Keywords on game as big players enter fray. One of London’s largest listed video games companies has said that a battle between Silicon Valley’s biggest players to dominate the gaming industry will boost its prospects. Keywords Studios (KWS), which provides services to developers, said that the launch of services by Apple and Google would help it to meet its financial targets for this year. Andrew Day, 55, chief executive, predicted an “increase in demand for content” as the tech giants carve out a foothold in the computer games industry.
Saga (SAGA) continued to sink this morning, trading at record lows as analysts again raised concerns about its strategy following a profit warning. Shares in the over-50s insurer and travel group fell 7% after being downgraded by UBS. The Swiss broker noted that since floating less than five years ago Saga has issued two profit warnings and removed its medium-term guidance for earnings growth. The analysts suggested that the company had recently been seeking growth from the price comparison corner of the insurance market rather than through its direct-to-consumer offering, “extracting higher margins than perhaps the product commands”.
MPs call for inquiry into Lloyds fraud ‘cover-up’. Top executives accused over HBOS Reading case. The Prudential Regulation Authority has been asked by MPs to investigate whether Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) bosses, including António Horta-Osório, its chief executive, breached corporate governance rules by allegedly “covering up” the HBOS Reading fraud. The all-party parliamentary group on fair business banking said that Lloyds executives had “withheld” a critical whistleblower’s report from the bank’s board for more than four years, which it claimed was in breach of a Bank of England stipulation that management must be “open and transparent” with non-executives.
Debenhams accused by Sports Direct’s Mike Ashley of ‘falsehoods’. Last-ditch attempts by Mike Ashley to seize control of Debenhams (DEB) descended into acrimony last night when the Sports Direct founder accused members of the department stores group’s board of lying. After a weekend of talks about a potential £150 million rights issue that Mr Ashley might underwrite in exchange for being installed as chief executive, the retailing billionaire accused the board and its advisers of undertaking “a sustained programme of falsehoods and denials”.
Ricardo plugs into modern drive for electric vehicles. Britain is set to get another electric car battery manufacturer with Ricardo (RCDO), a listed automotive consultancy, looking to open a facility to serve the country’s sports car and luxury carmaking sector. Ricardo is in talks with car companies, all of which will need to commit to a greater number of electric and hybrid vehicles to satisfy emissions regulations and changing consumer demands.
Job cuts and accounts deal haunt Tesco. Tesco (TSCO) looks set to face questions on issues from job cuts to its contentious plea bargain with the Serious Fraud Office when Britain’s biggest grocer reports its annual results on Wednesday. Though financial performance has improved strongly over the past year as its turnaround strategy has shown signs of bearing fruit, investors and analysts will be keen for an update on Tesco’s decision to cut up to 9,000 jobs by shutting the fresh food counters at 90 stores.
