Investors’ cash call headache at biotech. On Friday, Immupharma (IMM), posted a “corporate update”. Panmure Gordon, which has an 8.2p price target, said the announcement failed to progress the investment case. The only revelation was a £2m investment into a cancer drug company, Incanthera, of which McCarthy is also chairman. It said trial patients already on Lupuzor could continue taking it.
Despite McCarthy’s assertions that Lupuzor still has “blockbuster potential”, investors who ploughed £10m into the company just before it lost momentum might well ask exactly what potential Immupharma has left.
The pressure on Britain’s struggling department stores chains is intensifying, with Debenhams working with restructuring experts and John Lewis & Partners set to report weak interim results this week. Debenhams (DEB) has asked KPMG to help to compile a list of options, which could include plans to hand back excess store space to landlords and a company voluntary arrangement, an insolvency process that allows retailers to close shops and reduce rents to cut costs.
Cuadrilla and its partners have burnt through at least £60 million in their Lancashire shale gas operations before even beginning fracking. The private equity-backed shale gas explorer has tapped its shareholders for a further $6 million in recent months after exhausting the funds provided under a deal with Centrica (CNA), the British Gas owner.
Shares in Sir Martin Sorrell’s new advertising venture will start trading shortly, months before it completes the takeover of a Dutch agency. The founder of WPP is using Derriston Capital (DERR), a cash shell, to build his “next generation” advertising company. Shares in Derriston were suspended in May, when he took control.
A member of the family who founded Takeda has criticised the Japanese drug company’s proposed takeover of Shire Plc (SHP), stepping up the opposition to the multibillion-pound deal. Kazu Takeda, one of the shareholders resisting the deal, said that the takeover could damage Takeda. “Hasty decisions on big deals should be avoided,” he said. “It will lead to disaster if there are large-scale mergers and acquisitions without careful consideration.”
Fresnillo (FRES) has come under pressure from one of London’s most high-profile hedge funds, which is betting that the miner could be hit with higher taxes in its home market. Odey Asset Management has built a sizeable short position in the Mexico-based, FTSE 100 miner over recent months equivalent to 0.5 per cent of its market value. It is understood that the fund believes that the incoming left-wing government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico’s president-elect, could squeeze the country’s mining sector for more cash.
Deliveries of goods on subscription ranging from magazines to beauty products are set to double in value to £1 billion by 2022, a report by the Royal Mail (RMG) has forecast. It predicts a boom in the number of so-called subscription box deliveries, which will include those for male grooming products reaching two million in the coming years. Male grooming subscriptions include the Unilever-owned Dollar Shave Club, which sends out razors and other products for as little as $1 a month.
Retail being bled dry, says Tesco (TSCO) Chief Dave Lewis. The Boss of Tesco has warned that if the government does not reform business rates soon it will have contributed to the decline of high streets across Britain.
Telit investors demand clear out of boardroom. Telit Communications (TCM) was thrown into fresh turmoil yesterday when one of the largest investors in the scandal-hit technology company demanded a boardroom clearout.
Greene King raises glass to World Cup and sunshine. Greene King (GNK) is keeping a lid
on optimism despite bouncing back from a profit downgrade this time last year that took the fizz out of its share price.
B&Q acts to rebuild its failing units in France. The Boss of B&Q is heading to France to run the struggling Castorama and Brico Depot DIY chains after a management shake-up at Kingfisher (KGF)
Revived merger talks are a tonic for bars. Everyone in the City loves a bit of merger talk, so when it emerged yesterday that Britain’s biggest nightclub operator had rekindled its discussions with Revolution Bars Group (RBG), investors hurried to get their orders in.
Enquest goes to the well to buy Magnus. EnQuest (ENQ) has tapped its shareholders for £107 million in a rights issue to help to finance taking full control of the Magnus oilfield from BP.
Investors ‘showing no signs of panic’ over emerging markets. Ashmore Group (ASHM) says that clients are still looking to allocate money to funds run by the emerging markets-focused asset manager, despite a sharp sell-off in many such markets recently.
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) – Pension fund trustees may continue legal battle against BA. Trustees of a British Airways final salary pension scheme are set to decide within days whether to take a long-running legal fight with the airline to the Supreme Court.
Playtech backs a winner with sale of Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) stake. Playtech (PTEC) brought down the curtain on a year-long losing streak as it announced the sale of its 9.9% holding in Plus500 at almost four times the price it paid three years ago.
Japan’s Takeda family brands Shire deal ‘a disaster’. A leading member of the family that founded the Japanese pharmaceuticals giant Takeda has spoken out for the first time in opposition to its $62 billion (£48 billion) takeover of Shire Plc (SHP), the London-listed rare disease specialist.
Debenhams prepares store closures. Debenhams (DEB) has hired a team of advisers to Executive is set to chair Aston Martin as the luxury sports car maker heads for a £5 billion float.
