Morning Financial Press Review 19/09/19
Below are the key morning press headlines, featuring the The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
The main trade union at has served notice for a strike ballot among 110,000 workers. The Communication Workers Union is in dispute with the postal delivery company over issues including threats to the universal service obligation, which means that post is delivered at uniform prices across Britain six days a week, and claims that the “four pillars agreement” reached between the union and Royal Mail last year has been breached. The agreement includes pay rises, new pension proposals and a pledge to reduce weekly working hours from 39 to 35 by 2022, dependent on productivity improvements. Royal Mail workers last took part in national strikes ten years ago, when it was state-owned. The company employs 143,000 people in Britain.
Hong Kong is under growing pressure to sweeten the terms of its £32bn offer for the as a takeover battle for the British bourse intensifies. Executives from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) have launched a charm offensive with top LSE investors after its shock approach last week was snubbed by the group’s board. Without a higher price, shareholders are thought to be reluctant to seriously consider a deal. Top LSE shareholders told The Telegraph they will only entertain the move if they can be convinced that the LSE’s planned £22bn takeover of data provider Refinitiv is “absolute rubbish”, that regulators will approve the deal and that the bid is sweetened. One top shareholder said the bid “needs more of a cash element” to be taken seriously.
Britain’s biggest car dealership have crashed another 10% to new lows of less than 10p. The company hit the skids in June after new boss Mark Herbert lasted a paltry three months in the post. Chairman Chris Chambers had called Herbert “the ideal person to lead Pendragon through the next phase” after the departure of long-serving chief executive Trevor Finn, who had run the business since the 1980s. Now, after swinging to a big loss, Chambers is heading out the door too. That leaves Bill Berman, currently a non-executive director, trying to stop the whole thing careering off the road, as interim executive chairman. He has a hell of a job on his hands, and may find himself in the hotseat longer than hoped. Finding someone brave enough to sort out the mess will be no easy task.
The government has intervened in the £4 billion takeover of by ordering an investigation into the implications for national security. Andrea Leadsom said yesterday that the Competition and Markets Authority would carry out a review of the takeover of the aerospace and defence group by Advent, the American private equity firm, and would report back by October 29. “The government’s goals are to support private sector innovation while safeguarding the public interest,” the business secretary said. It marks a fresh twist in what has become a controversial takeover attempt. Cobham, which is led by David Lockwood, 57, its chief executive, is one of Britain’s biggest defence and aerospace businesses, employing about 10,000 staff globally, including almost 1,800 in the UK.
has kicked off its board a founding shareholder with close ties to the embattled fund manager Neil Woodford. Paul Hodges, head of the equity capital markets team, will remain on the executive committee but stand down as a board director with immediate effect. Cenkos said that a smaller board would bring it ‘into line with current regulatory and good corporate governance practices’. Brokers have come under increasing pressure in recent years, amid tightening regulation, increased investor uncertainty squeezing trading profits and fewer companies deciding to pursue floats on the stock market. Cenkos has also been pulled under the spotlight for its close ties with Woodford – whose flagship Equity Income fund has been shuttered since June – who has invested in a number of Cenkos clients, such as the AA and Eddie Stobart.
The sell-off in shares continued yesterday as investors reeled from its admission that the funding plan for its $5 billion fertiliser mine had failed. Analysts at Liberum, one of the company’s house brokers, cut their price target to 9p from 40p amid uncertainty over alternative funding models and their potential impact on investors. Sirius has been seeking to raise $3.8 billion to fund the development of its Woodsmith mine beneath the North York Moors National Park near Whitby. It wants to extract polyhalite, a type of potash fertiliser. On Tuesday it abandoned a $500 million junk bond issue that was a crucial part in its plan, blaming market conditions and Brexit.
has plunged into the red and is cutting 300 jobs, blaming its troubles on “heightened political and Brexit uncertainty” for deterring buyers. Its troubles were compounded by the resignation of chairman Chris Chambers, which follows the shock departure in June of chief executive Mark Herbert just a few months into his tenure. Mr Herbert is understood to have left after a disagreement with the board over Pendragon’s strategy to concentrate on its used car business. Pendragon, which owns the Evans Halshaw and Stratstone dealer brands, posted a £32.2m pre-tax loss for the half year, reversing a £28.4m profit a year ago. Revenues dipped 0.8% to £2.47bn. The loss was blamed on an excess of second-hand cars, which forced the company to slash prices or sell at auction.
The former boss of Stobart Group, Andrew Tinkler, is preparing a bid for the separate troubled lorry firm . Tinkler, 56, has joined private equity firm Dbay in expressing an interest for the haulage firm, which is floundering in the wake of accounting errors. He has met City investors to seek backing for a bid, but is not thought to have secured substantial funding. A cut-price sale of Eddie Stobart would be a blow for under-fire fund manager Neil Woodford, the largest shareholder with a 23% stake.
The new chief executive of will be given the freedom to consider a possible break-up of the DIY group after its chairman promised that he would not be “handcuffed” on strategy. Andy Cosslett said that although he believed Kingfisher had “the right building blocks” in place, Thierry Garnier, 53, the Carrefour veteran who takes over from Véronique Laury as chief executive next week, could form his own view. Mr Cosslett, 64, was speaking after the release of first-half results showing that wary British consumers and a poor performance in France had hit sales and profits at the B&Q and Screwfix owner.
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