Legal row brews as Royal Mail (RMG) hits back at record £50m fine
esure Group (ESUR) founder to stay on ‘until they think I’m past it’ after £1.2bn sale
– Mike Ashley eyes luxury end of the market for House of Fraser revolution
– Mike Ashley vows to save 80% of House of Fraser stores in turnaround effort
Legal row brews as Royal Mail (RMG) hits back at record £50m fine. A three-way legal battle is brewing after Royal Mail promised to appeal a £50m fine for breaking competition law in an attempt to force its rival Whistl to pay higher prices.
Copper miner Antofagasta (ANTO) disappoints City as costs spiral
Short-sellers left in a spin as battle for Debenhams (DEB) starts to heat up. Debenhams is the third most shorted stock on London’s main market and The Sunday Telegraph revealed that heavyweights Mike Ashley and Philip Day are thought to be circling the department store. boss Mr Ashley is said to be mulling a plan to merge the chain with House of Fraser after snapping up the latter in a £90m swoop.
Alton Towers owner Merlin Entertainments (MERL) dipped 4.1p to 375p after UBS warned that reviews from thrillseekers have recently declined along with visitor numbers.
Card Factory (CARD) sunk to a fresh all-time low after Berenberg warned clients that the retailer could leave it too late to hit its earnings guidance. Trading will remain “subdued” for the rest of the year and footfall will continue to decline ahead of its crucial fourth quarter, it argued to push shares down 10p to 178p.
Polypipe Group (PLP) brushed off a 1.3% drop in pre-tax profit at the interim stage after reassuring investors that a pickup in trading would help it meet full-year expectations.
Berenberg’s retail analysts cherry-picked ASOS (ASC) and Superdry (SDRY) as “indirect” winners from the Turkish lira’s collapse, lifting them 18p to £61.30 and 22p to £11.32, respectively.
This may be Questor’s most speculative bet yet: a tiny, loss-making firm with no dividend. Pressure Technologies (PRES) average operating margin since 2007 has been 10%. Apply that to sales of £35m, knock off the interest and tax, and the company could make 14.7p in earnings per share – for a price-to-earnings ratio of barely seven. A very speculative selection but one that could reward patience. Questor says: speculative buy
