Body blow for raider targeting a seat on Barclays board: Top investor backs bank in bitter power struggle. The corporate raider fighting to shake up Barclays (BARC) suffered a huge setback last night after one of his biggest backers rubbished his plans. Aviva Investors refused to support Edward Bramson in his campaign to win a seat on the Barclays board, declaring it could see no merit in the proposal. The intervention was a body blow for Bramson because Aviva is one of his fund’s largest investors, as well as a major Barclays shareholder. The rupture came as Barclays posted annual profits of £3.5billion, down 1% on a year earlier. The lender hiked its dividend from 3p to 6.5p per share, and said it will launch buybacks in future to boost the stock price.
Flybe completes £2.8m deal to sell business to Connect Airways consortium. Struggling airline Flybe Group (FLYB) thrashed out a deal last night to sell its business to Connect Airways, the consortium which includes Virgin and airport owner Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB). The £2.8million deal, which completed late in the evening, had been agreed earlier this month. However Connect was waiting to gain approvals from EU competition authorities, and was negotiating with Flybe’s pension trustees. Connect is set to take on the whole of Flybe’s pension liabilities. Since the scheme is registered in the Isle of Man, it would have fallen outside the Pension Protection Fund’s reach if Flybe had gone bust. Pensioners could have been left with nothing.
Standard Chartered sets £690m aside to pay fines for over a decade’s worth of misbehaviour in the US and the UK. Standard Chartered (STAN) has set aside £690million to pay fines in the US and UK over misbehaviour stretching back more than a decade. The lender said it has been hit with a £102.2million penalty from Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority watchdog over failings in its systems designed to prevent financial crime. Part of the cash will also be used to pay a £31million settlement over claims it rigged foreign currency exchange markets, which was reached earlier this year. Bankers working for the lender in 2008 used internet chatrooms called ‘Old Gits’ and ‘Butter the Comedian’ to discuss fixing prices with their rivals at other firms. And Standard Chartered is also facing a separate fine from the US over busting sanctions in Iran.
Fears of a ban on weapon sales to Saudi Arabia sends BAE into a tailspin with shares plunging 7.9%. BAE Systems (BA.) shares tumbled after it warned Germany’s ban on weapons sales to Saudi Arabia may hit one of its biggest export deals. The defence group gets 14% of its revenues from Saudi and is due to supply the desert kingdom with another 48 Eurofighter Typhoon jets on top of the fleet of 72 already there. But its business with Saudi depends on export licences from a number of countries including Britain and Germany involved in projects such as the Typhoon. Germany, part of the consortium that builds the Typhoon along with Britain, Spain and Italy, last year said it would halt arms sales to Riyadh in the wake of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey last October. The decision has cast doubt over the Government’s plans to sell the 48 Typhoons made by BAE to the Saudis, a deal thought to be worth £5billion.
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) ‘blew credibility and cash’ on £14bn Asda merger which can’t be rescued, claims top investor. One of Sainsbury’s leading shareholders has accused the supermarket of ‘blowing money and credibility’ on its planned merger with Asda. The investor, who wanted to remain anonymous, said it was not a surprise that regulators have effectively blocked the proposed £14billion tie up. And they added that the pledge by Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe to fight on in a bid to rescue the deal was ‘a waste of time and money’. Sainsbury’s had already splurged £17million in costs associated with the deal, such as advisory fees, by September 22, according to published figures.
Purplebricks shares crash after online estate agent cuts down its sales forecast and announces two bosses are quitting. Online estate agency Purplebricks Group (PURP) has seen its share price fall over 35% after cutting its revenue forecast for the year. For 2019, Purplebricks now expects its sales to reach between £130million to £140million, against initial forecasts of between £165million to £175million. The group blamed ‘headwinds’ in the Australian housing market and a ‘slower than expected’ response to its latest marketing campaign across the pond in the US.
Boss of British Gas owner Centrica (CNA) in line of fire as shares sink to a 16-year low on fears dividend will be cut. On a miserable day for 530,000 ordinary savers with Centrica shares, the stock dived 11.7%, or 16.05p, to 121.15p, a level not seen since early 2003. The sell-off was triggered by a warning that its profits and cash flow will be lower than anticipated this year, raising concerns over future dividend payments. Although the energy giant reported a 12% rise in profits to £1.4billion and 6 per cent rise in revenues to £29.7billion for 2018, it said the energy price cap introduced by regulators will dent its fortunes in 2019, piling pressure on under-fire chief executive Iain Conn. Analysts warned that the dividend – which was held at 12p a share in 2018 – is under threat.
Flybe completes £2.8m deal to sell business to Connect Airways consortium. Struggling airline Flybe Group (FLYB) thrashed out a deal last night to sell its business to Connect Airways, the consortium which includes Virgin and airport owner Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB). The £2.8million deal, which completed late in the evening, had been agreed earlier this month. However Connect was waiting to gain approvals from EU competition authorities, and was negotiating with Flybe’s pension trustees. Connect is set to take on the whole of Flybe’s pension liabilities.
Camera products firm Vitec Group (VTC) hiked its dividend by 21% to 37p per share after announcing record revenue and profits for 2018. The firm, which makes everything from tripods to autocue prompters, said it had invested in ‘faster-growing market segments’ to help drive growth. With many of its products aimed at television cameramen, Vitec said the Winter Olympics in 2018 had helped to boost sales.
Uber Eats has trained its sights squarely on British rivals Deliveroo and Just Eat (JE.), announcing a major UK expansion as the battle of the takeaway firms ramps up. Just Eat especially was feeling the heat, as Uber Eats opened its platform to 50,000 restaurants across the UK and cut the fees it charges them to list. Uber will allow restaurants with their own delivery drivers to list on its app, putting it in direct competition with its older British rival. Previously, Uber Eats was only available to restaurants which wanted to use the US firm’s network of independent couriers.
Gambling software group Playtech (PTEC) was helping to balance the FTSE 250’s losses as it announced a £35million share buyback. The firm, which provides services to some of the world’s biggest betting operators, suffered a disastrous 2018 which saw shares fall more than 50 per cent as it issued two profit warnings. But in its full-year results yesterday, Playtech revealed earnings for the year were ahead of analyst estimates at £298million. It also got off to a good start in 2019, and said earnings for this year should be between £340million and £360million.
Georgia’s biggest High Street lender TBC Bank Group (TBCG), which is listed on London’s FSTE 250 index, jumped 9.5%, or 122p, to 1412p as its profits climbed and it resolved a dispute with its national regulator.
Relx plc (REL) was the only blue-chip company making notable gains. The business analytics firm, which used to own textbook brands like Heinemann but has sold most of its print business, announced it would buy back £600million worth of investors’ shares. The firm also reported revenue growth for 2018 across all four of its key businesses. Total revenue edged up 4% to £7.5billion, and shares jumped 80.5p, to 1765.5p.
