Future (FUTR) is buying consumer titles including Country Life and Wallpaper* for £140 million in cash. The specialist publisher is acquiring the TI Media magazine stable from Epiris, a British private equity firm. Future will sell a block of 8.2 million shares to fund the takeover, which is the latest in a series of deals by Zillah Byng-Thorne, chief executive, who has been in charge for the past six years. The TI media deal adds Decanter, Woman & Home, Golf Monthly, TV Times and Horse & Hound to Future’s portfolio. Its titles reach 11.7 million adults in Britain monthly across print and digital editions.
Strong sales of a new shingles vaccine have revived spirits at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and prompted it to raise its annual earnings outlook. The drugs company yesterday announced an 11% increase in third-quarter group sales to £9.4 billion, beating City forecasts of about £9 billion. Glaxo’s fortunes have been affected by generic competition to Advair. The decline in its market supremacy has weighed on earnings forecasts. However, the performance of Shingrix, sales of which surged by 76% to £535 million, outpacing forecasts of £464 million, offset Advair’s fall.
Sensyne Health (SENS) suffered an investor revolt yesterday over £1 million of undisclosed executive bonuses. More than a quarter of voting shareholders, 28.7%, rejected the remuneration report at Sensyne Health’s first annual shareholder meeting as a public company, despite concessions ahead of the vote. Lord Drayson, 59, and his wife Elspeth, Sensyne’s two largest shareholders, accounted for more than half of those investors voting in favour. The rebellion comes after scrutiny over post-flotation bonuses of £850,000 to Lord Drayson and £200,000 to Lorrie Headley, the chief financial officer, as well as large salary increases.
Funding Circle (FCH) appears to have listened to complaints from investors waiting for as long as four months to take their money out of the platform. The peer-to-peer lender has set new rules for its secondary market, which lets investors sell their loans. It said that the change would speed up access to money, improve fairness and possibly help to create greater demand. The move comes after an internal review, which was started as anger grew among investors who were waiting for months to sell out of their positions.
The new chief executive of De La Rue (DLAR) yesterday issued the banknote printer’s second profit warning this year. Clive Vacher is leading a review of the business and he said that he would provide an update on its progress when the company reports its half-year results on November 26. De La Rue said that it expected half-year adjusted operating profits for the six months to September 28 to be in the “low-to-mid-single-digit millions” and over the year to be “significantly lower” than forecasts. The City had expected full-year profits of between £50 million and £53.5 million.
Standard Chartered (STAN) has received a boost after a rise in profits suggested its recovery plan is bearing fruit. The emerging markets bank reported a 16% rise in underlying pre-tax profits to $1.2 billion for the third quarter, with statutory profits before tax up 4% to $1.1 billion. The figures, which were better than City analysts had expected, will ease the pressure on Bill Winters, 58, the chief executive who has been trying to revive the bank since taking charge in 2015. He announced a second turnaround programme in February that was rapidly overshadowed when almost 40% of shareholders refused to back the bank’s executive pay policy amid anger over his retirement benefits.
Warmer than average weather at the end of the summer has held back sales growth at Next (NXT). Next yesterday announced a 2% year-on-year rise in full-price sales for the three months to the end of October, slower than the 4.3% advance that it achieved over the previous six months. High street sales continue to slump, with a 6.3% drop in shop sales during the quarter, although this was offset by a 9.7% rise in online sales. The slowdown in sales growth and the company’s decision to maintain its annual profit guidance of £725 million disappointed the City and the shares fell.
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) switch to sustainable packaging has enabled it to ride the wave of environmental activism. The company reported a 3% rise in revenue from last year to €6.8 billion in the nine months to the end of September, despite economic and political pressures. Tony Smurfit, its chief executive, said that consumers were “increasingly demanding sustainable packaging solutions” and that the company was “ideally positioned” to take advantage of the trend.
Persimmon (PSN) dropped 29p to £22.98; Taylor Wimpey (TW.) lost ¾p to 166½p; and Barratt Developments (BDEV) shed 4¾p to 637¾p. Analysts at Liberum said: “If history is a guide, we should expect the housing market to slow in the run-up to the announced general election, but, if the opinion polls and bookmakers are correct, the housebuilders’ shares could outperform if a Conservative victory is the outcome. It is difficult to see a clear picture in how housebuilders’ shares perform immediately before or after a general election, although we do note that the sector performed well during the 2015 and 2017 elections won by the Conservatives.”
Serco Group (SRP) signed a ten-year contract with the Ministry of Justice worth £800 million, starting in August next year, to provide prisoner escort and custody services for the south of England, expanding the group’s contract beyond London and the east of England.
Whitbread (WTB) slipped after analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock’s rating to “underperform” and cut their price target from £42 to £39.50. They said that Whitbread’s expansion in Germany was an opportunity that would bear fruit in the medium term, but was capital-thirsty in the short term, adding that a Brexit deal would be likely to remove uncertainties and have a significant impact given Whitbread’s domestic focus.
Power Metal Resources Plc (POW) climbed 25% after it said that it expected its project in Botswana to be “highly prospective” for huge nickel sulphides. Nickel prices have fallen dramatically on the London Metal Exchange, but the company expects the metal to appreciate accordingly. Adriatic Metals, an Australian miner, said that it would list in London before the end of the year, having floated in Australia last year. It is trading 450% above its listing price.
Volution Group (WI) (FAN) shares rose due to Government plans to tighten building regulations for new homes to cut emissions next year raised expectations that demand would rise for Volution Group’s low-carbon ventilation products. The regulations form part of Britain’s commitment to become a net zero-carbon economy by mid-century. Analysts at Liberum raised their target from 235p to 250p, encouraging investors to buy the shares. They noted that the group was using its strong cashflows to acquire and improve other ventilation companies in a fragmented market, adding that awareness of indoor air quality was increasing, which could increase demand for its higher-specification products.
Tempus – BP (BP.): Hold. Await all-important strategy update next year
Tempus – Convatec Group (CTEC): Buy. Update has reinforced growth prospects
