The Serious Fraud Office is pressing its case for criminal charges to be reinstated against Barclays (BARC) in the High Court over its £11.8bn emergency fundraising at the height of the financial crisis. Two charges of conspiracy to commit fraud against the bank were dismissed by a more junior court in May, in a blow to the SFO which has spent more than five years on the investigation. The fraud watchdog applied to reinstate the charges over the summer and arguments will be heard on whether it has a valid indictment in the High Court this week.
Defence and technology group QinetiQ Group (QQ.) has bought military training business Inzpire in a £23.5m deal set to land major payouts for its ex-military founders and management. QinetiQ, which provides services such as test pilot training and missile test ranges for the MoD, is paying £23.5m for Inzpire. Under the terms of the agreement, QinetiQ will take control of 85pc of privately-held Inzpire’s shares, and the remaining 15pc in two years’ time.
After a turbulent summer of strikes and flight cancellations, Ryanair Holdings (RYA) has reported a 7% slump in half-year profits to €1.2bn (£1.1bn) for the key six months to September 30. The low-cost carrier blamed higher fuel prices and industrial action, which increased staff and passenger compensation costs. However, revenue rose 8% to €4.8bn over the period, with passenger numbers rising 6% and the number of seats filled per flight remaining unchanged at 96%.
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) increased sales by more than a fifth in the first quarter of its financial year, as higher production, better quality stones and a weakening of the South African rand more than offset a slump in the price of the gems. The miner, which operates predominantly in South Africa and Tanzania, reported a 22% rise in sales to $80.2m (£61.5m) in the three months to October. Production was up by a fifth, while the market price for diamonds dropped 5%
Debenhams to ramp up store closures and axe dividends. Debenhams (DEB) is considering axing its dividend and closing another raft of stores under an emergency £100m cost-cutting plan being finalised by its board. The troubled department store chain is taking drastic action to tackle its giant debt pile after issuing three profit warnings this year in response to the bitter conditions on the high street. The Sunday Telegraph understands that the retailer will look to save about £30m by halting shareholder payments. A further £70m will come from reining back capital expenditure.
Stagecoach Group (SGC), Go-Ahead Group (GOG) – Rail profits have fallen off a cliff, plummeting 80%, as operators grapple with spiralling costs and crippling contract writedowns, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal. Analysis of Companies House records shows train companies made an aggregate of just £66m in their most recent annual filings on almost £11bn of revenue. Dividend payouts fell by only 6% to £213m, however. Rail leaders suggested the figures are part of “broader problems with the industry”. Total profits were savaged by catastrophic writedowns of £106m and £94m relating to the TransPennine Express and the now state-run East Coast Main Line respectively. Excluding such one-off charges, year-on-year profits still slumped by a fifth.
Patisserie Valerie investor urges board to get through ‘this risky period’ first. Patisserie Holdings (CAKE) has been urged not to make a kneejerk reaction and bow to the MP demands to beef up its corporate governance before sorting out more pressing trading concerns. The cafe and bakery chain, which was plunged into crisis last week after unearthing a “potential fraud”, is frantically trying to get to the bottom of a £40m black hole in its finances. Chief financial officer Chris Marsh was suspended by the company before being arrested by police and later bailed. Major shareholder and executive chairman Luke Johnson secured a lifeline at the end of last week after previously warning the chain, which employs nearly 3,000 staff across around 200 outlets, was facing collapse. Doubts persist about whether the emergency funding, comprising of £20m of loans from Mr Johnson and a further £15.6m cash call from shareholders, is sufficient. Executives are preparing to answer questions from angry shareholders next month at a general meeting to rubber-stamp the funding.
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) has been targeted by short-sellers as analysts warn of the huge impact a clampdown on contracts for difference (CFD) trading will have. Hedge funds have made a £140m wager that the firm’s shares will plunge further after the introduction of new regulations in August. Since making the step up to London’s Main Market in June, the proportion of Plus500’s shares in the hands of short-sellers has tripled to more than 9%, making it the 10th most-shorted stock. Its share price has fallen 38% since August amid uncertainty over the impact of rules that aim to protect inexperienced investors from risky CFDs. Plus500 admitted in August that 30% of its revenue could be affected in the short term by the restrictions on CFDs, which allow investors to bet on price movements without owning the underlying asset. Figures indicate that retail investors lose money on trading CFDs about 80% of the time.
The largest shareholder in the troubled newspaper publisher Johnston Press (JPR) has increased his stake to more than 25% to be ready to block any attempt to sell or restructure the company against his wishes. Norwegian entrepreneur Christen Ager-Hanssen, who owns the Swedish version of the Metro freesheet, previously held 20% of Johnston Press via his fund Custos and has been a vocal critic of its board. His latest investment signals a jockeying for position as the publisher approaches a financial crunch.
Funding Circle (FCH) is starting to bounce back from its difficult listing after reporting a surge in the value of new loans on its books. The peer-to-peer lender’s loans under management jumped in value by 60% to £2.8bn in its third quarter, while its investors funded a record £564m of new loans in the three-month period to the end of September, a rise of 45%. Shares in the company rose more than 3% to 436p off the back of the announcement, although this was still below the 440p they were priced at when they debuted on the London Stock Exchange last month. The results, which are the company’s first since it listed, will come as a welcome news for the eight-year-old lender. Funding Circle’s shares dropped to as low as 340p on its first day of trading, amid fears the company was being overvalued. Shortly before its stock market flotation, Funding Circle trimmed its valuation from £1.8bn to £1.5bn.
A consortium led by billionaire property developer John Whittaker has taken a step closer to seizing control of shopping centre owner Intu Properties (INTU) by tabling an informal takeover offer that would value the company at £2.9bn. Mr Whitaker, who is also Intu’s deputy chairman, approached the rest of the board with an informal offer of 205p per share on October 11, followed by a revised offer of 215p on Wednesday. The consortium, which includes Mr Whittaker’s Peel Group, US asset manager Brookfield and Saudi conglomerate Olayan, had already confirmed it was mulling a bid for Intu, but this is the first time details of a possible price have been disclosed. The news sent shares in Intu, which owns the Trafford Centre, Metrocentre and Lakeside shopping centres, up as much as 14.7% to 204p in morning trade.
