Chipmaker dives £600m as Apple withdraws trade

Chipmaker Dialog Semiconductor saw more than £600m knocked off its value after it admitted apple could move its business in-house by 2019.

The company has seen its shares plunge 35.8pc since November 30 when speculation of a possible pull out by apple first broke.

Shares fell 24pc yesterday, or ¤7.5 to ¤23.7, taking its value to about €1.8bn from about €2.5bn. at its height in 2000, Dialog was trading at ¤145 per share.

Dialog’s technology helps make smart phones more power efficient and shortens charging times, but yesterday it said apple has the resources and capability to internally design its own technology in the next few years.

The move would be a blow for the firm, which relies on apple for more than 70pc of its sales and has raised fears it could suffer the same fate as imagination Technologies, the Uk chipmaker which collapsed in april after apple said it would stop using its graphics processor designs.

Dialog, however, said it had no reason to believe its business in 2018 will be affected by any potential actions by apple.

But its intervention did little to reassure investors and sent shares plummeting.

One analyst said the firm’s intervention caused more damage than it controlled. achal Sultania, at Credit Suisse, said: ‘Dialog’s comments today around apple’s ability seem to have put more doubt in investors’ minds.’

Speculation that Disney had reignited talks with 21st century Fox over a sale of most of its business sent shares in Sky soaring.

Disney is reportedly looking to buy the 20th Century Fox movie studio, cable channels such as FX, indian broadcaster Star and Fox’s 39pc stake in broadcaster Sky.

Fox would keep Fox News and its sports channel, its broadcast network and its sports channel.

The deal also comes as the Competition and markets authority mulls Fox owner rupert murdoch’s £11.7bn bid for the 61pc of Sky that he doesn’t already own.

Shares in Sky jumped 2.8pc, or 26p, to 956p.

The FTSE 100 climbed 0.5pc, or 38.5 points, to 7339 points.

Shares in Debenhams nudged up after it revealed Sports Direct, the retail empire owned by millionaire mike ashley, had increased its voting rights in the retailer to 21.2pc. The agreement is the final tranche of a deal Sports Direct entered into with its then broker Goldman Sachs in 2015 when it was trying to persuade Debenhams to open more of its sportswear concessions.

The cost of the deal, which has also seen Sports Direct become Debenhams’s largest shareholder – holding more than 21pc of shares, has not been disclosed but it is reportedly worth a considerable premium on Debenhams’s market price. When the deal was announced, Sports Direct said its maximum exposure was £85m.

ashley however has recently been pulling out of Sports Direct and in October revealed he had shut four out of nine of Sports Direct’s concessions in order to streamline his business.

Debenhams shares fell as much as 1.9pc in early trading but finished up 0.6pc, or 0.25p, to 39.75p. Caribbean resort operator Elegant Hotels surged after it confirmed it had received a takeover bid. The firm said it has received an approach from Spanish giant melia hotels international – but discussions have been terminated. it is understood the approach valued elegant at around £98m, at 110p per share. analysts said the bid was ‘highly opportunistic’ and did not reflect the group’s dominance in Barbados, where it is the largest operator by room number in the luxury hotel market.

Shares surged 3.6pc, or 3p, to 86.5p as a result.