A blue-chip fund manager has been fined £2million and accused of treating thousands of ordinary savers with contempt after overcharging them for almost five years while waiving fees for corporate clients. In the latest case to shame the investment industry, the Financial Conduct Authority revealed how Henderson raked in £1.8million in excess management charges from two funds while effectively leaving them to run themselves as trackers. After making a number of fund managers redundant, the London firm decided in November 2011 to reduce active management of its Japan and North American funds. It immediately informed its institutional investors, such as pension funds and big corporate clients, and waived their fees. But it kept around 4,700 retail investors in the dark. They continued to be charged an annual fee of between 0.75% and 1.5% – several times what they would have been in a tracker fund.
The boss of housebuilder Taylor Wimpey (TW.) has denied he plans to leave the company after selling nearly £4million worth of stock. Pete Redfern sold 2.15m shares for 174.2p each, regulatory filings have revealed, leaving him with 1.53m, worth £2.6million. It means he now holds a 0.05% stake in the company, down from 0.11%. The 49-year-old has been chief executive of Taylor Wimpey for 12 years, having been in charge since the merger of George Wimpey and Taylor Woodrow in 2007. Since then he has raked in more than £40million in pay.
Fevertree Drinks (FEVR) has lost a bit of its fizz as it cut its sales expectations for the year, blaming a slowdown in consumer spending in the UK. The AIM-listed company – which had previously warned that it would be difficult to repeat last year’s stellar performance – said sales to supermarkets and off-licences were behind expectations due to a ‘wider slowdown in consumer retail spending’. In the UK, its most mature market, it expects to see sales growth of just 2 per cent this year, which is significantly down from sales growth of 53% in 2018, when it saw an ‘exceptionally strong’ summer. The slowdown in the UK was partly offset by much faster growth in the US, Europe and other parts of the world, where it expects sales to be 34%, 19% and 35% higher than last year. Overall, Fever-Tree now see revenues to come in between £266million and £268million, or growth of between 12 and 13%, down compared to analysts expectations of £275million.
Rebel shareholders are preparing to go to court in an extraordinary attempt to block the £4.7billion private equity takeover of British satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat (ISAT). In a highly unusual tactic, Oaktree Capital and its allies will urge a judge to withhold final approval of the deal until a row is settled over how much investors should be paid. It comes after the buyout won approval from regulators and a majority of shareholders. But the stand-off means the takeover could face yet more delays, after scrutiny from the UK Government on national security grounds held it up previously.
There is ‘much to do’ to get Kingfisher (KGF) back on track, admitted the firm’s new chief executive today, triggering a sharp drop in shares in early trading. Thierry Garnier, who joined the B&Q and Screwfix owner just eight weeks ago, cast his view as the DIY giant came clean on a ‘disappointing’ three months during which sales continued to fall. Sales decay at B&Q accelerated to 3.4% during the quarter as the UK’s biggest home improvement chain continued to struggle with tough trading conditions and disruption from the company’s ongoing overhaul. Sales at Screwfix rose 3.7%, but that marks a slowdown on the trade-focused company’s half-year performance. In France – arguably Kingfisher’s most troublesome market of late – sales slumped by more than 6%.
A recent revamp of hundreds of its pubs and a simplification of the booking process has helped pub giant Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) increase sales and profits in spite of a ‘challenging market’ and rising costs. The group, which owns All Bar One and several other chains of pubs, posted a 36% increase in pre-tax profits to £177million for the year to the end of September. Like-for-like sales grew by 3.5%, as total revenues rose to £2.23billion, with both food and drinks sales rising. The pub giant said investments across its pubs had helped boost sales, including a simpler and faster booking process, which has reduced the number of steps customers need to take to book a table. The group also ‘remodelled’ 240 of its 1,748 pubs, which it says has helped attract more customers.
Shares in One Media IP Group (OMIP) sank after it announced a board shake-up and kicked-off a business review. Chairman Ivan Dunleavy, former boss of Pinewood Studios, and directors Philip Miles and Lord Grade have left the music and video business with immediate effect – and without explanation. The group has been buying up music publishing rights to tap into the growth in music streaming services.
The chief executive of Babcock International Group (BAB) has warned the firm is a takeover target and could be the next defence group to fall into private equity hands. A buyout spree has swept UK plc this year, with fellow defence contractor Cobham in the midst of a £4billion takeover by US private equity giant Advent International. Babcock boss Archie Bethel told the Mail: ‘As long as the share price is so undervalued, it is always a vulnerability. ‘As long as it stays at a low price, there is always a threat that private equity or another company sees the true value in it. ‘It’s frustrating that more people are not buying our shares.’ Bethel said he did not know how much the shares should be worth, but analysts at Liberum and Jefferies have target prices of 720p and 825p respectively. Bethel insisted its recovery strategy ‘is delivering’, but even a record order book and pipeline of £34billion could not keep its shares out of the red.
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) rose on a double whammy of news. It has bagged £93million of new contracts or contract extensions in Malaysia and the North Sea, and agreed to acquire a US shale specialist, W&W Energy Services, for an initial sum of £17million.
Clipper Logistics (CLG), which handles online orders for companies such as Asda and Shop Direct, surged to 296.5p after it was revealed that founder and chairman Steve Parkin is plotting a £300million takeover.
Shares in SSP Group (SSPG), the owner of train station cafe chain Upper Crust, slid to 632p despite announcing it will return £100million to investors through a stock buyback. Pre-tax profits jumped 8% in the year to September 30, to £197million, while revenues jumped by 9% to £2.8billion.
