Martin Sorrell’s new advertising firm S4 Capital (SFOR), which he set up after leaving WPP last year, has posted a £9.1million loss in its first annual results. That’s because of the recent acquisitions of San Francisco-based Mighty Hive for £118million and Dutch firm Media Monks for £266million. If the costs relating to these acquisitions are excluded, the company saw adjusted operating profit of just over £4million. On a pro-forma basis, which includes the two acquisitions, revenues for the combined group rose 58% to £135.9million, while operational earnings rose 99% to £22.4million compared to last year. Martin Sorrell, who left WPP after he was accused of using company money to pay for a prostitute – claims he denies – hailed an ‘all-in-all a powerful 2018’
American financial tech group Fidelity National Information Services Inc (FIS) has agreed to buy London listed payment processor Worldpay, Inc Class A Com Stk (DI) (WPY) for £26billion, in the biggest deal to date in the booming payments industry. Worldpay was formerly owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland before it was spun out of the lender to private equity firms Bain Capital and Advent International in 2010 as a condition of its state bailout. It was subsequently taken over by US rival Vantiv in a £9.3billion deal, which then merged with it to create a £22billion firm. The deal today is the latest in a wave of consolidation in the financial software and payments technology sectors as firms bulk up to compete with newcomers seeking to disrupt the way merchants are paid.
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) is to buy Footasylum (FOOT) for £90.1million, despite insisting it was not his intention to do so just a couple of months ago when it bought a stake in the troubled smaller rival. Britain’s biggest sportswear retailer will pay 82.5p per share for the company, in which it already has an almost 19% stake, having acquired it in February. The offer marks a 77.4% premium on Footasylum closing price from last week, at total cost of £74million, valuing Footasylum at £90.1million. Shares in Footasylum jumped 74% to 81p on the news, although they are still half the flotation price of 164p in November 2017. JD Sports shares rose 0.4% to 488p. The companies did not say if the deal would result in any job losses or whether the Footasylum brand will continue to trade as such.
Men’s apparel firm Moss Bros Group (MOSB) has lined up Colin Porter, the chief executive of country clothing brand Joules Group (JOUL), as its new chairman. Porter, who has been at the helm of Joules since 2010, will take up the role in May when current chairman Debbie Hewitt retires after nine years in the post. Porter’s appointment comes as Moss Bros is trying to revive its fortunes after struggling in recent years. Shares in the company have been in decline after it issued a profit warning last year. But today’s news was well received by shareholders, with Moss Bros stock rising per 5.4% to 24.72p in morning trading.
M&S under pressure to slash prices to revive food business as it plans to open new superstores. Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) is under mounting pressure to slash prices in order to stop the rot in its food business. The High Street stalwart plans to open new superstores to try and bring families in for the big weekly grocery shop – pitting M&S against the likes of Sainsbury’s and Tesco. It will also start selling its food online for the first time next year after it bagged a £1.5billion deal with online food delivery company Ocado. The tie-up has been hailed by chief executive Steve Rowe as the retailer’s ‘biggest and boldest’ move to date, as it desperately scrambles to reverse falling sales. The retailer is battling against the unstoppable rise of discounters Aldi and Lidl and experts have warned that unless M&S dramatically reduces prices, its food division will continue to struggle. Richard Chamberlain, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said: ‘Prices across the board are going to have to come down. ‘If you look at their pricing I think they are more expensive than Waitrose on branded and own-branded products.’
‘I’ve moved my jobs firm back to Britain because of Brexit’: Recruitment boss James Reed says UK set for a rush to fill roles. As some businesses started moving their operations overseas in preparation for Brexit, James Reed, the boss of the recruitment firm that bears his family name, had other ideas. Shortly after the referendum in 2016, the 55-year-old drew up plans to move the company his father founded nearly 60 years ago back from Malta to the UK. The move was completed late last year and Reed, who voted to stay in the EU, is eager to explain why he holds the increasingly unfashionable belief that a bright future lies in wait for Britain.
Interserve still had £2.1billion of public deals when it went bust. Interserve (IRV) was handed £660million of taxpayers’ contracts in the two years before it collapsed, despite three profit warnings. The troubled outsourcer still had £2.1billion of public deals when it went bust on Friday. It was handed public contracts worth £432million in 2017, and £233million last year despite profit warnings in May 2016, October 2017 and November 2018, according to Tussell, a data provider on UK government contracts. The biggest contract in 2018 was awarded by the Foreign and Commonwealth office –£66million for total facilities management services in July. Even since December 2018, when the company announced a rescue plan to clear £630million in debts, Interserve has been awarded £6million in public contracts.
