The collapse of Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant chain has left creditors facing losses of £83 million. According to the joint administrators’ report for Jamie’s Italian, the biggest loser is HSBC Holdings (HSBA), which had provided £39.4 million to the company in the form of secured debt against the chain’s 23 restaurants across the country. Mr Oliver is also significantly out of pocket. Jamie Oliver Holdings, which contains his successful publishing, broadcasting and licensing interests, provided £18.3 million of secured loans on which it will suffer a shortfall of about £16 million.
Hedge funds have made an estimated paper profit of £150 million by shorting shares of ASOS (ASC)s during the past year after the online fashion retailer issued three profit warnings. The company’s stock is down by 65% over the last 12 months, with investors taking fright about the challenges of making money from selling clothes online. Nick Beighton, chief executive of Asos, insisted this week that there was still demand for its clothes, but warned the business had run into logistics issues in Europe and the United States.
The developer of a fertiliser mine under the North York Moors launched a $500 million high-yield bond yesterday as it seeks to unlock crucial funding for the ambitious venture. Sirius Minerals (SXX) is looking to raise the money to access a further $2.5 billion credit facility from JP Morgan. The company wants to put together a combined $3.8 billion of financing by the end of September to help it start to produce fertiliser in 2021. It completed a discounted $425 million share placing and a $400 million convertible bond offering this month.
A troubled Tanzanian goldminer has agreed to its majority shareholder taking it over again after an improved $428 million offer to buy out minority investors. Acacia Mining (ACA) said that its board would recommend the all-share offer from Barrick, of Canada, to buy the 36% of the company that it does not own as hostility from Tanzania is casting doubt on its survival as an independent. Acacia was spun out of Barrick and was listed in London as African Barrick Gold in 2010. The FTSE 250 company has been in a dispute with Tanzania for the past two years after the government slapped an export ban on gold concentrate and demanded $190 billion in alleged back taxes.
After AstraZeneca (AZN) set aside up to £12 million this week for former employees at the collapsed Avlon drugs factory, there was an outpouring of emotion from its staff. On a Whatsapp group and on Linkedin, the social network, where employees have been helping each other to find new jobs, there were “a lot of people who were saying this is life-changing”, said one female employee of 18 years who was reduced to tears. Another, who had worked at the Avlon site for 12 years, said that “there has been little regard for employees, some of whom had given a lifetime’s service. As a single mum to a pre-schooler, I have been unable to find comparable part-time work.” Astra’s decision on Wednesday to create a fund to ensure that staff receive their enhanced redundancy payments came after three days of criticism from MPs, Unite, the trade union, and employees after The Times had helped to bring the dispute to light.
The march of the discounters across the retail landscape is continuing apace, with cut-price chains planning to open three times as many shops as their traditional rivals next year. Discount chains including Lidl, Aldi, B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME), The Range, Wilko, Home Bargains, Poundland and Jack’s, Tesco’s cheaper offering, have planning permission for 190 new stores next year, according to analysis by Barbour ABI, the data provider, for The Times. By comparison, the Big Four supermarkets — Tesco (TSCO), Sainsbury (J) (SBRY), Asda and Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) — have plans for ten shops, while a wider group of traditional retailers that includes Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) and Waitrose plan to open fifty-two stores. Leading supermarkets called a halt to their “space race” five years ago. Tom Hall, chief economist at Barbour ABI, said that the rise of the discounters reflected “people trying to get the most out of every pound. With wages [increasing] just above inflation, customers are seeking the best value for money, which the likes of Lidl, Aldi and B&M Bargains are taking advantage of.”
The chairman and founder of Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) has sold a fifth of his stake in the business for £37.2 million. Tony Pidgley, 71, the former Barnardo’s boy who created one of Britain’s most profitable housebuilders, sold a million shares in the company. Mr Pidgley, who is the third largest shareholder, trimmed his 3.6% stake in the business on Thursday, according to a regulatory filing released to the stock exchange last night. He still owns 3.6 million shares worth about £135 million at last night’s closing price of £37.56.
The fallout from the worldwide grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft has hit airport restaurants, knocking sales at the owner of Upper Crust and Ritazza during its third quarter. SSP Group (SSPG) runs 2,600 concessions at 140 airports and 280 railway stations in 33 countries. The business, which also operates Yo! Sushi, Burger King and Starbucks under franchise in the travel sector, has 37,000 employees. The restaurant and café chain said that some of its airport shops, particularly those in the United States and Canada, had been “impacted by the grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft and the transfer of passengers away from our terminals”.
Publicis, one of the main rivals to the London-listed WPP (WPP), rattled the advertising world on Thursday evening when it warned after markets had closed that it was cutting its guidance for revenue growth this year after a tough second quarter for its operations in the United States. Shares in Publicis slumped by 6.5% in Paris yesterday and those of WPP slid 21p to 916¾p amid fears that the French business’s disappointing update did not bode well for the British company’s prospects. WPP is led by Mark Read, who took charge last September and is seeking to revive the group’s fortunes as it faces mounting rivalry from Silicon Valley-based technology companies such as Google, the search engine group, and Facebook, the social network. Companies that traditionally would have turned to advertising agencies are starting to go directly to technology companies instead, putting pressure on the likes of Publicis and WPP.
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) up 39¼p to 804p was the biggest gainer on the Footsie amid optimism that the tour operator is in line for compensation from Boeing after the aerospace company said that it was taking a $4.9 billion charge in the wake of the grounding of its 737 Max aircraft. Tui has 15 of the aircraft in its fleet and Boeing said that the charge would cover compensation for airlines.
Aston Martin Holdings (AML) motored 27½p higher to 990½p after Investindustrial, the carmaker’s biggest shareholder, said that it was pressing ahead with a plan to lift its 31% stake by a further 3% by acquiring more shares from other investors. The Italian private equity group had revealed this month that it was considering adding to its stake in a move taken as a show of faith by other shareholders, who have endured a torrid time since Aston Martin’s flotation last October. The stock is down 48% from its £19 float price.
Amerisur Resources (AMER) was a stand-out gainer among the tiddlers on Aim amid excitement that the Colombia-focused oil and gas explorer and producer is on the brink of a takeover. The company said that it was putting itself up for sale after receiving approaches from suitors interested in buying either all or parts of its business.
