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.
Just Eat and HelloFresh tap into appetite for home-delivered food. Sales surge as consumers in UK and elsewhere look for convenience. Sales have surged at the UK online takeaway company Just Eat (JE.) and the Berlin-based meal-kit firm HelloFresh, underlining the popularity of home-delivery services for fresh food. Both companies tap into the desire of consumers to have freshly cooked meals delivered to their door – or preprepared ingredients for home-cooked meals – for convenience. Just Eat posted 43% growth in revenues to £779.5m in 2018 and the company made a pre-tax profit of £101.7m, compared with a £76m loss in 2017. This year it expects revenues to exceed £1bn. The London-based firm invested £51m last year, to improve efficiencies in UK delivery and expand its business overseas. The company gained more than 4 million customers in 2018, taking the total number of active customers to 26 million across Europe, Canada, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand.
Provident fights £1.3bn hostile bid with fresh plea to backers. Provident Financial (PFG) launched a surprise counter-attack to fend off a hostile bid on Wednesday by calling on shareholders who back the £1.3 billion deal to “think again”. The sub-prime lender, which owns Vanquis Bank, said the nil-premium offer from smaller rival Non-Standard Finance (NSF) was fraught with risks and could damage the company’s ability to borrow and pay dividends. Provident also revealed it had found new management for Vanquis Bank, a key concern for shareholders, and bonuses would start again for doorstep lending agents. The withdrawal of bonuses has dragged performance.
Legal & General becomes UK’s first £1 trillion fund manager. Legal & General Group (LGEN) became Britain’s first £1 trillion fund manager after seeing off a stock market downturn. The insurer’s fund arm, Legal & General Investment Management, added £42.6 billion last year despite the worst market conditions for a decade. The company said it had taken advantage of the “globalisation of asset management” to reach the figure. More workers saving into pensions —LGIM controls nearly a fifth of the £338 billion defined contribution market — also contributed to the milestone figure. Assets under management for the year ending December rose 3% to £1.02 trillion.
Shepherd Neame commits to UK brewing as rivals sell up. Shepherd Neame (SHEP) , the pubs landlord and Britain’s old brewer, on Wednesday vowed not to sell-out amid a number of rivals offloading their beer arms. Chief executive Jonathan Neame, whose family founded the firm in Kent in 1698, said: “We see a great future as one of the few remaining independent brewers [in the UK].” The company is behind brands such as Spitfire and Bishops Finger. His comments come weeks after Fuller’s announced a shock £250 million sale of its beer division to Japan’s Asahi. Beer volumes at Shepherd Neame fell in the 26 weeks to December 29 after a contract to brew and distribute Asahi goods under licence expired in early 2018. Comparable sales rose 4.1% at managed pubs, and tenanted pubs had a robust underlying performance.
Superdry co-founder Dunkerton saddened by ‘human cost of a failing strategy’. Julian Dunkerton, the co-founder of Superdry (SDRY) , on Wednesday said he was “devastated” by the imminent job cuts at the fashion chain, amid a war with its top brass. Superdry will slash up to 200 jobs, mainly at its HQ in Cheltenham, over the next six weeks to save cash, the Evening Standard revealed yesterday. Dunkerton, who stepped down from the board last March and is trying to be reappointed, said: “We are now seeing the human cost of a failing strategy at Superdry. Talented people will be losing their jobs. The haemorrhaging of skills will be a disaster.” He added: “The leadership team clearly lacks any strategic vision. They are now trying to cost cut their way back to profitable growth, which is doomed to fail.”
Warehouse firm Tritax Big Box lifted as Brexit stockpiling spreads to hairspray. Warehouse owners are experiencing the “favourable dynamics” of Brexit, according to sheds firm Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) which on Wednesday said customers are stockpiling car parts, drugs and even hairspray. Colin Godfrey, a partner at the FTSE 250 property firm, said demand for space is high as manufacturers prepare for potential no-deal border delays. Godfrey added that the company expects more overspill work at its Erith site used by Ocado while the online grocer grapples with the aftermath of a fire at its Andover warehouse. Tritax Big Box, which counts Unilever and Morrisons as customers, saw rental income jump 28% to £161.1 million in 2018. It upped the dividend by 4.7%.
Betting giant Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) has unveiled plans to change its name to Flutter Entertainment. At the group’s annual general meeting on 18 May, the group’s shareholders will be given the chance to vote on whether or not the name change should go ahead. In its annual results, the group said the proposed new name was designed to reflect the ‘increased diversity of our brands and operations.’ The group added: ‘There are no plans to use this historical name for consumers, and we will seek shareholders permission for the change at our forthcoming AGM.’ Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: ‘I wonder which marketing whiz came up with that one? It will certainly give rise to all manner of puns around having a flutter, I can’t wait!’ Peter Jackson, Paddy Power Betfair’s chief executive, said: ‘I’m really pleased with the way that the group performed in 2018 in what was a challenging year for the sector with regulatory and tax changes. ‘Our collection of challenger brands are well positioned in their local markets. Paddy Power has regained its mojo, taking share following product improvements and some of our ‘classic’ marketing.’
One of the UK’s largest listed solar power funds is set to make its first investment in a zero-subsidy renewables project within the next year. Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) will pay its shareholders a record dividend of 6.58 pence a share from its stable of predictable subsidy-driven solar investments. But the fund’s chief executive, Ricardo Pineiro, said improvements in solar technologies meant Foresight could soon make investments in unsubsidised solar projects as well. “The most important thing is achieving predictable returns for our shareholders, and we see solar as a low-risk option,” he said.
A social media rebellion against big business in Morocco has managed to puncture the maiden financial results of one of the UK’s biggest market listings of recent years. The anti-business consumer boycott last Spring took aim at major suppliers of milk, bottled water and petrol, leaving pan-African petrol station operator Vivo Energy (VVO) as collateral damage. The uprising against ‘unfair’ prices in Morocco, a major market for Vivo, flared up just weeks after its £2bn market debut, which was one of the largest African-focused listings in a decade. The FTSE 250 company is now worth around £1.6bn on the London Stock Exchange.
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) new chief executive has declared the struggling defence contractor is “in a better state than people thought” after unveiling his first set of annual results. Simon Pryce called Ultra’s performance “encouraging” having addressed what he called a “number of legacy issues”. Delivering his verdict on the company after a review, Mr Pryce stopped short of a feared “kitchen sinking”, whereby a new boss throws out the work done by previous management. Instead he insisted Ultra’s disparate divisions could be made work together