Aston Martin accelerates as top brass splash cash

BOSSES at Aston Martin have been splashing their cash, buying thousands of pounds’ worth of shares in the company.

Chief executive Andrew Palmer, chief financial officer Mark Wilson and chairman Penelope Hughes together spent £296,000 on shares, driving up the luxury car maker’s stock by 8.3pc, or 74p, to 964.7p.

Palmer was the biggest buyer, stumping up £198,507 for 22,658 shares at 876p each.

The display of support from the top brass fuelled investor confidence. Since the James Bond car maker listed in October at 1900p, its shares have almost halved.

Drugs giant Glaxosmithkline was given the nod by the European Medicines Agency for its severe asthma treatment Nucala to be self-administered.

It could previously only be given in powder form by a professional in a clinic, but doctors may now let some patients take the drug home to administer themselves with a pen or safety syringe. The pharma firm’s boss Emma Walmsley also attended a business meeting with US President Donald Trump, as part of his state visit to the UK.

Sources said Trump struck a ‘supportive’ tone towards British businesses, but Glaxo still slipped by 1.2pc, or 18.8p, to 1530.4p.

Trump was making himself less popular among tech investors, as the US government said it would investigate whether giant firms like Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google were misusing their heft. The possibility of a probe wiped millions off the market values of the US tech titans, but also spread into the UK.

Software firm Sage Group fell 2.3pc, or 17.6p, to 733.2p, Micro

Focus slid 1.2pc, or 22.8p, to 1858.8p, and cybersecurity business Sophos edged down 0.6pc or 2.4p to 396p.

The FTSE 100 still managed to rise 0.41pc, or 29.49 points, to 7214.29 amid a respite in the USChina trade war saga.

China is pushing for dialogue and negotiation to solve differences, and CMC Markets analyst David Madden explained: ‘ Any language that isn’t hostile, and advocates further dialogue, is seen as a step forward.’

Online gambling firm 888 stirred excitement as it said its marketing investment was paying off.

Like-for-like revenue jumped 6pc between January 1 and May 18, compared to the same period a year previously, and chief executive Itai Pazner said there had been a 20pc increase in first-time depositors. Shares jumped 7.9pc, or 10.4p, to 142.5p.

White goods retailer AO World, however, was down in the dumps.

The online shop swung from having cash of £38.3m last year to having debt of £9m by March 31, which Interactive Investor’s Richard Hunter said made the payment of a dividend unlikely. It fell 9.1pc. or 10p, to 100p

On the subject of dividends, Canaccord Genuity analyst Simon McGarry pulled up five FTSE 350 companies whose payouts could be at risk. Vodafone (up 2.9pc, or 3.72p, at 133.68p), SSE (up 0.6pc, or 6p, at 1088p), Hammerson (up 0.7pc, or 1.9p, at 272.4p), Essentra (up 1.1pc, or 4.4p, at 399.4p) and Stobart Group (up 4.3pc, or 4.6p, at 103.4p) may all have to cut their dividends, he said.

Shopping centre owner Intu, which owns the Trafford Centre in Manchester, was climbing as it appointed a new chief financial officer, Robert Allen, of housebuilder Crest Nicholson. But shares fell 2.4pc, or 2.2p, to 88.8p.

The FTSE reshuffle is due tomorrow, with budget airline

Easyjet – up by 3.5pc, or 30.2p, to 885p – set to nosedive out of the FTSE 100. JD Sports, up 0.2pc, or 1.4p, at 624.8p, will take its place.