Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) boss in bribe inquiry given payoff. Banker had been suspended from scandal-hit unit. The banker from the bank’s Global Restructuring Group was given a voluntary redundancy package in 2016.
Bank refuses to lend on Taylor Wimpey’s leases. Barclays (BARC) bank has refused to issue a mortgage on a development by Taylor Wimpey (TW.) after discovering that buyers can be thrown out of their homes if the developer goes bust.
Norway deal caters to Bunzl (BNZL) taste for snapping up global acquisitions. It aims to expand around Scandinavia from an already strong base in Denmark. Enor, the business it has acquired, has £27 million of annual revenues and is Norway’s leading provider of catering equipment and appliances.
RPC unpacks food business as pressure mounts. RPC Group (RPC) said that it had reached an agreement to sell the food service business of Letica Corporation for $95 million to Graphic Packaging International, an American rival, subject to regulatory approval.
Faroe Petroleum (FPM) has rebuffed criticism of its governance by DNO, a day after the Norwegian company had withdrawn its bid for seats on Faroe’s board. DNO, Faroe’s largest shareholder, said that it had “concerns” about the governance culture at Faroe and accused it of having a “disdainful” attitude to a request for board seats.
Kelvin Dushnisky has resigned as chairman of Acacia Mining (ACA), weeks after announcing his departure from Barrick Gold, which owns 64% of Acacia. The troubled Tanzanian goldminer said that he would leave on Friday and would be replaced by Rachel English, an independent director, on an interim basis.
Shareholders in Countrywide (CWD) approved an emergency £140 million fundraising at the company’s annual meeting yesterday. Last week, it allocated more than a billion shares to existing shareholders at 10p each for a total of £111.4 million, with the remaining £28.6 million raised through the open market. Only 72% of the shares on open offer were taken, with the rest placed with shareholders.
The boss and co-founder of Ocado Group (OCDO) has offloaded more than £50 million of the retailer’s stock. Linic, owned by a Bahamas-based lawyer as trustee of a trust of which Tim Steiner is a beneficiary, sold 4.8 million shares at £10.60 each.
The heavyweight miners dominated the risers’ boards, underpinned by a weaker US dollar that makes the greenback-denominated metals cheaper for holders of foreign currency. Copper was trading at two-week highs, up 0.7 per cent at $6,147 a tonne, and precious metals were also dearer. Anglo American (AAL) led the sector higher, rising 51½p to £16.26½, while gained 47p to £17.08¼. Evraz (EVR), the tightly held, Roman Abramovich-backed steel producer, rose 26½p to 518p, making it the biggest riser on the FTSE 100, while Kaz Minerals (KAZ), the Kazakh copper miner, which rallied 38½p to 496½p, was the top mid-cap gainer.
NMC Health (NMC) rose despite it dampening speculation of acquisitions in India. Boosted by acquisitions, NMC is in the midst of a rally, with its shares up 37% this year. It said that it remained focused on transactions in the Gulf, its core market and closed 136p higher at £39.48.
Marlowe (MRL) announced its latest deal, snapping up Suez Water Conditioning Services, Marral Chemicals and Sentinel Water for £4.5 million.
Huadong eyes smooth operator. Shares in an Aim-quoted aesthetics healthcare company were looking more attractive after it agreed terms on a possible £161.2 million takeover offer. In an update after the market had closed yesterday, Sinclair Pharma (SPH) said that the offer from a subsidiary of China’s Huadong Medicine valued it at 32p a share.
Tempus – Keeping up as the robots march on: PWC, the consultancy, estimates that an automated device of some sort could be capable of carrying out up to 30% of jobs globally by the mid-2030s, in sectors from financial services and healthcare to transport. As well as threatening jobs conventionally carried out by real people, the rise of the robots will create jobs and enhance GDP, PWC reckons, in Britain’s case by 10.3% in 2030, thanks to improved labour market productivity and massively better consumer choice. The commercial opportunities available to any company that can conceive this technology or exploit it to its full potential are enormous. So where should the investor look for a potential play on this growth? Intuitively, businesses intimately bound up in the lives of consumers have an awful lot to gain from the use of artificial intelligence. The perfect likely combination is to be bound up in both consumers and cutting-edge technology. Enter Ocado Group (OCDO), the online grocery delivery business with international contracts, most recently with Kroger, the American grocer. More of a gamble, but with the prospect of rich rewards, is IP Group (IPO). Founded as IP2IPO before listing on Aim in 2003, then changing its name and joining the main market in 2006, it specialises in backing university spinouts, mainly in life sciences and technology. The most rapidly automating of all business sectors is transport: think autonomous cars and driverless trains. In the thick of developments in this area is Seeing Machines Ltd. (SEE), which is based in Australia but has a £210 million listing on Aim. It is a specialist in technology that monitors the safety of cars, lorries, aircraft, trains and off-road vehicles in sectors such as mining. Crucially, as well as monitoring physical drivers, its technology is being applied to both semi-autonomous and fully autonomous vehicles.
Tempus – Bunzl (BNZL): Buy. Consistent dividend payer combines acquisitions with organic growth
