Jupiter pulls £300m from Woodford over bad bets
A RIFT between fund manager Neil Woodford and his long-time supporter Jupiter Asset Management has gripped the markets.
Sources said Jupiter was pulling nearly £300m out of Woodford’s flagship income fund after a 20year partnership between them.
John Chatfeild-Roberts, who runs Jupiter’s Merlin funds, was one of his first backers when he set up his own business in 2013.
Chatfeild-Roberts’ decision to withdraw the majority of that investment is likely to be seen as a major embarrassment for Woodford. Neither side would comment on the move.
Woodford suffered a serious blow this year when doorstep lender Provident Financial – in which he holds a 19pc stake – was hammered over a botched IT upgrade which saw debt collectors being sent to the wrong houses at the wrong time.
The Provvy was hit by a new blow yesterday in the form of a £75,000 fine for spamming wouldbe borrowers. Its credit card division Vanquis Bank bombarded consumers with more than 870,000 texts and 620,000 emails to promote its services, according to regulators at the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The company’s irate victims had never signed up for this service and the Provvy has apologised for any ‘irritation caused’.
Shares dropped 7.9pc, or 71.5p, to 836.5p yesterday as traders vented their displeasure. The Provvy is due to issue a trading update on Friday, and markets will be likely to punish the firm further unless some steps have been made towards a turnaround.
Shares are down more than 70pc since the start of the year.
Woodford’s and Jupiter’s part- nership was not the only one under pressure, with animal retailer Pets at Home taking a hit after private equity investor KKR sold £119m of stock, reducing its stake to 12.4pc.
Shares in the firm, known for its spa treatments for dogs, slipped 7.7pc, or 16.8p, to 199.2p.
The blue chip FTSE 100 climbed 0.38pc, or 30.38 points, to 7538.27.
Several domestic stocks found themselves close to the top of the leader board as investors thumbed their noses at the International Monetary Fund, which cut UK growth forecasts for 2017 by 0.3 points to 1.7pc. Consumer goods giant Reckitt
Benckiser was the biggest riser, up 2.2pc, or 152p, at 7090p. Others in the mix included housebuilder
Persimmon (climbing 2.3pc, or 63p, to 2761p) and NatWest owner
Royal Bank of Scotland (rising 2pc, or 5.3p, to 277.5p).
Publisher Pearson languished at the far end of the Footsie as investors fretted once again over its ability to compete in the online age, shedding 1.9pc, or 12p, to close at 619.5p. Down in the world of small-caps, scandal-hit IT firm
Telit Communications was another loser.
The firm announced that it was fitting robot lawnmowers made by Swedish business Husqvarna, owner of popular brand Flymo, with sensors allowing them to collect environmental information in the cities where they’re used.
But this upbeat announcement did nothing to quell investors’ worries, after chief executive Oozi Cats quit in August over US allegations of property fraud dating back to the 1990s. The stock dropped 5.6pc, or 9.25p, to 155p.
Fellow tech firm Seeing Machines enjoyed a smoother ride. The business, up 4pc, or 0.12p, at 3.25p, has developed a monitoring system that can tell if car drivers are paying attention to the road.
It has teamed up with General Motors to work on a small infrared camera in the 2018 Cadillac CT6. The car will feature a cruise control system where the driver doesn’t have to put their hands on the wheel.