Topps Tiles appoints Poundland’s Shapland as its next chairman February 25, 2015 TILING specialist Topps Tiles yesterday announced that Poundland chair Darren Shapland will become its chairman after current chair Michael Jack announced his retirement. Jack, who has served as Topps’ chairman since 1999, will step down on 18 March, handing the reins to Shapland. As well as Poundland, Shapland is also chairman of Maplin Electronics, non-executive [...]
Morrisons chairman Andrew Higginson adds Warburg Pincus to CV February 22, 2015 Private equity giant Warburg Pincus has signed up new Morrisons chairman Andrew Higginson as a senior advisor for the firm, it came to light yesterday. It is thought the experienced retailer will help Warburg identify possible acquisitions – not limited to the retail sector – in a part-time role. Higginson’s relationship with Warburg dates back [...]
US private equity firm Warburg halves stake in UK’s Poundland February 11, 2015 AMERICAN private equity firm Warburg Pincus has cut its stake in UK discount retailer Poundland from 30.4 per cent to 16.4 per cent, raising £142m via a share placing, the buyout firm said yesterday. The New York-based company had said on Tuesday that it intended to offload 25m Poundland shares, but subsequently increased that amount to [...]
Poundland share price falls as its biggest shareholder sells larger-than-expected stake after 99p Stores acquisition February 11, 2015 Shares in Poundland slid 5.5 per cent to 393.9p this morning after Warburg Pincus, the discount retailer's largest shareholder, sold off 10m more shares than originally planned, after its acquisition of 99p Stores last week. The investor said yesterday it was planning to sell of 25m shares (about £101m worth) – but this morning, it [...]
Poundland agrees conditional deal to buy 99p Stores for £55m February 6, 2015 If you had £55m you could walk into Poundland and fill your boots. Or, you could do what Poundland is considering and buy the 99p Store. For that £55m, enough for 55,555,556 items from its rival, Poundland will get 99p Stores’ 251 branches, which together produce £370.4m in annual sales and serve around two million [...]
Poundland hit by slowdown in new stores January 21, 2015 SHARES in Poundland lost some of their shine yesterday after the company blamed the timing of its expansion programme for the slowdown in third quarter sales. The discount chain, which floated in March last year, said its sales rose 10.2 per cent in the 13 weeks to 28 December, a slowdown on the 15 per [...]
Poundland cashes in on Christmas and posts third quarter success January 21, 2015 The figures Variety store Poundland had a record Christmas trading period in 2014, with success spanning across the whole of the third quarter. During the 13 weeks to 28 December, total growth for the company was 9.8 per cent, with revenue up at £328.4m – a 10.2 per cent increase compared to 2013. The [...]
Best of the Brokers for 16 January 2015 January 15, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com 4IMPRINT WH Ireland reiterated the promotional products manufacturer’s “buy” rating, raising the target price to 925p. The broker said the firm’s most recent update “reconfirms the strong organic growth of the business” and said the increased target price reflected “the impressive ongoing business [...]
February float on the cards for Redx Pharma January 11, 2015 BRITISH drug discovery and development company Redx Pharma yesterday announced it plans to float on London’s Alternative Investment Market as it looks to raise approximately £20m. Shore Capital is serving as the Liverpool-based company’s nominated adviser and broker on the listing, which is expected to start in February. Redx Pharma is forecast to have market [...]
Investors feasted on £13.6bn in London-listed IPOs last year January 6, 2015 Hungry investors feasted on billions of pounds in initial public offerings (IPOs) on the London Stock Exchange last year. In 2014 around 104 plucky issuers raised a total of £13.6bn on London's main and AIM markets. This represented a 10 per cent increase from the previous year's activity according to data from Thomson Reuters. Throughout the [...]