Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) chief executive has said that he expects an insider trading fine to be overturned within months. Ayman Asfari, a Conservative Party donor, made more than €300,000 in December 2012 by betting on a share price fall at Saipem, an Italian rival, hours before the shock resignation of Pietro Franco Tali, its chief executive, over a corruption inquiry.
Johnston Press (JPR) has had to hand more than £500,000 to a clutch of senior staff to prevent them from deserting. The owner of the i and The Scotsman newspapers said that several managers had been approached by rivals. In the first half of the year the publisher paid £507,000 in retention bonuses to keep key employees. David King, who became chief executive in June, said that neither he nor his predecessor had received any loyalty payment.
A New York-based hedge fund and activist investor has been pressing the takeover watchdog to force Disney to raise its offer for Sky (SKY) to more than £15 a share. Elliott believes that the Takeover Panel should set a floor of £15.01 for a possible mandatory bid for the broadcaster. It led a group controlling more than 9% of Sky and hired Greenhill, an investment adviser, to argue its case, the panel said yesterday.
Diploma (DPLM) chief fired four months into job. Richard Ingram left with immediate effect after the board concluded that replacing him was “in the best interests of the company and its shareholders”, John Nicholas, the chairman said.
Pub firms face check on handling of tenants. Some of Britain’s biggest pub companies are facing fresh scrutiny over the way in which they treat their tenants. Paul Newby, the pubs code adjudicator, revealed yesterday that he had written to the pub companies over his concerns and would use their response to frame “further interventions” to secure tenants’ rights. The statutory pubs code was introduced in 2016 after years of lobbying to regulate the relationship between tied pub tenants and the pub companies, the large pub-owning businesses that rent the pubs to them and sell them beer. The companies covered by it are Punch Taverns (PUB), Heineken’s Star Pubs & Bars, Greene King (GNK), Marston’s (MARS), Admiral Taverns and EI Group (EIG)
The outgoing chief executive of The Gym Group (GYM) said that the low-cost fitness sector still had plenty of growth potential as the company reported a 36% jump in half-year revenues.
Metro Bank (MTRO) bright and shiny fascia is under a shadow. The challenger retail bank fell by 134p to £27.90 last night after analysts at Berenberg had cut their price target to £25, from £30. It is a far cry from Metro’s high of £40.18 back in March. Berenberg said that Metro’s present valuation, far above its banking peers, provides little support, trading on growth multiple of 27 times the consensus earnings per share for 2019.
Micro Focus International (MCRO) rose to the top of the premier index after the software company announced the start of a share buyback programme.
Bunzl (BNZL) rose 67p to £23.92 as dealers continued to see positives from its first acquisition in Norway, announced this week.
Retailers were knocked by figures from the British Retail Consortium’s shop prices index, which showed shop prices pushing into inflationary territory for the first time in five years, rising by 0.1% in August compared with a year earlier. Tesco (TSCO) fell 8¼p to 250p, Dunelm Group (DNLM) dipped 13½p to 519½p and Card Factory (CARD) edged down ¾p to 188½p.
Shares in Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) slid a penny to 333¼p after analysts at Shore Capital issued a “hold” recommendation and a target price of 333p, citing “variable and more often than not poor store standards” in its visits to Sainsbury’s stores in Britain. “From Kelso to Coleraine, Ipswich to Chester, we have listened to folks speak of the poor standards,” the broker said. “Only yesterday someone outlined to us how poor their checkout experience was at a Merseyside store.”
Sinclair Pharma (SPH) rose 34.7% after confirmation that the aesthetics healthcare company had agreed a £161.2 million takeover offer from a subsidiary of Huadong Medicine, of China.
Codemasters (CDM), the recently listed company that develops official Formula One games, fell 16½p to 197p after a retail investor was understood to have sold 200,000 shares for about £100,000.
Tempus – Petrofac Ltd. (PFC): Avoid. The uncertainty over its ability to grow over the long term makes the risks too high
Tempus – Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ): Hold. Attractive diversity but returns don’t justify a buy
