Shares in Future (FUTR) plunged yesterday after bosses sold stock worth £44million. It involved the sale of just over 3.1m shares, regulatory filings revealed. But it spooked investors, with Future shares sinking by as much as 12% at one stage yesterday. Among the bosses to cash in were the chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne and Penny Ladkin-Brand, the finance chief. Byng-Thorne, 45, sold 1,045,344 shares for about £14.6million. It came after she was thought to have been awarded 1.24m performance-linked shares after a surge in the company’s stock and profits in recent years.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) has launched a new digital bank, Bo, to fend off start-up rivals such as Monzo and Starling. But it could spell bad news for traditional Natwest customers, as RBS hopes Bo will give it an excuse to close more branches and call centres. Bo’s management want Natwest account holders and new customers to switch to the new bank in their millions, opening up accounts through their mobile phones and piling in deposits which RBS can then use for activities such as mortgage lending. Because Bo offers so many features through its mobile phone app, RBS believes that it would limit the need for branches and call centres.
A backlash against vaping in the US has hit sales at British American Tobacco (BATS). It says full-year revenue growth at its ‘new category’ division, which sells e-cigarettes, will be at the lower end of a 30%-50% forecast amid health fears over the products. Roughly 3.6m people vape in the UK. However, there is growing concern about the effect on users’ lungs. The issue has attracted the attention of Donald Trump, and US health officials have reported more than 2,000 cases of vaping-related lung illness and 47 deaths linked to its use, which has led to a drop in demand.
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) is set to slash its boss’s pay by £228,000 amid criticism of its generous executive pensions policy. Antonio Horta-Osorio, 55, who has been paid £51.4million since becoming chief executive in 2011, last year got £573,000 towards his retirement – 46% of his basic salary. He will this year get nearly £419,000 – 33% of his £1.3million basic salary – but next year this will be cut to 15%, just over £190,000. At the same time, Lloyds staff will see the amount they can receive towards their retirement rise from 13% of salary to 15%, in a bid to put the 65,000 employees on the same footing as its top brass.
Blackbird Plc (BIRD) soared after it inked a deal with Bloomberg Media that will bring in ‘significant’ annual revenue. Blackbird provides a platform that lets companies edit and publish videos online. Its service allows people to work on videos at the same time without needing to be in the same place, which makes the process fast and saves money on hardware.
Aston Martin Holdings (AML) surged 56.6p, to close at 586.8p, and its shares have risen by a third since it launched its first family SUV a week ago. Aston has pinned hopes of a revival on the £158,000 DBX. It has had a small but steady news stream this week, teaming up with British Airways on ten limited edition, Concorde-inspired cars, and a partnership with distiller Bowmore to make whiskies and other products. And on December 6 it will officially open the Welsh factory that will build the DBX. But the real driving force behind the rally is the warm reception the vehicle has received. Under a loan deal, Aston will need to tell the stock market when it has had orders for 1,400 DBXs, which could take a while.
SCS Group (SCS) blamed Brexit and political uncertainty for customers tightening the purse strings, as like-for-like orders dived 7.1% in the 17 weeks to November 23. While few shoppers consciously think ‘I can’t buy a sofa because of Brexit,’ data suggests many are putting off home renovations, big-ticket purchases and moving home until there is more certainty and it is clear what will happen to property prices. At the moment they don’t know if it would be better to move or stay put, so are holding off spending on things such as furniture.
Marston’s (MARS) climbed despite an annual loss of £20million – from a profit of £54.3million last year – after it had to cut the value of underperforming pubs by £43million. Last month it warned profits would be lower than expected because customers have been drinking more but spending less on pub grub. Shares in the company rose 4p, to 131.4p, as sales in the year to September climbed 2.9% to £1.2bn.
