MARKET REPORT: Speedy Hire rocked as £20m of kit goes missing

Equipment lender Speedy Hire sank after discovering it was missing equipment worth £20 million.

The company, which rents out tools such as rotary hammers, LED lighting and generators, learned of the problem after counting its rental equipment ahead of an audit in March.

Speedy Hire said the value of the leased equipment was £226.9 million at the end of March last year.

This included £177 million in assets that could be traced by a unique barcode. The remaining £49.9m was hired aids known as ‘unspecified assets’.

This includes scaffolding towers and fencing that do not have a barcode and are counted manually. A stock count revealed a £20.4 million shortfall among its unspecified assets.

“The board has launched an external investigation into the unspecified asset issue, including a review of controls and accounting procedures,” it said. It fell 11.9 percent, or 5 pence, to 37 pence.

The FTSE 100 reached an all-time high of 7934 before giving up some of its gains to close up 0.3 percent, or 20.46 points, at 7885.17.

The FTSE 250 rose 0.6 percent, or 114.81 points, to 20303.81.

BP added 3.3 per cent or 16.8 pence to 533.2 pence after five City brokers raised their target price. BP made record profits by taking advantage of rising energy prices.

Next has strengthened its board and appointed Jeremy Stakol as Executive Director for Acquisitions and Third Party Brands.

The former boss of women’s clothing company Lipsy will start next month and will be tasked with promoting his powerful online sales platform Total. Shares were up 2 percent, or 134p, to 6860p.

Stock Watch – Mobile Goods

Cellular Goods, a cannabis skincare company backed by David Beckham, has backed away from its bid to buy Cannaray Brands and Love CBD Health.

It said the £14 million deal was ‘not in the best interests of shareholders’. Shares fell 23.1 percent, or 0.15 pence, to 0.5 pence.

Beckham’s 15 million Cellular Goods shares are now worth just £75,000.

The same stake would have been worth £2.85 million when the shares peaked at 19 pence two years ago.

Mike Ashley’s fashion empire was also in flux. Frasers Group, which owns Sports Direct, Jack Wills and Flannels, completed the deal to buy Cricket, Tessuti, Scotts, Giulio and Choice from JD Sports. Frasers rose 0.6 percent, or 5p, to 790p and JD Sports added 0.9 percent, or 1.65p, to 181.1p.

PZ Cussons fell 9 percent, or 19.2 pence, to 194.8 pence after the company behind Imperial Leather soap and Carex warned of rising costs, falling consumer confidence in the UK and weaker demand for its hygiene products.

Mining giant Anglo American has taken a 9.9 percent stake in Canada Nickel, owner of the Crawford project in Ontario.

Shares fell 1.3 percent, or 43.5p, to 3343.5p. Paper-based packaging firm Smurfit Kappa took a hit after it said demand had declined and customers had reduced inventory.

The group’s box volume fell 2 percent in the UK and Germany last year.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom, though: Group revenue rose 27 per cent to £11.4 billion, while profits rose 42 per cent to nearly £1.1 billion.

But shares of the company fell 3.3 percent, or 115 pence, to 3,373 pence. The slump seeped through the industry, with DS Smith down 4 percent, or 14.7p, to 350p, while Mondi fell 2.3 percent, or 35.5p, to 1520.5p.

Severn Trent reiterated his forecasts for the year, raising it by 0.4 percent, or 12p, to 2865p.

FirstGroup gained 2.3 percent, or 2.5 pence, to 111.4 pence after the bus and rail company agreed to buy the Essex company Ensignbus.

At Beazley, former Phoenix Group boss Clive Bannister will be the insurer’s chairman from the end of April. It rose 1.1 percent, or 7p, to 674.5p.

Futures fell 6.4 percent, or 102 pence, to 1,501 pence after the publisher behind Marie Claire and FourFourTwo warned of a digital ad hit.

Wealth manager Ashmore rose 2.1 per cent, or 5.8 pence, to 278.8 pence, though profits fell 54 per cent to £53.8 million in the six months to December, while assets under management fell 11 per cent to £47.3 billion.

M&C Saatchi rose 6.2 per cent, or 10.5 pence, to 180.5 pence after it said it aims to increase sales from £271m to £400m by 2027 and grow profits from £35m to £74 million.