Ted Baker lifted by talk of toppled founder Kelvin backing a swoop

SHARES in Ted Baker were in fashion yesterday after a weekend report that founder Ray Kelvin is considering backing a swoop to take the retailer private.

Mr Kelvin, 63, owns more than a third of the shares in the company, and could throw his weight behind a buyout that would see the firm delisted from the stock exchange, according to The Mail on Sunday.

Mr Kelvin stepped down as Ted Baker chief executive in March following allegations of misconduct, including harassment and “forced hugging” of employees. He denies any wrongdoing. He was replaced by veteran insider Lindsay Page, who had led the company on an interim basis since December.

The troubled retailer issued a profit warning last month, blaming “extremely difficult” trading conditions caused by “consumer uncertainty” and the highly promotional retail market.

Shares gained 113p, or 13.5pc, to 951p, giving it a market value of £424m.

Metro Bank was also a big riser after it confirmed reports that it is in talks regarding a possible loan portfolio sale. The FTSE 250 company’s statement was light on detail but it is believed to be considering selling a loan book worth up to £500m to Cerberus Capital, a US hedge fund specialising in distressed debt. The sale would boost its capital after it misclassified £900m of loans earlier this year.

The bank warned that there is “no certainty” a sale agreement will be reached. That didn’t stop the shares jumping 27.8p, or 5.9pc to 500p ahead of its interim results tomorrow.

The maker of Imperial Leather and Carex, PZ

Cussons, jumped ahead of its full-year results as analysts at Numis said the soap maker could signal the disposal of non-core operations such as those in Poland and Greece or its Nigerian milk unit. Shares ended 10p higher at 227p, a rise of 4.6pc.

Shares in Tui took off after analysts at UBS said data suggested booking volumes and prices had increased in recent weeks. The travel agent rose to 841p, a gain of 37p or 4.6pc.

At the other end of the FTSE, Premier Inn owner

Whitbread sank 58.1p, or 1.2pc, to £48.4p after it announced that its share buybacks, which it is using to return £2.5bn to shareholders following its £3.9bn disposal of Costa Coffee to Coca-cola, are complete. The company said it would not be returning any further capital to shareholders.

ITV stumbled after Morgan Stanley reduced its target price for the broadcaster from 115p to 100p, citing declines in viewing and increasing cyclical pressures. The bank also cut its wider European TV advertising forecasts for next year, saying it expected “every market” to decline.

Meanwhile, ITV dodged a penalty from Ofcom for on-air swearing during Britain’s Got Talent, while the telecoms regulator also declined to pursue more than 1,000 complaints from the public about the broadcaster’s Love Island programme “after careful assessment”.

ITV is set to deliver its interim results tomorrow. Shares shed 3.2p, or 2.9pc, to end at 107p.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 ended the day almost flat, rising 6.83 points, or less than 0.1pc, to 7,514.93. The

FTSE 250 had a similar performance, closing up 0.1pc. Things were barely any more exciting in Europe. Germany’s Dax rose 0.2pc with Paris’s CAC 40 gaining 0.3pc.

Asian markets, by contrast, ceded ground on waning hopes of aggressive interest rate cuts by the US Fed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 shed 0.2pc while China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng both fell 1.3pc.