InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) saw a greater return on its rooms in the third quarter, but growth was comparatively slow after last year’s performance was boosted by hurricanes. The group, which owns a range of brands including Holiday Inn, also announced a 500 million US dollar (£383.5 million) special dividend on Friday, to be paid out to shareholders in 2019.
Car dealer Pendragon (PDG) has seen its share price crash 21 per cent in early trading to 24p per cent after it issued a profit warning. The company expects profits to come in at around £50million, compared with more than £60million the previous year as demand for new cars has stalled.
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) disappointed investors with a quarterly update today that saw sales come in 3% below expectations. Revenues were still higher on the previous quarter but due to a £9million accounting charge fell short of consensus. New boss David Schwimmer announced that they would be acquiring another 15.1% stake in clearing house LCH Group for $438million, taking the majority ownership to over 80%
Troubled doorstep lender Provident Financial (PFG) steadied the ship in recent months but home credit collections were still about 10% below historic levels in the third quarter after undergoing a business restructuring. In a trading update today the firm said that ‘performance management’ was impacted by the roll-out of its recovery plan for its door-to-door home credit arm as customer numbers fell to 449,000 from 464,000 in June. However it said that its credit card business was on track to deliver full-year profits in line with its internal plan as it continues to rebuild after a series of regulatory investigations.
Shares in shopping centre group Intu Properties (INTU) jumped more than 14% on Friday after a consortium of investors, led by property mogul John Whittaker, upped its takeover bid. The Manchester Trafford Centre and Lakeside owner is in Whittaker’s cross hairs. His Peel Group, in collaboration with the Olayan Group and Brookfield Property Group, has today proposed a combined acquisition price of 215p per share, valuing Intu at around £2.8billion. That’s higher than the consortium’s initial offer of 205p, but falls short of the £3.4billion takeover offer that was tabled and then abandoned by Bullring owner Hammerson earlier this year.
The former boss of UK mobile network O2 has sought to dampen rumours he is in the running to be the next boss of BT Group (BT.A). Ronan Dunne, a senior vice-president at US telecoms giant Verizon, told the Mail: ‘I have the privilege of working with a company that is leading the world in 5G, so there is a ton of exciting stuff to be done in the US.’
Unilever (ULVR) sought to put rows over fat cat pay and its headquarters behind it as it posted a solid rise in sales. Just a day after chief executive Paul Polman spoke to the Mail about his botched attempt to base the company in the Netherlands, the Marmite and PG Tips maker said business picked up in the third quarter as it sold more products at higher prices. Sales of Magnum ice creams and other cold treats were boosted by the unusually hot summer, Unilever said, while the end of trucker strikes in Brazil also gave it a boost.
Punters placing bets on their mobiles during the World Cup helped boost business at Ladbrokes owner GVC Holdings (GVC). The company said revenues rose 14% in the third quarter as a 28% surge in takings online more than made up for a 2% slide on the High Street, where it owns around 3,500 Ladbrokes and Coral betting shops. Online games revenues were up 19% as punters also flocked to its Foxy Bingo, Party Poker and Gala Casino sites.
Domino’s Pizza Group (DOM) saw its year-on-year sales rise over 6% this summer, despite ‘evident uncertainty’ among customers and hot weather across Europe. Online sales rose by 11.4% and accounted for over three quarters of total sales in the third quarter. Looking ahead to Christmas, the pizza chain is hiring 5,000 extra staff over the festive period in a bid ‘to provide great service to customers.’
Games Workshop Group (GAW) spooked investors today with an unscheduled trading update warning of ‘uncertainties in the trading periods ahead’. The terse, 70-word announcement from the stock market darling, unsettled investors and triggered a 10% slump in its shares to £30.15 – making it the worst performer in the FTSE 250. The company, which makes and sells miniature fantasy characters and is best-known for table-top game favourite Warhammer, said today that sales were tracking ahead of last year’s and its profits were broadly flat.
Investors were flocking to UK-focused oil company Angus Energy (ANGS), spurred on by a rush of good fortune at competitor UK Oil & Gas (UKOG). Shares in Angus shot up 17.6%, or 1.8p, to 12p after UK Oil & Gas Investments (UKOG) said its Portland oil field had been declared commercially viable. Essentially oil prices were high enough, and there was enough oil, to make the field worth drilling. Investors hoped that Angus’s well in Balcombe, West Sussex, would be just as lucrative.
National Express Group (NEX) impressed the FTSE 250 with a strong set of numbers. Revenue had climbed by 9.5% between July and September. Chief executive Dean Finch said: ‘We had a good summer’s trading, with our UK coach business in particular delivering outstanding organic growth.’ Mid-way through next year the firm is set to begin new bus contracts in Morocco which are expected to bring in £880million of revenues.
Aston Martin Holdings (AML) hit new lows. The company, which only began trading on the stock market this month, fell 3.3% or 49.8p to 1450p. This now puts Aston Martin’s shares £4.50 below their 1900p float price, meaning more than £1billion has been wiped off the company’s value over its short time on the stock market. The rapidly declining share price is not a sign of any fundamental problems with the business, according to analysts. Instead, criticism has fallen on the posse of bankers who helped to float Aston Martin for pricing it too highly.
North Africa-focused oil and gas company SDX Energy Inc. (DI) (SDX) restarted trading on London’s junior market AIM, after revealing that it had ditched plans to buy BP assets in Egypt. SDX said talks had been terminated by mutual agreement, but it did not expand on why the discussions had broken down. The oil and gas assets had been estimated to be worth around £380million.
