logo-loader

Most followed: Mothercare, Tate & Lyle, Tesco, Jimmy Choo, Miller Homes, Oil & Gas Development

Published: 21:44 23 Sep 2014 AEST

mothercare_350_54215e6d42479

It is hard to keep Tesco (LON:TSCO) out of the news at the moment, much though the board would like a bit of privacy.

Not surprisingly after yesterday’s shock announcement of something a bit amiss in the accounts, the slumping supermarket company has asked if Alan Stewart, set to join Tesco from Marks & Spencer as chief financial officer on 1 December, can join a bit earlier – today, in fact – and M&S has graciously released him from gardening leave.

As reported yesterday, the company has kicked off an investigation into how first half profits appeared to be overstated by £250mln in a trading update earlier this year.

Four executives have been suspended while the investigation takes place, and new chief executive Dave Lewis has pledged that the probe will go back beyond the current year if it proves necessary to get to the bottom of the issue.

Tesco has been no stranger to profit warnings this year, and now sweeteners firm Tate & Lyle (LON:TATE) has joined the club.

The very definition of a household name, Tate & Lyle warned that severe weather conditions in the US had snarled up the supply chain, while its SPLENDA product is facing increasing competition.

The group has reduced full-year profit guidance to a range of £230mln to £245mln, 20% lower than previous guidance.

Another household name – albeit a fading one – on the rocks is Mothercare (LON:MTC), the baby and toddler products seller.

While the company’s overseas outlets have been doing fine in recent years, the UK portfolio has become a bit of a (Moses) basket case, prompting the company to make a heavily discounted cash call to fund its UK turnaround.

The company’s shares closed at around 250p yesterday so that means the new shares being offered to shareholders at 125p a pop are being issued at a 50% discount, or around a 35% discount to the theoretical ex-rights (which takes into account the dilution caused by the company issuing nine new shares for every 10 currently in existence).

The turnaround plan will see the virtual disappearance of the Early Learning Centre brand from Britain’s high streets, though some in-store outlets will survive in Mothercare’s own shops.

Sticking with the retail theme, news that expensive shoes maker Jimmy Choo is set to float on London’s main board is garnering interest.

The company is just one of a number of enterprises warming up on the touchlines; house builder Miller Homes has also announced its intention to seek a premium listing on the London stock exchange, while the Privatisation Commission of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has announced that it expects to launch a secondary offering of ordinary shares and Global Depositary Shares (GDSs) in Pakistan's Oil and Gas Development Company Limited on or around 2 October. The GDSs will be listed in London.

Australian Strategic Materials signs US$600 million LoI

Rowena Smith, CEO and managing director of Australian Strategic Materials Ltd (ASX:ASM, OTC:ASMMF), joins Jonathan Jackson in the Proactive studio to discuss the company’ s Dubbo Project, in Central West New South Wales. This project aims to extract and process critical minerals and rare earth...

4 hours, 48 minutes ago