Countrywide shares plunged just over 10% at one stage yesterday as the markets tried to dissect what has happened with the deal to sell its commercial arm Lambert Smith Hampton.
The sale, to a private buyer John Bengt Moeller based in Monaco, was due to complete at the end of last year. But this week, Countrywide announced that it has not yet gone through.
Analysts are now asking whether the deal – key to reducing Countrywide’s debt and allowing it to concentrate on its core residential business – will now go through at all. Countrywide is saying that there is merely a delay.
Countrywide shares closed at 310p, about 8% or 26p down over the day.
Another loser on the London stock market yesterday was Foxtons, whose shares fell 4.5% to finish at 86.5p.
By contrast, shares in LSL closed at a three-year high at 320p, going up over 3% during the course of the day.
Comments (4)
To be honest the LSH deal was almost a”forced sale”price and not attractive but deemed necessary
Commerical property activity has picked up since the Election and many investment sales which were awaiting the election results have been triggered
Maybe that is shortlived asThe Corona Virus causing Asian Landlords to call a temporary stay on rents as they offer a lifeline to retailers A few more cases back in Bighty and you wont find many visitors inside viral soup enclosed shopping centres !
A capital raise is inevitable They have recently consolidated and they could easily raise £40m perhaps at 250 p now there has been a sentiment change -but yet more suffering for the shareholder
One proviso is that the cheque book is taken away from the BODS In fact sack the lot
I agree with Dyane too many “village branches with just a handful of instructions and sales In addition the JDW/.Hamptons branches in Central London must be baely ticking over
Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water the BODS have done it again .No Plan B in force to replace the missing millions which the banks were so keen to get their hands on
They will have their hands around CWD;s throat.CWD should have gone to the market and raised some capital and not rely on some flakey sale of LSH
This is a set of BODS which moves seamlessly from one disaster to another without pausing for breath
The potential buyer must be having a wry smile to himself .If he is lucky to find the money to complete the purchase down the back of the sofa .He will be able to chip the price knowing that the BODS will do anything to get the deal over the line and save face
Looking at some of the CWD brands yesterday Dixons in the Midlands seem to be going great guns In sharp contrast to CWD in Central London where little evidence of enquiries converting to sales A Tale of Two Cities. Dixons Willenhall branch has already got 5 away SSTC of those listed in February
You have to sympathise with the neggies there beavering away for the greater good .Their hard earned fees disppearing down a corporate black hole probably leaving them sufficent for a few pints of Lumphammer and some scratchings
Our local ‘Countrywide’ office have agreed 5 sales too; but since the beginning of October 2019!
Really. They are that bad. The others in their local group fare little better.
To paraphrase Private Fraser in Dad’s Army (Google it if you’re too young, damn you!). “They’re doomed”…….
Moeller pretty obviously isn’t going ahead now, through cold feet, lack of ‘liquidity’, ‘indisposal’ or some other excuse. It’ll be that ‘the cheque is in the post next’. I suspect that his due diligence has picked up something that he’s not happy with.
It can only be a sign of desperation though if the BODS are prepared to wait into the seventh week and beyond, after he has ‘failed to complete’, in our parlance.
Hillofwad71 is entirely correct, they have no plan B so they are blindly clinging onto plan A with their fingers and toes crossed.
Going to the market to raise capital would re-weaken the share price that they have just propped up anyway and would completely scupper the deal with Moeller at the same time, so they’ve led themselves into a cul-de-sac and seemingly cannot now turn round.
Anyone know why Foxtons shares dropped so much yesterday?