Friends surprised by 18% share slide

The insurer led London’s Monday market meltdown, plummeting 17.60 points to close on 81p. Communications head Peter Timberlake says the firm was taken aback by the dramatic decline. “We don’t know the reason why our share price has fallen far more than our competitors,” he says. Timberlake says the company “would not speculate” on whether its share price slide may flush out possible Friends takeover parties, which are said to include Clive Cowdery’s Resolution Limited and US private equity firm JC Flowers. “We are getting on with our strategic review and implementing our new strateg...