Below are the key headlines from today’s updated papers, featuring the Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
WPP forecasts challenging future after losing big clients. WPP (WPP) is braced for a further drop in revenues as the world’s largest advertising agency counts the cost of a number of high-profile client losses in north America. The marketing and ad conglomerate signalled that like-for-like revenues would fall by between 1.5% and 2% this year after Ford took its creative account to a rival. Glaxosmithkline, United Airlines and American Express are among a number of longstanding customers that cancelled contracts last year. However, shares in the marketing conglomerate behind Ogilvy & Mather and GroupM rose by as much as 9% this morning after it signalled that trading could improve towards the end of the year.
Shell to face charges over $1.3bn Nigerian oil deal. Dutch prosecutors have warned Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’ (RDSB) that they are preparing to bring charges against it over a $1.3 billion Nigerian oil deal. The Anglo-Dutch energy giant is already on trial in Milan alongside the Italian company Eni for alleged corruption in the 2011 deal for the rights to explore off the Nigerian coast in a licence known as OPL 245. Most of the money Shell and Eni paid the Nigerian government for OPL 245 was transferred on to a company controlled by a former oil minister and convicted money launderer and is alleged to have been paid in bribes and kickbacks. In a brief announcement this morning Shell said that it had been “informed by the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s Office that they are nearing the conclusion of their investigation and are preparing to prosecute Royal Dutch Shell plc for criminal charges directly or indirectly related to the 2011 settlement of disputes over Oil Prospecting Licence 245 in Nigeria”.
Rightmove (RMV) shares were in need of some renovation this morning after the online property website reported a dip in the number of estate agency branches using it and flat membership figures for its latest financial year. Shares fell more than 5% at one point, the biggest drop in more than 12 months, after Rightmove listed its agency branch network at 17,328, down 2% from last year’s 17,626. It said that its total membership at the end of last year stood at 20,454, barely higher than the previous year’s 20,427. Pre-tax profits rose 11.25 per cent to £198.2 million on revenues up from £243.3 million to £267.8 million
William Hill (WMH) aims to double profits by 2023 by expanding online and ramping up its US operations to become less reliant on its high street betting shops. The FTSE 250 gambling firm said regulatory decisions in both Britain and the US last year had provided the clarity needed for its new five-year strategy. Chief executive Philip Bowcock said it was the only company operating in all seven American states where sports betting was now permitted and was well placed to move in as more lift restrictions. “The opportunity in the US is huge … the Americans love sports and they are taking to sports betting very well,” he said
Revolution Bars Group (RBG), which has 79 sites in the UK, has decided to shelve its expansion plans and focus on improving its existing cocktail bars instead. The change of heart follows a dryer than expected six months for the group. Slow first-half sales – down 4% – are weighing on the firm’s bottom line too. Revolution Bars warned today that annual profits would now be in the region of £11million and £12million, just shy of previous forecasts. It blamed under-investment in its core brand, which it hopes to rectify with a refurbishment programme. The news sent the firm’s ailing stock spiralling in early trading on Friday. A 16% plunge took it to a new all-time low of £6.03 per share.
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) new chief executive, David Schwimmer, has unveiled plans to axe 250 jobs and cut costs in his first set of annual results. The former Goldman Sachs banker, who took over last year after Xavier Rolet abruptly departed amid a major boardroom bust-up, said the group will cut 5% of its workforce to save about £30m. Mr Schwimmer, once chief of staff to former Goldman boss Lloyd Blankfein, also hinted at further acquisitions after he said LSE would not hit its 2019 targets because it would focus instead on “further investment”
Vertu Motors (VTU) warns on new vehicle sales with Brexit just around the corner. The car dealer has warned new vehicle sales were down with Brexit just around the corner. It said over the past year it has sold 2.37 million new cars, a decline of 6.8% on 2017 and the second year of decline from the 2016 peak of 2.69 million. Full results out in May
Fastjet (FJET) the cash-strapped low-cost African airline said it had managed to extend the terms of a loan to March 31. Fastjet in June had entered agreements with Annunaki Investments and SSCG Africa Holdings, following which the airline lent $5 million from its Zimbabwe unit to Annunaki in return for a $2 million loan to Fastjet from SSCG. The low-cost airline said that the loan amount from Fastjet Zimbabwe to Annunaki had increased from $5 million to $7 million.