The Panel said it was naturally concerned that these price increases may have resulted

The Panel said it was “naturally concerned that these price increases may have resulted from a leak in relation to the approaches received… although there was no speculation about this in the media”.The executive said it was only informed shortly before the company’s announcement. Under the code, it should be kept informed if there is a movement of 10 per cent or more.. Oxford BioMedica, a biotech group backed by Oxford University, yesterday served High Court writs claiming almost pounds 1m from two underwriters who are alleged to have caused the group’s AIM listing to flop in December after they withdrew their support, writes Magnus Grimond. By that stage, the shares had slipped to 30.5p and continued to slide, hitting a low of 21.5p by 18 December, at which price there was a significant volume of dealings, the Panel said.The shares then started to rise sharply, reaching 40p by the end of the month, hitting 46.5p on 30 January, just before bid approaches were revealed, and rising 30 per cent to 62p on the day. It was a measure of the seriousness with which it viewed the issue that the reprimand was made public, Mr Defriez suggested.Applied, which is involved in contract food distribution from companies ranging from J Sainsbury to Nestle, saw its shares plunge in November after it issued its second profits warning in three months.

The price slumped 25.5p to 37p on the day it announced it would be passing its final dividend as a result of a downturn in second-half trading, which would mean it would only break even for the period.Yesterday, the Panel revealed that the company had received certain bid approaches as early as the beginning of December. A statement from the Panel said Barings, rescued from collapse by the Dutch group ING almost two years ago, had breached rule 2.2 of the Takeover Code by not keeping the City watchdog informed of the approaches.
Alistair Defriez, the director-general, said: “It is a public statement of criticism because the code has been breached and in particular Barings failed to consult the executive as they were required to do.”The Panel had the choice of keeping the censure of the bank behind closed doors. He also noted that its gross lending figure might have been inflated by borrowers staying to ensure they received their free shares.. The executive of the Takeover Panel yesterday delivered a public rap over the knuckles to ING Barings after shares in Applied Distribution, a client of the merchant bank, soared prior to it revealing bid approaches last month.

This would mean Woolwich would lose a five-year protection against takeovers if it merged with another financial institution after it had converted to a bank.Rob Thomas, building society analyst at UBS, said Woolwich’s mortgage share would have been helped by its bias to the South-east of England. For the first time in 10 years its estate agency business made a profit, but this was mostly as a result of the profit on the sale of Chestertons Residential.However, the society’s profits would have been pounds 83m lower if Woolwich had written off the special mortgage offers in 1996 instead of amortising the costs over an average four-year period.The society will float on the stock market later this year and wants to increase its presence in the north of England by merging with a building society in the area.But John Stewart, group chief executive, indicated that such mergers might be difficult if proposed legislation goes through Parliament. Overall, the society’s net lending increased by 50 per cent to pounds 1.4bn, which represented 7.6 per cent of the market – higher than its traditional 6 per cent market share. The receivers established that, contrary to accounting documents, the car dealership was grossly insolvent to the tune of pounds 25m.The jury convicted Sharratt on Tuesday and reached its verdict on John Hayes yesterday.. He was described as “the leader and guiding light of Swithland”.Swithland was based in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire and put into receivership in November 1993.

They will be sentenced tomorrow.The judge dismissed the jury after it failed to agree on the charge against Richard Hayes, 35, the operations director and brother of the chairman.The SFO opened the case, in conjunction with Customs and Excise and the Leicestershire Constabulary fraud and commercial branch, after Swithland’s aborted stock market flotation in November 1993.The court heard that John Hayes was “the spider at the centre of the web” and would have benefited by some pounds 1m if the flotation had been successful. Two former directors of what was once one of the country’s largest privately owned car sales groups have been found guilty of fraudulent trading in a case brought by the Serious Fraud Office. The terms of our deal with them have not changed in any respect other than they are now shareholders.”Halifax Building Society did not return calls.. But if there was going to be a mass outflow of funds we would have seen it straight away, once members voted for conversion.”Alliance & Leicester said: “We think we offer competitive interest rates. We have loyal investors who have been with us for a long time. A major pro-mutual offensive spearheaded by the Building Societies Association is planned in the summer.A Woolwich spokesman said yesterday: “Certainly, investors will shop around.