Sudden exit of Shire finance chief sends its shares sliding

PHARMA giant Shire sank towards the bottom of the FTSE 100 scoreboard yesterday following the shock departure of its chief financial officer.

Shire said that the well-regarded Jeff Poulton, who shepherded the company through its acquisition of rare disease specialist Dyax and $32bn (£25bn) mega-merger with American pharma firm Baxalta, will remain in the role during the third quarter reporting period. Investors disagreed with the CFO’S comments that it was the “perfect time” to step down, sending Shire shares sliding 151.5p, or 4pc, to £36.13.

The surprise announcement of Mr Poulton’s move to Indigo Ag comes as Shire finalises the integration of Baxalta and pays down debt residing from the huge takeover agreed to last year. The Boston-based start-up he is heading to specialises in improving agricultural productivity.

Shire was beginning to bear the fruits from its Baxalta purchase with the company beating expectations in its second quarter results earlier this month to swing to a $240m profit.

Elsewhere, banking and healthcare stocks with large international exposures continued to be the biggest casualties from the risk-off mood lingering on markets. Taxpayer-controlled RBS dipped 2.3p to 255.2p while

Barclays retreated a further 2.4p to 193.3p. Concerns emanating from weekend reports that hedge funds have built up large short positions in Provident

Financial on the assumption that the doorstep lender’s woes will worsen pulled it down 107p to £17.45, a 5.8pc plummet.

Mining stocks once again mitigated the FTSE 100’s fall as metal prices continued to underpin gains with dual-listed BHP Billiton rising 15p to £13.66 ahead of its full-year results due when Australia opens for trading overnight. Overcoming the risk aversion dragging down European equities, the

FTSE 100 cut losses late in the afternoon to end down just 5.1 points to 7,318.88.

Persimmon gained 35p to £25.56 ahead of its interim results today with expectations high that the house builder has brushed off election uncertainty and will continue the sector’s strong string of results.

On the junior market, games developer Frontier

Developments soared after it secured a deal to create a spin-off game from the blockbuster Jurassic Park series.

Shares popped 113p at 844p after Frontier unveiled the game, its third franchise and first ever to be released simultaneously on PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4.

The Aim-listed developer has seen its share price skyrocket 180pc this year, transforming it into a company with a valuation of nearly £300m.