Investors tell Ted Baker (TED) to publish ‘hugging’ report and move on. Frustrated shareholders in Ted Baker are pushing the fashion chain to publish the legal report on the conduct of Ray Kelvin, its founder, and to announce who will be its new boss. The Times understands that several investors have expressed impatience at how long it has taken to investigate allegations that Mr Kelvin oversaw a culture of harassment at the company. They feel that the delay has slowed down the appointment of a permanent chief executive. Lindsay Page, the acting chief executive, is expected to be appointed permanently to the role, a prospective move that has upset at least two significant Ted Baker shareholders.
Accusations fly as Melrose shuts GKN aerospace factory. Critics have accused Melrose Industries (MRO) of a “breach of faith” after it said that it would close a GKN Aerospace site in the West Midlands, with the loss of 170 jobs. The London-listed industrial conglomerate won control of GKN, the former FTSE 100 aerospace and automotive group, in a bitterly contested takeover last year. Yesterday Melrose announced plans to close the factory at King’s Norton in south Birmingham, a plant that makes canopies and windows for military and commercial aircraft. The news was greeted with anger by the local MP and by trade unions, which accused Melrose of going back on promises made during the takeover battle. With its mantra of “buy, improve, sell” — taking over underperforming businesses, cleaning them up and then selling them on — Melrose has made a fortune for its investor backers and its four main executives, who last year shared a £160 million bonus, GKN’s aerospace division has annual revenues of £2.5 billion and customers include Airbus, Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Shares sale was big mistake, admits GVC boss Kenny Alexander. The boss of GVC Holdings (GVC) has admitted that if he had known how badly the market would react to his disposal of £13.7 million of shares last month he would not have sold them. Kenny Alexander, 49, chief executive of the Ladbrokes and Sportingbet operator, said he had been surprised by the response — the shares dropped by 14% on the day of the announcement — and suggested that it was an overreaction. The sale, announced in tandem with the disposal of almost £6 million of shares by Lee Feldman, 51, the GVC chairman, came three days after Mr Alexander had delivered strong full-year results and said that the group was “significantly undervalued” by the market.
Sharp slowdown at used car supermarket Motorpoint Group (MOTR). Britain’s leading used car supermarket is the latest organisation to raise the alarm on the state of the motor trade. Motorpoint warned that revenues had slowed sharply in recent months and that it was cautious about the outlook for the year ahead. The company employs 750 people and operates 12 second-hand car supermarkets around the country, dealing in vehicles up to three years old and with less than 25,000 miles on the clock. About a third of its vehicles are sold to other traders and the rest to the public. Last year it made pre-tax profit of £20 million on revenues that rose 20% to £991 million. It has a market value of about £180 million.
Funding Circle to close investment trust. came under renewed pressure yesterday after its sister investment trust said that it would shut after months of disappointing returns. Shares in the business lending broker fell by 8% after the announcement from Funding Circle SME Income Fund, closing 28p down at 315p. Having forecast returns of up to 7% this year, the sistered trust lowered that to 4%. Funding Circle, a £1 billion company that was listed in October, arranges loans for small and medium-sized companies via an online platform. It was founded in 2010 to link retail investors with small business owners, but more than half the finance for loans comes from institutional sources.
Purplebricks Group (PURP) was in need of a bit of renovation yesterday after a broker downgraded its shares to “sell” from “buy” and slashed its price target by more than 80%. Those shares fell by more than 6%, closing 8½p lower at 129½p, after Berenberg laid out a bleak set of options for the online estate agency, which charges its customers a fixed upfront fee whether or not they make a sale. It is burning through cash at a furious rate as it presses ahead with international expansion.
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) was on the up, rising 22¾p to 926¾p after Exane BNP Paribas raised its assessment to “outperform” from “neutral” and lifted its price target from 910p to £11.
Contour Global (GLO), the power generation group, lifted its forecast for core profits for the year and the shares jumped 12½p, to 195p.
Stagecoach Group (SGC) fell 8½p, to 139p after analysts at Jefferies downgraded their recommendation to “underperform” from “hold” and cut their price target from 145p to 125p only two days after the bus, coach and rail operator had bumped up its annual profit forecast.
