Fresh windfall for Pidgley as Berkeley doles out £1bn
Builder Berkeley Group plans to almost double its shareholder payout to £1bn over the next two years, bringing a £ 13m windfall for its founder and chairman.
However, news that the developer of upmarket homes has increased the cash distribution by £ 455m will be a bittersweet moment for Tony Pidgley.
As Berkeley rose 4.4pc, or 226p, to 5412p, he will reflect on the £216m of shares he has sold over the past three years leaving him with just over 1.3pc of the firm.
Had he held on to the stock it would be worth £80m more today, and would be entitled to a larger tranche of the capital being returned to investors.
Berkeley appears to have increased the payout after a rapid improvement in the outlook for builders in the wake of Boris Johnson’s resounding election victory.
This has provided more clarity over Brexit, although a No-deal exit from the eu could yet derail the sector. rivals Persimmon (up 0.8pc, or 24p, to 3001p) and Taylor
Wimpey (1pc, or 2.1p, higher at 216.4p) also enjoyed a boost. On the wider market, the FTSE
100 closed the session down 38.78 points at 7571.92, after waxing and waning most of the day as the coronavirus and donald Trump’s impeachment trial continued to act as a bromide.
The Sars-like outbreak has also put the kibosh on travel and hotel stocks this week, with Anglo-German holiday firm Tui the latest stock casualty. it topped the bluechip list of losers, ending 5.5pc, or 49p, lower at 837p.
dropping down a division, the FTSe 250’s leading riser was investment fund IP Group, which advanced 3pc, or 2p, to 69.4p after successfully – and presumably profitably – cashing in a stake in fuel cells specialist Ceres Power.
Proving the old City adage that it’s better to travel than arrive, AJ
Bell succumbed to profit-taking after an update which revealed that assets under administration on its popular electronic platform rose 27pc last year to £47bn. The stock, up a third in the last year, fell 1.2pc, or 5p, to 399.5p.
Wetherspoons, down 2pc, or 32p, at 1563p had a decent festive period with underlying sales up 4.7pc. But the gloss was taken off the performance after the pub chain warned net debt would be slightly higher than forecast. Among the small- caps, miner
Goldplat shot up 48.2pc, or 1.3p, to 4p after it said its full-year results will exceed market expectations thanks to higher gold prices. Fellow digger Ariana was also driven 3.6pc, or 0.1p, higher to 2.9p following ‘exceptional’ sample results from its gold project in Turkey.
Biotech Angle climbed 19.5pc, or 12.3p, to 76.5p after predicting uS clearance for its Parsortix cancer test in the third quarter following a meeting with regulators.
Somero Enterprises tracked up 11pc, or 28.5p, to 288.5p after the maker of laser-guided construction equipment upgraded its fullyear financial forecasts.
One of the day’s biggest casualties was Tissue Regenix, which shed 27.1pc, or 0.47p, to 1.27p after it spooked investors by saying it was looking at fundraising options. Publishing house Dods Group tumbled 13.7pc, or 0.65p, to 4.1p as it warned the uK’s election and an ‘uncertain political and economic environment’ had led to a slow start to its fourth quarter.
uK uncertainty was also blamed for challenging trading at masonry group Forterra, which dropped 5.1pc, or 18p, to 337p after forecasting that first-half profits will be lower than last year.