Metro Bank (MTRO) was forced to come clean about an accounting error after it was discovered by regulators – not by the bank’s own staff, as its chief executive had claimed. The lender last week admitted it underestimated the risk in a string of commercial and buy-to-let property loans, a mistake which could force it to raise another £300million from investors. Boss Craig Donaldson said the problem was flagged up by an internal review, after an auditor checked its books late last year. But the Mail can reveal that the error, which sent shares crashing 39 per cent, was in fact first identified by the Prudential Regulation Authority arm of the Bank of England responsible for overseeing the health of major lenders.
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) has bought a 4.9% stake in Belgian trading firm Euroclear, which gives it a valuable foothold on the Continent ahead of Brexit. It paid £243million for the holding, which will give bosses a seat on the Euroclear board as well as a share in profits. The move will help the exchange preserve its position in the lucrative euro clearing market after the UK leaves the European Union.
A roller-coaster week for investors in Zoo Digital Group (ZOO), which specialises in subtitling and dubbing services for film and TV. A warning last Tuesday knocked the shares by 47%. After hitting a nadir of 61p, it swung to near 109p, not far from its pre-warning level. In the meantime Oppenheimer Funds has built its holding from about 7% to around 16%. And chief financial officer Phillip Blundell acquired 25,000 shares at 65p each. Zoo fell 11.3%, or 11.5p, to 90p.
Travel firms pin hopes on Brits fleeing winter blues for sunnier climes, sending shares soaring. More people than usual are looking for package tours due to the consumer protection an ATOL guarantee brings. Good news for the likes of TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI), up 2.1%, or 25p, to 1194.5p, owner of First Choice, but not for Thomas Cook Group (TCG), down 3.%, or 1.36p, to 35p, as Morgan Stanley checks suggest January has started and ended with a whimper rather than a bang. Analysts also believe Jet2, owned by Dart Group (DTG) (up 2.7%, or 21.5p, to 827p), and On The Beach Group (OTB) (up 1.2%, or 5p, to 440p) are gaining market share.
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ), which operates routes to exotic locations such as Tirana in Albania, and Baku in Azerbaijan, held up remarkably well in the wake of an 88% fall in quarterly profits. Wizz chief Jozsef Varadi is maintaining profit guidance in the face of mounting costs. Revenues grew by a fifth and passenger numbers increased 15% as it filled nine out of ten seats. Wizz has the jump on many of its smaller and less fortunate rivals – Flybe springs to mind – with almost £900million in the bank. That’s enough to see the airline through some fairly rough financial turbulence.
