MARKET REPORT: Director storm brews on Hurricane Energy board

Shares of Hurricane Energy rose after its largest shareholder yesterday called for the top of the oil and gas company to be removed.

Activist investor Crystal Amber Fund Limited, which owns a 29 percent stake in Hurricane, has taken steps to fire six directors over frustrations over the progress of a takeover process for the North Sea oil producer.

Those in the firing line include chairman Philip Wolfe, who was appointed in February, alongside CEO Antony Maris and chief financial officer Richard Chaffe.

Crystal Amber, which has had a stake in Hurricane since 2013, also wants to oust non-executive directors John Wright, David Craik and Juan Morera to ensure it maintains its “independence.”

In their place is hoping to install activist investor Tony Buckingham, CEO of Albion Energy Limited, and general manager Franco Caselli.

Shareholders are advised not to take any action at this stage until further notice from the company.

Wolfe added: “Given the excellent traction we are seeing in the sales process, which saw the company begin to explore all shareholder options and deliver on Crystal Amber’s objectives, the decision to issue the petition at this time is simply puzzling .’

It marks a dramatic end to the year for Hurricane, which last month rejected an unsolicited takeover bid of 7.7 pa share and put itself up for sale instead.

Now on the hunt for a buyer, those wanting to take over the company, valued at nearly £152 million, must make an offer before January 7. Crystal Amber said the value of Hurricane, it would be better served under new management that has a track record of delivering results for shareholders.”

Equities, which are up nearly 106 percent this year, gained another 2.6 percent, or 0.2 pence, to close at 7.81 pence.

With markets closing early in the last trading session before Christmas, the FTSE 100 was up 0.05 percent, or 3.73 points, to 7473.01 and the FTSE 250 was up 0.36 percent, or 68.01 points, to 18,830.08.

Exactly three months after September’s disastrous mini budget, the pound has risen by almost 13 percent.

Sterling rose 0.02 percent against the dollar to $1.2053, after falling to $1.0698 on Sept. 23 after the tax-cut package from Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss sent financial markets into freefall.

There was little to cheer for Boohoo after Stifel relegated the fashion brand to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ and cut its target price from 165 pence to 40 pence.

The broker said that by fiscal year end in 2024, Boohoo had neither the profitability nor the cash flow needed to support a “buy” rating in the near term. Shares fell 0.6 percent, or 0.2 pence, to 34.75 pence.

On a more positive note, Stifel praised Next as one of the best-performing retail stocks, despite shares falling 32 percent this year.

The broker said he believed the retail giant could thrive in these trying times and upgraded its rating from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’. Shares rose 0.1 percent, or 8p, to 5606p.

Hopes for a possible takeover of Curtis Banks Group were boosted after the deadline for a final offer was extended yesterday. The self-invested personal pension providers could fall into the hands of Nucleus if the provider of the digital investment platform makes an offer before January 9. Shares rose 10.2 percent, or 30p, to 324p.

Elsewhere, shares in MS International hit an all-time high after the defence-focused group secured a £22.4 million contract to supply an overseas customer with mobile weapons systems. It jumped 58.5 percent, or 275p, to 745p.