Online retailer Mysale Group (MYSL) saw more than half of its value wiped off today after it warned it will make a loss in the first half of its financial year due to changes to tax sales regulation in Australia, its largest market. Mysale – which operates flash-sales websites selling clothes, beauty and homeware products also in the UK, New Zealand and South East Asia – said it expects to make an underlying loss in the first half to December. It also warned sales and profits would come in ‘significantly below’ market expectations for the full-year to the end of June 2019. Shares in MySale fell by over 53% to 16p in morning trading.
WPP (WPP) is cutting 3,500 jobs across the world as it looks to close some offices and remove some job roles that overlap across its agencies. It comes as new chief executive Mark Read, who recently replaced founder Martin Sorrell, announced the advertising group is going to slash costs by £275million over the next three years in a bid to return to growth. The 3,500 job cuts but will be partially offset by adding 1,000 in key locations such as New York, according to Reuters.
Average earnings are rising at the fastest level in a decade at 3.3%, new figures on the jobs market revealed today. Average earnings were up by 3.3% in the year to October – an improvement from 3.1% in September. It is highest figure since 2008 and beats the current inflation figure of 2.4%. Employment is also up by another 79,000 to a record high of 32.4million people, according to the Office for National Statistics report. Those out of work was also up, by 20,000, though unemployment rate is still lower than a year ago at 1.38million. The UK’s jobless rate is now 4.1%
Carpetright (CPR) shares, which have been in the doldrums since the firm unveiled a radical store closure plan last April, spiked by more than 9% in early trading today. The minor rebound came as the flooring stalwart revealed hefty losses relating to the closure of 65 shops, but reassured investors with signs of green shoots. Carpetright racked up losses of £11.7 million in the six months to the end of October, compared with a small profit a year ago, while sales declined 15.7 per cent to £191million.
Lloyds Banking Group’s chairman has been dragged into the crisis at Interserve (IRV), having led the ailing outsourcer for a decade. With fears mounting that the service support and construction group could follow Carillion into oblivion, the spotlight has turned on the company’s former and current decision-makers – including Lord Blackwell. Analysts said the seeds of the crisis were sown years ago when bosses embarked on a dangerous expansion plan. The aggressive push for growth – and a disastrous move into the energy-from-waste sector – was spearheaded by then chairman Blackwell, chairman of Lloyds, and chief executive Adrian Ringrose. Having made millions during their time at Interserve, Blackwell left in 2016 and Ringrose in 2017 following a collapse in the share price.
Ted Baker (TED) chairman told to quit for failing to take action over claims chief exec harassed staff. Ted Baker’s chairman is facing calls to resign as the fashion chain reels from allegations of harassment against its chief executive. David Bernstein, 75, is under pressure to step down having failed to take action over claims that founder and boss Ray Kelvin massaged, kissed, hugged or inappropriately touched members of staff. Bernstein has been on the fashion chain’s board since 2003 and became chairman in 2013.
One might think that the worlds of agricultural feed blocks and nuclear engineering make very unlikely bedfellows, but Carr’s Group (CARR) seems to prove that the two can sit comfortably together in a business that looks to be growing well. Carr’s traces its roots back 150 years to a bakery business that diversified into flour milling and animal feed manufacture and, as a result, grew to include an engineering side to service its mills and a transport side to deal with distribution. The bakery business provides a lasting legacy through the Carr’s Water Biscuits name, savoury crackers of note, although the company disposed of that business in 1964 and all of its remaining food operations in 2016, having dropped the Carr’s Milling name a year earlier.
Hollywood Bowl has announced a special dividend for the second consecutive year as it booked record profits and revenues. The UK’s largest 10-pin bowling operator said it will hand investors a special dividend of 4.33p per share on top of the ordinary dividend for the year, returning a total of £15.9million to shareholders. Shares in Hollywood Bowl Group (BOWL), which listed on the London stock exchange in 2016 at 160p, rose 9.2% to 200.5p in morning trading.
Superdry slump sparks call for a rethink as founder Julian Dunkerton slams management for ‘halting innovation’. Superdry (SDRY) is under pressure to rethink its strategy with concerns about its performance growing. The fashion retailer is expected to post an £8million drop in half-year profits to £17million tomorrow. The figures come amid a row between management and Superdry founder Julian Dunkerton, who is eyeing a return to the business. The group has blamed a lack of cold weather for poor sales of its coats and jumpers which account for almost half of annual turnover.
Equity release rule change sees Just Group shares soar 19% as Bank of England deals the firm a good hand. Investors in Just Group (JUST) breathed a sigh of relief today after it emerged that new rules around lifetime mortgages will hurt the pensions provider and equity release specialist far less than feared. Shares rose by as much as 27% to 101p in early trading after the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulatory Authority published its new rules. They closed the day up 19%, or 15.65p, at 97.75p. Just Group said the rules are ‘considerably less onerous’ than those set out in a consultation paper earlier this year.
Pharmaceuticals business Avacta Group (AVCT) has shot up on signing a deal with the life sciences branch of LG Group, worth up to £143million. Avacta is developing an alternative to vaccines, which don’t rely on antibodies and the immune system’s response to them. It has signed a development partnership and licence agreement with LG Chem, but did not reveal what diseases it would be targeting. Avacta’s shares rose by 31.5%, or 7.3p, to 30.5p.
Photo-Me International (PHTM) wasn’t looking so healthy. Revenue for the six months ending in October fell 2% compared with last year to £119.8million, while profit before tax plunged 21% to £26million. There were some rays of light for Photo-Me. Operations in Japan recovered faster than expected after a tricky period, while the roll-out of its Revolution outdoor self-service washing machines helped revenue in that division climb 28.5%. But it blamed slow activity in its UK business-to-business arm for dragging down profits, saying there had been a lag in the number of large orders placed by firms buying its equipment.
In another terrible day for outsourcers, as Interserve (IRV) plunged 53.1%, or 13p, to 11.5p on revealing its rescue plan, Kier Group (KIE) continued to slide lower. Kier told investors last week it was planning to reduce its debt by offering them new shares to buy, since banks had become less willing to lend to the sector following the collapse of Carillion. These shares will be sold at 409p, and banks and brokers including Numis, Peel Hunt, Citigroup, HSBC and Santander promised that if they couldn’t find investors to buy all the shares, they would buy the excess themselves. Since Kier’s share price is significantly lower than the 409p offer price, down 1.5%, or 5.6p, at 376.4p yesterday, it looks like the banks may have to stump up. Investors aren’t likely to buy the new shares for 409p when they can buy existing ones for just over 376p. The offer for the new shares closes next Wednesday, so Kier still has a little time to start climbing again.
