Sirius Minerals (SXX) will crash out of the FTSE 250 on Wednesday after a torrid year in which its share price collapsed. The fertiliser miner will become part of the FTSE small cap index in another blow for thousands of retail investors. Last month the company lost more than half its market value in a single day after announcing that its $3bn (£2.4bn) funding plan for a potash mine in Yorkshire had fallen through. Sirius admitted failing to sell the bonds needed to unlock its financing, leaving it set to run out of cash in six months. It is now seeking alternative funds or a partner to save the project.
Whitbread (WTB) chief Alison Brittain insists she has no regrets after doling £2.5bn out to investors instead of using the money to buy other businesses, despite a takeover frenzy this summer in the leisure industries. The company struck the deal of the year in 2018 by selling coffee chain Costa to Coca-Cola for £3.9bn, and Ms Brittain was always clear that the majority of these proceeds would be returned to shareholders. The sale has left Whitbread, which has owned some the biggest brewing, hotel and restaurant names during its 277-year history, with Premier Inn as its main remaining asset. Three blockbuster transactions have grabbed the headlines this summer.
Online food delivery firms have revolutionised the way people eat, giving consumers access to a wide range of different cuisines without having to leave their sofa. Now Durex owner Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) has caught on to the trend and is allowing customers to order condoms at the same time as getting their favourite pizza delivered. The service, which is available in China and Latin America, is part of a wider drive by Reckitt to keep up with changing consumer habits and fierce local competition.
Investors burned by the failure of famed stock-picker Neil Woodford have sought advice on taking legal action against Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) over its part in the events that led to them being trapped in the Woodford Equity Income fund. Leigh Day, law firm, has confirmed it is investigating how much Britain’s most powerful stockbroker knew about the situation within the fund while it continued to publicly back it. Hundreds of thousands of Hargreaves customers bought units in Mr Woodford’s flagship fund, which along with the smaller Income Focus portfolio appeared on the broker’s Wealth 50 list of recommended funds.
Cost-cutting including showroom closures helped propel Pendragon (PDG) back into the black over the summer, but the car dealer warned it would still make a pre-tax loss this year. Pendragon, the UK’s biggest car dealer and owner of the Evans Halshaw and Stratstone brands, reported an underlying pre-tax profit of £3m for the three months to September, an increase of £1.9m compared to the same period last year. The rise came despite a 3.6% drop in like-for-like revenues, led by near-17% plunge in used car sales.
Questor: want to ride the ‘e-ticket’ phenomenon? Buy shares in recently floated Trainline Plc (TRN). Questor share tip: it already dominates the market in Britain but there remains plenty of growth potential both here and on the Continent
