Unhappy Unilever investors take aim at chairman Marijn Dekkers. City demands board shake-up after bungled HQ move. Top investors in Unilever (ULVR) are demanding a boardroom shake-up after the consumer goods giant was forced into an embarrassing U-turn over its attempt to leave London for Rotterdam. Growing shareholder anger over the Marmite and Persil maker’s failure to listen in the months leading up to Friday’s reversal is focusing on Unilever’s chairman, Marijn Dekkers. This weekend, several leading investors criticised the former Bayer drugs boss for allowing Unilever’s chief executive, Paul Polman, and finance director, Graeme Pitkethly, to crusade for the relocation in the face of opposition from some of the City’s biggest institutions.
Douglas Flint tipped to lead Standard Life Aberdeen. The former chairman of HSBC has been approached to lead the board at Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA), the £610bn fund manager. Sir Douglas Flint, who stood down from Britain’s biggest bank in September last year, is understood to be among two or three candidates being considered to replace Sir Gerry Grimstone as chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen.
Top bookie Kenny Alexander: ban TV ads before 9pm. Ladbrokes owner scrambles to head off political storm. The boss of Britain’s biggest betting operator will call for a ban this week on TV gambling advertising before the 9pm watershed, in an effort to prove the industry is taking problem gambling seriously. Kenny Alexander, chief executive of GVC Holdings (GVC), the owner of Ladbrokes Coral, wants rivals such as Paddy Power Betfair, William Hill and Bet365 to come together in promising to pull all advertising during sports broadcasts. Horseracing would be excluded, he said. The rallying call comes as gambling operators feel increasing political pressure to curb TV adverts, which often run alongside live football coverage. Public outcry has prompted the Labour Party to promise a “whistle to whistle” ban on gambling ads if it wins the next election.
French Connection founder Stephen Marks heads for exit. French Connection Group (FCCN) founder Stephen Marks is seeking buyers for his stake in the fashion chain he founded almost 50 years ago. In the past few days, advisers to Marks, 72, are understood to have approached prospective suitors for his 41.6% holding. Marks is both chairman and chief executive and his stake is valued at about £17m. Fashion retailers and private equity firms are among those contacted. Sky News, which first reported the story, said the process could last several months and may not result in a sale.
Sun finally goes down on Club 18-30. Since the 1970s, Club 18-30 has lured tourists on holiday with the promise of “sun, sea and sex”, becoming a rite of passage for youngsters going away without their parents for the first time. At its peak, 110,000 people a year travelled to Greek resorts such as Kavos, Malia and Faliraki for tequila shots, all-night clubbing and late-night trysts with strangers. However, the passengers aboard the “party flight” from Manchester to Magaluf on Mallorca on October 27 will unwittingly make history. They will be the last-ever Club 18-30 holidaymakers. Thomas Cook Group (TCG), the tour operator that owns the brand, has decided to wind it up after failing to find a buyer.
Glaxo joins $30m push for cancer start-up Sitryx. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has joined a roster of investors pumping $30m into a start-up that is taking the fight to cancer. Oxford-based Sitryx, which was founded by scientists from America and Europe, plans to develop drugs in immuno-oncology — a field of medicine that directs the body’s immune system to fight cancer. By regulating the metabolism of cells, the company hopes to inhibit the growth of aggressive tumours. Sitryx’s scientists will be allowed access to Glaxo’s chemistry experts as part of the deal. Other backers include SV Health Investors and Sofinnova.
WH Smith (SMWH) is expected to unveil further profit rises when it announces its full-year results on Thursday. Despite the woes of its high street peers, the chain has hiked its dividend and seen profits rise every year for the last decade. Analysts at Hargreaves Lansdown expect the run to continue, and the market is looking for signs the pace of expansion will quicken.
Shaftesbury (SHB) is particularly discerning about which tenants it allows onto its 14.5 acres of prime real estate — typically preferring independent outlets over chains. This approach has helped Shaftesbury deliver consistent growth in net asset value (NAV) and rental income over the past decade. Under pressure from Brexit and a waning property market, the shares have fallen 16% since January, ending last week at 888p to value the company at £2.7bn. Shaftesbury is thought not to have had a single CVA. Investors’ wariness is understandable. A big chunk of Shaftesbury’s portfolio comprises shops and restaurants, typically frequented by tourists. 888p, the price the shares closed at, is a lucky number in China — at which the secretive Hong Kong property billionaire Sammy Tak Lee tried to buy Shaftesbury stock in 2015. Might Lee be gearing up to do something similar again? Last week he quietly bought another slice of the company, lifting his stake to 26.2% from 25%. That puts him in touching distance of the 30% level at which a takeover offer is mandatory. He might have competition — Norges Bank is not far behind with 21%. Deals are starting to emerge in the bombed-out property sector, as shown by last week’s revelation that property tycoon John Whittaker is trying to engineer a takeover of shopping centre owner Intu Properties. Shaftesbury is a more attractive proposition than Intu, and with similarly contested ownership, I wouldn’t bet on the stalemate between Lee and Norges lasting. Buy.
