Williams plans to put Britain at front of race among electric cars. Grand prix team’s parent company to build battery factory. Britain is to get its first manufacturing site dedicated to making batteries for electric cars. Williams Grand Prix Holdings, parent company of the Williams Formula One motor racing team, is working with Unipart, the motor components group, to start production for Aston Martin’s first electric supercar, the RapidE.
Two American private equity firms are weighing up takeover bids for Europe’s biggest plastics packaging company. RPC Group (RPC) said that it was in the early stages of talks with Apollo Global Management and Bain Capital over a possible offer. The stock market announcement came after a turbulent 18 months for RPC and weekend reports by Bloomberg, the financial news service, that the company was holding talks with its advisers after attracting interest from potential buyers.
Debenhams (DEB) rushed out updated profit guidance yesterday as speculation mounted about the department stores group’s health. A day after news broke that the chain might consider a company voluntary arrangement and as its share price extended its decline to new lows, Debenhams said that it expected to report a pre-exceptional pre-tax profit of about £33 million. This is within its existing profit range of between £31 million and £36.5 million.
Primark profits sweeten ABF’s outlook after sugar price slide. John Bason, finance director at Associated British Foods (ABF), said that Primark was winning on high streets that were largely failing because it was continuing to invest in its stores “while other retailers are cash-constrained or finding trading very difficult”.
Abcam plans get investors’ thumbs down. An increase in investment in manufacturing and supply at Abcam (ABC) is set to drag down profits at the biotechnology company this year. Abcam said that it planned to increase expenditure in key areas including research and development, the Chinese market and data analytics as it updated guidance alongside its full-year results.
Ryanair Holdings (RYA) has banned all media from reporting at its annual shareholder meeting next week, saying that the move is to allow shareholders to raise matters freely with the board without discussions being “distorted”.
Dignity slumped by 55p to 977p after Co-op Funeralcare cut the cost of its standard funeral to £1,895 in England and £1,675 in Scotland. Dignity (DTY) had already responded to competitive pressures at the start of the year, cutting prices and downgrading its outlook for the year. Analysts at Peel Hunt warned yesterday that if Dignity were to follow suit in cutting prices further, it would reduce its profits by about £1.5 million in a full year.
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) was among the biggest gainers on the leading index, rising 4¼p to 266¼p after HSBC upgraded the stock to “buy”, saying that it expected “strong first-half results” when the company reports on Thursday.
Debenhams (DEB) sunk to a fresh low, falling 1¼p to 11½p after the department store chain instructed KPMG to draw up turnaround plans that could involve store closures.
A potential takeover of RPC Group (RPC) prompted investors to buy heavily into the stock. It rose 123p to 806½p after announcing preliminary discussions with Apollo Global Management and Bain Capital.
Investors were watching De La Rue (DLAR), the British banknote printer that lost the contract to make UK passports to an overseas rival, after Crystal Amber, the activist investor, was confirmed in a stock exchange filing as having lifted its stake in the company from 4.6% to 5 %.
Velocys plc (VLS) fell 1p to 5½p after it said that operations had been suspended at an American plant using its technology, after a leak at the site. Envia Energy, which runs the Oklahoma City facility, has said that it will undertake a review of “strategic alternatives in order to preserve the value inherent in the facility.”
Allied Minds (ALM) rose 6½p to 80p, after positive updates from its subsidiaries. Federated Wireless, a wireless communications company, has submitted a proposal to use its spectrum band to the US Federal Communications Commission.
Race is on to touch down in US. There is no shortage of companies seeking to cash in on a newly liberalised US sports betting market. Days after William Hill (WMH), the FTSE 250 bookmaker, announced a joint venture with Eldorado Resorts, the casino group, to provide digital and land-based sports betting services across the United States, a series of Aim-listed companies have been updating the market on their plans to benefit from the change in law. Among the smaller companies interested is 888 Holdings (888). The online gaming and entertainment solutions provider said that it had opened its first US online gambling site in New Jersey, at present the largest regulated US state. GAN (GAN), an online gaming software provider, said that it had launched internet sports betting in New Jersey for Paddy Power Betfair’s Fanduel Group.
Tempus – Indivior (INDV): Avoid. The potential benefits are substantial, but they do not outweigh the risks
Tempus – HGCapital Trust (HGT): Hold long term. Consistent performer with substantial room to grow
