Coats invests in tech start-up Twine Solutions
Coats has announced on Tuesday that it has become a strategic investor in Israeli based technology start-up Twine Solutions.
The world’s leading industrial thread manufacturer invested in the start-up due to its revolutionary digital thread dyeing system.
Twine Solutions was founded in 2015 in Israel by two brothers with an extensive digital printing expertise. It currently employs 40 full-time workers and is situated just outside of Tel Aviv.
Under the agreement, Coats will invest $5 million for a 9.5% share in the company and a seat on the Board. Coats’ Michael Schofer, the Chief Supply Chain Officer, will be taking the seat on the Twine Board. Both companies will now work together on an exclusive commercial partnership to market the technology and launch it next year.
Rentokil Initial announces £1.5 billion pension scheme deal
Rentokil Initial has announced that it will transfer its £1.5 billion pension scheme to Pension Insurance Corporation. This is ahead of the planned full buy-out of the scheme in 2020.
The agreement will secure the benefits of 14,200 members (7,500 pensioners and 6,700 deferred pensioners). As a result, this means that the scheme is now fully hedged against longevity, interest rate and inflation risks.
Rentokil Initial is a FTSE 100 company and one of the largest business services companies across the globe.
It currently operates in over 70 countries. Moreover, it is a global leader in the Pest Control and Hygiene services. Chief Executive of the company, Andy Ransom, commented: “This transaction is a fantastic outcome for our pensioners, the Company and our shareholders. We have supported the Scheme over many decades and over that period made significant cash contributions to remedy a deficit that has existed between the Scheme’s assets and liabilities. That funding, combined with excellent stewardship by the Scheme’s trustees, and the high quality support of the advisers to the Company and the Trustee, has resulted in a very positive situation whereby the Scheme can now be transferred to an A+ rated insurance company, PIC. This action de-risks the Scheme for the benefit of members and the Company.” “While many other companies will have to continue investing heavily into their pension schemes for years to come, we can focus our future investments on delivering profitable growth.” Additionally, Chris Pearce, Chairman of Trustee, said: “This is great news for members. After many years of support from Rentokil Initial and careful management with Aon (our Actuary) and Willis Towers Watson (our investment adviser) we can now secure our members’ benefits through Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), a company which has strong financial credentials and a track record of excellent customer service. I want to thank our advisers, Aon, and our lawyers, Linklaters, for their help in arranging a strong agreement with PIC which will continue the excellent pensions our members enjoy.” At the beginning of October, Rentokil Initial acquired Mitie’s pest control business for £40 million. At 08:57 GMT today, shares in Rentokil Initial plc (LON:RTO) were trading at +1.07%.Wizz Air passenger numbers up 11%
New data has emerged on Tuesday morning outlining Wizz Air’s growth over November 2018 and its passenger statistics during this period.
Over the month of November, the amount of passengers flying with the airline grew 11.2% to 2,400,337. Additionally, load factor increased 2.9 percentage points to 91.2%.
Wizz Air is the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe.
It currently operates 105 airbuses and offers over 600 routes from 26 bases, connecting 144 destinations across 4 countries. In the past year, the low-cost airline has flown over 33 million people. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, the company is also included in the FTSE 250. The results also outline the company’s growth of its network. The company revealed that Krakow is to become its 26th base with two brand new airbus models being deployed there from summer 2019. Indeed, it will operate 12 new routes to nine countries. Additionally, by deploying the new airbus models, Wizz Air will further consolidate its number one market position in Hungary and Romania. Equally, it will contribute to the expansion of the company’s 105 aircraft strong fleet that it currently boasts. In April, the airline reported another passenger increase following the addition of several new routes. The results also outline that the inauguration of Wizz Air’s new state-of-the-art €30 million pilot and cabin crew training center in Budapest. Currently, the facility operates two full motion simulators and holds the potential to train up to 300 people daily at the site. At the beginning of November, the airline lowered its forecast for full-year profit to between €270 and €300 million. This was as a result of air traffic control strikes and higher fuel prices. The industrial action caused shares in the company to drop significantly and impacted its results. The strikes from air traffic controllers lead to a five-fold increase in the airline’s flight cancellations. At 08:30 GMT today, shares in Wizz Air Holdings plc (LON:WIZZ) were up 0.1%.Glencore copper chief resigns, shares rally
Glencore shares rallies on Monday after the company announced the resignation of its copper chief, Telis Mistakidis.
The Anglo-Swiss commodity and mining company announced the departure of Mistakidis. a long-term director, who has been with the firm since 1993. He is set to be replaced by Nico Paraskevas.
Glencore is currently under investigation for its assets in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Last month, the Katanga mining business, which Glencore has a controlling stake in, came up against further troubles amid a row with the government over export duties.
At the time of the news, Glencore issued a statement regarding the dispute.
Katanga said in a statement:
“Given that the copper cathode production at issue did not exist and that the copper lots were not exported, Kamoto strongly asserts that no export duties are owing on the overstated (not produced and not sold) copper cathode. As indicated above, Kamoto is engaged in discussions with the DGDA with a view to resolving the dispute,”
“Although the Company is optimistic that the parties will reach a satisfactory resolution in the coming days to allow imports and exports to continue, unless the dispute with the DGDA is resolved and Kamoto’s imports and exports are permitted to resume in the near future, the suspension of imports and exports is expected to negatively impact the Company’s production and revenue during the suspension,” it continued.
Alongside Mistakadis’ resignation, other management changes announced include roles within its coal, ferroalloys trading and mining divisions.
Moreover, Glencore adjusted its forecast for 2018 core profit in its trading division to be in the region of $2.7 billion.
Glencore had initially expected full-year training earnings from trading to be towards the top end end of its $2.2 billion to $3.2 billion range.
Shares in Glencore (LON:GLEN) are currently +4.64%, as of 15:27PM (GMT).
Scrap stamp duty for pensioners, says new report
A new report has called on the government to scrap the stamp duty for pensioners, encouraging downsizing.
The study by the Policy Exchange found that single people aged over 65 own and live in 1.1 million homes in the UK with two or more spare bedrooms.
The report will suggest that new housing purpose-built for pensioners, or “ageing baby boomers”, should be built in order to free up housing for younger families.
Such changes “would allow more baby boomers to move into homes fit for their retirement, releasing family homes onto local housing markets; and give more baby boomers the chance to access housing wealth they have stored up in spare bedrooms.”
Jack Airey, who is the author of the report, said: “Although debates around the housing crisis tend to centre on the experiences of younger people, some of its most acute impacts are felt by older generations.”
“From unsafe stairs to poor heating, too many older people live in homes that limit their physical and mental health. Building more homes suited to older people will allow more retirees to live in a house that supports them to lead healthy and happy lives.”
“It will also give more people the opportunity to downsize and draw down their housing equity, releasing money for retirement, and saving money by moving to a home which is easier and cheaper to maintain.”
“The aim should be enticing people to move at a younger age, avoiding a more traumatic move in later life and lightening the demand for residential care homes. This, as we argue, can be achieved by increasing the supply of good quality, desirable homes suited for older people,” he added.
Philip Hammond scrapped stamp duty for first-time buyers on homes up to £500,000 in 2017.
Thomas Cook shares continue to slide
Shares in Thomas Cook are continuing to fall following last week’s profit warning.
On Monday, shares in the group were down more than 18% and have tumbled almost 70% since last week.
The airline and travel agent has downgraded profit forecasts twice in two months, blaming the heatwave for affecting bookings over summer.
“2018 was a disappointing year for Thomas Cook, despite achieving some important milestones in our strategy for transforming the business,” said the group’s chief executive Peter Fankhauser last week.
“After a good start to the year, we experienced a larger-than-anticipated decline in gross margin following the prolonged period of hot weather in our key summer trading period,” he added.
“Our final result is expected to be around £30 million lower than previously guided, due to a number of legacy and non-recurring charges to underlying EBIT. Within this, profit in our tour operating business fell £88 million as the sustained heatwave restricted our ability to achieve the planned margins in the last quarter.”
Full-year profit expectations were down by £30 million. Earnings to the end of September will be £250 million. Sales of holidays to its own-brand hotels increased by 15%.
Shares in the group (LON: TCG) are currently trading down 18.60% at 24,50p (1303GMT).
Unilever acquires GSK’s Horlicks in €3.3bn deal
Unilever and GlaxoSmithKline have agreed on a €3.3 billion ($3.8 billion) deal.
The Anglo-Dutch company will acquire GSK’s Indian health food and drinks portfolio, including the Horlicks brand, to strengthen presence in the growing economy.
In a statement, Nitin Paranjpe who is the President of Food & Refreshment at Unilever, said: “We are delighted to be acquiring the GSK Health Food Drinks portfolio.”
“The iconic Horlicks brand has a deep heritage, credibility and resonance around the world. The acquisition is transformative for our Foods and Refreshment business allowing us to enter the Health Foods Drinks category, further strengthening our position in health and wellness.”
“It is rare to be able to acquire brands with such leading market positions and fantastic consumer equity in one of the world’s most exciting and fast-growing markets. Improving the health and wellbeing of 1 billion people by 2020 is a key pillar in our Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. Horlicks and Boost will add to our stable of purpose-driven brands that help consumers to get more out of their lives.”
Anand Shah, an analyst at Axis Capital Ltd. in Mumbai, said: “If you look at Unilever’s foods portfolio in India they have been seriously lagging for many years now, especially versus the global Unilever portfolio. It’s a bid to expand the entire food pie for themselves.”
Shares in GlaxoSmithKline (LON: GSK) are trading -4.30%. Shares in Unilever (LON: ULVR) are +0.59% (1244GMT).
Omega Diagnostics half-year profits slip, shares fall
Omega Diagnostics posted its half-year results on Monday, causing shares to fall.
The medical diagnostics company reported revenue of £5.23 million, marking a 27% decline from the £7.11 million posted a year earlier.
Revenue from continuing operations was down 7% to £4.22 million.
For the six months until 30 September, Omega Diagnostics reported a pre-tax loss of $0.51 million, compared to $0.21 million back in 2017.
This was attributed to the one-off sale of its infectious disease unit, with reduced contributions affecting profitability across the period.
Adjusted earnings per share came in at -0.5p, compared to 0.3p a year previously.
Looking ahead, David Evans, Chairman, commented:
“Our short-term outlook is dominated by our efforts to realise value for Shareholders whilst at the same time successfully accelerating our efforts to commercialise our CD4 offering. The challenges are not inconsequential but I remain confident that in those areas where we can control our own destiny that we will succeed in delivering our objectives. In those areas where we are not masters of our own destiny then, by definition, the outcome will always be less certain. I believe it is best for our statement to reflect that reality as it stands today. Rest assured we will continue to work towards achieving success for all our Stakeholders.”
Omega Diagnostics focuses on specialised products relating to allergy, food intolerance and infectious diseases.
The firm was founded in Scotland back in 1987.
The company was listed publicly on the London Stock Exchange in 2006.
Shares in Omega Diagnostics (LON:ODZ) are currently -15.62% on the back of the announcement.
Ted Baker shares fall 13% amid ‘forced hugging’ petition
Shares in Ted Baker fell over 10% on Monday morning after a petition emerged accusing the group’s owner of inappropriate comments and behaviour.
An online petition, which has 2,500 signatures, calls for the “end of forced ‘hugging’ by the CEO. It is part of a culture that leaves harassment unchallenged.”
The company has launched an investigation into the claims but has defended founder and chief executive, Ray Kelvin.
“It is critically important to us that every member of our staff feels valued and respected at work,” said Ted Baker in a statement.
“Ray greets many people he meets with a hug, be it a shareholder, investor, supplier, partner, customer or colleague. Hugs have become part of Ted Baker’s culture, but are absolutely not insisted upon.”
“We have very clear and robust HR policies in place to provide all employees with a wide range of reporting options for any issues that they might encounter, including a completely confidential and anonymous 24/7 helpline,” the retailer said.
“While the claims made are entirely at odds with the values of our business and those of our CEO, we take them very seriously and will ensure that a thorough independent investigation is carried out. We will then carefully consider the content and recommendations of that report.”
The firm is due to release a trading update on Thursday. The FTSE-250-listed group has 544 stores worldwide and Kelvin is worth around £522 million.
The store is named after Kelvin’s alter-ego. The retailer’s boss refuses to have his full face photographed.
Shares in Ted Baker (LON: TED) are trading down 13.01% at 1.588,50 (1139GMT). The stock has roughly halved since March.
Bushveld Minerals poised to enter the Vanadium Battery market
Bushveld Minerals (LON:BMN) is poised to enter the Vanadium Battery market as the miner prepares to diversify the business away from an extraction and processing play.
In a recent operation update, the group who operates primarily in Africa, announced they were on-track to commission the first Eskom vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) in December 2018.
Bushveld Minerals’ Vanadium has largely been used in the strengthening of steel as an alloy but the metal’s properties makes it an excellent alternative to Lithium in the battery market.
The company awaits results of an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for an electrolyte production facility crucial to the production of Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries.
A VRFB creates electricity by storing power in tanks of Vanadium electrolyte then firing the electrolytes through specialist cells to create energy.
The electrolyte production facility is expected to be up and running in the first half of 2019 after facing delays in early 2018.