Market round-up: Regulations are Just too much after a profits dive

Shares: The FTSE 100 index rose
Philip Toscano/PA
Michael Bow4 September 2019

For a company which helps people relax in retirement, specialist insurer Just Group has a nasty habit of giving shareholders frequent heart attacks.

The embattled company, which sells annuities and equity release mortgages to the elderly, has been battered in recent months by onerous regulatory changes forcing it to hold more capital as a buffer against disaster.

The shares, down 50% this year, tanked again by as much as 14% after revealing rules on equity release mortgages would increase the amount of capital it needs to hold by £130 million by 2021.

Caretaker boss David Richardson has a long-term plan to fix the firm by re-jigging the type of products it offers. Time will tell if shareholders stick around long enough.

The shares hit 39p before rallying to settle 3.47p down to 42.85p.

Late-night shenanigans in Westminster drove the pound higher today, giving relief to UK domestic stocks. The decreasing chances of no deal drove the FTSE 100 up 56.45 points to 7324.64.

A pledge by Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam to withdraw the controversial bill behind anti-China protests also aided Asia-focused shares like Prudential, up 5%, or 76.5p, to 1425.5p and HSBC, up 2%, or 12.3p, to 606p.

Fashion retailer Quiz left investors with plenty of questions ahead of Wednesday's AGM.

The chain saw its shares plunge 15% to 16p after admitting summer trading had been “challenging” as fewer people visited its shops.

The retailer had warned on profits twice this year and said revenues in its financial year so far were “broadly” flat on a year earlier, but only after adjusting the numbers to account for ditching an unprofitable venture into selling through other websites.

Quiz is hoping to rebalance the business towards its rapidly-growing online arm.

FTSE 250 tech giant Avast was on the slid after a big shares sale by partial owner CVC Capital.

The private equity firm sold a 12.4% stake in an overnight placing led by Jefferies at 367p, raising £443 million.

The sale means CVC is no longer a shareholder. The shares fell 2.85%, or 11p, to 374.8p.

Plumber Ferguson was gliding higher a day after it revealed a plan to spin off UK plumbing unit Wolseley and explore moving its stock market listing.

Trian Investors, the activist shareholder co-founded by billionaire Nelson Peltz, said it was “pleased” with the move in a half-year report.

Trian’s £250 million investment in Ferguson is worth £278.5 million, thanks to a recent share price increase. No wonder it’s pleased.

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