Amazon named most reputable company as comes in last. Boots, John Lewis and the Co-op, ranked in second, third and fourth place, respectively, with scores above 80. At the bottom of the league table was Sports Direct, with a score of 48.4 out of 100, down from 53 in 2016. Mike Ashley’s sports retailer performed worst on four measures: workplace, governance, citizenship and leadership.
Stronger pound holds back distributor Bunzl’s growth. Bunzl (BNZL) has posted solid interim numbers despite currency movements taking a bite out of headline growth rates, although worries about margins at the blue chip business persist. The company reported revenue 5% higher at £4.3bn. Bunzl is based in the UK and reports in sterling. However, the largest part of its business is in North America, accounting for just over half of all sales. A further fifth of revenues are generated in continental Europe.Alongside the results, Bunzl announced its first acquisition in Norway, buying catering equipment supplier Enor for an undisclosed amount.
Faroe Petroleum (FPM) has seen off a boardroom power grab by its largest shareholder which retreated from plans to replace two board members with its own executives. Faroe was braced to take on Norwegian oil giant DNO in a showdown over its calls to install Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, DNO’s chairman, and Bjørn Dale, DNO’s managing director, at the boardroom table. DNO said it had hoped to raise “concerns and dismay about the wider governance culture and shareholder value strategies” at Faroe, but had chosen to withdraw its call for an extraordinary shareholder meeting in the wake of Faroe’s “increasingly hostile” public response.
Taylor Wimpey hit by fresh leasing controversy at Olympic Park development. Taylor Wimpey (TW.) has stoked further controversy over complex leasing arrangements for homes, after a would-be buyer was rejected for a mortgage at its high profile development at London’s former Olympic Park. Barclays (BARC) said it had rejected a mortgage applicant trying to buy a property at the Chobham Manor project as it deemed the leasing arrangements too risky.
Greeting card maker IG Design Group buys US rival in £56.5m deal. IG Design Group (IGR) has announced plans to buy US-based gift packaging maker Impact Innovations on a cash and debt free basis. The Bedfordshire-based company said it had raised £50m through a share placing to help fund the acquisition. The deal will make IG Design Group the largest gift packaging business in the world, with the combined business accounting for about 22% of the overall consumer gift packaging market in the US and Canada.
Ryanair Holdings (RYA) Italian pilots have backed a new pay and working practices deal, raising hopes that the low-cost carrier will soon strike similar deals with disgruntled staff in other European countries.
RPC Group is to sell its food packaging business for $95m (£74.5m) and is lining up further asset sales after facing increasing pressure from investors to raise more cash. RPC Group (RPC), Europe’s biggest plastics packager with revenues of £3.9bn, has grown rapidly in recent years by buying other companies in order to move into new markets.
Questor: stick with Coats Group (COA) – the shares are far from expensive and momentum is building nicely
