BHS, Tesla, McDonald's: Business news in brief on Friday June 24

BHS; McDonald's; Blackberry; Tesla; Macy's

The first bid for McDonald’s China and Hong Kong outlets has been confirmed (Getty Images)

Dominic Chappell tried to buy holiday flights on BHS budget, new claims reveal

Dominic Chappell, the serial bankrupt who bought BHS from Sir Philip Green, attempted to pay for his family holiday flights to the Bahamas out of the struggling retailer’s travel budget, according to evidence submitted to MPs by Darren Topp, former BHS chief executive.

Chappell “saw no distinction between the company’s money and his own personal money; he saw them as one and the same. The level of financial governance shown by Chappell was very poor,” Topp said in a letter submitted to MPs investigating the chain’s demise.

Chappell, who led BHS’s owner Retail Acquisitions has denied the claims.

BHS failed just 13 months after it was sold by Sir Philip Green for £1. The chain is winding down to close before the end of July.

First bid for McDonald's China franchises confirmed

The first bid for McDonald’s China and Hong Kong outlets has been confirmed as the US fast food company is seeking to franchise its restaurants in the country.

China’s Sanpower and the Beijing Tourism Group have put in a joint bid, according to the BBC.

The company has received more than six bids for its over 2,000 restaurants in mainland China and Hong Kong worth about $3 billion, according to earlier reports.

McDonald’s has announced it was reorganising its Asian business in March by bringing partners who would own the restaurants within a franchise business.

Competitor Yum Brands is also restructuring its China business by spinning it off ahead of a likely IPO next year.

Elon Musk Just Lost His Biggest Fan on Wall Street

There was a time when Morgan Stanley Analyst Adam Jonas thought shares of Tesla Motors would nearly double. But after Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk presented a $2.86bn (£1.91bn) to combine Tesla and SolarCity, the analyst is drastically downgrading the stock.

Adam Jonas, who'd had an overweight rating on shares of the electric vehicle company since September 2012, is lowering the stock to equal weight and taking his price target to $245 from $333.

His target had been as high as $465 late last year.

“The 26 per cent reduction in our price target is mostly driven by a higher risk premium we believe should be demanded by investors following the surprise proposal to acquire SolarCity,” wrote Jonas.

(Bloomberg)

AstaZeneca take $80 million hit as US spurns nasal flu vaccines

AstraZeneca said it would take an $80 million writedown on stocks of its flu vaccine Flumist Quadrivalent, which is sprayed into the nose, after US health authorities decided they would not use the product.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ruled the vaccine should not be used in any setting, based on US data indicating a marked drop in effectiveness in children over the last three years.

AstraZeneca said the CDC data contrasted with its own studies as well as preliminary independent findings by public health authorities in other countries suggesting the vaccine was 46 to 58 per cent effective overall against flu strains during the 2015-2016 season.

US sales of Flumist in 2015 totaled $206 million, or just under 1 per cent of group revenue.

(Reuters)

Lenders turn away BHP port debt plan, wary of coal

Australian mining giant BHP Billiton pulled a $500m (£337m) debt refinancing plan at one of Australia's biggest coal export terminals after banks were reluctant to lend to the sector said three sources with knowledge of the process.

The decision earlier this month sets back efforts to simplify complex debt arrangements at the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG) project and stalls BHP's plan to release cash tied up in the terminal as it looks to strengthen its balance sheet amid a global commodities slump.

It also underscores the plight of the industry in trying to attract financing from lenders wary of coal's commercial outlook and contribution to climate change.

BHP declined to comment.

(Reuters)

Barclays libor rigging jury reaches verdict on one defendant

The jury in the trial of five former Barclays traders over Libor-rigging allegations said they’ve reached a decision on one of the defendants, and were told by the judge that he would accept a non-unanimous verdict on the rest after the panel said they’d reached an impasse.

Judge Anthony Leonard gave the majority-verdict instruction Thursday after the jury sent a note informing the court about their inability to reach a verdict on the other men. The direction means the jurors can deliver a verdict that is supported by at least 10 of them.

The jurors were sent out to deliberate on Monday after a two-month trial in which ex-traders Alex Pabon, Stylianos Contogoulas, Jonathan Mathew, Jay Merchant and Ryan Reich are accused of conspiring to fix the London interbank offered rate, a benchmark tied to trillions of dollars in securities and loans, between 2005 and 2007.

(Bloomberg)

Future has agreed term to acquire Imagine Publishing

Publisher Future has acquired Imagine Publishing to strengthen its magazine portfolio in a £14.2m takeover deal.

Imagine Publishing’s portfolio includes 19 magazines such as All about History or Digital Photographer in addition to websites and ‘bookazines’. “

“This is a unique opportunity to acquire a market leading knowledge, science and technology content business which will complement and expand our capabilities,” said Zillah Byng- Thorne, chief executive.

Future's share price jumped eight per cent after the deal was announced on Thursday morning.

In 2015, Imagine issued 265 magazines and 257 bookazines, delivering 2.4m and 1.0m copy sales respectively.

Strawberries set to outsell bread, milk and tea at Sainsbury’s

Strawberries are set to become the bestselling products at Sainsbury’s for four months with the product expected to sell more than milk, bread and tea.

The supermarket sells over 15 different British varieties including Dream, a variety exclusive to the retailer and Murano, specifically bred to offer the best combination of flavour and vibrant colour.

“One punnet of strawberries is sold every second at Sainsbury’s - equating to 50,000,000 punnets a year, said Peter Czarnobaj, Sainsbury’s technical manager for berries.

UK strawberry sales have now reached £564 m, accounting for 51 per cent of total soft fruit sales, which hit a record high of £1.1bn this year.

BlackBerry misses sales estimates as phone unit shrinks further

BlackBerry posted sales that fell short of analysts’ estimates as shrinking smartphone sales and an inventory writedown overshadowed a boost in software revenue.

Revenue in the quarter was $424m (£286m), including software and services revenue of $166 million that was 21 per cent higher than the same period last year. Analysts had estimated total revenue of $471 million.

Chief executive officer John Chen is pushing to increase software sales while finding a way to wring profitability from the company’s shrinking smartphone division.

Chen has said Blackberry’s first Android phone, the keyboard-equipped Priv, didn’t sell as well as he had hoped because it was too expensive.

(Bloomberg)

Macy’s chief executive to step down

Terry Lundgren, the chief executive of Macy's, will be replaced early next year by the department store chain's president, Jeff Gennette.

Mr Lundgren, who has been CEO since 2003, will remain executive chairman.

Shares of Macy’s rose 3.5 per cent in early trading the company’s stock has lost nearly half of its value in the past year.

Macy’s. the largest department store chain in the US reported its worst quarterly sales since the recession in May, raising fears over the health of the US retail sector.

In January both Macy's and rival JC Penney said they would close stores and cut thousands of jobs in response to sliding sales.

(Reuters)