Builders need hard hats as hedge fund takes aim

JEFF ‘Moneybags’ Fairburn can expect to be judged by the company he keeps after his new bedfellow’s latest move.

He was ousted from housebuilder Persimmon over a £75 million bonus in 2018. Now his new partners at hedge fund Elliott Investment Management have taken aim at his former employer.

Elliott has taken a £42million short position in Persimmon, joining investor Citadel Advisors Europe in betting against the stock. It comes after Elliott provided backing to aid Fairburn’s takeover of Avant Homes last year.

Stocks to Watch revealed in November that Elliott had begun shorting rival housebuilders Barratt and Bellway. It is now sitting on a paper profit after all UK builders’ stocks plummeted over nerves about cladding bills.

The US investment house is known for its attacks on corporate giants, including GlaxoSmithKline and SSE. It is also stirring the pot at Taylor Wimpey.

It’s clearly hard hat time for building bosses.

TELECOM investors may be buoyed by the prospect of rising internet bills. But there’s a fly in the ointment for Liberty Global, which owns Virgin Media O2. Analysts at Berenberg Bank say poor governance is preventing them advising clients to buy into the US stock.

Liberty is chaired by John Malone, a billionaire ‘cable cowboy’ who owns sprawling US ranches.

Berenberg says Malone and his chief exec Mike Fries have an outsized voting influence, and argues its board (average age, 78) is not diverse enough. Fries was paid £39million in 2020, five times more than his European telecoms peers. Whoa there!