Below are the key morning press headlines, featuring the The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
Smith & Nephew (SN.) chief executive has walked away from the business after his demand for a bigger pay package was refused. Namal Nawana will leave the medical equipment company after just 18 months in charge, it was announced. The firm said he was quitting to ‘pursue other opportunities outside the UK’ and assured investors that Roland Diggelmann, a non-executive director and industry veteran, had been lined up to succeed him. Nawana’s exit follows controversy over his pay and reports that the company was considering a possible relocation to the US, partly because of the country’s more relaxed attitudes to the issue of executive pay.
Just Eat (JE.) left investors with a sour taste in their mouths yesterday after warning of a “broadly softer consumer spending backdrop”. Plainly speaking, people aren’t reaching for their phones to order a kebab quite so often. The takeaway company’s shares slid more than 6% as shareholders digested the news. Interim boss Peter Duffy, noted that there is a “structural shift” taking place, with consumers favouring the delivery of faster food such as KFC. Just Eat’s UK sales grew 8% in the third quarter.
Shares in Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) jumped to their highest level in almost a year on Monday after property developer Nick Candy confirmed he was considering a takeover bid. The embattled property company’s stock rose more than 8% after the luxury flat tycoon said his investment company Candy Ventures could make a play to buy it. Candy Ventures said discussions are in their early stages and that an offer for the £2.3bn group is not guaranteed. The company has also held separate talks with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund about teaming up to buy Capital & Counties, the Sunday Timesreported.
Investors in Funding Circle (FCH) breathed a sigh of relief after the group released a rare piece of good news. Its loans under management reached a record £3.7 billion in the past three months, up by almost a third on the same period last year. The company also said it has written £1.8 billion worth of new loans so far in 2019, up 9% on last year.
Legal & General Group (LGEN) has committed £750 million to affordable housing projects in Britain, increasing its development pipeline to nearly 3,500 homes. The group has agreed deals for homes at 41 schemes across areas including Bedfordshire, Cornwall, Kent and London. Ben Denton, managing director of Legal & General Affordable Homes, said: “There is an urgent need to innovate new ways to provide stable homes for the millions of households on waiting lists. Legal & General remains committed to deploying institutional capital at scale into this sector, to deliver the volumes of social housing which society desperately needs.”
Rank Group (RNK) was lifted by a bullish “buy” recommendation from Shore Capital. Analysts at the broker said that the recent addition of Stride Gaming, which roughly doubles its digital business, would help the gambling operator’s pre-tax profits to jump by 37% this year to £96 million. Shore thinks more acquisitions could be in the pipeline, with an estimated £300 million to £400 million of “firepower on the balance sheet”.