Jeff Fairburn, the chief executive of housebuilder Persimmon (PSN), is facing a backlash after a video showing him refusing to discuss his £75m bonus was circulated on social media on Friday morning. During an interview with the BBC, Mr Fairburn was asked if he had any regrets about the furore surrounding his bonus, the largest paid to a British chief executive last year by some margin. He replied: “I’d rather not talk about that, it’s been well covered actually.” After being pressed on the point, Mr Fairburn walked away and told the reporter: “I think that’s really unfortunate actually that you’ve done that.”
Shares in car dealership Pendragon (PDG) plunged as much as 20% after it warned over profits because of a new vehicle emissions testing regime. Pendragon, one of the largest car dealers in the UK, said the introduction of the worldwide harmonised light vehicle test procedure (WLTP) had caused “significant disruption” to sales of new cars and “uncertainty” over the supply of stock. WLTP was introduced in the wake of the VW “dieselgate” emissions scandal. The new tests – which came into force in September – aim to give a more accurate measure of the pollution produced by cars in real-world driving conditions than the previous regime.
Shopping centre owner Intu Properties (INTU) is mulling a potential takeover deal with a consortium that would value the company at £2.8bn. The FTSE 250 company confirmed it had received a £2.15 per share revised cash proposal on Oct 17, an increase on the £2.05 per share offered a week earlier. Accounting for any dividends payable, including Intu’s interim dividend of 4.6p per share due to be paid on Nov 20, the revised offer to take the company private stands at £2.10 per share. The deal is being led by Intu’s billionaire deputy chairman John Whittaker, who already owns a 27% stake in the company through his investment firm Peel Group. Other backers include Saudi conglomerate Olayan Group and US-based Brookfield Property Group.
Amazon creates 1,000 new UK research roles as tech giants hone in on British talent. Amazon is investing in three regional hubs across the UK, creating more than 1,000 new skilled jobs in a move UK trade secretary Liam Fox hailed as a “signal to the world that the UK is very much open for business”. The internet giant will open a new office in Manchester, to house at least 600 new employees working on software development, machine learning and research and development. It will also grow its existing development centres in Cambridge and Edinburgh, adding 180 new roles and 250 roles in each city respectively. In Edinburgh, work centres around new advertising technology and personalised shopping recommendations, while in Cambridge, the retailer focuses on innovations in Alexa, Prime Air drones and its cloud computing division AWS.
HSBC to list shares in Shanghai in ‘symbolic’ move. HSBC Holdings (HSBA) is poised to become the first overseas firm to list in China under plans to link the London and Shanghai stock exchanges. City analysts heralded the “symbolic” move as the London-based bank finalises plans to issue depository receipts in China’s financial capital. HSBC said it was working on the move with the long-planned Shanghai-London Stock Connect programme, a system designed to open up China’s financial markets which is expected to launch by the end of the year. Europe’s largest lender has deep connections to Shanghai tracing back to 1865 when it helped finance the trade of silk, tea and opium. In recent years it has been prioritising growth in the wider region under its ‘pivot to Asia’ strategy. In its first half results more than three quarters of HSBC’s profits were generated in Asia.
Ryanair has accused cabin crew of “faking” a photograph depicting staff being forced to sleep in their crew room, in the latest bizarre twist to the low-cost airline’s battle with its unions. A photo was posted on social media on Sunday showing staff bedding down in Malaga airport. The picture, allegedly of Ryanair Porto crew, was accompanied with a caption suggesting “the company left them there”. Representatives for the staff later admitted on Thursday that “the photo was a gesture of protest, that immediately became viral”. Ryanair Holdings (RYA) initially apologised, saying there had been no hotel rooms available for the staff who had been diverted following inclement weather. But the carrier took to social media on Wednesday, releasing CCTV footage together with an allegation that the photo had been staged. Posted from the airline’s official Twitter account, a video was published alongside a caption stating: “Ryanair exposes fake photo of cabin crew sleeping in crew room.”
Despite facing fresh regulatory challenges in the UK, Ladbrokes Coral owner GVC Holdings (GVC) said it continues to take market share from rivals. Third quarter revenue rose 14%, underpinned by rapid expansion online. Net gaming revenue from the high street fell 2%. This was viewed positively given the current high street malaise and boosted by tail end of the football World Cup. GVC has warned around 1,000 betting shops will close as a result of a controversial crackdown on fixed-odds betting terminals. Campaigners have now turned their attention to TV advertising during sports games, something that GVC chief executive Kenny Alexander has pledged support for.
Domino’s Pizza Group (DOM) has brushed aside concerns about tensions with franchisees, reassuring investors that it is on track to hit growth targets, while admitting the hot summer weather dented demand for a slice. The London-listed pizza company trimmed its full-year guidance and announced a £25m share buyback programme on Thursday, while revealing that third quarter like-for-like sales grew by 2.2%, considerably down on 8% posted this time last year. Chief executive David Wild admitted the summer’s sweltering temperatures were “not ideal pizza weather”.
National Express Group (NEX) has profited from tens of thousands of passengers shunning rail travel this summer and choosing to go by coach instead. The transport giant said it had enjoyed an “outstanding” summer within its UK coach division, together with a “particularly strong” performance in Spain. It made around 90,000 extra passenger journeys during July, August and September, ferrying people between London and the south west as Great Western Railway services were blighted by engineering works. National Express’s third quarter revenue rose 9.5%, with profit before tax up 18.3%.
Unilever (ULVR) has not given up hope of overhauling its dual structure, insisting there remains shareholder support for simplifying the business despite opposition to its plans to move its headquarters out of the UK. Chief financial officer Graeme Pitkethly said the board was focused on finding a different way to unify the company following its failed attempt to scrap the Anglo-Dutch structure. The maker of Domestos and Ben & Jerry’s planned to shift to one Dutch holding company with shares listed in Amsterdam, London and New York, while its headquarters would have moved from London to Rotterdam. However, the 90-year-old business was forced to change tack when a roster of big City names came out against the proposals.
Rentokil Initial (RTO), one of the country’s biggest suppliers of soap, hand dryers and sanitary towel vending machines for public toilets, could be forced to sell the UK arm of its newly- acquired Cannon Hygiene business after competition watchdogs warned the deal could lead to higher prices. The Competition & Markets Authority said a sell-off was one of the remedies it was considering in response to the takeover, which was referred for an investigation after it was completed in January. FTSE 100 member Rentokil makes most of its money in pest control but is also the second-largest player in the UK “hygiene services” industry, with an 11% market share. The acquisition of third-placed Cannon would raise that 16%.
Shares in Games Workshop Group (GAW) dropped more than 8% on Thursday morning after the company warned that it faces “uncertainties in the trading periods ahead”. In a brief update to the market, the retailer said that trading in the last four weeks had “continued well”. “Compared to the same period in the prior year, sales are ahead and profits are at a similar level to the prior year,” it said. But it added that the board was aware that the rest of the 2018/19 financial year could be more difficult, without giving any more detail. The value of the company’s stock dropped 8.5% to £30.46 in early trading as investors struggled to make sense of the update.
