MARKET REPORT: Hargreaves co-founder sells £160m of his shares

Turbulence on the stock market brought on by the coronavirus crisis has led to a surge in online trading.

It has also boosted demand for shares in companies that specialise in this industry.

Billionaire Hargreaves Lansdown co-founder Stephen Lansdown found the company’s stock was so sought after that, when he launched his latest sale of shares, he had to increase the amount up for grabs twice.

Stephen Lansdown found the company’s stock was so sought after that, when he launched his latest sale of shares, he had to increase the amount up for grabs twice

The 67-year-old was intending to sell £100million of stock but this was increased to £135million and then, finally, to £160million.

Landsown, who set up the company 40 years ago with Peter Hargreaves, sold 10.32m shares – or a 2.1 per cent stake in the group.

He originally owned 27 per cent of the company when it floated in 2007 but has pared this down to what is now a 6.5 per cent stake, worth around £440million at current prices.

Lansdown said the decision to sell off another chunk now was so that he could free up money to make other investments and ‘spread the risk’. Shares in Hargreaves Lansdown, which drew criticism for its close ties with disgraced fund manager Neil Woodford, fell 12.6 per cent, or 208.5p, to 1440.5p last night.

Pharmaceutical company investors, on the other hand, were given a shot in the arm by more coronavirus-related advances.

Stock Watch – Conroy Gold and Natural Resources

Conroy Gold and Natural Resources shares bounced after it found another outcrop of gold in an area it is exploring in Ireland.

The deposit is in a zone of land close to its Glenish gold target where the company wants to build its first mine.

AIM-listed Conroy has also been scouring local archives, uncovering historical data that shows there could be even more of the yellow metal in the area.

Shares jumped 17.2pc, or 1.65p, to 11.25p.

 

Astrazeneca rose 1.4 per cent, or 115p, to 8322p after it signed a deal with Oxford University to develop a Covid-19 vaccine together.

Under the partnership – which would prioritise the UK – Cambridge-based Astrazeneca could produce 100m doses by the end of the year if a treatment currently undergoing trials is successful. 

And Oxford University spin out, Oxford Biodynamics, rose 15.3 per cent, or 9.75p, to 73.5p after some of its technology was selected to be used in a Glasgow University study focused on understanding how different people respond to treatments.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals’ stock also climbed, rising 1.7 per cent, or 39p, to 2370p after it committed to its final dividend and reported a pandemic-driven spike in demand for its products in the first quarter.

Glaxosmithkline secured a win after US regulators approved its ovarian cancer treatment Zejula for use in all women regardless of their genetics – vindicating Emma Walmsley’s decision to buy Tesaro, a Massachusetts-based pharmaceuticals firm, in late 2018. But shares fell 1 per cent, or 16p, to 1661p.

The wider stock market was also in the red, dragged down by an 11.4 per cent slump in Shell shares, which fell 165p to 1286.4p.

The FTSE 100 fell 3.50 per cent, or 214.04 points, to 5901.21, while the FTSE 250 fell 2.26 per cent, or 380.88 points, to 16454.46. 

Cost and dividend cuts were the dominant theme on the stock market yesterday, which was overrun by companies reporting first-quarter results.

Security services giant G4S rose 5.1 per cent, or 5.25p, to 109.2p as it eyed £100million in savings this year and cut its dividend.

Wealth manager St James’s Place lost ground (down 5.6 per cent, or 50.8p, to 851.4p) after trimming a third of its final dividend, while Glencore (down 4.9 per cent, or 7.62p, to 147.1p) said it would cut spending by as much as a quarter to manage during the pandemic.

Elsewhere, coronavirus disruption continued to bite Tui (down 8.1 per cent, or 27.9p to 316.5p) after it extended holiday cancellations until mid-June.

Shareholders in aerospace and defence group Meggitt (down 6.6 per cent, or 19.7p, to 279.3p) weren’t roused by the company inking a contract to equip a live-fire training facility in the Middle East.

Gulf Marine Services, however, rocketed 68.3 per cent, or 2.56p, to 6.32p after receiving a takeover proposal from Dutch group Seafox.

 

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