Legal & General Group (LGEN) opposes Unilever (ULVR) move to ditch dual structure. Unilever’s sixth largest shareholder at 2.28% said the company had not made a “compelling case” for scrapping the dual listing in favour of a single headquarters in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. Despite a recent charm offensive by the Unilever board, LGIM has opted to join the chorus of dissenting voices, which include M&G Investments, Columbia Threadneedle and Aviva Investors.
TSB and HSBC Holdings (HSBA) have both been hit by online banking problems this morning, as lenders continue to be plagued by IT gremlins. Customers of both banks took to social media to vent their frustration at not being able to access their money on what for many is payday. TSB said some of its 1.9 million online banking customers were unable to access their accounts again from 8am this morning. The crisis-hit lender has faced intermittent outages to online services since a botched IT system switch in April, which ultimately cost its chief executive Paul Pester his job and a £2m bonus.
National Grid to recoup £111m from consumers to upgrade North Sea gas pipelines. The energy regulator will allow National Grid (NG.) to pass on the costs of upgrading a major North Sea gas pipeline in Yorkshire to consumers, reversing its previous stance, after it emerged the country’s security could be at risk if nothing is done. Ofgem has approved National Grid’s plan to spend £111m upgrading compressors and pipelines at Easington, in the Humber Estuary, one of the country’s biggest gas import terminals. The cost of the project will be recouped through a levy on household and business energy bills.
Serco Group (SRP) shares surged on Friday after the outsourcing giant delivered a surprise upgrade in profit forecasts, defying doubts about the health of the sector in the wake of Carillion’s collapse. The company, whose operations range from prison management to cleaning and IT support, said it expects underlying trading profits to increase by up to 40% this year to between £90m and £95m, up from previous estimates of £80m. Rupert Soames, who has been leading the company through a lengthy turnaround since it ran into trouble four years ago, said the promising numbers reflected improvements across all of the business’s markets.
Shares at easyJet (EZJ) have slipped after it warned fuel costs would increase next year. The budget airline said total fuel cost for this year is expected to be around £1.2bn, £15m higher than forecast, while the 2019 fuel bill is likely to cost an extra £55m to £105m, totalling around £1.5bn. Airlines’ costs have been driven by a surge in the price of crude oil, which has risen 16% since mid-August. The news fuelled investor concern and set shares fluctuating after the release of a trading update this morning.
Sir Martin Sorrell has once again established himself as the head of a publicly listed advertising venture as S4 Capital (SFOR) made its debut on the London Stock Exchange. The digital advertising company went public after a reverse takeover deal with cash shell Derriston Plc was completed earlier this year. Both company will now operate under the name ‘S4 Capital’. The advertising guru has been announced as executive chairman with an 18% share in the venture. Paul Roy, the chairman of Sky Bet and NewRiver REIT, and Rupert Faure, the former managing director of HSBC’s investment banking arm, will become non-executive directors of the business.
The boss of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) will leave with a payout of more than £1m despite checking out after just three months in the role. As well as the pay and benefits she accrued during her short stint, Jennifer Fox, who stood down by “mutual agreement” on Thursday, will bag a full year’s salary, worth £625,000, pension contributions of £125,000, a £20,000 car allowance and £234,000 in bonuses. M&C did not set out the reasons for Ms Fox’s departure when it was announced on Friday morning but The Daily Telegraph understands she is leaving after a personality clash with Kwek Leng Beng, M&C’s Singaporean chairman and majority shareholder.
Questor: unchanged profits, perhaps, but Next (NXT) shareholders may enjoy an increased dividend
