Prudential (PRU) has said that it will push ahead with its planned demerger, despite a shock legal judgment preventing it from offloading £12 billion of annuities — a deal that had been seen as smoothing the way for the split. The High Court surprised the insurance industry yesterday by blocking the transfer of 400,000 Pru policyholders to Rothesay Life, a specialist bulk annuity business, after some of them objected. The deal, the biggest of its kind, was announced in March last year on the same day that Prudential revealed plans to demerge M&G Prudential, its UK pensions and global asset management division. The veto means that the book of annuities will stay within the M&G Prudential business, pending a probable appeal by Prudential and Rothesay. Financial responsibility for the pensions has already passed to Rothesay under a reinsurnace deal, but the block means that Pru will continue to have to handle the administration.
Former CIA officials hired by Muddy Waters to weigh up the credibility of statements by executives in Burford Capital (BUR) have accused them of evasion and aggression. In a highly unusual step, Muddy Waters revealed that it had brought in an American consulting firm that claims to specialise in identifying deceptive behaviour through textual and verbal analysis. QVerity, which is based in Greenville, North Carolina, said that written and verbal responses from Burford since the short-selling attack had been launched last week contained “a significant volume and density of deceptive behaviour across all the issues identified [by Muddy Waters]”. Burford declined to respond to the QVerity report, but allies of the beleaguered company disparaged the findings as “drivel, nonsense and devoid of factual analysis”.
SSP Group (SSPG) has backed its chairman after a shareholder rebellion this year. More than a third of shareholders who voted at SSP’s annual meeting in February opposed the re-election of Vagn Sorensen, the chairman, over concerns that he was “overboarded” — the term for holding too many directorships — and about the length of his tenure, which goes beyond corporate governance best practice. Blackrock, Legal & General and Vanguard, fund managers that are all top-ten shareholders in SSP, have taken a tougher line this year on directors they believe are spreading themselves too thinly. Blackrock has said that companies should provide a clear explanation when chairmen serve on more than two other boards. Vanguard has said that it will vote against directors serving on more than four boards.
Ted Baker (TED) has called time on its children’s clothing tie-up with the embattled department store chain Debenhams (DEB) and agreed a partnership with its rival Next (NXT) instead. Ted Baker has signed a five-year-deal that means Next will create and sell the label’s children’s clothing, shoes and accessories. The products, which will be developed in collaboration with Ted Baker’s own creative team, will be sold in Next’s shops and online, as well as Ted Baker’s website. Ted Baker said that its childrenswear partnership with Debenhams will end in February, although it will continue its “mutually profitable relationship” with the department store in lingerie and nightwear.
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) has won a billion-dollar contract to supply the US navy with sonobuoys. Ultra Electronics said yesterday that with Sparton, its American joint venture partner, it had been awarded a contract with a cap of $1.04 billion for a yet to be defined number of the marine listening devices. The joint venture named Erapsco (Expendable Reliable Acoustic Path Sonobuoy Company) already supplies the US navy. Production will take place at Ultra’s factory in Indiana and at a facility in Florida owned by Sparton, which Ultra tried to buy a few years ago before US regulators blocked the deal.
A sharp drop in the value of its assets and a stock market fine for the “unacceptable conduct” of its former directors have helped to push Real Good Food (RGD) to a heavier annual loss. The company has completed a restructuring to tackle its debt. After selling a string of brands, it has been left with two divisions: the Renshaw cake icing brand and its Brighter Foods division, which makes healthy snack bars for supermarkets. Real Good Food reported a pre-tax loss of £26.1 million for the year to the end of March, compared with one of £9.1 million last year. The company wrote down the value of its assets by £18.7 million. It also had to pay a £300,000 fine after it was censured by the London Stock Exchange in the wake of an investigation which discovered that the business had misled investors in 2017 about its performance, leading to a profit warning. The £6.5 million company this week extended the repayment of its £35 million of debt with its three leading shareholders.
Sport proved to be almost as attractive with investors as bikini-clad girls and buffed-up boys after ITV (ITV) turned heads with its plans for La Liga and the Rugby World Cup. The broadcaster said that it would extend coverage of Spain’s top football league and that it had signed an exclusive deal with Ocean Outdoor to broadcast highlights from next month’s oval-ball tournament on giant screens in six British cities, including London.
Premier Foods (PFD) climbed after Sky News reported that Colin Day, 63, former chief financial officer of Reckitt Benckiser, was among the leading contenders to become its chairman, replacing Keith Hamill, 66, who is to step down after less than two years. Mr Hamill’s departure comes after the resignation in January of Gavin Darby, 62, chief executive, who had been criticised by activist investors.
Marshalls (MSLH) rose after a recommendation by Numis. Analysts said that the pacing supplier’s growth in the half-year to June had been driven by its alignment to the better-performing parts of the construction sector — housing, infrastructure and water management. Marshalls supplies stone and concrete to developments ranging from driveways to Trafalgar Square. In its interim results on Thursday, it said that plans to pedestrianise town centres had helped to lift pre-tax profits from £32.5 million to £37.1 million in the six-month period.
may have lost its auditor this week, but the shares rose 9p after Richard Bottomley, 62, a senior non-executive director, bought 10,000 shares at 10p each on Wednesday. The company also said yesterday that it was shutting eight Jack Wills shops, only two weeks after buying the preppy fashion brand in a pre-pack administration.
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) added 3¾p to 241¾p after it said that it had instructed Citigroup Global Markets to initiate a share buyback in which it will return up to £200 million to shareholders.
Acacia Mining (ACA) climbed 1½p, or 0.6 per cent, to 249½p, despite saying that production at its North Mara mine in Tanzania would not resume until a government-issued prohibition notice was lifted.
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) gained 22p after Morgan Stanley raised its price target for the insurer from £16.98 to £17.80.
Oil and gas explorer Andalas Energy and Power (ADL) rose 18.5% to nearly a fifth of a penny after it said that its well in Sumatra was performing ahead of expectations.
Maestrano Group (MNO) said that it had adequate cash reserves to support its future plans and that it was in talks about dealmaking opportunities. The shares leapt by 35.7% to almost 2p.