MARKET REPORT: Fintech agency CAB axes boss after flotation flop

A fintech agency is to exchange its boss lower than a yr after its disastrous float on the inventory market.

CAB Payments listed with a price ticket of £850m in July however has since seen round £600m wiped off its worth.

And now chief govt Bhairav Trivedi, who has been on the helm since January 2021, will go away his job following the agency’s annual outcomes on March 26.

His successor Neeraj Kapur beforehand labored as finance boss at London-listed Vanquis Banking Group (up 0.3 per cent, or 0.4p, to 132p).

While Trivedi will tackle a senior adviser function to CAB, his departure as chief govt comes following a turbulent time for the agency. Shares in CAB Payments – which helps its clients transfer cash in rising markets corresponding to Bangladesh, Cameroon and Senegal – plunged by nearly three-quarters in a single session in October final yr after a thumping revenue warning.

Disastrous float: CAB Payments listed with a price ticket of £850m in July however has since seen round £600m wiped off its worth

The inventory, which floated at 335p, slid 2.6 per cent, or 2.6p, to 99.4p. It is valued at slightly below £260m. On the broader market, the FTSE 100 gained 0.3 per cent, or 21.79 factors, to 7706.28 and the FTSE 250 misplaced 0.4 per cent, or 83.94 factors, to 19179.56.

Across the Atlantic, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3 per cent in early buying and selling and the S&P 500 rose 0.1 per cent. But the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched down 0.06 per cent.

Shares in Nvidia rose one other 1.6 per cent, having jumped 16 per cent within the earlier session.

The chipmaker noticed its market cap acquire £214billion on Thursday following bumper outcomes. It was the largest one-day enhance in market worth ever recorded.

Back in London, Bytes Technology printed particulars concerning the shares traded by its boss that he didn’t disclose because the IT software program agency floated in December 2020. Neil Murphy, who joined the corporate as a gross sales director in 1997, resigned on Wednesday and instructed the board about his dealings.

The disclosure revealed 313,741 undisclosed shares have been purchased at 479.23p every and the identical quantity have been bought at 483.46p. Shares slid 2.4 per cent, or 13p, to 532.5p.

There was little respite for WPP after the promoting big misplaced the arrogance of a City dealer.

Morgan Stanley downgraded its ranking on the inventory a day after the corporate posted an enormous hunch in income as huge tech in the reduction of on promoting. On Thursday, WPP stated income for 2023 hit £346m – down as a lot as 70 per cent from the yr earlier than. Shares edged down 0.1 per cent, or 0.6p, to 730p.

Domino’s Pizza was additionally on the receiving finish of a dealer downgrade. Barclays flagged considerations {that a} slowdown in app downloads, in keeping with figures from the business tracker Apptopia, may hit gross sales.

Nearly 80 per cent of Domino’s third-quarter on-line orders have been made on its app. Shares slid 4.3 per cent, or 15.6p, to 351.6p.

Biotechnology firm PureTech Health headed within the different course after the corporate it based remained on monitor to be purchased by the US pharma big Bristol Myers Squibb for $14billion in the course of the first half of this yr.

Karuna Therapeutics, which is growing a therapy for adults affected by schizophrenia that’s being reviewed by the US regulator, agreed the takeover in December 2023.

Shares in PureTech Health surged 11.6 per cent, or 22.1p, to 213.5p.

Gas and electrical energy provider Yu Group has shored up its funds by hanging a five-year hedging cope with Shell Energy.

The utility agency, which additionally installs good meters for UK companies, has been affected by unstable vitality costs. Yu’s settlement with Shell Energy frees up greater than £50m of money that had been positioned on its stability sheet as collateral. Shares soared 12.1 per cent, or 140p, to 1300p.