Below are the key morning press headlines, featuring the The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
Neil Woodford’s troubled Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) is scrambling to extend a lifeline from its lender after plunging to a £232m loss. Patient Capital is locked in talks with US bank Northern Trust over extending a loan agreement which it has used to borrow £111.1m for investing in stocks, and is considering axing Mr Woodford as manager. The lending deal must be renewed in January, and if the money is withdrawn it could spark further chaos. Sources said board members are meeting with Northern Trust as a priority to ensure the cash remains available. It comes as the trust reels from a crisis engulfing its sister investment scheme, Mr Woodford’s shuttered Equity Income Fund.
Prudential (PRU) is under pressure to compensate thousands of customers quickly after the City regulator fined it almost £24 million for serious breaches in annuities sales. Prudential was found to have failed to consistently advise customers, including potentially vulnerable people, that they might get a better deal by shopping around. It also was found have operated a risky sales incentives scheme, including spa breaks and weekend holidays. The Financial Conduct Authority said that the breaches covered July 2008 to September 2017 and that Prudential has offered about £110 million in redress to 17,240 customers. The compensation is expected to rise to £250 million for about 35,000 people as part of a review of 183,000 sales. Prudential has set aside a total of £400 million, which also includes the costs of the review.
Burford Capital (BUR) has launched action in the High Court seeking to obtain the identities of traders allegedly behind the manipulation of its shares during a recent short attack. Burford Capital was rocked by a report by Muddy Waters in August, alleging that, among other things, Burford was “egregiously misrepresenting” its return on investments. The company has accused Muddy Waters of “factual inaccuracies, simple analytical errors . . . and fallacious insinuations”. It wants the stock exchange to identify the traders that it alleges manipulated the share price. In a statement submitted by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, the legal firm, Burford claims that an analysis of publicly available trading data over August 6 and 7 shows that a large part of the share price decline was the consequence of unlawful trading activity known as “spoofing” and “layering”.
Ferrexpo (FXPO) has denied that authorities in Ukraine suspect its chief executive of embezzling funds from a bank that he used to own. The troubled ore producer insisted that Kostyantin Zhevago, 45, its majority shareholder, had not “received a notice of suspicion in accordance with Ukrainian law” and that he “strongly denies any allegations of wrongdoing”. Shares in Ferrexpo fell on Friday after it was reported that Olha Varchenko, first deputy chief of Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations, had said on Facebook that a notice of suspicion had been handed to Mr Zhevago’s lawyer after he had failed to appear for questioning in Kiev.
H&T Group (HAT) has stepped in to resolve the crisis caused by the abrupt closure of 113 stores run by Speedloan Finance under the Albemarle & Bond brand. H&T Group said that it had signed a deal to acquire all 113 of Albemarle & Bond’s pledge books, effectively acquiring its competitor’s customers and their loans. After completion of the £8 million purchase, on which the Financial Conduct Authority has been consulted, H&T will move the precious items to the owner’s nearest Albemarle & Bond shop, where they will be able to redeem or extend their existing pledges. The deal appears to address the fears of Albemarle & Bond customers, who since the closure of its shops had become increasingly concerned over the future of their valuables.
Bosses at English sparkling wine producer Chapel Down Group plc (CDGP) almost trebled as it ploughed cash into expanding its vineyards and building a new brewery. The company, which is based in Tenterden, Kent, posted losses of £1.7m during the first six months of 2018, compared with £581,861 a year earlier. It came despite soaring sales of its wine, spirits, beer and cider, which jumped 21% to £6.7m during the period. In addition to producing still and sparkling wine, Chapel Down also owns Curious, a range of beer and cider, and makes gin, vodka and brandy. In January, the firm opened its distillery, cocktail bar and restaurant, Gin Works, which already accounts for a tenth of sales.
Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) marched higher after it bumped up the size of its recent open offer as investors bought into the proton therapy hype. The amount raised rose to £2.9 million from £2.5 million and comes after the £18.4 million raised in July to fund the development of the company’s new Light cancer treatment system. In the past proton therapy facilities have been pricey and large, requiring a space the size of a football pitch. Light, however, is being built in the basement of a townhouse in Harley Street, central London.
Motif Bio (MTFB) plunged after it outlined restructuring plans that would include selling its main asset, a trial-stage antibiotic called iclaprim. It has been in talks with the US medicine regulator to find out what it would need to do to get iclaprim off the ground. This would be a years-long, in-depth clinical trial costing tens of millions of dollars. Motif said the best step forward would be for a different company to take this on.