No-deal Brexit will cause chaos at ports, says Next (NXT). Retailer warns of higher prices and demands clarity on plans. Britain faces crippling delays at ports and a further fall in the pound if it leaves the European Union without an agreement, a top retailer has warned. Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise, chief executive of Next, called on ministers to provide clarity urgently for businesses as he described severe border disruption in March as the biggest Brexit risk facing the high street chain.
Bigger stake despite pier pressure. Luke Johnson is to lift his stake in the Brighton Pier Group (The) (PIER) to 27% by exercising his warrants in the company at a cost of almost £1 million. The investor, who acquired the grade II listed pier in 2016 in an £18 million deal, is raising his holding from 23.7%
Hard sell by Unilever to quell revolt. Executives at Unilever (ULVR) have come out fighting in the battle to convince its shareholders to back plans for a single headquarters in the Netherlands. In a co-ordinated counterattack after signs of a shareholder revolt, the consumer goods group has stepped up its efforts to sell the proposals.
Hedge funds cash in after Comcast buys Sky (SKY) shares. Comcast has taken a significant step towards securing its £30.6 billion takeover of Sky after buying more than 30% of the pay-TV group’s shares. America’s largest cable provider needs more than 50% of Sky’s stock to seize control and has been busy acquiring shares on the stock market since a dramatic weekend auction. Many of the hedge funds that piled into Sky during the takeover battle between Comcast and 21st Century Fox appear to have cashed in their bets. Elliott and Baupost, the American hedge funds, and Odey Asset Management, a Mayfair-based investor, are among those to have profited from the surge in Sky’s share price.
Irn-Bru switch pays off with sparkling returns. The Scottish company that makes Irn-Bru has shrugged off the furore over its decision to halve the drink’s sugar content and reported an increase in its market share. Barr (A.G.) (BAG) said that in the first half of the financial year the fizzy drink’s.
Next is ray of sunshine in high street gloom. Some of the gloom hanging over the high street was lifted by one of its stalwarts yesterday as Next (NXT) increased its annual profit forecast after a feared slowdown in summer sales failed to materialise. Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise, chief executive of the FTSE 100 fashion retailer, said that sales had held firm over the past two months, despite concerns that they would slump in the wake of a prolonged heatwave.
Profits at CMC Markets (CMCX) sink as market storm holds off. One of Britain’s largest spread betting companies has blamed the relatively calm financial markets for a fall in profits, saying that without big price moves its clients were less likely to trade. CMC Markets said that net operating income for its 2019 financial year would be below previous guidance as it issued a trading update for the past three months, which it said had been marked by a “sustained period of low market volatility”.
President Trump made a strongly worded attack on Opec members, which, he said, were “ripping off the rest of the world”. In a speech to the United Nations in New York yesterday, he said: “I don’t like it and nobody should like it. We defend many of these nations for nothing and then they take advantage of us by giving us high oil prices. We are not going to put up with it, these horrible prices, much longer.” The oil price would end the year above $90, Richard Robinson, manager of Ashburton Global Energy Fund, warned. “In the event of supply disruption, both Opec and the US . . . will find it difficult to meet shortfalls,” he said. All of which was bad news for motorists, likely to face higher prices at the pumps, and airlines, hit by a sell-off yesterday fuelled still further by fears of a no-deal Brexit. International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG), the British Airways owner, propped up the FTSE 100 board, falling 27¼p to 659½p. easyJet (EZJ) closed down 47p at £13.34. Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) was down 146p at £28.37 and Ryanair Holdings (RYA) closed down 0.7 per cent at €13. Oil companies were in the pink, though. gained 16½p to 586¾p, Premier Oil (PMO) rose 6½p to 136p and Energean Oil and Gas (ENOG) closed up 22p at 581p.
AstraZeneca (AZN) received a boost after a key cancer drug delivered positive results. The data for Imfinzi, unveiled at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Toronto, showed that it reduced the risk of death in patients with stage-three lung cancer by a third. Imfinzi has been launched in America and Europe and City analysts expect it to be a blockbuster.
CMC Markets (CMCX) led a sell-off in spread-betting companies after warnings of the impact of low volatility and a decrease in client activity combined with new European leverage limits. It fell 18p to 147½p. Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) closed down 73p at £14.50 and IG Group Holdings (IGG) finished the day down 22½p at 754½p.
Dealers were watching Aquis Exchange (AQX), the subscription model exchange group that represents a disruptive threat to incumbents such as the London Stock Exchange. In its first set of half-year results since listing on Aim in June, the company reported a 54% year-on-year increase in revenue to £1.5 million and market share of above 3%. Liberum initiated its coverage of the stock with a “buy” rating, citing advantages for the company after new European regulations, called Mifid II, that oblige traders to prove “best execution”. “This is hard to do unless you are using Aquis, because it has so much of the best pricing in the market,” the analysts said. Aquis closed up 10p, or 2.4 per cent, at 435p.
Shares in Learning Technologies Group (LTG) rose by almost a fifth after it lifted earnings forecasts. The London-based company said that full-year profit would be “significantly ahead” of its expectations after bedding in Peoplefluent, an American business it acquired for $143 million in May. It reported pre-tax profit of £1.3 million between January and June, compared with a £2.3 million loss in the first half last year, and revenues rose by 60% to £33.8 million.
Tempus – McCarthy & Stone (MCS): Hold. New targets are welcome and should boost profitability but housing market exposure is a worry
Tempus – Imperial Brands (IMB): Avoid. The group has growth options but shares are stuck
