Superdry shares sink in wake of Julian Dunkerton’s return. Superdry (SDRY) shares tumbled as much as 12% on Wednesday as investors balked at the dramatic boardroom walkout that followed Julian Dunkerton’s shock victory. The Superdry co-founder succeeded in his six-month campaign on Tuesday to return to the fashion chain’s board after convincing three institutional investors at the eleventh-hour to back his resolutions. Mr Dunkerton said he did not expect all of Superdry’s directors to resign in protest, but they stayed true to their threat with the entire board quitting along with the chain’s two brokers, Investec and UBS, just hours after the result of the vote was released.
CMC feels the pain as spread-betting crackdown hammers sales. Online trading firm CMC Markets (CMCX) warned profits would plummet this year as new rules and tough trading conditions curtailed customer bets and its chief financial officer announced his departure. Regulators in Britain and Europe have introduced new rules to help protect retail customers from losing money on complex financial products that allow novice traders to bet on price movements without holding the underlying assets, exposing them to potentially big losses. CMC Markets, run by former Conservative party treasurer Peter Cruddas, forecast a 37% drop in revenue from this business to £110m for the year. Net operating income will be around £131m, compared to £187m the year before.
AA ploughs cash into turnaround on long road to recovery. Profits at AA (AA.) went into reverse last year as the breakdown recovery business splashed out on new technology, roadside patrols and marketing in a bid to get its turnaround back on the road. Pre-tax profits tanked by almost two thirds to £53m in the year to January, partly thanks to £26m of “strategic expenditure” that included developing a new “Smart Breakdown” service that can detect why a car has broken down before the mechanic arrives at the scene. The AA has been battling a slump in personal memberships, which fell 2% to 3.2m last year. But Simon Breakwell, chief executive, said the investments would allow it to keep customer numbers stable this year and to grow in 2020.
Taxpayer tops up Stagecoach profits after Waterloo train chaos. Stagecoach Group (SGC) is to snaffle an estimated £7m from the taxpayer following widespread disruption to train services into London Waterloo. Shares in the transport company rose sharply after its rail division surprised investors by beating expectations and prompting it to increase profit guidance. Stagecoach handed over the South West franchise, which operates trains into Waterloo, to a consortium led by FirstGroup in 2017. But during its final months, Stagecoach services were hit by a major revamp of Britain’s busiest train station. At one point 10 of its platforms were out of action as engineering works took place.
Superdry’s entire board resigns after Julian Dunkerton wins battle for control of ailing fashion retailer. Superdry (SDRY) entire board has quit, along with its advisers, in a move that propels co-founder Julian Dunkerton into the role as interim chief executive following his shock victory in his battle to return to Superdry. Mr Dunkerton won 51.15% of the votes cast to elect him as a director, with 48.85% against, while Boohoo chairman Peter Williams was also elected to the board by the same margin. Superdry’s board had warned that they would resign should Mr Dunkerton be successful. Just hours after the meeting chairman Peter Bamford, chief executive Euan Sutherland, finance chief Ed Barker and Penny Hughes, chair of the remuneration committee, all said they would stand down with immediate effect.
Takeover battle escalates as Provident questions NSF payouts. The takeover battle between Provident Financial (PFG) and Non-Standard Finance (NSF) has again escalated after Provident questioned past shareholder payouts while NSF said it had won over half of its shareholders. The mud-slinging between the two sides has been going on ever since NSF launched its surprise attack on its much larger rival last month, when Provident chairman Patrick Snowball received a voicemail at 6.45am giving him a 15-minute warning that an offer was about to be announced. Provident demanded a “full written response” from NSF on Tuesday morning, saying it had “specific concerns regarding certain historical dividend payments and share buybacks” at the company between 2016 and 2018.
Gambling regulator forces and Betfred to take down games. The gambling watchdog has forced Paddy Power Betfair and Betfred to remove two new games from shops over concerns they undermine a clampdown on lucrative “crack cocaine” betting machines. Restrictions limiting the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals( FOBTs), the so-called “crack cocaine of gambling”, from £100 to £2 came into force on Monday. Two roulette-style games, called Pick ‘n’ 36 and Virtual Cycling, run in Paddy Power and Betfred shops respectively, were launched on the same day. They were withdrawn after a Gambling Commission warning. The operators may now face regulatory action, the regulator said.
Playtech bows to activist investors by beefing up board. Playtech (PTEC), the gambling software company founded by Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi, has bowed to shareholder pressure to beef up its board. US activist SpringOwl Asset Management and London hedge fund manager Crispin Odey were among leading shareholders to welcome Playtech’s decision to appoint two investment bankers as directors. Investors had previously called on Playtech to improve its “reputation, governance and stock price”. Led by Jason Ader, SpringOwl is famed in the gambling industry for applying pressure to Ladbrokes Coral owner GVC in its successful takeover of Bwin. Last year it quietly built in stake in Playtech worth more than $100m.
Questor: the video games firm that gets its ideas from talented coders all over the world. Questor share tip: Aim-quoted Team17 (TM17) operates like a record label: independent developers send in their work and it commercialises the best ideas
