 | Standard Chartered (STAN) beats estimates with 16% rise in quarterly profit. Upbeat results despite ‘challenging’ conditions lift bank’s shares by 3% in Hong Kong |
 | Lombard – Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) swings from minus to plus, but only for a moment. Shares in UK retail financial bookie surge but so do the risks |
 | Schroders (SDR) offloads stake in RWC. Shares are being bought by the group, its staff and US investors Lincoln Peak Capital |
 | Royal Mail (RMG) makes fresh plea to avoid Christmas strikes. UK postal operator offers CWU talks ‘without preconditions’ if it removes walkouts threat |
 | Lex – BP (BP.): incoming. Shareholders will bay for their share of the spoils — keep them happy |
 | Harry Potter publisher caught in US-China trade dispute. Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) will pay tariffs on some books as it reports fall in profit |
| BP (BP.) hit by steep drop in third-quarter earnings. UK oil major suffers from lower prices and decline in production |
 | Quinn takes his turn at reshaping HSBC Holdings (HSBA). Interim chief has set out on familiar path and is planning to go the distance |
 | Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) has launched a new ‘slimmer, sharper, more stylish’ range for men who dress casually at work. The high street stalwart is sidelining formal work clothes and targeting younger customers, who tend to dress down in the office. The company has cut the number of suits and ties by a seventh, or 14%, and will instead fill the space with casual clothing and jumpers. M&S is trying to persuade customers it has shaken off its old-fashioned and dowdy image. The new range of products will target a ‘busy, family-aged customer’, it said yesterday, and be aimed at those who spend more time ‘taking care of themselves’. A week-long advertising campaign will highlight ‘new and improved fit’, which bosses had previously identified as a problem for consumers. |
| Profits at BP (BP.) tumbled by 40% as the oil super-major was hammered by tropical storms and lower prices. They fell to £1.8 billion between July and September, from £3 billion in the same quarter of 2018. But this was higher than the £1.3 billion analysts expected, as growth in the refining division offset a weaker performance in its oil production. Revenue dropped 23% to £48 billion. BP was also hit by maintenance costs at some of its most profitable fields and the effect of Hurricane Barry, which shut facilities in the Gulf of Mexico for around a fortnight and dealt a ‘significant’ blow to production in July. Overall, oil and gas production fell 2.5% when stripping out BP’s stake in Russian group Rosneft. It expects fourth-quarter production will improve as maintenance works wind down. Bernstein analyst Oswald Clint said: ‘In a challenging quarter for energy, BP’s results are remarkably resilient.’ |
| A big loser yesterday was Royal Mail (RMG), after JP Morgan Cazenove analysts sounded the alarm over industrial action. More than 97% of Royal Mail staff balloted by the Communication Workers Union have backed a strike – though whether this will go ahead is very much uncertain. Royal Mail yesterday made a fresh plea to avoid the strikes, saying it would speak to the CWU ‘without preconditions’ if it removes the threat of walkouts. JP Morgan has been rattled by the fact that the union intends to time a strike for maximum impact – meaning it could coincide with Black Friday sales on November 29, Cyber Monday on December 2 and December General Election. Although analysts believe the direct cost may be ‘manageable’, the knock-on effects, such as fewer parcels being sent, could hit the 500-year-old postal service where it hurts. JP Morgan cut its rating to ‘underweight’ from ‘neutral’ and trimmed its target price to 192p from 252p. |
 | Analysts took a swipe at Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), after the lender revealed last week it had swung into the red in the third quarter. UBS downgraded its shares from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral’ and rolled back its target price from 225p to 235p. |
 | Dawn Fitzpatrick, a non-executive director at Barclays (BARC) who is also chief investment officer at billionaire George Soros’s hedge fund Soros Fund Management, splashed out £1.5m buying shares in the British bank. |
| The volatility on global stock markets over the summer, driven by Brexit and the US-China trade spat, was a boon for Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS). Revenues between July and September rose 10% to £86m and the number of new customers using Plus500 to trade surged to 24,359 from 20,684 in the same period of 2018. It follows a plunge in profits last year when Plus500 and its peers were knocked by European regulators clamping down on trading of risky financial products. |
 | Oilfield drilling equipment provider Hunting (HTG) lost ground as it said challenging conditions, particularly in the US market, would hit profits, putting full-year figures at the lower end of City forecasts. |
| City insurers are braced for a wave of legal battles over the $50bn US opioid crisis – sparking bitter memories of the asbestos pay-outs which almost destroyed the Lloyd’s of London market in the 1990s. Insurance companies linked to Lloyd’s provide cover for a string of drugmakers accused of stoking the opioid epidemic, which has killed almost 400,000 Americans in the past two decades. The catastrophe is alleged to have started when pharmaceutical firms flooded the market with ultra-high strength prescription painkillers and created a generation of addicts. Firms responsible are expected to face a total bill as high as $50bn (£38bn). | |
 | The government has given the green light for Inmarsat (ISAT), Britain’s largest satellite company, to be acquired by private equity bidders. Connect Bidco, a consortium including buyout giants Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus, put forward a number of “voluntary undertakings” earlier this year in order to secure a deal with the British government, after it came under scrutiny from regulators relating to national security. The group, which swooped in with a $3.4bn (£2.6bn) offer in March, said it would ensure that the majority of key strategic decisions are made within the UK and that key parts of its global network operations would remain in the country. |
 | The US firm seeking to buy defence business Cobham (COB) is preparing to offer concessions to protect British national security, as the Government decides whether to approve the £4bn deal. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) this afternoon handed its report on private equity firm Advent’s takeover of Cobham to the Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom. The Business Secretary will now consider the CMA’s findings, which are set to be released when she announces her decision. This is expected to happen within days. |
 | Australian law firm Slater & Gordon is preparing legal action against investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) over its support for disgraced fund manager Neil Woodford. In a tweet sent late on Tuesday afternoon, the company said it was looking into the merits of potential claims on behalf of investors who had poured money into Mr Woodford’s funds and asked them to follow a link to register their interest. It follows the spectacular implosion of Mr Woodford’s investment empire earlier this month. His flagship Equity Income Fund is being shut down, with savers facing massive losses. |
 | Questor: even at 30 times earnings Rightmove (RMV) is a buy for its market dominance. Questor share tip: its estate agent customers can’t do without it and it is continuing to innovate in order to boost profitability |
| Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) announced revenues and profits yesterday that were better than expected, raising hopes among investors that it is recovering from the regulatory clampdown. Revenues at Plus500 rose by 10% to $110.6 million in the three months to the end of September compared with a year earlier, while adjusted profits climbed by 39% to $70.1 million. Regulators have grown concerned about CFDs because most amateur traders who use them lose money. In August last year the European Securities and Markets Authority introduced stricter rules on CFDs that have hit Plus500 and IG Group and CMC Markets, its rivals. Australia, which accounts for 15% of Plus500’s revenues, has proposed similar restrictions. |
| BP (BP.) fell to a $351 million loss in the third quarter after writing down billions of dollars of value on old oil and gasfields that it is selling in the United States. The company, which made a $3 billion profit in the same period last year, also was hit by lower oil and gas prices and by the impact of Hurricane Barry, which forced the shutdown of several highly profitable Gulf of Mexico platforms for a fortnight in July. A strong performance in its refining and marketing division offset these factors to deliver underlying profits of $2.3 billion, excluding the divestment impairments. That was down from $3.8 billion a year earlier, but was significantly better than the $1.7 billion that had been forecast by analysts. BP shares fell by 3.8% yesterday after Brian Gilvary, its chief financial officer, suggested that it was unlikely to raise its dividend until after Bernard Looney takes over as chief executive in February. |
 | Britain will be a big beneficiary from a $7 billion update to a contract to cover 114 F-35 aircraft for the American military and foreign governments. Of the 114 aircraft covered by the agreement awarded to Lockheed Martin by the Pentagon, America will receive 77 aircraft, while 15 will go to Australia, 12 to Norway and ten to Italy. The supply of parts, software data, safety items and engineering services are included in the deal. The Maryland-based Lockheed, which was founded in 1926 and merged with Martin Marietta in 1995, will work in partnership with BAE Systems (BA.) and Northrop Grumman on most of the work. |
| Shoppers at Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) will be able to delay paying for online purchases by six weeks after the retailer signed a deal with a “buy now, pay later” company. The new service is part of a drive by M&S to attract more shoppers by allowing them to spread the cost of purchases across monthly instalments. The offer, launched with payments business Clearpay, will apply to all online clothing and home purchases over £30. After paying 25% of the order upfront, customers will be able to pay the rest in three instalments at no extra cost. Late payment will incur a £6 fee and no-payment charges are capped at 25% of the order, or £36, whichever is lower, M&S confirmed. |
| Royal Mail (RMG) has offered to hold talks with the Communication Workers Union if a planned strike is delayed until after Christmas. The union has dimissed the company’s offer as a “total sham”. About 110,000 members of the CWU took part in a ballot this month, representing a 76% turnout, and more than 97% voted to strike in a dispute over pay, security and working conditions. Royal Mail said that it would hold talks without preconditions and would extend the life of the ballot result if the union made a binding commitment to remove the threat of strike action until after the key Black Friday and Christmas sales periods. |
| The government has cleared a consortium’s $3.4 billion acquisition of Inmarsat (ISAT) after it accepted undertakings relating to national security. Apax Partners, Warburg Pincus, and two Canadian pension funds agreed in March to buy the provider of satellite communications to shipping, aircraft and governments. The government said it had received assurances that sensitive information was protected and that enhanced security controls were in place to ensure the continued supply of services used by the Ministry of Defence. |
| Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) declines helped to push the financial sector to its lowest level in two weeks. RBS was knocked by analysts at UBS, who cut their rating of the stock from “buy” to “neutral” and lowered their price target from 255p to 235p. They noted that the bank was “well managed and positioned well to deliver substantial dividends and buybacks”, but added that the cost of restructuring Natwest Markets would hinder cash returns in the near term. |
   | Housebuilders were in the red after a downbeat report from Nationwide on property prices. Britain’s largest building society said that average prices had risen by £800 over the past 12 months, a sharp slowdown compared with the year to October 2016, which included the Brexit referendum. Persimmon (PSN) fell 33p to £23.27; Taylor Wimpey (TW.) shed 2¼p to 167¼p, and Barratt Developments (BDEV) dropped 5¾p to 642½p. |
 | Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) was dragged down by underwhelming results from Stora Enso, a Finnish peer, which said that demand growth was likely to slow, forcing it to lower its forecast for earnings before interest and taxes to €100 million to €180 million, compared with analysts’ consensus of €218 million. |
 | William Hill (WMH) dropped ¾p to 199¼p despite optimism from RBC Capital Markets, which said that though the FTSE 250 bookmaker had been outplayed in a consolidating market, it had the biggest opportunity of its sector in the United States. |
 | Analysts at Peel Hunt advised investors to stock up on Fuller Smith & Turner (FSTA), which had poured some of the proceeds from the sale of its brewing business into buying Cotswold Inns & Hotels. The £40 million deal includes seven country inns and hotels and eight cottages in the Cotswolds, as well as two bars in Birmingham. |
 | I3 Energy (I3E) rose after a “transformational” discovery of oil at its Serenity well in the North Sea. Eckoh, a secure payments company, said that trading in the first half was in line with its expectations and that it had delivered double-digit sales growth in Britain and the United States. |
| Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) said that it had been hit by a surprise US tariff of 15%, imposed at the start of last month, on books printed in China and shipped to the United States. This had affected 50 titles. Analysts at Peel Hunt, the broker, advised investors to buy the shares, noting that despite a weaker first half, dividend growth was robust and the group ended the period with a solid net cash position. Bloomsbury expects a strong second half, especially with an illustrated version of the fourth Potter book to be published this month. Its digital division has also moved into profit. |
 | Tempus – Menzies(John) (MNZS): Buy. Weakness in share price looks to be an attractive entry point. The long-term market fundamentals are encouraging. Dividend should rise steadily |
| Europe’s richest man Bernard Arnault on Monday made a $14.5bn (£11.3bn) bid to buy Tiffany & Co, the jeweller famed for its extravagant engagement rings and white diamond necklaces worn by the likes of Audrey Hepburn for the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Arnault’s €194bn (£167bn) LVMH luxury goods empire, which features brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior and Moët & Chandon, announced it had made a $120-a-share offer to buy the US jeweller, which was founded by 25-year-old Charles Lewis Tiffany in 1837. Tiffany said it was carefully reviewing the proposal, but said it was not in discussions with its Paris-based suitor, which it mistakenly referred to as LMVH in its statement. Tiffany employs more than 14,000 people, and operates about 300 stores around the world including its flagship store next to Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. The shop, where Hepburn’s Holly Golightly character mused “nothing very bad could happen to you”, is undergoing a $250m refit. |
| Quinn takes his turn at reshaping HSBC Holdings (HSBA). Interim chief has set out on familiar path and is planning to go the distance |
 | Lombard – Investors in Just Eat (JE.) should ready themselves to bite bidder’s hand. Prosus is offering £4.9bn cash for a business without a chief executive |
 | Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) failed to pass on wills of 9,000 customers. Hundreds of families distributed assets to the wrong people as a result |
 | PwC poised to take over as auditor for M&C Saatchi (SAA). Big Four firm brushes off fresh accusations of conflict of interest |
| The takeover battle for Just Eat (JE.) heated up on Monday as its preferred merger partner launched an attack on the investment vehicle that is trying to gatecrash the party. Just Eat has recommended its shareholders accept a merger with Takeaway.com, but investment vehicle Prosus is trying to derail the deal with its own £4.9billion cash bid for Just Eat. Prosus also has a stakes in Delivery Hero and Takeaway.com but is pushing to bring Delivery Hero and Just Eat together and has been selling down its stake in Takeaway.com. Takeaway.com has now demanded that Prosus does not vote in the proposed Just Eat merger, claiming there is a conflict of interest. The issue arose after Prosus started selling off its stake in Takeaway.com at below-market prices, which has subsequently pushed Takeaway.com’s share price down. Because the proposed merger is based on Just Eat shareholders being given shares in Takeaway.com, there is now concern that the deal may not go through because the value of the deal has dropped as shares continue to fall. |
| Sir Martin Sorrell splashed out on two more acquisitions in the UK and South Korea as he continues to grow his new advertising firm S4 Capital (SFOR). Sorrell is acquiring digital analytics firms ConversionWorks, which is based in London, and Datalicious Korea, based in Seoul. MightyHive, a part of S4 , will merge with the two companies, which will then be rebranded as MightyHive, the group said. ConversionWorks helps firms such as Boots, Diageo, Schuh, Giffgaff and Wiggle predict how their customers will behave, target them, and gather data. Datalicious Korea helps firms measure if their social media campaigns are paying off and its clients include Samsung, Adidas Korea, and Lotte Members. The new additions are just the latest of a string of acquisitions which has seen the group expand to 15 countries and 21 cities. | |
| The boss of HSBC Holdings (HSBA) has pledged to speed up plans to ‘remodel’ the bank as profits fell by nearly a fifth amid weakness in Britain, Europe and the US. Noel Quinn said profits held up well in Asia – its main market – despite unrest in Hong Kong. ‘However, in some parts, performance was not acceptable, principally business activities within continental Europe, the non-ring-fenced bank in the UK, and the US,’ he said. ‘Our previous plans are no longer sufficient to improve performance for these businesses, given the softer outlook for revenue growth. We are therefore accelerating plans to remodel them, and move capital into higher growth and return opportunities.’ His comments follow recent reports claiming Quinn had plans to cut up to 10,000 jobs in a bid to slash costs and stamp his mark on the global banking group. |
| Aston Martin Holdings (AML) suffered a reversal following a fierce downgrade from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Analysts think the troubled luxury car maker will cut its 2019 outlook again and believe the company had a ‘very weak’ third quarter. Lacklustre demand for its pricey cars could be revived when it launches its DBX sports utility vehicle in December. But analysts at the American investment bank point out that the company’s debt mountain is piling ever higher and short-term loans arranged this summer have provided no long-term solution to Aston’s financial car crash. They downgraded Aston’s stock for the second time this year, putting it at ‘underperform’ from ‘neutral’, and lowered its target price from 550p to 400p. | |
 | Cairn Energy (CNE) shares slumped following a double-dose of bad news. It abandoned a dud well off the coast of Mexico after failing to find any oil or gas in it and, separately, said it faces a further delay to its £1 billion-plus tax claim against the Indian government. |
| edged up after announcing share awards to chief executive David Thomas, operations chief Steven Boyes and finance boss Jessica White. Thomas was handed £327,000 worth of shares in a bonus plan for 2019. He was awarded up to £1.5m worth of stock – 238,000 shares – in a long–term share plan that will become available in 2022 if he meets certain targets. Boyes was given a £287,000 bonus and a long–term share plan worth £1.2m, while White pocketed £203,000 from the bonus and was handed another £859,000 under the 2022 scheme. | |
 | RBC Capital Markets analysts gave GVC Holdings (GVC) their stamp of approval as they started coverage of the UK gambling sector. GVC was named RBC’s top pick and given an ‘outperform’ rating, with brokers praising its ‘excellent track record’ of assimilating acquired firms into the group. Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) merger with The Stars Group was dubbed ‘an unparalleled revenue opportunity’, but analysts are holding back slightly until the deal is completed. But RBC brokers put William Hill (WMH) on the naughty step for ‘lagging’ in an industry ‘where scale matters’ and lots of other companies have combined to protect themselves. |
 | Sirius Minerals (SXX) started the week on the right foot as investor forums were awash with hopeful chatter that later this week the potash miner could offer an update on its strategic review. Boss Chris Fraser previously said the outcome could be pinned down by the end of October. |
 | Emmerson (EML) rallied after it announced its Khemisset project in Morocco has 72% more potash in it than the firm previously thought, or around 537m tons. |
| Sales at Boots have fallen further in the UK as it struggles with brutal conditions on the high street and lower funding from the NHS, which impacts its prescriptions. The chemist chain is closing 200 shops to keep a lid on costs. It posted a 2.1% fall in sales in the fourth quarter. Pharmacy sales were down 1pc, while retail sales declined 2.7%. Boots’ owner, US-based Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), said profits for the enlarged company were down by almost 10pc, primarily because of its lacklustre performance in Britain. Alexander Gourlay, co-chief operating officer, said it expects the 200 shops to shut by the end of next year. | |
| Embattled Aston Martin Holdings (AML) suffered a fresh blow as one of the banks which shared a £30m pay-out from advising on the luxury car maker’s disastrous float urged investors to dump its shares. Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) cut its rating on Aston from neutral to sell, slashing its target price from 550p to just 400p in the process – 79% less than the stock’s value when it went public. Aston floated a year ago with the shares priced at £19. | |
| HSBC Holdings (HSBA) has warned it may be forced to slash even more jobs after a brutal three months in which profits fell almost a fifth. Interim chief executive Noel Quinn threatened to wield the axe again just weeks after it emerged the bank was planning to cut 10,000 roles, and blasted the lender’s performance as “not acceptable”. It came as HSBC announced profits of $4.8bn (£3.7bn) for the third quarter – down 18% on the same period last year. Only $100m of that figure was generated outside Asia, piling pressure on divisions to up their game in Europe and the US. The poor results have increased fears over job cuts. |
 | The accounting scandal surrounding Goals Soccer Centres (GOAL) has deepened after the five-a-side operator called in fraud investigators. Evidence has been handed over to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) just days after the company’s stock was delisted from the London Stock Exchange amid problems with its accounts. In August, Goals uncovered “improper behaviour within the company”. This followed its shares being suspended in March after unearthing an unpaid VAT bill of at least £12m. Goals’ board put the company up for sale during the summer is it struggled to get to the bottom of what it termed “historical accounting errors”. |
| Questor: we’ve yet to strike gold with our miners but this Australian business could be the answer. Questor share tip: QE is back in earnest and gold could be the beneficiary so Resolute Mining (RSG), which recently added a London listing, is worth a look | |
| HSBC Holdings (HSBA) is set to make thousands of staff redundant and will shrink its businesses in Europe and the United States after the bank’s interim boss said that its financial performance was “not acceptable”. Noel Quinn pledged yesterday to “remodel the organisational structure” of HSBC. He made the comments as Europe’s biggest bank said that pre-tax profit had fallen by 18% to $4.8 billion in the three months to the end of September compared with last year. HSBC will shift capital away from the US and Europe and will redeploy it to its fast-growing operations in Asia. Job cuts are inevitable, with the details to be announced alongside annual results in February, Mr Quinn said. About 4,700 job losses have been announced previously and he refused to comment on reports that a further 10,000 jobs could go from the 238,000-strong workforce. |
 | The chief executive and biggest shareholder in Ferrexpo (FXPO) has stood aside temporarily while he deals with allegations of embezzlement in Ukraine. The company said that Kostyantin Zhevago, who is also its controlling shareholder, wanted to “focus on resolving certain matters in Ukraine relating to one of the businesses he owned until 2015”. Ukrainian prosecutors have said that they want to question the 45-year-old over suspected embezzlement from Bank Finance & Credit, a Ukrainian lender that he used to control. The bank was declared insolvent in 2015 while holding $174 million of Ferrexpo funds. Chris Mawe, 57, Ferrexpo’s chief financial officer, is to become acting chief executive in a move the company said was “necessary and in the interests of all shareholders” to “enable Mr Zhevago to focus on matters in Ukraine without impacting the company”.’ |
| The increasingly bitter takeover battle for Just Eat (JE.) has taken another turn after an intervention by an American activist investor. Cat Rock Capital Management alleged that investors in the food delivery company were being “directly and materially harmed” by share sales undertaken by Delivery Hero, a German rival. Delivery Hero immediately rejected all claims made by the Connecticut-based activist. “Delivery Hero structured its share sales in a bizarre and uneconomic fashion that seems deliberately intended to depress Takeaway.com’s stock price,” Cat Rock claimed. Delivery Hero said: “The decision to sell down Takeaway.com shares was taken by Delivery Hero’s management board independently in September 2019. Delivery Hero had no knowledge of Prosus’s contemplated offer to acquire Just Eat prior to the publication of the offer.” |
 | Hammerson (HMSO) executives could have their bonuses cut after the shopping centre owner launched a consultation on pay reforms in response to an investors’ revolt. The company said yesterday that it was consulting “major shareholders and voting advisory agencies” on its remuneration policy “to ensure that executive reward continues to be aligned with shareholder interests”. Almost a third of investors at the company’s annual meeting in April rejected its executive pay policy, which included multimillion-pound incentives for David Atkins, 53, its chief executive, and other directors. The revolt came after Hammerson fell from a £413 million profit in 2017 to a pre-tax loss of £266.7 million last year. |
| Aston Martin Holdings (AML) was in reverse again after a searing note from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Analysts at the same bank that priced, organised and underwrote Aston’s listing relegated the stock from “neutral” to “underperform”, having already demoted it from “buy” in July. They cut their price target from 550p to 400p noting that weak near-term demand was affecting profitability and that a controversial bond sale last month had made Aston’s financial position more challenging. | |
| Cairn Energy (CNE) fell to 162p after it abandoned an offshore well in Mexico. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said that the site was a “key well in an important basin for Cairn that could have added around 30p per share to our valuation”. The Edinburgh-based oil and gas explorer also will have to wait until next year for a decision on its long-running $1.4 billion tax dispute with the Indian government, although Cairn said that it “continues to have a high level of confidence” in the merits of its claim. |
 | Costain Group (COST) said that it had been awarded highways contracts worth more than £150 million over the past quarter, including a project for Lancashire county council that is expected to be completed in early 2023 and another for Highways England to install enhanced technology in three areas in the South East. |
 | Nuformix (NFX) shed 1¾p having confirmed that one of its lenders had converted its loans into shares after the share price jumped by 43% on Friday. That lender was Alan Miller, chief investment officer of SCM Direct, a wealth manager, who is married to Gina Miller, the anti-Brexit campaigner. Last week, the company confirmed that it was in talks with “multiple potential licensees in Japan and Asia”. |
 | Sosandar (SOS) added 4p to 20p after it reported a half-year trading update in which it said that it would be investing heavily in television advertising. It expects to report revenue of £2.8 million for the six months to the end of September, an increase of 53% on last year. |
 | Botswana Diamonds (BOD) rose after Vutomi Mining, in which it has a 40% stake, was granted a permit to trawl through leftovers, known as tailings, around a De Beers project. The mine was open for only two years in the late Nineties and famously paid for itself in just four days, but the diamond-bearing gravels and unprocessed stockpiles around the pit were overlooked. |
 | The government’s decision to permit photographs taken on a smartphone or personal camera to be used for passports was not good news for Photo-Me International (PHTM). The change made trading in the quarter to the end of last month particularly challenging, the company said, although consumer activity was also dampened by Brexit jitters. Its identification division reported revenues down 3.8% in the five months to September, compared with last year. It hopes that vending machines dispensing fresh pineapple and apple juice at railway stations, due over the next two years, will provide a revenue stream that will allow it to diversify from its traditional business. |
| Tempus – Smithson Investment Trust (SSON): Hold. Carefully considered portfolio chosen by respected investment manager that has got off to a strong start | |
 | Tempus – Stock Spirits Group (STCK): Hold. Respectably priced and with growth potential but not a must-have |
 | Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) has been accused of breaching the Companies Act after failing to seek shareholder approval for spending on almost 2m pro-leave beer mats before the 2016 EU referendum. The pub chain spent £94,856 during the referendum campaign, comprising £18,000 on 1.5m “Brexit beer mats”, £8,400 on a further 200,000 mats, and £68,186 on another 200,000 mats, 5,000 posters and 500,000 booklets, Electoral Commission records show. Legal experts said shareholder approval was necessary because the spending constituted political expenditure under the 2006 legislation. JD Wetherspoon’s chairman and founder, Tim Martin, is one of the business world’s most vocal Brexit supporters and has used his pub chain as a platform for his views. |
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