Julian Dunkerton, co-founder of Superdry may have gone to bed happy last night after getting himself back on the retailer’s board, but he woke up to bad news.
His return prompted a mass boardroom exodus last night with the chief executive, chairman and four directors all gone. The departures led to a share price fall of 59p, or 12%, to 441p after yesterday’s 8% drop — leaving Dunkerton, now interim boss, nursing paper losses of £2 million on his 18% stake.
Until the dust settles and a new team comes up with a detailed strategy, Superdry risks further deterioration of its share price which has plunged more than 75% from 2101p in January last year. But this could be good news for some including fellow retail tycoon Mike Ashley. A City source said Superdry is still a little expensive for acquisitive Ashley but if it reaches 300p, he might buy in.
The FTSE 100 was up 9.31 points at 7400.43. The best performers were the housebuilders and banks, with Persimmon (up 56p at 2218p), Taylor Wimpey (6.25p higher at 185.5p) and Lloyds (1.63 better at 65.03p), all leading the gainers, on optimism about a softer Brexit. However, exporters were burnt by a stronger pound. Drinks giant Diageo (off 54.5p at 3086.5p) and tobacco businesses Imperial and British American Tobacco — down 50.5p at 2577.5p and 45p at 3133.5p respectively — were the biggest fallers on the blue-chip index. The FTSE 250 rose 165.90 points to 19,495.17.
Shares in Photo-Me, a company that operates photo kiosks and ID card booths in Europe and Asia, lost 3.4p at 81p today after it warned that its full-year profits will be £2 million lower than the £44 million it previously expected. The company blamed Brexit.
Dechra, a supplier of products to veterinary practices in Europe and North America, today lost its finance chief Richard Cotton, who stepped down for “personal reasons”. Paul Sandland, the EU finance director, will take over until a successor is found. The firm added: “Trading across the group has continued to witness growth and is in line with management expectations.” But the City didn’t take his departure well and shares lost 52p to 2600p.
Mediclinic, the private hospitals group, said that Danie Meintjes, its former chief executive, who stood down last June, has rejoined as a designated non-executive director and shares rose 3.2p to 319p. Pirc, the advisory shareholder group, said of the appointment: “Can the former Number 1 in a company really take an unbiased view?”
