Harvey's destruction
Might Pantheon Resources (PANR) join the long list of victims of Hurricane Harvey? At the time of going to press, the tropical storm was heading towards the company’s acreage in Tyler and Polk Counties, forcing the suspension of all operations. Management said it had no information on whether wellheads or associated facilities had been compromised by high water levels, but cautioned that the full assessment of any damage would not be known until early September. Meanwhile Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) announced Hurricane Harvey had forced the oil major to close its 360,000-barrel-per-day Deer Park refinery in Houston. The plant could be offline for as long as a week, according to the company.
Dunelm departure
Change at the top
Shares in homewares retailer Dunelm (DNLM) slid by as much as 5 per cent on the surprise announcement that chief executive John Browett would be stepping down for personal reasons with immediate effect. That’s quite a movement on news of a managerial change. Mr Browett took up the top position two years ago. However, the board said "the next phase of growth" required different leadership. The group suffered a 1.6 per cent decline in like-for-like sales during the six months to December and has had its work cut out integrating November’s Worldstores acquisition. Chairman Andy Harrison will provide interim leadership while the board starts its search for a replacement.
Co-Op usurps Sainsbury's
Nisa talks
Following Sainsbury’s (SBRY) withdrawal from talks to acquire Nisa, it did not take the convenience store chain long to find another suitor. The Co-Operative has entered exclusive talks to buy Nisa, after Sainsbury’s pulled out earlier this month upon competition concerns. The Co-Operative has been concentrating on smaller stores, selling off larges ones. It also has a much smaller share of the UK grocery market than Sainsbury’s at just 6.1 per cent.
Fox News leaves UK
Pulled from Sky
Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA) has announced plans to withdraw Fox News from Sky’s (SKY) airwaves from 5 September. The former said Fox News’s US focus meant it was no longer in its commercial interest to continue broadcasting the channel. This comes ahead of culture secretary Karen Bradley’s decision on whether to refer Twenty-First Century Fox’s bid for the broadcaster to competition regulators. It also follows less than a month after Ms Bradley’s request for Ofcom to clarify its position on the proposed takeover following new evidence.
Ofgem seeks savings
Responds to Grid
Ofgem has issued a response to National Grid’s (NG.) proposals for a network upgrade to the high-voltage grid, which would allow it to connect to the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, currently under construction. The regulator is challenging 20 per cent of the proposed costs, particularly about how severe weather could affect construction. Ofgem has proposed two options for reducing the costs: to put the financing, construction and operation out to competitive tender, or Ofgem can estimate National Grid’s revenue for building and operating the infrastructure as though it had gone through a fully competitive tender, but National Grid would build it.
North Korea jitters
Safe haven asset demand
The value of safe haven assets such as gold, the yen and the Swiss Franc were boosted after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan. The gold price reached its highest point in more than three months on Tuesday at $1,325.94 an ounce. By contrast, the US dollar weakened – before regaining some ground – as the euro strengthened to $1.20 against the dollar for the first time since January 2015.
Renewed vigour for the UK economy?
BoE stats point to rebound
A statistical blip or do figures for July mortgage approvals from the BoE point to a turnaround in the residential property market? There were a total of 68,689 house purchase approvals during the month, that’s 5 per cent in advance of the June rate, with aggregate mortgage lending hitting its highest level since the global financial crisis. Approvals for remortgaging were also stronger and have been on a slight upward trend. Tellingly, lending and capital raisings for private non-financial businesses hit £8.9bn during the month – the highest rate in three years.
Chart of the week
Loans to UK manufacturing companies were up 31 per cent year on year in July, according to data from the Bank of England. This represents growth of around £6.6bn. This is in contrast to sectors such as construction and real estate, where loan books were almost static (see chart). Sterling’s depreciation since the referendum has been cited as a benefit to the UK’s manufacturers, due to the cheaper cost of UK exports to overseas buyers.
