Superdry board loses battle to freeze out Dunkerton. Superdry (SDRY) has lost a bitter battle against Julian Dunkerton after shareholders narrowly voted in favour of the reappointment of the co-founder and former chief executive. The high street retailer, best known for its jackets and hoodies with Japanese characters, said that 51.15% of shareholders had voted in favour of reappointing Mr Dunkerton. A similar margin voted in favour of appointing Peter Williams as a non-executive director. Mr Williams is a former chairman of Boohoo.com and former chief executive of Selfridges.
Philip Day snaps up Bonmarché. Philip Day, the billionaire owner of Edinburgh Woollen Mill, has acquired a majority stake in Bonmarche Holdings (BON) and made a mandatory offer to buy the rest of the troubled retailer. He paid 11.445p a share for BM Holdings’s 52.4% stake, which is a 36% discount to the retailer’s 18p closing price last night and values the company at about £5.7 million. In August last year the shares were trading at about 116p. The women’s clothing chain has 321 shops and concessions and about 1,900 full-time staff. Mr Day, who made his name buying up troubled chains such as Jane Norman and Peacocks, expects a “material reduction in headcount”.
Rolls-Royce shares were under pressure this morning after Singapore Airlines said that it had grounded two Boeing 787-10 jets, citing a problem with the Rolls-Royce engines. The two jets fitted with Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) Trent 1000 Ten engines were removed from service after checks found premature blade deterioration. The Trent 1000 Ten is the latest version of an engine model that has previously encountered problems, including the grounding of scores of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft because of engine faults. Rolls-Royce said that it had informed operators since the Trent 1000 Ten engine entered service that the high-pressure turbine blades would have a limited life. It said that its engineers were already developing and testing an enhanced version of the turbine blade. “We will now work closely with any impacted customers to deliver an accelerated programme to implement the enhanced blade and to ensure that we can deliver on our Trent 1000 Ten future commitments,” the company said in a statement. “We regret any disruption this causes to airline operators.”
Airlines caught in turbulence after Easyjet’s Brexit warning. easyJet (EZJ) has blamed consumer worries about Brexit and economic uncertainty across Europe for faltering demand for plane tickets. Shares in the low-cost airline dropped by 108½p to £10.09 yesterday after it brought forward a trading update that had been scheduled for Friday to warn that it was being hurt by “softness” in its UK and European markets. Johan Lundgren, Easyjet’s chief executive, said that the “many unanswered questions” surrounding Britain’s exit from the European Union and wider economic uncertainty were lowering demand for flights. As a result, the airline said that it was “more cautious” about the second half of its financial year, which covers the crucial summer months.
‘Dirty tricks’ in Superdry showdown. Julian Dunkerton’s fight to be reinstated to the board of Superdry (SDRY) took a new twist last night amid allegations of a dirty tricks campaign by the fashion retailer against its co-founder. With today’s shareholder vote on his reinstatement on a knife-edge, reports surfaced suggesting that Superdry, famous for its Japanese-style hoodies, had called into question his behaviour at the company in a last-ditch bid to swing the vote in the board’s favour. According to Sky News, Debevoise & Plimpton, the law firm representing Mr Dunkerton, has issued a warning shot, accusing Peter Bamford and Euan Sutherland, respectively chairman and chief executive of Superdry, of disclosing confidential information on his conduct while at the company to investors.
Kellogg’s cookies crumble into Ferrero’s lap. Kellogg’s is to sell its cookies and ice ream cone businesses to Ferrero as part of a $1.3 billion deal that will help the Italian chocolatier to expand its American operations. It will sell the popular North American Keebler and Famous Amos cookie brands, as well as its fruit snacks business and pie crusts division, to Ferrero so that it can concentrate on making breakfast cereals and savoury snacks. Ferrero bought Nestlé’s American confectionery business last year for $2.8 billion.
Magazines at new fork in the road. Enthuse Group, a magazine publisher, has moved into the idiosyncratic world of maps and guide books by buying a 51% stake in AA Media, the hospitality, publishing and merchandising unit of the AA (AA.). The deal is said to value the business at about £10 million.
Charity inquiry forces ore producer to delay results. A London-listed iron ore producer has delayed the publication of its annual results for a second time amid an investigation into financial discrepancies at a charity it funds in Ukraine. Ferrexpo (FXPO) said that an independent review had made progress on some of the issues that had been identified at Blooming Land, a charity it established to carry out part of its corporate social responsibility programme.
Petrofac warns investors of risk to future from fraud office inquiry. The oil services group at the centre of a corruption inquiry has warned investors of increased risks to its future after one of its former employees was convicted of bribery. Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) said that developments in the investigation by the Serious Fraud Office had increased “the risk of a loss in share price value, prosecution, fines, penalties or other consequences, including reputational damage”. In its annual report it said that, as a result, risks had increased since last year in five principal areas that could threaten its future prospects, including the threat of “loss of licence to operate” and “loss of financial capacity”.
Investors bought back into the WPP (WPP) story yesterday after Deutsche Bank said that expectations for the advertising giant were now so low that even the delivery of its present guidance would be enough to boost its shares. WPP lost more than a third of its market value last year amid worries about the ability of traditional advertising companies to fight back against the likes of Google and Facebook and after the departure of Sir Martin Sorrell, 74, its long-time chief executive. The advertising giant has since announced plans to merge some of its biggest agencies. Deutsche Bank’s analysts upgraded the FTSE 100 company from “hold” to “buy” yesterday, saying that structural concerns had been exaggerated.
Low & Bonar (LWB), the construction materials manufacturer, tumbled 3¾p to 13½p after it issued a profit warning, citing competitive pressure in its low-margin European roofing market and lower demand than it had expected in its automotive and flooring divisions.
WANdisco (WAND), an Aim-listed company that helps businesses to move data from their old systems to cloud servers, leapt 44p to 668p after it said that it has secured a $2.2 million contract with a global provider of information and communications technology infrastructure in China.
Circassia Pharmaceuticals (CIR), a biotechnology company backed by Neil Woodford, the renowned fund manager, rose 4¾p to 32¾p after it said that the US Food & Drug Administration had approved Duaklir, its respiratory drug.
Block Energy (BLOE) rose 2½p to 6¼p after the Aim-listed natural resources company said that a well test at its West Rustavi oilfield in Georgia had performed far better than expected, delivering a flow rate of an average of 1,100 barrels a day.
Networks International is set to be valued at as much as £2.3 billion when it floats in London this month. The Dubai-based company, which processes millions of payments a day in Africa and the Middle East, has priced its shares at between 395p and 465p. It will join the market on April 11, becoming the biggest listing of the year.
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