23rd Sep 2016 08:12
LONDON (Alliance News) - Sports Direct International on Friday said Mike Ashley, its founder, has been appointed as chief executive with immediate effect, after it said incumbent CEO Dave Forsey resigned on Thursday.
"I feel like I have lost my right arm, but I do hope to have the opportunity to work with Dave again in the future," Ashley said. Forsey was with Sports Direct for 32 years.
The appointment comes after retailer Sports Direct has been the subject of widespread criticism over its working practices and its corporate governance.
Ashley was previously executive deputy chairman of the company, and Sports Direct has been criticised for failing to have a sufficiently strong board in place to keep Ashley's influence over the company in check. Ashley owns 55% of the sporting good retailer.
To support Ashley, Sports Direct said it has promoted Karen Byers to be global head of operations and Sean Nevitt to global head of commercial, both with immediate effect.
The stock was up 1.7% in early dealings.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.3% at 6,894.27
FTSE 250: down 0.1% at 17,973.03
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 813.77
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Hang Seng: flat at 23,767.61
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.3% at 16,754.02
DJIA: closed up 0.5% at 18,392.46
S&P 500: closed up 0.7% at 2,177.18
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GBP: soft at USD1.3039 (USD1.3099)
EUR: soft at USD1.1207 (USD1.1237)
GOLD: soft at USD1,334.99 per ounce (USD1,340.04)
OIL (Brent): soft at USD47.36 a barrel (USD47.71)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in BST)
0830 Germany Markit manufacturing, services and composite PMI preliminary
0900 EU Markit manufacturing, services and composite PMI preliminary
1330 Canada retail sales
1330 Canada consumer price index
1445 US Markit manufacturing PMI preliminary
1800 US Baker Hughes US oil rig count
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UK Prime Minister Theresa May has distanced herself from comments made by Boris Johnson suggesting formal talks on Brexit will begin by "the early part of next year". The Foreign Secretary said ministers were working towards triggering Article 50 of the EU treaties - marking the official start of negotiations - in the first part of 2017. Speaking in New York where he has been attending the United Nations, Johnson also suggested the discussions could be wrapped up before the two-year deadline. He told Sky News: "We are talking to our European friends and partners in the expectation that by the early part of next year you will see an Article 50 letter. We will invoke that. Johnson's remarks came as European Parliament President Martin Schulz visited Britain and held talks with May. Schulz is pressing for the UK and hurry up and get on with Brexit as he is keen for negotiations to finish before European elections in mid 2019, meaning Article 50 would have to be triggered by May next year.
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Germany's new orders in the main construction industry declined in July, Destatis reported. Construction orders dropped 4.6% from June. At the same time, orders advanced 14.1% on a yearly basis.
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The manufacturing sector in Japan turned to expansion in September, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.3. That beat expectations for 49.2, and it was up from 49.5 in August.
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Japan's all industry activity grew at a slower pace in July, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said. The all industry activity index rose 0.3% month-on-month in July, following June's 1% increase. Nonetheless, this was the second consecutive rise in activity and better than the expected 0.2% growth.
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Diplomatic efforts to restore a ceasefire in Syria fell short late Thursday, as aid trucks were again rolling inside the country for the first time since a lethal attack on a UN aid convoy earlier this week. The attack on Monday killed 21 people and destroyed 18 trucks and their cargo, forcing the UN to temporarily halt convoys, while worsening tensions between Russia and the US, as Washington blamed Moscow for the bombing. A meeting of diplomats on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, described by a senior US official as "contentious," failed to achieve a return to a US-Russia brokered ceasefire, which collapsed on Monday after largely holding for a week.
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Iranian President Hassan Rowhani called on the US to fully comply with its obligations under the nuclear deal, warning that failing to do so will "further erode the credibility" of Washington. In his speech at the UN General Assembly, Rowhani said that with the lifting of "cruel sanctions" eight months ago under the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran has become the most profitable investment destination in the region. However, he called on the US to adhere to the agreement.
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Canada and China announced the start of exploratory talks towards a free trade agreement and an extradition treaty, even as China's premier was forced to defend his country's human rights record and use of capital punishment. At a press conference in Ottawa after a 90-minute meeting, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced a goal to double trade between the two countries by 2020. Trudeau and Li also announced an agreement to end a long-standing dispute over Canadian canola exports by 2020, as well as the resumption of Chinese imports of bone-in beef from Canadian cattle over 30 months of age.
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A police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, faces a charge of first-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an African-American motorist on September 16, a state prosecutor announced. District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler of Tulsa County in the central state of Oklahoma announced the charge against Officer Betty Shelby in the death of Terence Crutcher, 40. Crutcher was killed in a confrontation with Tulsa Police Department officers who were responded to a report of a disabled vehicle.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: LIBERUM RAISES PERSIMMON TO 'BUY' ('HOLD')
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TRADERS: CREDIT SUISSE INITIATES ASOS WITH 'NEUTRAL'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Engineer Smiths Group said it has agreed to sell its Artificial Lift business, part of its John Crane oil services arm, to Endurance Lift Solutions. Smiths will get USD39.5 million in cash for the unit, which mainly sells sucker rods to onshore upstream oil and gas customers in the US and Romania. In the year to July 2015, the unit made USD90.8 million in revenue and produced an operating loss of USD1.8 million.
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Anglo American said it has appointed Stephen Pearce as its new finance director to replace Rene Medori, who had announced he was retiring back in April. Pearce will formally join the board on January 30, 2017, but will not take up his finance director role until April 24. Pearce is moving from his role as chief financial officer at Fortescue Metals Group, an Australian-listed firm focused on iron ore.
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Mobile telecoms giant Vodafone Group said it has extended its partner market agreement with Afrimax in Cameroon. The pair will launch mobile data services under the Vodafone Cameroon brand in Douala and Yaounde. The move will include the opening of Vodafone-branded stores in the two Cameroon cities and kiosks in key locations. No financial details on the agreement were disclosed.
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Barclays is to pay a USD500,000 fine for record-keeping violations, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission said. The CFTC said it has imposed the fine on Barclays Bank PLC for "failing to create, maintain, and promptly produce required confirmations for a significant number of exchange for related position trades". The CFTC noted Barclays cooperated with the probe and has taken remedial action on its internal controls and policies regarding documenting and reporting confirmations of these trades.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Drugmaker Indivior said 35 US states have filed a civil complaint against the company in relation to its ongoing legal privilege dispute with the US Federal Trade Commission. Indivior is facing an investigation by the FTC on whether it, when owned by former parent Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, tried to prevent generic competition for its Suboxone Film opioid addiction treatment. Indivior said it "intends to continue to vigorously defend its position".
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Tullow Oil said the hull and machinery insurance cover for the floating production, storage and offloading vessel that serves the Jubilee field offshore Ghana "has been confirmed" following the failure of the turret bearing earlier this year. The issue with the turret bearing caused production to be suspended and impacted the company's full-year production guidance, but Tullow had said from the start that it expected to recover its losses from its insurance cover. The hull and machinery policy covers relevant operating and capital costs associated with both current operating procedures at the FPSO and the long-term solution, Tullow said.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Veterinary services provider CVS Group said revenue surged higher in its financial year to the end of June thanks to recent acquisitions, while like-for-like sales growth remained robust and pretax profit increased. CVS said it made a GBP9.1 million pretax profit in the year to June 30, up 6.0% from GBP8.5 million a year before. Revenue increased to GBP218.1 million from GBP167.3 million, up 30% thanks primarily to acquisitions the company made to expand CVS's network. Like-for-like sales increased 4.8%, weaker than the 6.8% like-for-like growth in the prior financial year. CVS declared a dividend of 3.5 pence per share for the full year, up 17% on the 3.0p paid a year prior.
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Insurer Novae Group said Chief Financial Officer Charles Fry is stepping down from the board from Friday and will leave the company with effect from October 31. Reeken Patel, currently director of Novae Syndicates, has been appointed interim CFO while Novae searches for a permanent replacement for Fry, but will not join the board. Patel joined Novae in July 2014 as chief risk officer. Novae said its outlook for the full year remains in line with previous guidance.
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Bond International Software said Constellation Software UK Holdco has increased its proposed takeover offer for the company, which Bond has recommended to shareholders. Bond and Constellation have agreed a revised offer whereby the London-listed company will be taken over for 115.5 pence per share, compared to Constellation's original offer of 105.0p. Constellation is Bond International's biggest shareholder with a 27.3% holding. A general meeting will be held next Wednesday for shareholders to vote on the proposals.
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US-based healthcare company Constellation Healthcare Technologies said it has agreed to acquire VEGA Medical Professionals for up to USD24.0 million. VEGA is a revenue-cycle management firm focused on hospitals and independent physician groups in the US market. It provides healthcare practice management and consulting services, including billing, collections, operations and financial management advice. The deal will expand London-listed Constellation's overall offering and its areas of expertise for the US healthcare market, the company said.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Yahoo was hit by one of the biggest data thefts in history after account information of at least 500 million users was stolen in a 2014 hacking incident by a "state-sponsored actor," the pioneering internet company said. Information obtained in the hack may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, encrypted passwords and possibly security questions and answers, according to a Yahoo statement. So far there is no evidence of unencrypted passwords or banking and credit card details being stolen, according to Bob Lord, Yahoo's chief information security officer. That information is stored on another system which is apparently not affected, he said.
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The EU suffered a defeat in the lengthy spat over airplane maker subsidies when the World Trade Organization said the bloc was failing to stop its Airbus aid, which had previously been found to break global trade rules. The WTO decision was the latest in a list of similar rulings in the spat between the EU and Airbus on one side and the US and US aircraft manufacturer Boeing on the other. The Geneva-based trade body had previously found that the US had subsidized Boeing to the detriment of Airbus. The latest ruling could pave the way for US punitive duties against imports from the EU in case Washington decides to apply for such measures at the WTO.
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Marriott International said it has completed its acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. The new company will operate or franchise more than 5,700 properties and 1.1 million rooms, representing 30 leading brands from the moderate-tier to luxury in over 110 countries.
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Oracle said the US District Court for the District of Nevada granted Oracle's motion for a permanent injunction against continued copyright infringement by Rimini Street and continued computer access violations by Rimini and its president and CEO, Seth Ravin, in Oracle's long-running litigation against Rimini and Ravin. The court also awarded Oracle USD46 million in attorneys' fees and costs against Rimini and Ravin personally on top of the USD50 million in damages awarded by the jury last year, including a USD14 million award against Ravin personally.
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Facebook has been giving advertisers an inflated metric for the average time users spent watching a video. The company only counts a video as "viewed" if it has been seen for more than 3 seconds. The metric it gave advertisers for their average video view time incorporated only the people who had watched the video long enough to count as a "view" in the first place, inflating the metric because it didn't count anyone who didn't watch, or watched for a shorter time. Big advertising buyers and marketers are upset about the inflated metric, and asked the company for more details, according to Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.
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Friday's Shareholder Meetings
Sirius Real Estate
Scientific Digital Imaging
Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust
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By Tom Waite; [email protected]; @thomaslwaite
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