  | The two leading power companies have quietly shifted ownership of their British operations into offshore companies to protect against Jeremy Corbyn’s threat of cut-price nationalisation, The Sunday Times can reveal. National Grid (NG.) and SSE (SSE), which together own Britain’s entire gas and electricity transmission spine, this weekend confirmed they had created overseas holding companies in recent months to seek shelter from Labour’s renationalisation agenda. SSE has put its UK business into a new Swiss holding company; National Grid has shifted its gas and electricity businesses into new subsidiaries in Luxembourg and Hong Kong. The moves are designed to build defences against Labour’s sweeping renationalisation plans. |
  | Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) is preparing to take a hit of up to £450m from PPI mis-selling compensation that is likely to deepen its multimillion-pound losses — casting a shadow over its expansion plans. The lender, bought by (CYBG (CYBG)) last year, is expected to make a hefty final provision for the payment protection insurance debacle, which has cost the banking industry £50bn so far. Analysts forecast that PPI and other mis-selling charges, as well as restructuring expenses from CYBG’s £1.7bn acquisition, will drag the bank to a £250m loss for the year to the end of September. “They will be reporting a material loss courtesy of the PPI charge,” said Investec analyst Ian Gordon. |
 | BT Group (BT.A) is in talks with Disney about bringing the American giant’s streaming platform to its television service. The telecoms company is trying to position its BT TV as a streaming “super aggregator”, where viewers can watch most on-demand platforms in one place. Disney plans to launch Disney+ in the UK at the end of March, with a library of films and TV shows including Star Wars, Marvel and various Disney classics. Broadcasters and tech giants have been racing to launch subscription streaming services as they try to rival Netflix. BT decided against following Sky and investing in drama, opting instead to keep ploughing money into sports TV rights. |
 | The outsourcing giant Mitie Group (MTO) is suing the Ministry of Justice over what it claims was a botched contract tender to clean and repair courts and tribunal buildings. The £2.2bn turnover company has lodged a High Court claim over the contract, which it lost last month to French rival Engie. Mitie says the government took an “unfair and unequal” approach to scoring the tender, and awarded scores that were “manifestly wrong”. Since 2012, Mitie has carried out facilities management at courts in the south of England, including maintenance, security and cleaning. Court documents show it hopes to claim more than £200,000 in damages from the government, and is demanding that Engie is stripped of the contract. |
 | London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) is set to get the green light from shareholders on Tuesday for its blockbuster £22bn deal to acquire data terminal provider Refinitiv. The Exchange group is expected to garner more than 50% of votes in favour of the takeover of Refinitiv, which is backed by private equity firm Blackstone and media giant Thomson Reuters. The vote comes after Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) last month dropped its surprise £32bn bid for the LSE, which sparked a battle between bankers acting for the two exchanges. LSE branded Hong Kong’s offer “fundamentally flawed”. |
 | Shareholders have thrown their weight behind the founder and chairman of Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) despite a furious row over corporate governance. Ahead of Thursday’s annual shareholder meeting, the influential proxy voting agencies that advise big shareholders how to vote had raised a number of red flags. Tim Martin has been the executive chairman since 1983, in contravention of guidelines that recommend having a non-executive chairman operating above a chief executive. The advisory groups also criticised executive pay and Martin’s use of company money to buy pro-Brexit beermats. In the end Martin received an overwhelming endorsement, with 98% of voting shareholders backing him. However, a fifth of independent shareholders voted against Debra van Gene and Sir Richard Beckett, who have been on the board since 2006 and 2009. Both executives, who have already agreed to step down, still polled 88% due to the support of Martin, who is the company’s biggest shareholder. |
 | Royal Mail (RMG) has said strike action could tip its UK operation to a loss next year as it falls behind on plans to transform the business in the face of a faster than expected drop in letter volumes. The warning sent Royal Mail’s share price tumbling 14%, wiping about £320m from its stock market value, despite the company reporting its best revenue performance in the UK for five years and a significant increase on profits for the half-year to the end of September. Royal Mail used its results to tell the Communications Workers Union that potential strike action in the run-up to the general election and key Christmas period would seriously damage the business. |
 | Met police probe Burford Capital (BUR) sex tape row. People who appeared in video attended interviews in London this week |
| Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) Tim Martin wins backing from investors. Executive chairman re-elected despite hitting out over corporate governance |
 | Lombard – Centrica (CNA) accounts read better than newspapers’. British Gas owner is gaining more customers than it is losing, and they’re worth more |
| Lex – Royal Mail (RMG): dead letter. Only when Royal Mail turns round its UK business will it get a more cheering message across |
 | Majestic Wine (WINE) chief to retire after Majestic sale. Founder shocks investors as he calls time just months after group splits |
 | CMC Markets (CMCX) shrugs off regulatory crackdown with profits boost. Spreadbetting group’s pre-tax figures even outstrip levels hit before European leverage limit curbs came in |
| Royal Mail (RMG) warning on UK business triggers share slide. Postal services group says unit could slump to loss next year with revamp ‘behind schedule’ |
 | William Hill (WMH) sales hurt by crackdown in UK on betting limits. Bookmaker says revenue from gaming machines hit as gamblers focus more on sports |
 | Countryside Properties (CSP) boss to step down after six years at the helm. Housebuilder to replace Ian Sutcliffe with Iain McPherson next year |
| Centrica (CNA) reassures investors on customer defections. British Gas owner says growth in other parts of business is offsetting decline |
| Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) shareholders gave their backing to founder Tim Martin yesterday after they were advised to vote him off the board. Less than 2% voted to sack the chairman days after he blasted the City’s ‘navel-gazing’ governance rules in a 1,300-word rant. Advisory service PIRC had said Martin should be sacked because, as an executive, he was not an independent chairman. It also said the pub giant may have broken company law when it failed to tell shareholders it had spent £95,000 on pro-Brexit beer mats and magazines. Yesterday shareholders supported Martin and just 6.4% voted against the amount his top team were paid. He told shareholders: ‘I’ve been at this company 40 years, and I’m planning another 40 years.’ |
| Gaming revenue in William Hill (WMH) High Street shops fell more than a third due to changes in the law on fixed-odds betting terminals. It said it remained ‘on track’ to meet full-year expectations, after closing 700 of its 2,300 betting shops following the reduction of the maximum stake on the casino-style gambling machines from £100 to £2. The gambling giant said the closures, over the past four months, would affect 4,500 jobs. Gaming revenue in the period fell by 39%, with like-for-like sales in shops falling 16% overall when sports bets are taken into account. |
 | American toy-making giant Hasbro faces a two-month probe into its £3.3billion takeover of Peppa Pig owner Entertainment One Limited (ETO). The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has asked for feedback by December 5 on how the deal will affect the UK’s media and toy industries. The CMA aims to make a decision on whether to give it the green light or refer it for a more in-depth investigation by January 21. When Hasbro – which also makes board game Monopoly and Power Rangers action figures – swooped on the British firm in August, it said the deal would expand its entertainment and ‘family-oriented’ portfolio. If the CMA backs it, the deal will give Hasbro ownership of global super-hit children’s cartoon Peppa Pig, which has built a strong following in China and has been translated into 40 languages. |
| Centrica (CNA), the owner of British Gas, lost 107,000 energy customers across the country in the four months to October. As the group battles against other companies in the Big Six and start-up rivals, the group said the number of customers quitting its energy contracts was lower than in the first six months of the year, and ‘significantly lower’ than last year. Shares in listed Centrica rose over 8% this morning, with the group keen to reassure investors that growth in other areas of its business, namely services and home solutions, was offsetting the drop in energy supply customers. |
| The boss of Majestic Wine (WINE), Rowan Gormley, stunned the City today as he revealed plans to step down from the online wine firm he founded in 2008 once this year’s busy festive period is over. The revelation comes just months after Gormley secured a sale of the group’s struggling retail arm, Majestic Wine, which currently operates from around 200 UK stores. The £111million deal with US firm Fortress Investment Group is set to complete soon, leaving Naked Wines as an online-only company. The wine seller said it is entering a ‘next chapter’ and is setting its sights on tackling the US market. Gormley – who led the company through its merger with Majestic in 2015 – will hand over the reins to current chief operating officer Nick Devlin. |
| Royal Mail (RMG) share price dropped 17% as it warned fraught relations with a union could result in a ‘break-even or loss-making’ position in the UK. Britain’s privatised postal service has managed to block a Christmas strike, but admitted its transformation was ‘behind schedule’ and that falling letter volumes and a weak economy could take a toll on its results. Boss Rico Back said: ‘People are posting fewer letters and receiving more parcels. We have to adapt to that change.’ Although Royal Mail, which secured a court injunction blocking its workers from striking this Christmas, warned its letters business remained ‘challenging’, it saw pre-tax profit rise to £173million in the first half of its financial year. A year ago, the group’s profit came in at £33million. |
 | Blue Prism Group (PRSM) annual revenues have surged to ‘at least’ £98million, up from £55million last year. The Warrington-based group, which automates repetitive office tasks such as processing orders for customers including the NHS, Ebay and O2, added 685 new clients in the year to October 31. It now has 1,677 customers, up 69% on the year before, it said in an update ahead of full-year results in January. |
  | Shares in British American Tobacco (BATS) lit up after US authorities U-turned on plans to dramatically cut the level of nicotine in cigarettes. The US Department of Health first proposed slashing the amount of nicotine to ‘non-addictive’ levels back in 2017. But according to reports, these proposals have been shelved – at least for now. A spokesman for the Food And Drug Administration regulator said it will continue to push the policy. Rival Imperial Brands (IMB) fell to 1709.2p, as JP Morgan analysts trimmed their price target from 2100p to 1755p. |
 | Chemicals group Johnson Matthey (JMAT) fell 227p, to 2989p, after its first-half profit slipped 8% to £225million. Debt ballooned by £452million to £1.5billion, higher than the £900million or so that analysts had been expecting, as a rise in the prices of precious metals it uses weighed on costs. |
| Outsourcing giant Mitie Group (MTO) warned annual revenue growth will be hit as clients are reluctant to commit to projects amid election and Brexit uncertainty. Profits in the six months to September 30 rose 21.7% to £14.6million, but its shares tanked 11.2p, to 131.4p. |
 | Plumbing parts supplier Ferguson (FERG) got a bloody nose from investors in a bruising pay revolt. Nearly a third of shareholders voted against its remuneration policy and 25% voted down recent pay packages handed to bosses. Ferguson said it was ‘disappointed’ but has already restarted talks to ‘understand concerns’. |
| Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) boss Tim Martin has declared a “victory for common sense” after investors backed all of the pub chain’s motions at its annual meeting. The company’s founder and chairman has come under attack from influential proxy advisers, some of which called for shareholders to vote against a number of board appointments. Mr Martin responded in kind last week, attacking “up the spout” City rules that required non-executive directors to step down after nine years. Speaking after the votes were counted on Thursday, he said: “It’s a victory for common sense against the box tickers.” |
  | Ocado Group (OCDO) has been given the green light by the competition watchdog to stop calling itself a grocer after it sold half of its online retail business to Marks & Spencer Group (MKS). Although the company is best known for selling pate and smoked salmon on its website, Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner has staked the firm’s future on selling its software and robots to other supermarket chains across the world. It will help the business compete with the likes of Amazon, which bought upmarket grocer Whole Foods in 2017. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that Ocado had asked to be “de-designated” after it struck a £750m deal with Marks & Spencer in February. |
| British Gas owner Centrica (CNA) has claimed some success by stemming the loss of energy customers this year and boosting business from elsewhere, including its services division. The news came as Jeremy Corbyn announced his intention to renationalise the utilities if elected to government in December’s general election. According to the Labour Party’s manifesto, released on Thursday, the supply arms of the Big Six energy companies will be brought into public ownership “where they will continue to supply households with energy while helping them to reduce their energy demands”. |
| The boss of Countryside Properties (CSP) is standing down after announcing a 5% rise in annual profits to £114.8m and increasing the number of homes built by a third to 5,733. Ian Sutcliffe said he planned to join his wife in retirement, having led the business since 2015 and through its flotation the following year. Its shares have almost doubled since then to 371.8p, valuing the company at close to £1.7bn. Countryside posted a 16% rise in revenue to £5.7bn, although margins fell slightly to 21.7% after buying Westleigh Group. Westleigh focuses on affordable housing, which has lower margins. |
 | The company that owns the Daily Mirror has torn up plans to acquire scores of regional newspapers including the Scotsman and the Yorkshire Post, leaving their hedge fund owners seeking a new buyer. The new chief executive of Reach Plc (RCH), Jim Mullen, has decided not to go ahead with a takeover of of titles owned by JPI Media, City sources said. The consortium of hedge funds behind JPI Media, the publisher formerly known as Johnston Press, has been running an auction of its assets for several months. Daily Mail and General Trust A (Non.V) (DMGT), which owns the Daily Mail, is in talks to acquire the i, the only national newspaper owned by JPI. |
| Royal Mail (RMG) warned that its domestic business could fall into the red next year owing to a steeper-than-expected decline in letter deliveries. The former postal monopoly said that volumes would fall by between 7% and 9% in the current financial year, two percentage points worse than its previous forecast. It said that it would deliver between 6 and 8% fewer letters next year, compared with earlier guidance for a 4-6% decline. |
| The chairman of Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) renewed his attack on “box-ticking institutions” yesterday after a potential shareholder revolt against the pub company’s practices at the annual meeting turned into a damp squib. Tim Martin had last week launched a scathing attack on City shareholders and the proxy voting agencies that advise them, accusing them of “short-termism, inexperience and navel-gazing”. He also branded them hypocritical for failing to adopt the practices they demand of quoted companies. However, calls by agencies including Pirc, ISS and Glass Lewis, to vote against resolutions ranging from remuneration to Mr Martin’s re-election were roundly defeated. |
| The owner of British Gas moved to reassure shareholders that customer defections were slowing at its consumer energy supply arm as it stuck to its annual earnings targets but lifted its efficiency savings drive by £50 million. Shares in Centrica (CNA) jumped more than 9% after it reported that British Gas had lost 107,000 customers since the end of June, far fewer than the 178,000 accounts that had gone over the previous six months. Britain’s biggest energy supplier said that the departures at British Gas had been more than offset by new customers at its Centrica Consumer business, which provides services to householders who receive their energy from other suppliers as well as British Gas. |
 | The chief executive of Severn Trent (SVT) has warned Labour against nationalising the water industry, arguing it risks reducing investment or potentially hitting school and hospital budgets. The company and its peers are facing heightened political and regulatory uncertainty with next month’s general election coming just days before Ofwat is due to outline its pricing settlement for the next five years. Severn Trent issued its half-year results yesterday, with profit falling 4.6% to £285.3 million in the six months to September 30, but attention in the City was on Ofwat’s plans and the potential for a Labour majority. |
| Mitie Group (MTO) has warned that some clients were putting new projects on ice because of uncertainties over Brexit and the forthcoming general election. Mitie, which provides building maintenance, cleaning, catering and security services, said revenues would be “broadly” flat this year. Phil Bentley, chief executive, said “day-to-day projects carry on”, but “decisions on new roofs, boilers, etc” had been “pushed back”. “There is no doubt that we continue to operate in a challenging industry of rising labour costs and margin pressures. Political and economic uncertainty may adversely affect our customers’ approach to outsourcing decisions and our ability to plan and invest”, the company said yesterday. |
 | The chief executive of easyHotel (EZH) is expected to take on a number of non-executive and part-time roles after announcing his surprise resignation. Guy Parsons, 56, who had run the budget chain since 2015, left with immediate effect yesterday and has been replaced by Scott Christie, 53, the non-executive interim chairman, until a permanent replacement is found. His abrupt exit comes less than two months after the conclusion of a recommended 95p-a-share takeover bid for Easyhotel by two property groups — Icamap Investments, a Luxembourg-based fund that held a 38.7% stake, and Ivanhoé Cambridge, of Canada. |
| Rowan Gormley, the man who transformed Majestic Wine into a solely online business, has announced his shock retirement only three months after striking a deal to sell all its shops. Majestic Wine (WINE), as the business is now known, said that Mr Gormley, 57, would be retiring after the Christmas trading season and once the £95 million sale of Majestic’s 180 shops to Softbank’s Fortress investment arm was complete. He will be succeeded by Nick Devlin, 34, chief operating officer, after an 18-month succession planning process to focus on the “next chapter”, the company said. “Now it is time to hand over to a new team,” Mr Gormley said. |
| The closure of 700 betting shops took its toll of William Hill (WMH) over the past four months, although the sharp fall in retail revenues was offset by strong growth in its US operations. The bookmaker, which was founded in 1934 and has 12,500 employees, reported a 1% rise in total net revenue in the 17 weeks to October 29 after a 23% decline in retail takings. Betting shops have been closing as a result of the slashing of the maximum stake on lucrative fixed-odds betting terminals from £100 to £2 in April. Machine revenues at William Hill’s shops fell by 45% in the 17 weeks. |
| Profits at Johnson Matthey (JMAT) fell in the first half of the year as it struggled with the costs resulting from delays in opening a new factory in Poland. The chemicals company, which helps produce catalytic converters that cut pollution and emissions from engines, said it had enjoyed sales growth in its clean air division as automotive companies responded to stricter environmental targets. This, however, put extra pressure on Johnson Matthey’s manufacturing capacity. The company has 13 factories around the world and is building three new ones in Poland, India and China. |
 | The owner of Jet2.com, Britain’s third biggest airline, has continued to flourish as it reported a 16 per cent rise in revenues and a 2% rise pre-tax profits, sending its shares up 5%. Dart Group (DTG), which is now worth more than £2 billion, said its performance had been boosted by an increase in customer demand for holidays in the later half of the summer season, partly as a result of the collapse of Thomas Cook. The AIM-quoted group reported a rise in profits to £339.7 million for the six months to the end of September, building on the 63% rise in its previous financial year. |
| Aston Martin Holdings (AML) has unveiled its first sports utility vehicle in an attempt to compete in the fast growing luxury SUV car market and reverse the 75% slide in its share price since the company floated last year. The British company, which supplies cars to James Bond in the 007 films, said it hoped the long-awaited £158,000 DBX model would widen its appeal to wealthy women, as almost all of its current customers are men. The new car, which has a top speed of 181mph and goes from 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds, will emit more than three times as much carbon dioxide as a Ford Fiesta. The DBX travels 19.7 miles per gallon of petrol, compared with an average of 51.7mpg for new cars in the UK. “I can’t emphasise enough how incredibly exciting and significant DBX is for Aston Martin,” said Andy Palmer, its chief executive. “We have both delivered this model through our expertise, but also by garnering invaluable experience and knowledge from external counsel, including our female advisory board. This is a real landmark for this great British brand and I promise that DBX will reward all who experience it in their everyday lives.” | |
| The asset manager Janus Henderson has been fined £1.9m by the City watchdog for mistreating and overcharging thousands of ordinary investors in a controversial practice known as “closet tracking”. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the firm’s Henderson Investment Funds Limited division failed to tell 4,713 small savers that their investments were no longer being actively managed, but continued to charge them the same fees. However, the fund did tell nearly all of its institutional investors – clients such as pension funds and banks – about the change, introduced in 2011, and even offered to continue to manage the funds free of charge. By keeping its retail customers in the dark about the changes to its Japan and North American Funds, Henderson was able to pocket an extra £1.8m in fees between 2011 and 2016. HIFL has since notified and compensated all of the affected customers. | |
 | The UK insurer Legal & General Group (LGEN) has teamed up with 14 housing associations to build 3,000 affordable homes annually, as official figures show a 22% rise in the number of affordable homes delivered in England in the past year. The insurance and pensions firm set up an affordable housing business in April 2018 and has built up a pipeline of 3,500 homes to be constructed across the UK over several years, backed by a £750m investment. Just over half of them will be shared ownership and the rest affordable or social rent. It aims to achieve its 3,000-a-year target across the UK by 2022. It has become a key player in the housebuilding sector in recent years, particularly in build-to-rent, as renting becomes more common. So far the firm has completed two affordable housing projects. Residents have started to move into one- and two-bedroom apartments at Leon House in Croydon, a former office building, and into two- and four-bedroom houses in Falmouth in Cornwall. About 60% of them are shared ownership – prices for 25% shared ownership at Leon House start at £76,250 – and the rest are affordable rents. |
 | The drinks company Fevertree Drinks (FEVR) has said a slowdown in consumer spending has hit UK retail sales of its popular mixers. The premium tonic water and mixer maker lowered its forecast of global sales this year to £266m to £268m, about 13% year-on-year growth. Analysts had been forecasting sales of about £272m to £275m. Fever-Tree said that while sales through pubs, bars and restaurants in the UK had remained healthy, consumers were spending less in supermarkets and other retail outlets. Tim Warrillow, its chief executive, said: “Our performance has been behind expectations in the second half [in the UK] as we lap very tough comparisons in July and August [compared with summer 2018] and a wider slowdown in consumer spending.” Warrillow added that the company would not resort to heavy promotional discounting of its products to increase sales in the key trading period running up to Christmas. |
 | Insurer Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) launches plan to shave expenses. Chief executive Penny James to expand business as part of new cost-cutting strategy |
| Lombard – Fevertree Drinks (FEVR) is no longer simply a bet on UK gin fad. The company has been successfully expanding beyond the UK over the past couple of years |
 | Lex – HSBC Holdings (HSBA)/Samir Assaf: nudging out Mr Nice. With another restructuring under way, investors can only hope it helps even up the numbers |
 | Taylor Wimpey (TW.) chief cashes in almost £4m of shares. Sale by Pete Redfern puts spotlight back on executive pay in housebuilding sector |
| Fevertree Drinks (FEVR) warns on revenue as consumer spending slows. Shares rally after investors gain encouragement from positive forecasts for next year |
 | Pub chain Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) defies casual dining downturn. All Bar One and Harvester owner has grown its estate and revenues |
 | Aviva (AV.) to overhaul structure in face of investor unease. Chief executive under pressure to sharpen insurer’s strategy and boost share price |
 | Vodafone Group (VOD) German cable unit accused of obstructing deal inquiry. Kabel Deutschland deleted ex-CEO’s emails despite probe into acquisition by UK group |
| Aston Martin Holdings (AML) enters SUV market with DBX. Model designed after building profile of typical buyer — Charlotte, a mother in her 40s |
| 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. |
| The boss of Taylor Wimpey (TW.), one of Britain’s biggest housebuilders has cashed in almost £4m of stock, amid fury over bumper profits for developers from the Help to Buy subsidy scheme. Taylor Wimpey boss Pete Redfern, 49, offloaded 2.15m shares at 174p each on November 19, raising £3.7m in total. A spokesman said the sale was “part of regular financial planning” designed to manage the size of his interest in the company, which is still well above the required minimum. The company’s shares have climbed from about 136p at the start of the year. Last week, it said full-year sales would be slightly higher than expected although margins slightly lower, with an order book of about 10,443 homes. |
| The boss of defence firm Babcock International Group (BAB) has warned it could be a takeover target as ministers prepare to wave through the sale of rival Cobham. Archie Bethel said private equity firms are likely to be encouraged by the Cobham deal – making a raid on his own company more likely. Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom earlier this week indicated she will allow Cobham to be snapped up by US firm Advent after it gave guarantees designed to protect national security. Asked about an assault on FTSE 250-listed Babcock, Mr Bethel said: “It’s a distinct possibility. “Private equity will do what they do but it’s certainly a risk – especially with our shares so undervalued.” |
| Aviva (AV.) new boss vowed to fix years of poor performance in his first major update to investors – but analysts were left underwhelmed by his turnaround plans. In a strategy update on Wednesday, Maurice Tulloch admitted the behemoth has struggled to stand out from the crowd, amid fears it is too thinly spread with dozens of unimpressive operations around the world. The insurer – which has 33 million customers worldwide – is bailing out of its Hong Kong business, Blue, selling its stake to joint venture partner Hillhouse Capital for an undisclosed sum. |
| Takeaway curry and pizza have long been a staple of British life – but now even Sunday roast dinners are up for delivery. Toby Carvery started offering take-outs earlier this year and has seen a surge in sales as a result. A midweek carvery costs £7.79 and includes meat such as beef or pork with apple and sage, plus gravy, a Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes. The meals are thought to have particularly proved a hit with millenials who do not want to cook or eat out, but still seek the comfort of a traditional meal. Phil Urban, boss of the chain’s parent firm Mitchells & Butlers (MAB), said the takeaway market is surging and will only get bigger. |
| The new boss of DIY owner Kingfisher (KGF) has launched a broadside at his predecessor after another sharp fall in sales. Thierry Garnier, who took the helm of the B&Q and Screwfix owner two months ago, said the business is trying to do too much at once and is too complex. Former chief executive Veronique Laury had been striving to turn Kingfisher around by bringing together its various businesses in several countries. Ms Laury also promised to improve profits by £500m every year from 2021, but Kingfisher warned earnings would be lower than expected in September before her departure. |
| Premium tonic maker Fevertree Drinks (FEVR) will no longer produce “shooting the lights out growth” after the company blamed weak consumer retail spending for a significant slowdown in its UK business, forcing it to cut sales targets for the year. Nico von Stackelberg, an analyst at Liberum, said there are still reasons for investors to be optimistic, however, as there is a lot of international growth ahead for the company. He added: “Growth is not going to come from the UK…it’s all about the US.” |
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