The pound has enjoyed its biggest surge in a decade as the City cheered predictions of a strong Conservative majority that would finally end the Brexit deadlock. Investors piled into sterling after the exit poll suggested Boris Johnson would be given a majority strong enough to put to bed the uncertainty plaguing businesses and the economy.
Costain Group (COST) unveils another profit warning as it shares £54m in extra costs for delayed dual carriageway project in Wales. Costain proudly claims to have been improving the lives of people since 1865. Except, that is, the good people of South Wales. The contractor has unveiled another profit warning after taking a £20m hit on a project to turn a stretch of road in the Brecon Beacons into a dual carriageway. The Welsh government has decided that Costain must shoulder some of the estimated £54m of additional costs after the scheme went over budget and suffered delays.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) is to pay £40m in compensation to 730,000 customers after it uncovered a group of rogue staff “skimming” cash on foreign money transfers over four years. Workers on the lender’s foreign exchange desk manipulated the rates applied to overseas transactions between 2010 and 2014 – earning Natwest owner RBS tens of millions of pounds in extra profits. One customer, believed to be a large business, is to receive £70,000 in redress. The case is the first of its kind and is likely to force other large banks to check their own systems for evidence of similar wrongdoing. A string of lenders including RBS have previously been fined millions of pounds for cheating on currency markets.
Superdry (SDRY) plunged into the red and was forced to admit an accounting blunder as co-founder Julian Dunkerton battles to revive the struggling retailer’s fortunes. The company, which has almost 250 stores in 11 countries, said profits took a hit partly because of an “isolated” £3.9m error relating to costs linked to importing stock and moving items between warehouses last year. It also warned that sales could be dented over Christmas if rivals cut prices heavily, as Superdry is striving to move away from promotions and will not compete. The update came before a fractious meeting with the media at which Superdry’s new design boss Phil Dickinson lashed out at journalists.
PZ Cussons (PZC) long-serving chief executive Alex Kanellis will step down after the healthcare products maker warned that full-year revenue and profits would be below expectations due to “challenging market conditions”. Mr Kanellis, who has held the role since 2006, will leave the maker of Imperial Leather soap and Original Source shower gel at the end of next month. Caroline Silver will step in as executive chair until a replacement is found, the company said.
