Laura Ashley has warned that its full-year results look set to ‘fall short’ of market expectations, as its profits were wiped out in the last six months. In its first half, Ashley (Laura) Holding (ALY) like-for-like sales fell by 4.2%, with sales of furniture and decorating products particularly struggling. In a bid to spruce up its stores and turn its financial fortunes around, Laura Ashley has vowed to bolster its operations internationally and focus on becoming more of a ‘lifestyle brand.’ With a desire to focus on the ‘hospitality segment’ of its business, Laura Ashley has already opened four tea rooms and has a hotel licence in place. Keen to expand further in this area, the group said: ‘A number of opportunities are being evaluated, and we expect to see further openings this year.’
Shares in budget airline Flybe Group (FLYB) surged by over 140% this morning after the group appeared to snub a proposed rescue deal by rival airline Mesa Air Group, which was supported by former Stobart boss Andrew Tinkler. The embattled Exeter-based company said it had received a ‘highly-conditional proposal’ from Mesa Air Group, which is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona and is part of a consortium of firms which reportedly tabled an offer to inject £65million of new equity into Flybe. In a statement aimed at quelling ‘media speculation’, Flybe said: ‘The board does not believe that the indicative proposal is executable in the timeframe required to enable Flybe to continue to trade.
Intu Properties (INTU), which has been jilted by two potential buyers in the last year, swung to a huge full-year loss last year and has decided to scrap its final dividend. The news sent its already feeble share price falling a further 10% to £1.04 in early trading on Wednesday. The Manchester Trafford and Lakeside shopping centre landlord said that recent bankruptcies and a swathe of challenges in the retail sector wiped £1.4billion off the value of its centres – now worth £9.2billion.
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) and Asda’s planned merger has been thrown into serious doubt this morning after competition watchdog the CMA issued a damning assessment of the proposed deal. The watchdog revealed that following months of examination it is of the view the tie-up plan creates ‘extensive competition concerns.’ It added that it believes it would be ‘difficult for the companies to address the concerns it has identified.’ In provisional findings from the ‘Phase 2’ investigation, the CMA said the merger could push up prices and reduce quality both in store and online, while it could also lead to higher fuel costs at more than 100 locations where Sainsbury’s and Asda petrol stations overlap. The CMA said options to address concerns include blocking the deal altogether, or forcing the chains to sell off a ‘significant’ number of stores, and potentially offloading either the Sainsbury’s or Asda brand.
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) shareholders will receive a slice of a £4billion dividend payout for the last year, its latest results statement revealed. The bank, which is the country’s biggest mortgage lender and has 2.4million retail shareholders, saw its annual pre-tax profit rise by 13% to £5.96billion, which was still less than expected by City analysts. Looking ahead to Brexit, Lloyds’ chief executive, Antonio Horta-Osorio, said that while the outlook for the economy remained ‘uncertain’, for the past year it had been ‘resilient.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) boss Emma Walmsley hands her husband £1.6m in company shares. The 49-year-old transferred 102,035 shares to spouse David Owen on Monday, according to stock market filings. She lives with Owen, 54, in a £3.7million house in London and the couple have four children. Owen is an entrepreneur and they met at a party when she was in her twenties. They married a year later, with Walmsley saying it was the best decision she ever made. The chief executive – Britain’s most powerful female FTSE 100 boss – has said joining Glaxo was her second-best choice.
Credit card companies are holding back more than £50million of customer payments from troubled airline Flybe Group (FLYB), industry sources have told the Daily Mail. Flybe bosses claim being deprived of card payments was the key factor that pushed it to the brink of insolvency. The Mail can now reveal the full extent of that cash crunch that has forced Flybe to accept a controversial cut-price takeover by Connect Airways, a consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Southend airport owner Stobart and investment house Cyrus. The complex transaction, valuing the budget airline at just 1p a share, is fiercely opposed by Flybe’s leading investor, hedge fund group Hosking Partners. But the company insists it is the only option. Sources told the Mail that the firms taking credit card payments from passengers were at one point refusing to pass on any money at all to Flybe. Instead they were withholding payments in case the airline went under. If that had happened, it could have forced credit card providers to issue refunds to passengers who paid on plastic.
Barclays (BARC) was desperate to avoid a state bailout so it could continue paying huge bonuses to staff, board minutes recorded during the financial crisis show. Bosses feared ministers would restrain pay, fuelling an exodus of top staff. Documents at a fraud trial in Southwark Crown Court show high pay was of utmost importance, playing a key role in Barclays’ decision to raise private funds instead.The court was shown board minutes from October 2008, when the financial system was reeling and the Treasury wanted to bail out all the large UK banks.
Nervy investors wiped £5.8billion off the market value of HSBC Holdings (HSBA) as it said revenues had collapsed at the end of last year amid market turmoil. The bank’s shares suffered their biggest one-day fall in two years following the warning by chief executive John Flint. HSBC posted a rise in profits and revenues for 2018 but analysts expected better and said the figures were concerning. Flint blamed problems at the end of last year on turbulent markets, at a time of sharp falls in stocks around the world. He said: ‘I was disappointed as well. Revenue collapsed in the last few weeks of the year.’ Flint is overseeing a pivot to Asia by HSBC, which has a long history in China and started out as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
Asda sales have been slowing as it awaits a crucial decision on its £14billion tie-up with Sainsbury (J) (SBRY). The grocer, which is owned by US giant Walmart, reported a 1% rise in sales during the three months to December 31 – its seventh consecutive period of growth. But it marks a slowdown from earlier in the year as Britain’s Big Four supermarkets battle to lure shoppers away from the ultra-low prices offered by German discounters Aldi and Lidl.
Shares in Cobham (COB) rose yesterday after the technology and defence giant said it has finally reached an agreement with Boeing over delays in the KC-46 tanker programme for the US army. But the Doreset-based firm also said it will incur a further £86million charge to settle the dispute and £74million in additional costs to complete the retained contract. The total £160million charge adds to a £40million charge already incurred in July last year, when Boeing’s damages claim first came to light.
Shopping centre owner Intu Properties (INTU) has fallen prey to hedge funds betting on a fall in its share price. Positions held by short-sellers in Intu have risen to a record high, with hedge funds holding 5.3% of its stock. Intu, which owns shopping centres including Metrocentre in Gateshead, Lakeside in Essex and the Trafford Centre in Manchester, has suffered a dramatic slump in its share price over the past year. A total of £1.2billion has been wiped off its value, and rival Hammerson walked away from plans to buy it for £3.4billion. The embarrassing climbdown prompted the resignation of Intu chief executive David Fischel, who will step down once a replacement is found.
Intercontinental Hotels Group hikes dividend handing £530m to investors after China boosts sales. The owner of the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza chains posted a 6.4% jump in sales to £3.3billion in the year to December 31 as it opened a record 19,000 rooms in China during the period. Revenue per available room climbed 2.5%. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) rewarded investors with a 10% hike to its dividend to $1.144 per share and the payment of a £384million special dividend, taking the total amount returned to shareholders in the period to £530million.
Greggs (GRG) shares on a roll as vegan stunt success boosts the baking chain’s profit hopes. The company said it had an ‘exceptionally strong start’ to the year, with total sales up 14.1% in the seven weeks to mid-February, up from 6.2% during the same period last year. Like-for-like sales rose 9.6%, compared to a 2.9% rise last year, when trading was hit by extreme weather.
Patagonia Gold (PGD) shine was dulled as it announced the closure of one Argentine mine and the pause of operations at another. The precious metals miner said the closure was due to lower than expected production. The other mine will be placed on care and maintenance – production there has also been below predictions. Patagonia said it was still evaluating the development of other resources, but the shares tumbled 49%, or 46.5p, to 48.5p.
Indivior (INDV), which makes treatments for heroin addiction, was sent spiralling lower as the US Supreme Court issued a decision against the Slough firm, which has been waging a long-running court battle to fend off competitors making copycat products. The US’s highest court yesterday decided to allow competitors to sell their cheaper generic products in the country, a move which Indivior had challenged. The drug in question, Suboxone Film, makes up 98% of Indivior’s US revenue and the firm has already warned sales would slump if a rival was allowed into the market.
Online trading company Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) suffered more losses as it continued to reel from an accounting blunder last week. Hedge fund billionaire Crispin Odey, who had been selling down his firm’s stake in Plus500 when the stock was performing well, revealed he had snapped up even more cut-price shares on Monday.
Regional rail and bus operator Go-Ahead Group (GOG) motored higher on announcing it would make its first move into Manchester, buying the Queens Road bus depot from First Group. It will stump up £11.3million in cash for the depot and 163 buses.
Investors who took a punt on Manolete Partners Plc (MANO) when it floated last December have been rewarded. The litigation finance firm said results for the year ending March 31 would be ahead of market expectations.
