Fishing equipment retailer Angling Direct (ANG) seems to be doing way better than its competitor Fishing Republic (FISH) that went bust last week, as it reeled in rising sales. The company – the largest specialist retailer for in the field with a strong online presence and 21 UK stores – said group sales rose by 31.5% to £14.6 million in the four months to November 30 despite a ‘difficult trading environment’. The update comes at a time when swathes of retailers are struggling to perform in the face of a number of headwinds. The biggest contribution to revenue growth came from online, with sales up by nearly a quarter at £6.7million. But in-store sales were also higher than last year – having increased by 7.2% to £4.9million. Angling Direct also said it profited from Black Friday last month, with sales rising a record 56% to £1.29million.
Asos bosses put their money where their mouths are today, pocketing some shares after the company took a tumble on Monday. CEO Nick Beighton has bough 3,645 shares at £27.35 each – nearly £100,000 worth. Meanwhile, chairman Adam Crozier splurged more than £100,000 on his first 3,750 shares in the online fashion firm, at £26.71 each. ASOS (ASC) had a torrid day on Monday after issuing a big profit warning.
A profit warning by stock market darling Asos has caused a big sell-off of retail stocks today amid fears that both online retailers and the High Street face a disastrous Christmas. Shares in ASOS (ASC) crashed 40% in early trading today after the online fashion giant said it suffered a ‘significant deterioration’ in sales in the crucial run-up to Christmas. In an unexpected trading update, Asos said sales jumped 14% over the last three months, but admitted that trading faltered in ‘the important month of November’, with conditions remaining ‘challenging’. It has slashed its full-year sales and profit forecasts as a result. That added to fears of carnage for retailers this Christmas, having a knock-on effect on other high street retailers. Shares in online rival Boohoo.com (BOO) fell 12% – that’s despite the firm publishing its own update, in which it said trading is ‘comfortably in line with market expectations’ following record Black Friday sales. Other retailers took a hit too: high street bellwether Next (NXT) was also down about 4%, while Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) and Primark owner Associated British Foods (ABF) were down by about 2.6%. Shares in Mike Ashley’s were down 1%, while ]ticker code=”JD.”] fell by about 4.8%. Debenhams (DEB) fell by nearly 7%, French Connection Group (FCCN) shares fell 4% and Dixons Carphone (DC.) was down 2%. Last week, Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley said November was ‘unbelievably bad’, and Primark said sales were softer than expected. Meanwhile, Bonmarche Holdings (BON) claimed the ‘unprecedented’ conditions were worse than during the recession.
SSE (SSE) has abandoned plans to merge its retail business with a rival ‘Big Six’ energy firm. The Scottish gas and electricity supplier was planning to combine its SSE Energy Services unit with Npower, the loss-making British arm of German group Innogy, turning the Big Six suppliers in the UK into the Big Five. The combined company would have been Britain’s second largest energy supplier behind Centrica, which owns British Gas.
An American activist investor has launched a scathing attack on Just Eat (JE.) and called for an overhaul. Alex Captain, a founder of Cat Rock Capital, said the food delivery company was ‘the worst-performing public equity in online food delivery globally’. In an open letter to the board, he demanded Just Eat – which crashed out of the FTSE 100 in a recent reshuffle – sell assets and slash pay for top executives. Captain also accused the board of setting pay targets that were ‘remarkably undemanding’. His fund holds a 2% stake in Just Eat, however shares have fallen by nearly 30% this year. He urged the board to put together a three-year plan to which pay could be linked.
Rainbow Rare Earths Limited NPV (RBW) rose more than 9% in early trading after it released the results of the first study to estimate the size of its project in Burundi. Rare earth elements are little-known metals but they are in demand for use in products such as electric vehicles and smartphones. The study revealed the time period over which the Gakara site can be mined will be longer than thought.
The slump in crude oil prices may have been a boon at the pump for long-suffering motorists, but it is starting to hit companies in the drilling industry. Shares in Hunting (HTG) dropped 6% after it said it expects companies that work in the booming US shale market to put off spending on some projects in early 2019. The price plunge could hit firms’ short-term budgets, Hunting said, while companies are also plagued by congestion in the pipes that transport shale oil and gas to the Gulf Coast. Hunting, which supplies equipment to oil and gas companies, said its results for January to November are in line with management expectations. The pessimism in Hunting’s trading update pushed down its FTSE 100-listed peer Wood Group (John) (WG.), the biggest FTSE 100 faller, which put out a similarly wary update last week. Wood Group said oil price volatility could slow the pace at which it wins contracts and that its earnings could be at the lower end of expectations. Shares in Hunting fell 5%, or 25.5p, to 488p, while Wood Group was down 5.9%, or 33.8p, to 534p.
Shire Plc (SHP) was a drag on the Footsie after ratings agency Moody’s downgraded the company that is taking it over in a whopping £44bn deal. Moody’s said Takeda’s acquisition of Shire, due to complete early next year, would cause the Japanese pharma group’s debt to increase around sixfold.
was the top FTSE riser yesterday, up 2.7%, or 43.2p, to 1659.8p, after it said it would deliver on its promise to hand back the proceeds to shareholders of its £8.3 billion sale of US shale assets to BP (BP.). It announced a special dividend of 113p per share that will be paid to investors next month and said it had completed a £4.1bn off-market share buyback.
Acacia Mining (ACA) shed 6.3%, or 12.15p, to 180.55p, after reports on Friday that the Serious Fraud Office is investigating the company over allegations of corruption in Tanzania. The firm has said it is not aware of an SFO probe, while the SFO said it is aware of the allegations but declined to comment further.
