Jupiter is knocked back as it loses a star manager
SWISS bank UBS is advising its clients to sell shares in Jupiter Fund Management following the loss of a star investment manager, which it reckons could hit the business.
Alexander Darwall is ceding management of the European and European Growth funds after 18 and 12 years respectively in charge. They are Jupiter’s second and fifth largest, with £7.7bn of assets under management.
While the FTSE 250 group has poached Mark Nichols from Columbia Threadneedle to be portfolio manager of the funds, UBS expects the change to accelerate ‘outflows’.
Jupiter, down 1.4pc, or 5.3p, at 368.6p, is in the cross-hairs of short- sellers betting on a share price fall. Around 9.5pc of its equity base is out on loan to speculators. They piled in after a grim 2018 for a group grappling with fund outflows and rising costs.
Elsewhere, Tate & Lyle shares hit a fresh year-high of over 800p before plunging back amid takeover rumours – speculation that was swiftly rebutted by sources close to the sweeteners giant.
The whisper is that it has had a 900p-a-share offer from a French privately owned group called Roquette Freres that would value it at just over £4bn. ‘This feels like a bit of a wild one,’ said the source. The shares were flat at 773.2p.
The FTSE 100 took little comfort from the Bank of England’s upgraded growth forecasts to close 33.95 points lower at 7351.31. The Bank also kept interest rates on hold at 0.75pc. Shares in Simply Be owner
N Brown shot up more than 20pc despite racking up a £57.5m loss, compared with profits of £16.2m the previous year. The retailer, which also owns JD Williams, Jacamo and Figleaves, posted a 5.5pc fall in sales to £647.2m in the 12 months to March 2, but an upbeat outlook sent shares up 22.3pc, or 23.9p, to 131p. Replacement hip maker Smith
& Nephew – up 3pc, or 44p, at 1519p – topped the blue-chip risers after it said its full-year revenues were likely to be at the upper end of expectations.
What did we learn from this week’s ‘big oil’ results? Well, the market appears to favour ‘impressive’ Royal Dutch Shell over ‘good but not great’ BP.
While the latter’s results on Tuesday were called solid and resilient, yesterday’s figures from Shell blew past consensus numbers by around £600m.
Investment bank RBC said all parts of Shell’s sprawling business were performing ahead of forecasts. Shell closed 1.9pc, or 46p, higher at 2475p, while BP was down 0.8pc, or 4.5p, at 547.5p.
Coca-Cola HBC fizzed 1.3pc, or 34p, to 2758p after it unveiled plans for a special dividend.
But Paddy Power Betfair (down 5.4pc, or 366p, at 6400p) was friendless after a first quarter where it fell foul of a string of customer-friendly sports results. Red-hot favourites won horse races and football matches but few punters will shed a tear.
Stagecoach, which rose 1.2pc, or 1.6p, to 135.1p, shed some light on why it thinks it was barred from bidding for three rail franchises, saying it was disqualified after refusing to take in excess of £1bn of pension liabilities.
Air freshener maker McBride was hit by a double whammy after its boss stepped down in the wake of a profit warning. Shares fell 10.8pc, or 11.4p, to 93.8p.
Leak detector Water Intelligence unveiled a deal between its subsidiary, American Leak Detection, and a US insurer, which lifted it 10.9pc, or 36.5p, to 370.5p.