Three things you need to know in the financial markets this morning from investment writer, Tony Cross.
Indivior
There’s a change been announced at the top for the specialist pharmaceuticals company Indivior LON:INDV this morning, with the company’s former Chief Finance and Operations Officer stepping up to take the helm. There’s no further detail and the outgoing CEO appears to be leaving on good terms, but the company has struggled with widening losses and the threat posed to the company by a US Department of Justice investigation into its best-selling opioid addiction treatment. Having been spun out of Reckitt Benckiser in 2014, shares traded around the £5 mark in 2018 before collapsing to just over 30p. On Friday, the closing price was 78.8p.
Lookers
There’s an update from Lookers LON:LOOK this morning, who are still to file full year accounts and as such are set to see their shares suspended later in the week. Accounting irregularities have resulted in an in depth internal investigation and some scale can now be attributed to these, but the necessary audit process will push the company past the filing deadline. Non-cash adjustments of £19m are seen as being necessary and the company perhaps delivers some confidence by noting that 2019 will remain profitable on an underlying basis.
Stanley Gibbons
There’s a trading update out from stamp dealers Stanley Gibbons LON:SGI this morning, which offers some insight over its customers’ behaviour during the COVID-19 lockdown. During the five weeks to April 29th, sales were down 45% year-on-year, compared with an 11% decline over the eight weeks to June 21st. The company acknowledges that revenue generation in the sector is volatile anyway and expresses caution over the outlook but notes there’s sufficient headroom for the next 4-5 months without drawing further on the remaining £2m debt facility. Over the last eight weeks, online sales rose 100% year on year and the company’s flagship store on The Strand reopens today following redevelopment works which have been underway since the start of the year.
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