DX faces corporate espionage claim

“The FTSE 100 defied weak markets in Asia overnight and selling on Wall Street on Friday to trade higher on Monday morning as investors await key US and UK inflation data later this week,” says AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

“Back above the 7,900 mark and within striking distance of its recent all-time highs the index continues to build on its gains of recent months, but the confidence that remains is about as fragile as a fine china cup.

“For the time being investors have largely been happy to ride out shocks like unexpectedly strong economic data from the US, good news which could turn out to be bad if it caused the Fed to go back on the offensive with interest rates, however a renewed uptick in prices on both sides of the Atlantic could shatter sentiment.

“The expectation is inflation will have eased slightly when the US and UK report tomorrow and Wednesday respectively.”

DX

“Industrial espionage has rarely sounded more prosaic although the consequences for delivery and logistics firm DX, if the claims from Sheffield-based rival Tuffnells are proven at the High Court, could be anything but.

“According to newspaper reports DX employees, formerly of Tuffnells, conspired to obtain customer service receipts from the latter. The £50 payments offered to ‘Pat’ the delivery driver in exchange for the confidential corporate information make it sound like an off-the-wall episode in the life of Greendale’s favourite postie.

“DX has put out the expected robust defence and the company has already conducted a corporate governance investigation into the matter which resulted in a shake-up of its senior management and a long suspension for the shares.

“The company desperately needs to move on from the scandal and continue to capitalise on the progress it made during the pandemic when there was a sizeable increase in demand for parcel deliveries. Previously the company had a chequered history as a listed firm, littered with profit warnings and dividend cuts, so it is important to clean up this mess as soon as it can.”

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