– Mike Ashley has warned hundreds of jobs at House of Fraser will be axed unless ‘greedy’ landlords back down in a row over rents. The tracksuit tycoon, who bought the High Street chain out of administration for £90million, stepped up his attacks as talks over the firm’s department stores reached a critical stage.
Ocado Group (OCDO) – Bahamas-based trust which counts Ocado’s chief executive Tim Steiner as a beneficiary has sold almost £51million worth of shares in the online grocer. The Linic trust, which is owned by lawyer Arthur Seligman and says it has other beneficiaries as well as Steiner, sold 4.8m shares for £10.60 each, adding up to £50.8million.
Scandal hit Taylor Wimpey (TW.) has suffered a blow after Barclays (BARC) refused to offer mortgages at a flagship development because of fears over leaseholds. The housebuilder is seeking buyers for its Chobham Manor site in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London but the properties come with complicated leases.
A £140m lifeline for embattled estate agent Countrywide (CWD) as shares hit an all time low. Shares in Countrywide hit all-time lows as investors threw the crisis-hit estate agent a £140million lifeline. In another brutal day of trading for the firm, its stock fell 10.7%, or 1.5p, to 13.3p, bringing its total losses this year to more than 80%
Bunzl (BNZL) has made its first foray into the Norwegian market after snapping up a catering supplies firm, and said further takeovers are on the cards after logging an 8% jump in profits. The outsourcing and distribution firm announced on Tuesday that it had acquired Oslo-based Enor, which supplies light catering equipment to the likes of hotels, restaurants, hospitals and fast food chains.
Ryanair Holdings (RYA) shares were on the ascent yesterday as US activist investor Harris Associates revealed it had bought a 3.1% stake in the budget airline. Harris, a Chicago-based firm which has previously battled for change at advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi and mining giant Glencore, is now in the top five Ryanair shareholders and owns £457million worth of stock.
Miners got a boost as investors’ risk appetite rose, after the US and Mexico signed a trade agreement. Russian steelmaker Evraz (EVR) was the blue chip index’s largest riser climbing 26.4p, to 518p.
NMC Health (NMC) jumped as it denied speculation it was heading into India. The firm, which operates private hospitals and fertility clinics in countries like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, said it was focused on the Gulf region – with the exception of its fertility business, which it previously announced was branching out into Europe and Africa.
Angle (AGL) was given the thumbs up from investors. A study showed its Parsortix system can detect glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer, from a blood test. Previously, experts had thought that the cancer cells could not pass through the blood-brain barrier.
Shares in Russian oil and gas explorer PetroNeft Resources (PTR) soared as it hit the jackpot. It said flow rates from its C-4 well in the licence 67 area of the Cheremshanskoye field were ‘very encouraging’, making shares surge 12.5%, or 0.18p, to 1.58p. Licence 67 is in the Tomsk region of Siberia. Petroneft owns half of the asset, while Arawak Energy – part of energy company Vitol – owns the other half. This was the first well drilled by Petroneft with the help of 3D seismic data.
