Capita shares dive amid cancer screening chaos

Calls for Capita to be stripped of NHs contracts alarmed investors, who backed off after it revealed cancer screening service failures.

The outsourcer yesterday admitted it had failed to send either an invitation or a reminder letter to 43,200 women about their cervical cancer screening dates.

Delays also meant 4,508 results letters were sent out late by labs or GP surgeries.

shares slumped after the British Medical association, which represents doctors in the UK, wrote to NHs England’s chief executive simon stevens urging him to strip Capita of its contract and bring the services back in-house.

NHs England revealed yesterday it was launching a ‘major overhaul’ of cancer screening programmes to include possible changes to outsourcing.

Capita played down the timing, saying it had not heard anything about NHs England revoking its contract. Investors needed more convincing, however, as shares fell 14.6pc, or 18.35p, to 107.4p. The overall contract is worth £330m over seven years from 2015.

The FTSE 100 ended fractionally higher, up 0.1pc, or 4.22 points, to 7038.01 points as Cabinet resignations over Theresa May’s Brexit deal caused investors to hesitate. The pound fell against the dollar to around $1.277.

While UK-focused banks were among the biggest losers, tobacco giants British American Tobacco (BaT) and Imperial Brands added further pressure as the Us Food and Drug administration said it was pursuing restrictions on vaping products and a ban on menthol cigarettes.

Regulators fear the fruity tastes in vapes and e-cigarettes make them more attractive to teenagers, as is menthol in cigarettes.

It is limiting the sale of flavoured e-cigarettes to age-restricted stores, and would advance rules to ban menthol cigarettes.

BaT makes 20-25pc of group profits from sales of menthol cigarettes in the Us. Its shares dropped 1.5pc, or 43p, to 2775p, while Imperial dipped 0.1pc, or 3p, to 2603.5p. On the FTsE 250, Great Portland Estates, which owns a slew of residential and retail properties across london, announced it was returning £200m to its shareholders by buying back shares.

With rising profits, up £33.7m in the six months to september from £25.3m last year, this would usually boost shares. But they sank 4.1pc, or 30.2p, to 715.2p as it warned that the lack of a ‘clear direction’ over Brexit was weighing on the london market. a boardroom battle at Velocity

Composites threatened to escalate and sent shares on a rollercoaster ride. The airbus supplier said it had heard ‘no clear communication’ from founder Jon Bridges, who was demanding to be reinstated on the board after being demoted following three profit warnings.

Bridges, along with co-founders Gerard Johnson and Christopher Banks, had threatened to call a shareholder meeting to get himself voted back onto the board.

Velocity understands they are still pursuing this route, but have yet to form a plan. shares rose 9.8pc, or 2.5p, to 28p.

Restaurant discount app Bigdish piqued investors’ appetite as it announced it could sell its asian business. The firm, launched in the Philippines, offers customers money off their restaurant bill if they book at off-peak times.

It has had approaches for the asian business, and is now reviewing whether to sell.

Bigdish is also implementing changes in its UK app after going through the test phase, and plans to focus on this market next year.

shares climbed by 10pc, or 0.25p, to 2.75p.