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.
Mike Ashley gatecrashes Debenhams debt plan with £61 million bid approach. Sports Direct International (SPD) made a £61.4 million approach for struggling Debenhams (DEB) in its latest attempt to derail the department store’s rescue refinancing. Sports Direct, the largest shareholder in Debenhams, is prepared to offer 5p a share for the crisis-hit firm if it agrees to conditions including Ashley becoming chief executive and dropping its current refinancing plans. The potential offer is a fraction of its £1.7 billion valuation when it returned to the stock market in 2006 after controversial private equity ownership.
Goals Soccer Centres uncovers VAT error and suspends shares. Retail tycoon Mike Ashley faced another headache on Wednesday as Goals Soccer Centres (GOAL), the five-a-side football pitch firm he backs, revealed it has uncovered “substantial” VAT accounting errors and suspended its shares. The operator of 50 UK and US sites halted trade in its stock and warned that the final value of a “misdeclaration” of VAT, going back over several years, has not yet been established. However, the figure currently stands at around £12 million. The company added that new accounting policies it now intends to adopt “may have an impact on profitability going forward”, and there could be a change in its overall financial position.
The popularity of Help to Buy, cheap mortgage deals, high employment levels and ‘strong’ demand for affordable homes have all helped housebuilder Bellway (BWY) enjoy record half-year results, the group said today. While upbeat about its performance in the last six months, Bellway warned that uncertainty surrounding Brexit still posed a risk. Bellway said: ‘The ultimate impact of Brexit could be on the ability to sell properties and the corresponding impact on returns.’ In its latest results, Newcastle-based Bellway booked a 12.4% rise in revenue to £1.49billion, while profit increased by 8.7% to £313.9million. Bellway’s average selling price rose to £293,832, up from £275,945, over the period. The group’s interim dividend will rise 5% to 50.4p a share, up from 48p a share a year ago.
Shares in property firm RDI Reit (RDI) rise after takeover approach. An Australian property firm is in talks to take over London-based investor RDI Reit, in a move that would substantially increase its presence in the UK. RDI, which has offices, hotels and shopping centres across Britain and Germany, said it has received an unsolicited approach from Brisbane-headquartered Cromwell Property Group. RDI is known in London for having a majority stake in a number of buildings, including in Southwark and Monument, used by trendy shared workspace brand Office Space In Town.
Burberry rethinks London offices reduction plan. Burberry Group (BRBY) has drastically scaled back plans to downsize its London base, and will keep two big buildings in Victoria, the Evening Standard has learnt. When the FTSE 100 fashion giant, known for its trademark trench coats, announced plans in 2017 to move hundreds of jobs to Leeds it occupied 160000 square feet Horseferry House and 127000 square feet 1 Page Street. It went on to hire property agent Cushman & Wakefield to sublet up to all of the latter property as part of plans to save costs and axe space not being used. However Burberry has now told Cushman & Wakefield it wants to retain most of the offices, and only sublet around 30,000 square feet of it.
Better news for Brave Bison Group (BBSN) . The firm cut its annual losses and swung to positive earnings amid higher revenue driven by growth in Facebook platform advertising. For the twelve months ended 31 December 2018, losses were cut to £0.1 million from £17.2 million a year earlier, and revenue increased 19% to £21.2 million. “2018 has been a transformative year for Brave Bison in terms of our financial results, our market positioning, and the value we have created for shareholders,” said Claire Hungate, Chief Executive Officer. “I am delighted with what we achieved in the year, particularly becoming adjusted EBITDA positive and Tubular Labs listing us as the biggest publisher on Facebook based on views. “Looking ahead, while there are challenges of running a digital media business, there are also a lot of opportunities to capitalise on, in a world increasingly dominated by social media and video content.”