to win back customers and arrest its declining sales. The High Street chain has dramatically cut prices across products such as chocolate eggs and legs of lamb, in time for Easter. A bottle of Limestone Coast Sauvignon now costs £7 compared with £10 a year ago, with a family pack of salmon fillets reduced from £13 to £11. It is also selling 20 per cent more Easter eggs for £5 and under compared to last year. Head of food Stuart Machin said M&S is trying to be ‘special and relevant, with prices to shout about’. It is the latest move by chief executive Steve Rowe and chairman Archie Norman to revive fortunes by attracting more families.
Housebuilder Persimmon (PSN) is beefing up its board and pay committee after a row over bumper bonuses forced out its former chief executive last year. Claire Thomas, a Glaxosmithkline human resources executive for a decade, joins as a non-executive director in August and will sit on remuneration and nomination committees. Persimmon, Britain’s second-biggest housebuilder, raked in a £1billion profit last year but has been in the firing line for shoddy workmanship and fat cat pay.
Shares in car dealership group Pendragon (PDG) tumbled today as it swung to a loss after being forced to cut prices to attract buyers. Pendragon, which owns Evans Halshaw and Stratstone, said ‘challenging trading conditions’ have dented margins in new, used and aftersales markets. Rising costs and losses at its online business for second hand cars added to its woes, pushing Pendragon to an underlying pre-tax loss of £2.8million in the first quarter – some £10million below its expectations. Russ Mould at AJ Bell said Pendragon’s decline was an indication that consumers were reluctant to spend money on big purchases.
The North Sea oil and gas firm Serica Energy (SQZ) celebrated a surge in profits last year, after a series of acquisitions which industry analysts have hailed as ‘transformational’. Serica bought interests in the Bruce, Keith and Rhum fields in the North Sea, and saw its profits jump 337% to £57.3million. Chief executive Mitch Flegg said the firm was still on the lookout for new opportunities after a year of ‘incredible achievement’.
Bunzl (BNZL), which provides businesses around the world with items ranging from disposable coffee cups to safety gear, suffered its worst day of trading in almost 30 years. Shares dipped 237p, to 2314p as it admitted revenue growth rate is slowing, blaming mixed macroeconomic and market conditions, especially in North America, where performance was squeezed by a lack of sales growth and the higher price of goods. Bunzl, which has historically been keen to expand through buying new businesses, also announced that it had snapped up Netherlands packaging supplier Coolpack.
The FTSE 250 was boosted by private hospitals firm Mediclinic International (MDC), after it said that it had met expectations for the year ending March 2019. Analysts at Morgan Stanley said the business had ‘handled admirably’ the headwinds it had faced in some markets. The comments came as a pat on the back for new chief executive Ronnie van der Merwe, who has been leading a turnaround of the South African firm.
GB Group (GBG) beat expectations with ease, as it announced profits for the year ending in March would be up 20.6% to £31.7million. The credit-scoring and identity-checking business gained significant new customers.
A new deal for Learning Technologies Group (LTG), which offers online workplace learning and recruitment services, caused its shares to leap. The firm has bought Breezy, a recruitment software business, for up to £13.8million.
Carclo (CAR), which makes plastic parts for car lights and medical devices, fell 20.7%, or 5.75p, to 22.1p. It was suffering from backlogs, as customers increased their orders to stockpile for Brexit.
