The Long goodbye: Royal Mail (RMG) chairman finally quits after fat cat pay backlash. Serial chairman Peter Long has quit his job at Royal Mail after presiding over one of the biggest shareholder revolts in British corporate history. The 66-year-old stepped down as chairman with immediate effect yesterday after finally conceding he had too many jobs.
Sainsbury faces major probe into £14bn merger with Asda amid concerns shoppers could face higher prices. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the deal raised ‘sufficient concerns’ to warrant investigating the impact on prices, choice and customer service. Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) and Asda, the UK’s second and third largest supermarkets, are proposing to join forces in a deal that has pledged to lower prices while putting the squeeze on larger suppliers.
Babcock International Group (BAB) said it is trading in line with expectations, months after cutting full-year sales targets. It works with nuclear power stations, militaries, emergency services and oil companies and is on track to deliver low growth. It has around £32billion worth of goods on order or being made.
Protests mount over Unilever’s plan to go Dutch with Standard Life Aberdeen funds set to vote against the deal. Another major investor in Unilever (ULVR) is preparing to vote against the plot to axe its UK HQ amid a growing backlash. Fund managers at Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) are understood to have serious concerns about the Marmite maker’s plans to abandon Britain for a sole legal base in the Netherlands. And some of SLA’s biggest funds are expected to vote against the deal as they believe it will hurt their customers.
Horlicks centre of £3bn bidding war: Coca-Cola and Nestle swoop as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) puts drinks brand up for sale. A bidding war has erupted for Horlicks after it was put up for sale by owner Glaxosmithkline. Some of the world’s biggest consumer goods giants – including Coca-Cola, Nestle and Unilever – this week tabled offers for the malt drinks maker which dates back to 1873. Glaxo chief executive Emma Walmsley put Horlicks and other nutrition brands up for sale in March to fund its £9billion buyout of a joint venture with Novartis.
The children of troubled shoe seller Footasylum (FOOT) founder have earned almost £25m from its stock market float – despite profit warnings and a share price collapse. Chief executive Clare Nesbitt, 31, and her two siblings enjoyed the windfall because of the generosity of their father David Makin’s business partner and close friend, former Manchester City chairman John Wardle.
Miners rode to the rescue of the FTSE 100, lifting some of the gloom as trading rooms were gripped by fear of a potential escalation of hostilities between the US and China. Anglo American (AAL), up 5.1%, or 79.6p to 1655.8p, led the way followed by majors such as Glencore (GLEN), and Rio Tinto (RIO). Between them the diggers account for around 8% of the market.
Gulf Marine Services (GMS) floated 3.8p, higher to 45.3p after winning three long-term contracts in the Middle East and North Africa. The firm has done five-year deals to supply three support vessels for customers in the offshore oil, gas and renewable energy sector. The contracts are expected to start in the fourth quarter of next year or the first-quarter of 2019. Duncan Anderson, chief executive officer, said the contracts were testament to its strong track record.
Aveva Group (AVV) shares rose 24p to 2842p. They were reacting to new financial targets that were stronger than the market expected. Aveva also appears to be having no problems digesting Schneider Electric, a £3bn acquisition in March.
It was a tough day for Alliance Pharma (APH), one of AIM’s largest companies. Shares lost 9.4p, at 81.64p as the drugs group said its profits had been weighed down by higher costs. Shares had advanced 35% from January to yesterday’s update, meaning management has to do quite a lot more these days to justify the premium stock market rating.
It was a dour day for ReNeuron Group (RENE), the stem cell specialist, which dropped 15p to 66p after an unnamed US company pulled out of a licensing deal for some of its technology.
InnovaDerma (IDP) did an about-turn that was hard to explain. Up 6% in early trade after announcing its popular Skinny Tan bronzing range would be stocked in Boots next year, the shares succumbed to a bout of late profit-taking to end down 13.7%, or 23p, at 145p.
Anglo Asian Mining (AAZ), which digs for gold in Azerbaijan, rose 5p to 59p after it paid its first-ever dividend.
Pan African Resources (PAF) jumped 0.52p to 8.49p after its boss outlined plans to re-configure operations.
Mission Marketing Group (TMMG) – David Morgan, Mission Marketing chairman, said the group is confident that not only would it deliver against 2018 forecasts but ‘remains frabjously optimistic about our long-term prospects’. The term aptly summed up investors’ reaction to results from the advertising and marketing outfit as the shares rose by 9%, or 4.5p, to 54.5p.
