Burford Capital (BUR) has bowed to investor pressure and announced a sweeping boardroom shake-up. The company, which came under attack from short-selling hedge fund Muddy Waters last week, will remove its boss’s wife from the position of chief financial officer. Its City grandee chairman is also leaving, along with another director, and it has vowed to seek a listing on the more tightly regulated New York Stock Exchange alongside its spot on the UK’s junior AIM market. Governance at Burford, which helps companies and individuals pay for legal cases in return for a cut of the winnings, was put under scrutiny after hedge fund Muddy Waters accused it of manipulating accounts to mislead investors. It questioned whether Elizabeth O’Connell, who is married to Burford’s chief executive Chris Bogart, had the independence to run the finance department. She has now moved to be chief strategy officer. Former Morgan Stanley investment banker Jim Kilman will take her place. 85-year-old chairman Sir Peter Middleton is standing down in 2021. David Lowe, a non-executive director who was an investment banker and member of the judiciary in Guernsey where Burford is incorporated, leaves in 2020. Burford is also looking to hire two new independent directors.
Admiral Group (ADM) squeezed more than £40million out of customers who split their bills into monthly instalments during the first half of 2019. Like most of its rivals, the car insurer charges extra if a driver decides to spread the cost of their premium over a year instead paying a lump sum. Critics claim the practice is unfair and means that struggling young motorists least able to afford a higher bill are forced to cough up. Admiral earned £42million from this so-called instalment income in the first six months of the year, accounts show. James Daley, of consumer group Fairer Finance, said: ‘It is bizarre that insurers charge more if you want to pay for a policy in monthly instalments, since you’re effectively insured day by day. ‘It can add an enormous amount to the cost of insurance, which is already prohibitively high for young drivers. ‘If you’re a young driver who has been offered a premium of several thousand pounds, you probably have no choice but to pay monthly.’
Shares in Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) surged after an assortment of top brass spent their own money buying up the company’s stock. Chief executive Asaf Elimelech spent more than £280,000 on 30,460 shares, while finance head Elad Even-Chen splashed out almost £290,000 buying the same number at a slightly higher price. These contributions were dwarfed by co-founder Alon Gonen, who does not hold a board role, who spent £6.7million on 987,553 shares. A further seven directors also made purchases. It came a day after it announced a nosedive in profits and sales during the first half of the year. It also revealed a rise in customers and plans to buy back shares from investors between now and next March. A year ago the co-founders sold a slew of stock for £145m in a move that sent a very different signal to the market and sparked fears shares had peaked. As Liberum analysts said: ‘That directors should buy stock has been a key piece of investor feedback and is therefore notably responsive, especially taken with the recent buyback and new distribution policy.’
Aston Martin Holdings (AML) skidded to a new all-time low as it plunged during early trading, in the latest embarrassment for the luxury car maker. Its share price dived by more than a fifth to 371p per share at its lowest point. The 007 favourite later clawed back much of the losses. Aston is now worth less than a quarter of its market value since it became a public company, crashing from £4.33billion to under £1billion now. The most recent plunge doesn’t seem to have been sparked by any announcements, and there are no market updates expected. Whatever the cause, investors will be hoping Britain’s only listed car maker can get out of its stock market cul-de-sac soon.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) shares slumped after a triple whammy of investment bank downgrades. Macquarie, UBS and HSBC all took aim, with a mix of stock and target price downgrades, sending it plummeting 20.8p, to 177.65p.
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) sunk 15.3%, or 75.6p, to 419.1p, after it trimmed its dividend and posted a 19 per cent fall in pre-tax profits to £293million. The Kazakhstan-focused company was hit by a fall in copper prices in the six months to the end of June.
Sirius Minerals (SXX), which is building a massive fertiliser mine in Yorkshire, rose 0.3p, to 9.15p after investment bank Citigroup disclosed it now owns more than 5% of its shares.
