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(Alliance News) - Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings on Tuesday confirmed Chief Executive Officer Andy Palmer has stepped down with immediate effect, and the carmaker has appointed Mercedes executive Tobias Moers as his replacement.
Palmer's position as chief executive has been the subject of speculation since billionaire Lawrence Stroll led a consortium that bought a 25% stake in Aston Martin last month, and then sold part of that to another consortium led by Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team principal Toto Wolff.
Tuesday's announcement confirmed a report in the Financial Times newspaper on Sunday.
Moers will be based at Aston Martin's headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire and will join the company on August 1. He is currently CEO of the AMG sports car arm of Mercedes Benz, itself part of 4% Aston Martin shareholder Daimler. Moers has held that position since 2013.
Under Palmer's watch, Aston Martin - in October 2018 - became the first carmaker to list in London since Jaguar was spun off from British Leyland and was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1984. However, the company since has issued a slew of profit warnings, and the share price plunged 98% to 35.46 pence at Friday's close from its IPO price of 1,900 pence.
Aston Martin shares were up 29% to 45.85p in early trade Tuesday.
Keith Stanton, currently chief manufacturing operations officer, has been appointed interim chief operating officer to support Executive Chair Stroll, the company added.
Stoll said: "I would like to thank Andy for his hard work, personal commitment and dedication to Aston Martin Lagonda since 2014. In that time the company has successfully renewed its core sports car range, with the DB11, Vantage and DBS Superleggera and has brought the brand's first SUV, DBX to a point of readiness for deliveries to start in the summer. Furthermore, the development of the era-defining Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar has paved the way for the mid-engined range to come. I would also like to recognise his leadership through the current challenges and uncertainties presented by Covid-19.
"I am delighted to welcome Tobias to Aston Martin Lagonda. He is an exceptionally talented automotive professional and a proven business leader with a strong track record during his many years at Daimler AG, with whom we have a longstanding and successful technical and commercial partnership, which we look forward to continuing."
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 2.0% at 6,110.01
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Hang Seng: up 2.1% at 23,428.37
Nikkei 225: closed up 2.6% at 21,271.17
Wall Street closed Monday for Memorial Day holiday.
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GBP: up at USD1.2240 (USD1.2190)
EUR: up at USD1.0923 (USD1.0886)
Gold: down at USD1,730.01 per ounce (USD1,733.00)
Oil (Brent): up at USD36.22 a barrel (USD34.72)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Tuesday's Key Economic Events still to come
1100 BST UK CBI distributive trades survey
1000 EDT US new residential sales
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All shops across England will be able to open next month if they can meet the coronavirus guidelines to protect shoppers and workers, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced. The prime minister said outdoor markets and car showrooms would be able to open from June 1 if they are safe to do so, PA reported. All other non-essential retailers - such as those selling clothes and books - will be allowed to open from June 15, provided the guidelines are met along with the government's five tests for easing the lockdown. Johnson told the daily Downing Street press conference that the risk of transmission is lower in outdoor areas, where social distancing can be easier to enforce. Earlier this month, garden centres were permitted to reopen in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as part of the easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
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Dominic Cummings remains under fire over allegations he breached coronavirus lockdown restrictions, after he said he does not regret his actions and declined to apologise. In an extraordinary press conference in the 10 Downing Street garden, the UK prime minister's chief adviser sought to defend his decision to drive to County Durham from London in March. Cummings said he made the trip because of fears over a lack of childcare if he became incapacitated with the virus, and concerns about his family's safety – but revealed that despite the backlash he has "not considered" resigning.
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Ireland recorded no new deaths from the coronavirus on Monday for the first time since March 21. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar called it a "significant milestone", adding on Twitter: "This is a day of hope. We will prevail." The announcement came one week after Ireland, which has suffered 1,606 deaths from 24,698 infections, began to ease lockdown measures that had been in place for nearly two months. Ireland entered lockdown in late March, recording a peak of 77 deaths on a single day on April 20.
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The Italian minister for European Affairs praised Berlin's decision to drop its long-standing opposition to common EU debt as a "very important step" towards a shared recovery plan. "Germany's ruling elite has woken up to the nature of the crisis," Enzo Amendola said on Monday, amid jostling among EU member states over how to jointly raise and spend stimulus funds for the deep recession triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron called last week for a EUR500 billion recovery fund. Under the plan, the European Commission would raise funds on capital markets on behalf of the EU.
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Japanese industrial activity declined sharply in March during the Covid-19 pandemic, data showed. The Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry reported the indices of all industry activity fell 3.8% to 99.5 points in March from 103.4 in February. According to FX Street, economists had forecast the index to remain flat after its 0.7% decline in February. Activity from the industrial production sub-index showed marginal 0.08% growth, but this was offset by a 0.85% tertiary industry decline and 0.08% slip in construction activity.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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GOLDMAN SACHS CUTS ASCENTIAL TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 289 PENCE
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BARCLAYS INITIATES OLD MUTUAL WITH 'EQUAL WEIGHT' - TARGET 80 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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easyJet said Andrew Findlay is to step down as CFO in May 2021, but will continue with his existing responsibilities as the search for his successor gets underway. Findlay was part of a group of easyJet directors that founder and major shareholder Stelios Haji-Ioannou failed to oust in a row over a GBP4.5 billion order for Airbus planes at a shareholders' meeting last week. Findley said: "By the end of my notice period, I will have been with this great company for almost 6 years, and it will be the right time to pass the financial reins to someone who will help take easyJet into its next chapter. I would like to thank the shareholders who supported me and my fellow directors in the recent general meeting. I intend to repay that support in the coming year."
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Ferguson said CFO Mike Powell has resigned from the plumbing and heating products firm to take up the same role at paper and packaging firm Mondi. Ferguson said Powell was committed to assisting with an orderly transition and the search for his successor is underway. The CFO role in the future will be based at Ferguson's Newport News, Virginia headquarters in the US. Mondi said Powell will replace Andrew King, who was appointed as Mondi's CEO in April.
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The board of HSBC Holdings plans to take the Asia-focused bank's previously planned restructuring even further, as the virus pandemic forces more aggressive action, the Financial Times reported. Back in April, HSBC temporarily suspended parts of the restructuring it had announced in February, saying that it was "not appropriate" to proceed with some of its job reduction programmes in the middle of the current crisis. Those plans would have seen 35,000 jobs lost, as worldwide staff was reduced to 200,000 from 235,000. But the HSBC board is now pressing the bank's executives to restart the restructuring and come up with even more radical plans, according to the FT. This could include further cuts to, or even a sale of, HSBC's US business, as well as its retail network in France, the newspaper said, as the bank redirects resources to Asia, its historic home and profit centre. The job will fall to Noel Quinn, whom in March HSBC confirmed as permanent chief executive from interim.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Sanofi announced plans to sell its stake in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals through a registered public offering, plus a related share buy back by Regeneron itself, though stressed this will not hurt the collaboration between the two drug-development partners. French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi owns around 23.2 million shares in Tarrytown, New York-headquartered Regeneron, representing a 20.6% stake. Sanofi originally bought the Regeneron shares in 2003. Regeneron will repurchase USD5 billion of its stock from Sanofi provided the public offering completes. Should the offering and repurchase complete as planned, and underwriters exercise their share options, Sanofi will still hold around 400,000 Regeneron shares and will retain these "in support of the ongoing collaboration with Regeneron".
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Barrick Gold said it resumed shipping stockpiled concentrate from Tanzania in April after having reached a framework agreement with the government. Barrick said it resumed shipping of about 1,600 containers of concentrate from the Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi gold mines. The first USD100 million received from the sale went to the Tanzania government as the first tranche of a USD300 million settlement of disputes inherited from the Canadian company's acquisition of former London-listed Acacia Mining. The remaining USD200 million will be paid in five annual amounts of USD40 million. Barrick said it also has settled 90% of North Mara legacy land claims, with payment scheduled to start on Monday. The agreement follows discussions between Twiga Minerals Corp - a jointly owned local company formed by Barrick with the Tanzania government to manage the former Acacia operations in Tanzania - and the ministries of Mines and Land and local authorities.
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Tuesday's Shareholder Meetings
RELX
Chesnara
Oriole Resources
Metro Bank
SDL
RIT Capital Partners
Uniphar
JTC
Bank of Cyprus
Xpediator
Aviva
JPMorgan US Smaller Co Investment Trust
Mortgage Advice Bureau
Management Consulting Group
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
