Algy Cluff retires after 50 years at helm of North Sea oil business. One of the most colourful characters in the North Sea oil industry is stepping down from the board of a company he founded. Algy Cluff, 78, will retire from his role as the chairman of Cluff Natural Resources (CLNR) following its next annual meeting when it is held later this year. He intends to concentrate on writing more books and on his charitable efforts, which include The Remembrance Trust, an organisation that tends to the graves of those who died in wars before 1914. He said: “I look forward to seeing our company continue to grow and prosper while enjoying the opportunity to devote more time to my other interests.”
Spreadbetter Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) blames lack of volatility for 81% drop in revenue. The FTSE 250 company blamed lower volatility in financial markets for a drop in trading volumes despite President Trump’s trade dispute with China, Brexit uncertainty and slowing global growth. It has also been hit by a regulatory crackdown last year on how much retail customers can leverage their stakes. In February the company warned that profits would be substantially lower than the market expected.
Prospect of Brexit-free summer clears airlines’ shares for take-off. Airline stocks took off yesterday after Brussels agreed to postpone Britain’s departure from the European Union by six months, easing fears of disruption during the summer holiday season. Shares in easyJet (EZJ), Thomas Cook Group (TCG) and the owner of British Airways, all rose. A so-called relief rally also helped domestically focused businesses such as housebuilders and banks. The latest delay to Brexit — until October 31, unless parliament approves a deal earlier — eradicated the risk of Britain leaving without a deal today. Industry leaders warned MPs not to squander the latest extension, lamenting the “serious damage” the process has already inflicted on the economy. The shares of tourism groups rose on the London market. TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI), the German travel giant that also owns First Choice, enjoyed its best ever day of trading. Its shares were up by 8% or 59¼p to 775½p. Shares in International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG), the owner of BA, rose 30½p or 6% to 545½p while Easyjet was up 88½p or 8% to £11.44½. Thomas Cook Group gained 5% or 1¼p to 24½p.
Entertainment One signs music deal to tune of £178m. The maker of the PJ Masks and Peppa Pig cartoons is splashing out £178 million on a music publisher whose work has been used in hit television series including Bodyguard and Killing Eve. Entertainment One Limited (ETO) was finalising a £191 million share placing last night to fund the takeover of Audio Network, which licenses music to film, television and online video producers. It is the largest acquisition in Entertainment One’s near five-decade history, eclipsing the £140 million it paid for a controlling stake in the producer of Peppa Pig in 2015. The deal could mean life-changing payouts for Audio Network’s founders and senior staff. The company was established in 2001 by Andrew Sunnucks, 53, and Robert Hurst, 54, who were colleagues at Boosey & Hawkes, the classical music publisher. Their idea was to build a catalogue of songs and incidental music that could be licensed to film and TV production companies, sparing them the trouble of seeking permission from myriad rights holders.
Barclays hits back at ‘disruptive’ activist. Lender hits out at activist’s bid for seat on board. Barclays (BARC) has mounted a wide-ranging attack on the activist investor trying to join its board, accusing Edward Bramson of being “disruptive and uncollaborative”. However, the high street bank also acknowledged that Barclays’ performance needed to be better and said its new chairman would make more changes to the list of non-executive directors to improve their banking experience and enhance the board’s challenge to management. The retail bank claims that Mr Bramson has a “poor understanding” of the business and has structured his 5.5% stake in Barclays in such a way that his interests are not aligned with Barclays’ other shareholders.
Activist fund moves from food fight to Superdry. Superdry (SDRY) is being targeted by the activist investor that stirred up the maker of Oxo cubes and Mr Kipling cakes. Oasis Management Company, a Hong Kong-based fund, has built a 3.3% stake in the fashion chain, whose entire board resigned this month after a putsch by its founder. The activist, which owns about 12% of Premier Foods, is understood to have begun acquiring shares in Superdry in the weeks leading to last week’s upheaval. At an extraordinary meeting, Julian Dunkerton won a narrow victory in his campaign to be reinstated to the Superdry board. Peter Williams, 65, a former chairman of Boohoo, was also appointed in the coup.
New boss at Ted Baker hopes to be on right page. Ted Baker (TED) has named a company veteran, Lindsay Page, as its new chief executive and published the conclusions from a legal report into the conduct of Ray Kelvin, its ousted founder. Mr Page, 59, was appointed acting chief executive in December when Mr Kelvin, 63, took a leave of absence. Hundreds of staff had signed an online petition complaining that Mr Kelvin “forced” people to hug him, made sexual innuendos and stroked people’s necks and ears. Mr Kelvin, who has always denied all allegations of misconduct, resigned last month. He remains the biggest shareholder with a stake of nearly 35%.
Grayling under fire for Stagecoach ban. Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, came under fire from MPs after the government disqualified Stagecoach Group (SGC) from bidding for rail franchises. Labour said yesterday that the rail franchise system was in “complete disarray” while Sir Patrick McLoughlin, the Conservative former transport secretary, said that he was “rather surprised” at the decision. Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin brand is set to disappear from Britain’s railways after Stagecoach, its partner in running train services, was effectively banned from the network. Virgin owns 51% of Virgin Trains and Stagecoach owns 49%. Stagecoach said that this was a result of a dispute about a deficit in the pension scheme for railway workers. The government wants businesses to bear more of the potential costs from the pension scheme, with the Pensions Regulator indicating that an additional £5 billion to £6 billion could be needed to fill a gap, but Stagecoach and Virgin oppose this.
Regulator starts inquiry into Interserve accounts. The accounting regulator has begun an investigation into the audited accounts for Interserve (IRV), which went into administration last month. The failure of one of Britain’s leading providers of privatised public services put more strain on the reputation of the outsourcing sector a year after the downfall of its rival Carillion. Interserve has 45,000 workers in the UK and runs public sector contracts worth more than £2 billion, but it collapsed under the weight of £738 million of debts in March. It was bought in a pre-pack deal by its lenders, which wiped out shareholders, including 16,500 retail investors, and created uncertainty for its workforce.
Bullish WH Smith (SMWH) lifts dividend with travel stores top of the pile. WH Smith’s statutory profits may have fallen but it said that it was in rude health as it upped its interim dividend. The newsagent and stationer said pre-tax profit dipped by 21% to £65 million even though group revenue jumped by 8% to £695 million in the six months to February 28. The group had booked £16 million of exceptional costs linked to its purchase of In Motion, an American travel rival, and a restructuring programme. At an underlying level WH Smith’s business performed solidly, particularly its travel divisions in airports and train stations, where its trading profit rose by 7% to £44 million on sales that were up 18% at £364 million. In a sign of confidence for the rest of the year, WH Smith said that it would increase its interim dividend by 8% to 17.2p.
Melrose denies breaking GKN pledge. Melrose Industries (MRO) has hit back at an influential MP who accused it of breaking promises made to ministers during its £8 billion takeover of GKN last year. Melrose said last week that it was closing a GKN Aerospace plant in King’s Norton in the West Midlands with the loss of 170 jobs. Rachel Reeves, chairwoman of the Commons business select committee, immediately wrote to Melrose, saying that it had made undertakings “to seek further development of the UK’s industrial base . . . [and] boost the UK economy”. “It is difficult to reconcile these commitments with the decision to close the King’s Norton plant,” she said. Simon Peckham, Melrose’s chief executive, has written back, saying that the company is complying fully with all of its undertakings. In his letter, a copy of which has been seen by The Times, Mr Peckham said: “We were also very clear about the state of the businesses we acquired following underperformance over a number of years.”
Troubles chip away at Fresnillo (FRES). The world’s biggest silver miner has disappointed investors again with lower than expected production. Shares in Fresnillo sank by about 7% yesterday after it reported a drop in output in the first quarter, primarily due to lower quality ore and lower volumes at its eponymous mine in Mexico. The update was the latest in a string of setbacks resulting in the FTSE 100 group losing more than 40% of its value since the start of last year. Fresnillo insisted that it remained on course to hit its full-year production guidance, despite the weak first quarter, because it expected investment to start bearing fruit.
As Debenhams and House of Fraser struggle to survive on the high street, their nimble rival in the fashion stakes, Primark has demonstrated its faith in bricks and mortar. The affordable fashion retailer chose Birmingham to host its biggest store so far covering 161,000 sq ft over five floors, with a Disney-themed café, a barber’s shop and beauty studio. Primark opened its first store in Dublin in 1969 under the name Penneys and today operates more than 350 stores in 11 countries across Europe and America. The company is owned by Associated British Foods (ABF).
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) agreed to buy Polvo from Pallieter, a privately-owned company in the Netherlands. Polvo, which specialises in ironmongery, tools and ventilation systems, trades from 51 branches. Grafton said the deal was an “excellent geographic fit” with its own Isero branch in the country. The combined business will have revenues of more than €300 million and trade from 113 branches. Shareholders in Grafton, which trades from 675 branches in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium and under brands such as Selco, Buildbase and Plumbase, seemed to agree.
, 12¾p higher at 298p, announced a new £15 million share buyback, alongside another swipe at Debenhams (DEB), which it accused of ignoring the wishes of shareholders.
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) fell 4¼p to below 278p after Credit Suisse cut its rating to “underperform” from “neutral”, saying that attempts to boost its food business, such as making it a weekly shop destination, could be two to three years away.
Shares in Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) were healthier yesterday after it backed a $101 million placing in a US-listed company that it founded. Autolus Therapeutics, which harnesses a patient’s immune system to fight cancer, issued 4.2 million shares at $24 each to help fund clinical trials, in its first fundraising since it floated at $17 a share last June. Syncona, which is backed by the Wellcome Trust, took up $24 million worth of the offering, diluting it slightly to 30.4%. Syncona launched Autolus after leading a £30 million funding round in early 2015, which was the largest biotech start-up round in Europe. Autolus, whose technology originates at University College London and which has laboratories at Imperial College London, raised $150 million through its initial public offering on New York’s biotech-heavy Nasdaq index. Autolus’s backers include Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) and Arix Bioscience (ARIX), which also invested $5 million.
Tempus – easyHotel (EZH): Buy. Shares rose 3½p, or 5.3 per cent, to 70p but growth prospects deserve a premium to the 80p float price
Tempus – Quiz (QUIZ): Hold. Waiting to see the results of the management review would be prudent
