The founding family behind Cobham (COB) has renewed its call for the government to intervene in the £4 billion takeover of the British defence and aerospace company after failing to persuade shareholders to block the deal. While some small shareholders attacked Cobham’s board for striking the deal, their criticism was fruitless and came after almost all the voting had taken place by proxy last week. About 93.2% of shares that were voted were in favour of the deal, surpassing the 75% threshold that Advent needed. It was a blow to Lady Cobham, who has opposed the takeover and wrote to leading investors urging them to vote against the deal.
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) has been given extra time to secure agreement on a crucial rescue deal now worth £1.1 billion — up from an original sum of £750 million. The travel group confirmed yesterday that tomorrow’s critical bondholder vote would now be held next Friday, with a court approval hearing being held on the following Monday. When the restructuring was announced on July 12, it envisaged an injection of £750 million in new funds led by Fosun International, of China. In August that was lifted by £150 million to ensure that the company had enough liquidity to see it through the winter.
The ambitious £32 billion takeover bid for London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) by its Hong Kong-based rival is under close scrutiny from the financial services industry watchdog. Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, said yesterday that both LSE Group and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing had been “in close touch” with the regulator over their plans. “We’re listening, we’re observing,” Mr Bailey said, although he insisted that the watchdog had not yet formed a view of the potential deal. “If we do have to take a position, and of course we do have formal powers in that area, it can only be based on a firm proposition.”
The European Union is bracing itself for further tariffs from the United States within weeks as Washington prepares to launch the latest blow in a dispute over aircraft subsidies. American officials are understood to have received approval from the World Trade Organisation to impose retaliatory duties on a vast array of European exports as a result of the bloc’s subsidies for Airbus. The decision is due to be officially announced in a fortnight. While the EU’s own complaint regarding American subsidies for Boeing is also being examined at the WTO, this was lodged nine months later than the US complaint. The case has been in litigation at the WTO for well over a decade.
The former chief executive of Deutsche Bank is to replace Lord Livingston of Parkhead as chairman of Man Group (EMG). Lord Livingston, 55, said that he had taken a “personal decision” to stand down at the world’s largest listed hedge fund and that it was the “right timing” for the company. His replacement, John Cryan, was chief executive of Deutsche Bank until he was ousted last year amid infighting about how to restructure the bank. Investors reacted with uncertainty to the shake-up of the board.
The unrest surrounding St James’s Place (STJ) spread from its clients to its investors yesterday after it emerged that the wealth manager would review perks such as cruises for its advisers. Its shares fell by 28p to close at £10.03 amid shareholder concerns that a radical shake-up to the rewards system and exit fees for customers may harm profitability, that clients could turn their back on the firm and that advisers frustrated at losing perks could leave for other wealth managers. Ian Gascoigne, its managing director, had told more than 700 of its advisers on a call last week that such benefits were up for review because there was a public perception that they could not be justified.
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) reported a 22% fall in profits yesterday amid a sluggish market for the gems and “uncertainty” caused by US-China trade tensions. Richard Duffy, 55, who became chief executive of the group in February, said that the diamond market was at its weakest since the 2008 financial crisis. He said that the outlook for the market would be affected by further escalations of the trade battle between the United States and China, in which the two countries have impose tariffs on goods worth billions of dollars over the past year. “The diamond market gets impacted by global GDP growth and this is one of the macroeconomic factors that plays into the current negative narrative,” Mr Duffy said. Recent unrest in Hong Kong and concerns surrounding growth in some of the world’s leading economies are also among the wider headwinds facing the diamond market, the group said.
Profits are set to crash at Eddie Stobart Logistics (ESL), with Britain’s best-known trucking company seeking to raise cash from its bankers or investors. Share trading in Eddie Stobart has been suspended for more than three weeks after an internal row over the company’s accounting. That meant that it could not file its half-year accounts by a deadline at the end of August and led to the shock departure of its chief executive. Alex Laffey, 58, a former head of Tesco distribution, had been running Eddie Stobart for the past four years. With no sign of those interim results, which its guidance suggests will be 50% lower than had been expected, Eddie Stobart has warned that its full-year results to the end of November will be “significantly” down on forecasts of £63 million.
Shares in Tullow Oil (TLW) surged by 8.4% after the explorer struck again off the coast of Guyana. The group said that its Joe exploration well had encountered high-quality oil-bearing rocks deep beneath the seabed off the coast of the South American country, which is a hotspot for the industry. The discovery comes on the back of Tullow’s success at the Jethro well off, also off Guyana, last month. The company has a stake in a third well due to be drilled nearby this month. Angus McCoss, its exploration director, said: “I am pleased that we have made back-to-back discoveries in Guyana and successfully opened a new, shallower play in the Upper Tertiary age of the Guyana basin with our second well.”
Next (NXT) shares were in fashion yesterday after analysts at Credit Suisse took a more upbeat view on the clothes and homewares retailer before its half-year results later in the week. Credit Suisse upgraded its rating on Next to “neutral” and its target to £60 on the back of their sales performance, saying that the company had “consistently exceeded our expectations”. Yet the Swiss bank’s chin-strokers are reluctant to give much credit to Simon Wolfson, chief executive, and his team, preferring to point to the faults of rivals. “Collections have no doubt improved since the issues of 2017,” they said. “However, we also believe that the better retail performance and market share gains over the past two years is as much due to peers such as M&S, Debenhams and Arcadia underperforming and downsizing. This may well continue through the second half, given the financial pressure on some peers.”
Airlines hit turbulence in the face of a possible rise in fuel prices and International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG), the British Airways owner, took a 12¼p blow to its share price, which fell to 445p, despite analysts’ claims that it was the most insulated from changes in fuel prices. Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) shares shed 177p to £33.72, easyJet (EZJ), the rival low-cost carrier, dipped 21½ points to £10.36. The surge in oil prices also raised fears of a global slowdown, leaving markets around the world lower.
Philip Jansen has taken advantage of BT Group (BT.A) depressed share price to pick up shares worth £1 million. The 52-year-old boss of the giant telecoms group snapped up 584,000 shares at 171p apiece, taking advantage of a stock price that hit eight-year lows a couple of weeks ago.
Tempus – HGCapital Trust (HGT): Hold. Consistently strong returns underpinned by the high quality of its private equity investment manager
Tempus – BBA Aviation (BBA): Hold. A leader in its field but the wider market is difficult
