 | Despairing investors in Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) are in danger of incurring even bigger losses if they hang on to their shares, analysts warned yesterday. On the first day of trading since Neil Woodford resigned as fund manager, shares fell as much as 12% to a record low of just below 30p. They closed at 32.5p, having been worth around 119p in August 2015. But JP Morgan analysts have warned that those desperate to avoid crystallising their losses may get even less back in future. The trust’s board is looking at whether it should appoint a new manager, sell it to another fund management company or wind it down and sell the assets. JP Morgan said that all scenarios will bring risk. Shares have been trading at a huge 50% discount to the estimated value of the assets as investors have shunned it. Yesterday, JP Morgan said: ‘This already includes some hefty writedowns, but it is inevitable that there will be more. We just don’t know how much and when.’It added: ‘An orderly wind-up is the best way forward.’ |
| The competition watchdog has formally launched an investigation into Amazon’s investment in food delivery firm Deliveroo. It follows a multi-million pound deal, part of a £460million fundraising round, which saw the internet retailer attempt to buy a minority stake in the British company. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has suggested this could lead to a full takeover of Deliveroo. It has ordered the companies to temporarily halt the process until its inquiries into the deal are complete. The CMA probe could lead to a more detailed ‘phase 2’ investigation – and possibly prompt it to block the investment. | |
 | ASOS (ASC) said profits tumbled 68% in the 12 months to August 31, as it forked out to remedy warehouse issues in Germany and the US, was pipped to the post by rivals on Black Friday and struggled amid weak consumer confidence. Costly investment and rising costs meant the company even swung into debt, with £95million now on its books. Investors appear to have been braced for worse numbers than Asos actually delivered, therefore many have seen today as buying opportunity. Reassuring bright spots in the results include rising customer numbers and a 13% uplift in sales to £2.73billion as its more ‘glam’ shoppers snapped up animal print, broderie and satin. Adam Vettese from eToro said this proves Asos ‘it is still incredibly popular with fashion-conscious twenty-somethings’. But he added: ‘The firm will want to see this progress carried into the new year, meaning this is perhaps the most important Christmas trading period in Asos’ history.’ |
 | Barratt Developments (BDEV), said it has the cash to deal with any Brexit fallout in the housing sector. The sector’s economic outlook depends on how Britain leaves the EU, Barratt said, but insisted its net cash balance and the homes it is set to sell this year means it has the ‘resilience and flexibility to react’ to changes next year and beyond. The developer finished more than 3,250 homes in the last 15 weeks and is due to sell nearly 13,000 for more than £3 billion over the financial year. However the average value of the homes it is set to deliver is around £236,800, down from £243,900 last year. Barratt chief executive David Thomas said the company has started its financial year well, showing ‘a good sales rate and a healthy forward order book’. ‘We maintain our focus on the delivery of operational improvements across our business, and our commitment to deliver the highest quality homes across the country,’ he added. |
| Sativa Investments plc (SATI) has been granted a licence by the Government to grow cannabis in Somerset. The firm said the licence allowed it to grow cannabis that contains more than 0.2% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive compound. It can now collaborate with researchers looking at the impact of the drug on people with respiratory health issues. Sativa already grows cannabis with lower levels of THC. | |
 | Mediclinic International (MDC) was on the rise after issuing a cheery trading update. The company said that profits would be better than expected when it reports half-year results next month, after strong performance in southern Africa and the Middle East. Revenue for the six months to September 30 was about 9% higher than a year ago, while profits were likely to have risen by 5% to about £224million. |
 | Rio Tinto (RIO) reported a 5% rise in iron ore shipments that was helped by strong demand from China. The London-based company shipped 86.1m tonnes of the ore in the three months to the end of September, compared with 81.9m a year earlier. Iron ore typically accounts for more than 60% of Rio’s earnings. It said it still expected iron ore shipments for the year of between 320m and 330m tonnes, however, after a global squeeze on supplies started to ease. |
 | Metro Bank (MTRO) is under pressure from the Bank of England to hire an industry veteran as its next chairman, as the troubled lender braces for another set of gloomy financial results. The lender is understood to be facing demands to hire an experienced insider in place of Metro founder Vernon Hill, who is stepping down as chairman following a disastrous year in which a major accounting gaffe left investors nursing huge losses. In a sign of their concerns about how Metro has been run up to now, Bank of England regulators are taking a keen interest in who gets the job. |
| Fund manager M&G has hired City law firm Baker McKenzie to investigate allegations that one its senior managers sexually harassed junior female colleagues. The unnamed fund manager is accused of targeting women at the firm’s London headquarters with sexually explicit text messages and inappropriate comments, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing sources claiming to have witnessed the behaviour. The allegations were reported by Gavin Finch, the same Bloomberg journalist who earlier this year uncovered widespread sexual harassment and bullying across the Lloyd’s of London insurance market. The revelations prompted bosses to launch a full-scale review into its working culture. |
 | The chairman and founder of Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) has banked almost £80 million in the past three months after selling shares in the housebuilder. Tony Pidgley, 72, sold a million shares in the company for £42 million this week, on top of the million shares he sold for £37.2 million in July. The latest sale reduced his stake in the business by a quarter. He now holds a 2.1% stake that was worth more than £120 million at last night’s share price close of £44.54. Mr Pidgley’s share sale comes amid increased scrutiny of executive pay in the housebuilding sector. At Berkeley’s annual meeting last month, 43% of voting investors opposed the directors’ pay policy. |
| Shares in ASOS (ASC) rose by more than a quarter yesterday after investors bet that the online retailer had turned a corner, despite profits falling by 68% on the back of problems at its international warehouses. Marcus Morris-Eyton, a portfolio manager at Allianz, which is Asos’s fifth largest shareholder, said that it was “probably too early to call a complete turnaround” but that there was now “ample room” for the retailer to grow profit margins after resolving the issues with its warehouses and strengthening the management team. Nick Beighton, the chief executive, admitted that Asos had “taken its eye off the ball” because its internal operations had not kept up with its international growth. Overhauling two overseas warehouses simultaneously had thrown up too many challenges. “We were not adequately prepared for the additional complexities of planning and trading across our expanded warehouse footprint,” Mr Beighton said. |
| Barratt Developments (BDEV) reported a resilient sales rate for the first 15 weeks of the new financial year, but the value of the homes it sells has dipped. The company said that it had a forward order book of 12,963 homes, slightly up on the 12,903 it had on its books this time last year. The average price agreed for the homes it is due to build has fallen to £236,800 from about £243,900 last October. Lower average selling prices have been driven in part by Barratt’s decision to move out of the central London market. The housebuilder’s weekly average private sales per site for the 15 weeks to October 13 was flat year-on-year at 0.72. It reiterated that it expected sales volumes to grow towards the lower end of its medium-term annual target range of 3% to 5%. |
 | National Express Group (NEX) has signed a €1 billion bus contract in Casablanca that will give it more buses in Morocco than in Britain. Alsa, the transport operator’s Spanish and Moroccan division, said that it would provide about 700 buses and a new payment system and scheduling in the country’s largest city and economic capital. The company started operations in Morocco in 1999 with a contract to manage the urban transport system in Marrakesh. The Alsa contract will last for ten years, with the potential to extend to 15, and nearly doubles National Express’s presence in Morocco. The group will run 400 buses in Casablanca next month, with an additional 300 next year, carrying 100 million passengers annually. |
 | Claims of sexual harassment by a star fund manager at M&G Investments and suggestions that the company tolerates a culture of drink-fuelled abuse against female staff have threatened to overshadow its £8 billion flotation next week. One of the investment group’s top money managers is alleged to have harassed younger women over several years, according to Bloomberg. The allegations surfaced just days before Prudential (PRU) is due to spin off M&G as a separately listed company with almost certain membership of the FTSE 100. M&G manages £334 billion of funds for retail investors and institutions as well as operating Prudential’s UK insurance operations. |
| The competition watchdog will begin a formal investigation into whether Amazon’s estimated $500 million investment in Deliveroo would hurt the takeaway delivery market. The Competition and Markets Authority, which had served an initial enforcement order on the alliance in July, said that it had decided to launch a phase-one investigation and had set a deadline of December 11 for determining whether to refer it to an in-depth phase-two inquiry. When it served the initial enforcement notice, the regulator said that its intervention was due to concern that the American ecommerce company would use its investment to wield significant influence over the British online takeaway company. | |
   | Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY), Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) and Barclays (BARC) all found themselves on the up as Morgan Stanley brightened its outlook on UK banks. Its analysts said the industry “remains challenging” given the intense competition and a tough macroeconomic backdrop, but they reckon most of the negative news is already in the share prices. “Q2 results season already lowered expectations on revenues, and we believe operating trends would improve in a negotiated Brexit scenario,” Alvaro Serrano and his team said in a note to clients. Such an outcome is now more likely, they argue, which bodes well for a sector whose exposure to the UK economy has seen it bear the brunt of Brexit headwinds. According to Morgan Stanley’s economists, there is now a 10% chance of no-deal, compared with their previous estimate of 40%. Lloyds remains the top pick of the number crunchers, who reckon the current valuation is “compelling” and provides “the best risk-reward skew” in the UK domestic sector. |
 | Augean (AUG) told the market that profits this year would be “materially ahead” of estimates as the amount of rubbish it takes to landfills had jumped by 20%, while the prices it can charge to take that rubbish away had also picked up. |
| Hipgnosis Songs Fund (SONG) has bought a music catalogue from Timbaland, the Grammy award-winning hip-hop songwriter and producer. Timbaland — real name Timothy Mosley — has produced albums for Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliott and Nelly Furtado, which sold tens of millions of copies. In return for an upfront fee, Hipgnosis will receive Timbaland’s cut of the royalties from 108 albums and songs he has been involved in. “Ask any of today’s greatest creators who their biggest influences are and the one name on everybody’s list is Timbaland,” Merck Mercuriadis, founder of Hipgnosis, said. | |
  | Tempus – British American Tobacco (BATS), Imperial Brands (IMB): Buy. They could easily absorb the demise of vaping for decades to come and the shares are extremely cheap |
| Woodford empire implodes as he quits last two funds. UK’s best-known stockpicker takes ‘highly painful decision’ after being fired from flagship | |
| Former Barclays (BARC) chiefs ‘scared to death’ of bailout prospect. Court told of nationalisation worries as bank sought emergency fundraisings |
 | Lex – Hays (HAS)/Brexit: hire purchase. Unpredictable UK politics will produce new buying opportunities |
 | Royal Mail (RMG) union votes to strike in run-up to Christmas. Dispute over conditions, job security and alleged bullying risk first nationwide walkouts in a decade |
  | Vesuvius (VSVS) and Renishaw (RSW) slump amid global production chill. Manufacturers blame challenging economic backdrop as profits squeezed |
 | Thomas Cook Group (TCG) chief says lack of government support led to collapse. Peter Fankhauser tells MPs he had no contact with UK ministers in days leading up to liquidation |
 | Marston’s (MARS) shares take knock after warning on profit. Pitcher & Piano owner expects ‘broadly flat’ earnings, hit by food-led division |
 | Indivior (INDV) shares rise as it boosts guidance for a second time. Drugmaker lifted by strong performance of opioid treatment Suboxone |
   | The market share of the Big Four supermarkets has tumbled to a 15-year low as the march of the German discounters Aldi and Lidl continues. Tesco (TSCO), Sainsbury (J) (SBRY), Asda and Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) now hold just 62.7% of the market. The last time it was that low was in November 2014 – piling pressure on the Big Four ahead of the crucial Christmas trading period. Aldi and Lidl have raked in an additional £1billion in sales over the past year, boosting their combined market share to 14.1%, data company Kantar said. Aldi, which has an 8.1% share, is now rapidly catching up with Morrison’s, which has slumped to under a tenth of the UK market. The discounter has been luring middle-class customers by selling high-end products such as yellowfin sole and Aberdeen Angus steaks under the banner ‘Luxury you can afford’. Sainsbury’s, the second-largest supermarket with 1,400 stores, performed better than its Big Four rivals, giving some relief to chief executive Mike Coupe after the failed merger with Asda. |
 | The collapse of Neil Woodford’s investment empire is a major embarrassment for Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.). The fund supermarket was one of the fallen stock picker’s biggest cheerleaders, repeatedly featuring him on its ‘best buy’ list, despite concerns about his portfolio. It also offered clients discounted fees if they backed his funds. But Hargreaves, which has 1.1m customers, had to apologise when Woodford’s Equity Income fund was frozen in June. The freeze was imposed when investors concerned about poor performance rushed to the exit, leaving Woodford short of the cash he needed to repay them. Since then, critics have questioned why bosses continued to support Woodford publicly. This month angry shareholders told Hargreaves its closeness to Woodford had ‘badly damaged’ its reputation. |
| Investors reacted with relief to a tough update from recruiter Hays (HAS), which kept its fees stable in the face of a difficult UK private sector. The fees fell by 1% when analysts had been expecting a 2% fall. It follows profit warnings from recruiters Page and Robert Walters last week. Liberum analyst Sanjay Vidyarthi said there may be ‘some relief’ that the results were not even worse. |
 | Bellway (BWY) has posted another rise in annual profits but warned that a slowdown in house price growth and higher building costs will squeeze margins further. The builder expects a ‘moderate volume of growth’ in the year ahead as the uncertainty about Brexit could have an impact on consumer confidence and the number of homes it sells. As the property market in London stalls, Bellway said it has started to shift its investments away from the capital towards other parts of the country, as areas like Manchester and East Midlands ‘performed well’. |
 | Crossword Cybersecurity plc (CCS) surged more than 10% after it did a deal with Leonardo that commits the defence giant to using its Rizikon Assurance software to manage information about suppliers and other partners they work with, in bids for major contracts. Leonardo will now bid for a slew of contracts in 2020 across ‘multiple industries’. Jake Holloway, Crossword’s business development director, said: ‘This is a big step in our development.’ |
     | Fresh hopes of a Brexit deal fuel a Boris bounce with traders piling into the pound and other British assets. Banking, housing and utility stocks – seen as having fortunes tied to the health of the economy – gained an instant lift, with British Land Company (BLND) up 32.2p, to 623p, United Utilities Group (UU.) up 43.2p, to 865.4p, Land Securities Group (LAND) up 54.2p, to 946p, Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) up 3.03p, to 60.82p and Barratt Developments (BDEV) up 33.4p, to 683p among the biggest risers. CYBG (CYBG) saw its shares rise 7.65p, to 134.35p too, while shopping centre owner Hammerson (HMSO) rose 21.9p, to 322p. It also triggered a surge in sterling against the dollar, helping the currency climb to its highest level in five months. But analysts warned the fraught nature of the talks meant further wild swings are ahead. |
| Vesuvius (VSVS) plunged 75.4p, to 341p after it warned of tough market conditions, exacerbated by the US-China trade war which is damaging the steel and car industries. Full-year profits were now expected to be between £180million and £190million, down from an earlier estimate of £197.2million. |
| Renishaw (RSW) saw its shares tumble after bosses unveiled a whopping 85% fall in first-quarter profits, blaming turmoil in the world economy. The company said its profits were just £5.1million in the three months to September 30, compared to £33.5million a year earlier. That was after revenues fell from £154million to £124.6million. Renishaw, which has expertise in machinery used for everything from brain surgery to jet engines, also warned: ‘Trading conditions are expected to remain challenging’ – a prognosis that triggered a sell-off. |
| Indivior (INDV), which told investors it was hiking its full-year forecast after its best-selling opioid addiction drug, suboxone, was not hit as badly as feared by competition from new ‘copycat’ rivals. Profits are now expected to range between £127million and £150million, up from the previous forecast of £63million-£103million. |
 | Whitbread (WTB) rose 109p, to 4279p after analysts at UBS said fears about a slump in hotel room revenue had been exaggerated. They upgraded the firm from ‘neutral’ to ‘buy’, claiming the doom-mongering was ‘too conservative’, and said it was well-positioned to grow. |
| Neil Woodford has announced the “highly painful” decision to close his investment firm, following a disastrous day for the once-star fund manager. Fund supervisor Link ousted the disgraced fund manager from his flagship equity income fund early on Tuesday morning, announcing it would be wound down after Mr Woodford failed to raise sufficient funds for it to safely reopen in December. The disgraced fund manager then went on to hand in his notice at sister operation Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT), before announcing on Tuesday evening that Woodford Investment Management would close its doors completely as soon as the firm has fulfilled its commitments. |
| Marston’s (MARS) has warned that Britons are settling for a pint instead of splashing cash on eating out. The firm said that annual profits will be broadly flat as an increase in spending on drinks was offset by a poor performance on food. Shares fell almost 7% as Marston’s – which owns more than 1,500 pubs – warned profits will be lower than previously hoped over the next two years. Chief executive Ralph Findlay claimed that families are cutting back on restaurant trips amid belt tightening by consumers as political turmoil over Brexit takes its toll. He said: “People are very happy to go out and have drinks in pubs. “People going out to eat are being more cautious.” |
 | Associated British Foods (ABF) – Primark urged shoppers to avoid buying its wares on Amazon after it emerged that some of its Harry Potter and Disney themed products are being sold for ramped-up prices. The discount retailer does not sell online. However, third party sellers, who typically buy items in bulk and then sell them for a profit, have started flogging Primark products on the platform. A Primark spokesperson said: “We do not have a commercial partnership with Amazon and any Primark products which appear on the site are being re-sold by third parties, at higher prices. We encourage our customers to visit us in our stores to find the best value.” |
 | Tesco (TSCO), Sainsbury (J) (SBRY), Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) – Aldi and Lidl have raked in an additional £1bn in sales over the past year as more shoppers desert rival supermarkets. The German discounters have been luring middle-class customers from the likes of Waitrose and Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) as well as the “big four” in recent years by selling products such as manuka honey and less expensive lobster. The two chains now have a combined 14% of the grocery market as they continue to open stores across the UK. That is 0.8% higher than last year and the equivalent of £1bn in sales, according to research firm Kantar. They have recently overtaken Co-op and Waitrose to become the fifth and seventh-biggest supermarkets in Britain. |
 | National Grid (NG.) has vowed to challenge regulators after funding was slashed for a scheme linking up the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. The firm has been told by watchdog Ofgem that it must spend £80m less than initially planned on its Hinkley-Seabank project in a bid to save bill payers money. The regulator is offering a £637m grant to National Grid Electricity Transmission to link the nuclear plant to the rest of the country. This is 11% less than the grid’s initial request for funding. The transmission giant said it would continue to work with Ofgem to ensure a fair result but will seek to change its mind. |
| Thomas Cook Group (TCG) former bosses have attacked ministers for standing on the sidelines as it raced to secure lifeline funding – while other European countries scrambled to offer support. Appearing in front of MPs on Tuesday, chief executive Peter Fankhauser revealed ministers from Germany, Spain, Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece had personally contacted him to offer support in the days before the world-renowned travel company collapsed. In sharp contrast, Mr Fankhauser had just one meeting with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Sept 9, leaving negotiations to lower ranking officials as the business went down. |
 | The boss of Next (NXT) has sold £10m worth of shares to plough more cash into a private business he has previously backed, outside of retail. Lord Simon Wolfson, who joined the retailer in 1991 as a store assistant, sold 153,000 shares for £66 each, bagging around £10m. He still has a £90m stake in the business. A spokesman for Next said this was the first time in seven years Lord Wolfson has offloaded shares and insisted the chief executive remained committed to the business. He said: “He’s absolutely not going anywhere.” |
| Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) – Neil Woodford’s investment empire disintegrated yesterday as the stockpicker announced plans to shut his company after he was sacked as manager of his main fund. He said that he had taken “the highly painful decision” to close Woodford Investment Management, the firm he had set up amid much fanfare in 2014, and would abandon his remaining investment portfolios. The move came only hours after Link Fund Solutions, which handles the corporate governance of the £3 billion Woodford Equity Income Fund, said that Mr Woodford had been dismissed as the open-ended fund’s manager with immediate effect and that Blackrock and PJT Partners would wind down the portfolio. |
| Renishaw (RSW) reported a slump in profits and blamed weakening demand on the tough global economic environment. Renishaw said yesterday that its pre-tax profits had fallen by 85% to £5.1 million on revenue down 19% at £124.6 million in the three months to the end of September, its first quarter. The company said that its core business of high-precision measuring instruments for various industries, which represents most of group revenue, had benefited the year before from larger orders from consumer electronics manufacturers in the Asia-Pacific region, which “have not been repeated this year . . . Furthermore, we have experienced reduced demand for our products as a result of the challenging global macroeconomic environment.” |
 | Investors in the Rank Group (RNK) were counting their winnings after the bingo and casino operator reported a 10% jump in like-for-like net gaming revenues in the three months to the end of September. Grosvenor Casinos delivered the “standout performance” with growth of 15% against weak comparatives, while digital revenues rose by 16% and its Spanish bingo business was up 4%. In the UK, Mecca bingo halls were flat as higher spend per visit was offset by lower customer numbers. |
| Shareholders in Prudential (PRU) overwhelmingly voted to spin off its fund management and UK insurance operation into a separately listed company at a general shareholder meeting. More than 99% of the votes were cast in favour of the demerger, in which M&G shares will be traded on the London Stock Exchange by the beginning of next week. |
| Demand for affordable homes and the Help to Buy scheme have insulated Bellway (BWY) from a Brexit-related slowdown in the wider market and enabled the housebuilder to report record annual profit and sales. Bellway announced revenue of £3.2 billion for the year to the end of July, an 8.6% rise on the previous year. It sold a record 10,892 homes for an average selling price of £291,968 and made an average profit of £60,833 on every sale. Total profit before tax rose by 3.4% to £662.6 million. |
| Indivior (INDV) gave its investors a dose of good news yesterday when it raised annual forecasts. Indivior said that its blockbuster Suboxone Film treatment had done better than expected. It had said previously that it was facing a market share hit after legal battles failed to stop generic rivals from being launched. A federal grand jury in Virginia has added to its problems, accusing the company in April of an “illicit nationwide scheme” to drive sales of prescriptions of Suboxone Film. Indivior denies the allegations. It has been profiting amid an opioid epidemic in the US. |
| Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise has pocketed £10.1 million after cashing in shares of Next (NXT). Taking advantage of the recent surge in value, its long-serving boss sold 153,000 shares at £66.05 each after Tuesday’s closing bell. The share sale represented 10% of his holding. Lord Wolfson, 51, retains a stake in the business worth almost £100 million. A company spokesman said that he was using the money to invest in an existing non-retail venture. |
 | UK-focused stocks were in favour — again — boosted by reports that British and European negotiators were closing in on a draft Brexit deal. Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) rose 3p to 60¾p, while Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) climbed by 10¾p to close at 226¼p. Housebuilders also moved higher. Barratt Developments (BDEV) rose 33½p to 683p, and Taylor Wimpey (TW.) closed up 4¼p to 166¾p. That was despite one of their peers, Bellway, cautioning that margins were likely to come under “more pronounced” pressure next year as costs rise and house price growth stalls. |
| Investors in Whitbread (WTB) can rest easy after UBS slapped a “buy” recommendation on the Premier Inn owner. Its shares have dropped by 15% over recent months, which the Swiss bank thinks is harsh. Despite concerns about growth in revenue per available room its analysts said that “Whitbread remains a quality business and the share price discounts a scenario which is more negative than that of the financial crisis”. |
| Fund managers surveyed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch reckoned that London’s stocks were the “least likely to outperform” over the next decade. “UK stocks have been out of favour with global fund managers for more than five years now, and European investors are not enthusiastic, either, with net 39% intending to remain underweight,” its latest European Fund Manager Survey said. Yet the bank likes UK equities, which it believes are “quality at a reasonable price”, providing both defensives and commodities, “a mix that has tended to outperform in the late cycle backdrop”. | |
 | Tempus – IWG (IWG): Avoid. Premium player in dynamic market, but share fundamentals are not appealing |
 | Tempus – Playtech (PTEC): Buy. Lowly valuations for a diversifying company with opportunities |
 | Lombard – HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 10,000 job cuts are a logical answer. Reports that interim boss is reviewing future of equities business make sense |
 | Lex – Sophos Group (SOPH)/Thoma Bravo: cable tie. US buyer’s offer is attractive and UK fears of losing local tech expertise are overdone |
| US private equity group to buy Sophos Group (SOPH) for $3.9bn. Software-focused buyout firm Thoma Bravo agrees latest in series of deals |
 | Ashmore Group (ASHM) shrugs off volatile emerging markets. $2.3bn investment loss offset by new business at emerging market specialist |
 | Neptune Energy strikes $250m deal for Edison’s North Sea assets. Energean Oil and Gas (ENOG) to sell Italian group’s Norwegian and UK projects once it completes purchase |
 | Superdry (SDRY) co-founder to remain as chief until 2021. Julian Dunkerton hopes to revive brand as board extends his period in top job |
| HSBC Holdings (HSBA) plans First Direct relaunch to compete with digital rivals. New features could include in-app marketplace and automated savings top-ups |
| Mike Ashley’s has called for wide-ranging investigation into the sportswear industry, complaining about the dominance of Adidas and Nike. The retailer said the ‘must-have’ brands hold a bargaining position which allows them to control supply and the price of their products. Adidas, for example, has blocked Ashley’s retail empire from selling some of its products, Sports Direct said. ‘Sports Direct believes that the industry as a whole would benefit from a wide market review by the appropriate authorities in both the UK and Europe,’ a spokesman said. Ashley’s grievance stretches as far back as 2013 when the German sportswear group withdrew replica Chelsea shirts from Sports Direct stores. The retailer said the dominance of Nike and Adidas allows them to ‘[refuse] to supply key products… with no apparent justification’. | |
| Julian Dunkerton, the founder of Superdry (SDRY), has returned to head the fashion firm on a permanent basis after jumping back into the helm in April in an interim capacity. Dunkerton – who orchestrated a boardroom clear-out, ousting former chief executive Euan Sutherland – now has until April 2021 as chief executive to carry out his ‘design-led’ overhaul of the troubled firm. ‘Julian has agreed to continue in the role to oversee the delivery of his vision to restore the brand to its design-led roots and lead the business to sustainable growth,’ Superdry said. ‘Today’s announcement reflects the board’s unanimous view that he is the right person to lead the business through this initial crucial phase of the turnaround.’ |
| Energean Oil and Gas (ENOG) has agreed to sell Edison’s North Sea oil and gas assets to private equity-backed Neptune Energy for up to £223million. Mediterranean-focused Energean struck a deal to buy Italian group Edison’s assets for £676million in July. This gave it access to projects in countries including Croatia, Italy and Egypt, as well as the UK and Norwegian areas of the North Sea. Energean chief executive Mathios Rigas made it clear when the Edison deal was inked in July that the company would sell divisions that were not in line with its goal of becoming a major Mediterranean oil and gas player. |
| Sophos Group (SOPH) is set to be snapped up by a US private equity group in a £3billion ($3.82billion) deal. Shares in the company, which sells security software to small and medium businesses, jumped 577p on the news – just a few pence shy of Thoma Bravo’s offer of $7.40 (583p) per share. The offer has been accepted by the board and the deal will now go to shareholders for approval. If shareholders vote in favour of the deal, the company will end its short spell on the London stock market, where it was floated in 2015 by its former private equity owner Apax for £1billion. Peter Gyenes, chairman of Sophos, said the takeover ‘secures the delivery of future value for shareholders today’ thanks to Thoma Bravo’s ‘deep sector expertise’. ‘Under Thoma Bravo’s ownership we expect Sophos to accelerate its evolution and leadership in next-generation cybersecurity,’ he added. |
 | China has approved Ganfeng Lithium’s investment in miner Bacanora Minerals Ltd NPV (DI) (BCN). The Chinese group owns 29.99% of Bacanora and a 22.5% stake in its Sonora lithium mining and processing project in Mexico. Bacanora has received £22million, and Ganfeng’s vice president Wang Xiaoshen has joined its board. Chinese firms have been buying lithium deposits as demand for the metal used in electric car batteries has boomed. |
 | Ocado Group (OCDO) shares were knocked after JP Morgan analysts cast doubt on its value. The online grocer’s shares have surged by more than 60 per cent this year in a rally spurred by a £750million partnership agreed with Marks & Spencer in February. But according to JP Morgan brokers, its £9billion market value is ‘already stretched’. As they put it, Ocado is a ‘great concept and great execution, but running the numbers makes us less excited’. They calculate that the retail joint venture with M&S and the deals it has signed with grocers for its state-of-the-art, automated warehouses are worth £3.9billon combined – or around 40% its value. Ocado would need to announce plans to build another 126 of the fancy distribution sites to justify the current market cap, they say, versus the 38 that are in the pipeline. JP Morgan downgraded its stock from ‘neutral’ to ‘underweight’ and trimmed its target price back from 1073p to 1050p – based on their estimate that there will be a further 85 warehouses, at a value of 6.1p per share each. |
 | Ferrexpo (FXPO) tumbled 4.55p, to 143.15p after the firm’s board backed its chief executive, billionaire Kostyantin Zhevago, amid allegations of misconduct surrounding a former business of his. Media reports last week said Ukrainian authorities were seeking to put Zhevago on an international wanted list after he failed to report for questioning about a bank he owned until 2015. He denies any wrongdoing – and the board said it understands he has not been served with any legal notices. Separately, Ferrexpo has been mired in scandal this year over questions about funds donated to a charity connected with the mining group. |
| Ashmore Group (ASHM) rose after the amount of losses it made in the three months to the end of September was offset by bringing in slightly more in new business. This meant its assets were virtually flat – at £73billion – when compared with the quarter before. |
| The founder of Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) has accused the firm of failing in its duty to shareholders amid a row about political donations. Peter Hargreaves fell out with the investment platform last week over a planned shareholder vote on making donations to political parties. The 73-year-old billionaire made it clear he would use his 32% stake to oppose the motion, so Hargreaves Lansdown cancelled the ballot at the last minute before its annual meeting. |
| Neptune Energy a start-up backed by private equity and chaired by former Centrica boss Sam Laidlaw has snapped up a parcel of North Sea assets from oil and gas explorer Energean Oil and Gas (ENOG). Neptune Energy will pay $250m (£215m) for a clutch of stakes in producing wells and development projects that it described as an “important bolt-on acquisition” and an “excellent fit” with its other assets. The purchase will add an estimated 30m barrels of oil equivalent to Neptune’s portfolio in the North Sea. It includes a quarter stake in the Glengorm gas discovery in the UK’s Central North Sea, and a 15% interest in the Nova gas development in the Norwegian part of the basin. |
| Mike Ashley’s has hit out at the dominance of Adidas and Nike, calling for a Europe-wide investigation into the sportswear industry. The tracksuit tycoon’s FTSE 250 firm said the sector has “long been dominated by ‘must-have’ brands” and that they hold “an extremely strong bargaining position”. It added that this allows them to control both supply and product prices, including restricting ranges available to retailers, and withdrawing or refusing to supply products altogether. | |
| Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) was forced to develop its own digital bank after the failure of an audacious attempt to buy online lender Monzo, the Daily Telegraph can reveal. Senior executives from the taxpayer-controlled lender approached Monzo for talks before baulking at the price tag. Natwest owner RBS then decided it would be cheaper to set up a rival and designed mobile-focused Bó, which is gearing up to launch next month. It is the first time a large high-street bank is known to have made a move for a challenger firm, and highlights how seriously RBS and other major rivals take the threat posed by Monzo and fellow start-ups such as Revolut. |
| Superdry (SDRY) founder Julian Dunkerton will stay on until 2021 to help steer the retailer’s turnaround. Mr Dunkerton narrowly emerged victorious in April from a bitter battle with the retailer’s previous management. He launched a campaign to be reinstated at the helm having left the business in March 2018 after disagreeing about the design of the clothes and how its wares were sold online and in stores. Some industry observers have argued that Superdry’s travails are down to the brand losing its relevance in a fiercely competitive market. The shares have tumbled by three-quarters over the past two years. |
 | Questor: S&U (SUS) offers a low valuation, good yield and sound risk management. One to hold. Questor share tip: the firm continues to be choosy about who it lends to: one of its two divisions has suffered just a single default on a loan |
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