British drugs firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and US rival Pfizer are joining forces to combine their consumer healthcare divisions. As a duo, the joint venture will rake in around £9.8billion worth of sales in one year and paves the way for a further break-up of Glaxo into pharmaceutical and consumer arms in future. The deal will bring together Glaxo brands including Sensodyne, Voltaren and Panadol with Pfizer’s Advil, Caltrate and Centrum. In a statement, Glaxo said: ‘The Joint Venture will be a category leader in Pain Relief, Respiratory, Vitamin and Mineral Supplements, Digestive Health, Skin Health and Therapeutic Oral Health.’ In early morning trading, FTSE 100 listed Glaxo’s share price was already up 7.55% or 109.4p to 1,557.6p. Glaxo will have a majority controlling equity interest of 68% and Pfizer will have an interest of 32% in the joint venture. The deal is expected to close in the second half of next year and still needs to be given the green light by shareholders.
Tim Martin, the chairman of pub group Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW), has written a letter to every single MP in the country explaining his dismay that many politicians do not seem to know how the customs union works. Brexit-supporting Mr Martin claims a high proportion of politicians have ‘no knowledge’ of how the system operates. Mr Martin said: ‘The customs union is an undisguised protectionist system that imposes import taxes on 12,651 non-EU imports, including oranges, rice, bananas and children’s clothes and shoes. ‘The customs union pushes up prices for consumers and the tariff income is collected by the UK Government and is sent to Brussels. ‘It is worrying that MPs have no knowledge at all as to how the customs operates and how it costs their constituents every day.’ In the letter being sent on Thursday and seen by This is Money, Mr Martin said: ‘The undisguised protectionist nature of the EU is not in doubt, and it is not possible to articulate a coherent view as to our future trading relationship with the EU unless the existing system, which keeps shop prices artificially high, is understood.’ The letter emerged after Mr Martin appeared on BBC Politics Live on 17 December with Vicky Ford, the Conservative MP for Chelmsford, and Rushanara Ali, the Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow. Panelist and chief leader writer at the Observor, Sonia Sodha, reportedly said during the BBC Politics Live television show: ‘It’s just wrong to say the EU is protectionist…the EU is not protectionist. It’s ridiculous to argue that (it is).’
Virgin Atlantic has said that it is still considering whether to launch a takeover of regional airline Flybe Group (FLYB). Virgin, part owned by Sir Richard Branson, first announced its interest last month. The group said on Wednesday that it “continues to review its options in respect of Flybe, including potentially making an offer. “Accordingly, discussions with Flybe and its management are continuing.” Virgin is thought to be vying with Stobart and British Airways to buy Flybe and is interested in its take-off and landing slots at London’s Heathrow Airport.
Barclays (BARC) has been fined £12million in the US over boss Jes Staley’s crusade to unmask a whistleblower. The bank was hit with the penalty after a probe by the New York Department of Financial Services into the chief executive’s campaign to uncover the author of poison pen letters about a senior employee. Attempting to uncover the identity of someone anonymously raising concerns is against UK and US rules.
BT Group (BT.A) was last night accused of making ‘long-winded and jargon filled’ statements instead of tackling concerns about fat-cat pay. The telecoms group said it planned to overhaul its pay policies after a £2.3million package handed to outgoing boss Gavin Patterson (pictured) provoked an investor backlash. But it merely pledged to look at ‘a broader range of performance factors and wider circumstances’ when it comes to pay. It also talked of taking ‘a more structured process to help it step through the application of its discretion in the future’.
Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’ (RDSB) is in talks to buy a Texas-based oil producer in a cut-price £6.3billion deal. The price tag for Endeavor Energy Resources is around half the near-£12billion it was aiming to get when it put itself up for sale earlier this year. Talks are said to be at an early stage and have been complicated by Endeavor founder Autry Stephens’s desire to retain rights to untapped oil that would entitle him to royalties when it is drilled in future, according to reports.
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.
Gas storage business Infrastrata (INFA) was on the rise as it applied for permission to develop more underground caves in Northern Ireland. This would allow it to develop an extra 15 storage caves, on top of the eight planned. Founded in 2007, Infrastrata believes its gas caves will be popular with energy firms, since they should help to even out gas prices when events such as cold snaps cause a spike in demand.
Bosses at ASOS (ASC) have bought almost £200,000 worth of shares in the online retailer in an attempt to reassure investors that Monday’s profit warning was just a temporary blip. Chief executive Nick Beighton spent £99,700 buying 3,645 shares for £27.35 each. The 49-year-old owns around 0.2% of the company. Asos’s chairman Adam Crozier bought his first shares in the firm as he scooped up 3,750 for £26.71 each, a total of £100,200. The deals from the two directors follow a crash in Asos’s share price on Monday. It fell 37.6% to 2614p after warning investors that its sales in November were ‘significantly behind expectations’, adding to the bloodbath for retailers.
Over in the energy sector, a move by regulator Ofgem to cut customers’ bills left National Grid (NG.) feeling ‘disappointed’. Shares in the power supplier slid as Ofgem proposed slashing the rate of return which network companies can pay to investors in dividends by around half to 4%. The company makes money for its investors through the bills it charges customers. National Grid will have to lower its charges to consumers by limiting the amount it can return to shareholders through dividends to 4%. But National Grid has argued that cutting investors’ returns is unfair, because it means they are not being sufficiently rewarded for the risks they are taking on.
Opioid addiction treatment company Indivior (INDV), which has taken a battering from cheaper competitor Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, began to climb as it pulled together a contingency plan. It reminded investors that Dr Reddy’s was still not allowed to sell its generic copycat version of its dissolvable film drug until US courts had decided whether or not to lift their injunction. If no other copycat treatment came onto the market before 2019, Indivior said it would meet its revenue guidance of between £783million and £807million. The company also said it would launch its own generic, unbranded film drug if a competitor came into the market, and would cut costs in its administrative and research departments to help support revenues.
A war of words at Urals Energy Public Co Ltd. (DI) (UEN), the Russian oil and gas exploration company, has caused its share price to plummet. A subsidiary, JSC Petrosakh, posted a statement on its website purporting to be from its president Sergey Kononov. The company has been in a battle with Kononov after he allegedly made unauthorised loans of company funds. He has lashed out against Urals’ board. Urals disputed any suggestion of mismanagement, but shares still sank by 9.3%, or 2.5p, to 24.5p.
