Premier Oil’s date in court with hedge fund attacker 

Edinburgh is the venue this week for the showdown between Premier Oil and its hedge fund attacker.

Hong Kong hedge fund Asia Research & Capital Management (ARCM) emerged in December with the largest short position on record.

The gigantic bet on the share price, it said, was in fact a safety net because the hedge fund had also bought a lot of the company’s debt.

In other words, the short position meant ARCM wouldn’t lose its shirt if everything went belly-up.

However, Premier and ARCM have since locked horns over the former’s debt-fuelled deal to buy three North Sea gas fields. The court hearing in Edinburgh, which starts on Tuesday and could last four days, is a legal process to establish whether the deal is fair to creditors.

ARCM argues that last week’s oil price crash makes it even more of a risk with Premier’s debts so high. But I understand that whatever the outcome of the court hearing, the deal might not go ahead unless oil prices recover.

Premier’s management are keeping a close eye on the oil price, which hit the company’s shares hard last week.

Bucking the market slump, Ocado shares are up over the past two weeks, as investors bet that shoppers will opt to have food delivered to their homes instead of venturing out to the supermarket.

The grocery delivery company’s first-quarter update on Thursday will give more detail on how trading has been and, more crucially, on how the firm is coping with the sudden surge in demand.

There have been reports that people are waiting days or even weeks for deliveries that in the past would have arrived within 24 hours.

There is also likely to be an update on progress shifting away from Waitrose to its tie-up with Marks & Spencer.

Like almost all stocks, plumbing giant Ferguson has taken a battering from the coronavirus outbreak.

Its first-half results on Tuesday are likely to focus on its impact and how much activity has slowed.

Ferguson may struggle to give guidance for the year given that we are in uncharted territory. But investors will also be looking for an update on the split of the business, with the UK division being separated from its American arm, which will list on Wall Street.

Scribblers at Peel Hunt say it could be too early for an update on the US listing. The virus may have pushed that even further back.

Troubled NMC Health avoided last week’s market rout – but only because its shares are suspended.

In its latest jaw-dropping announcement, the company last week revealed that it had uncovered £2.15 billion in debt, which was hidden from the board amid ‘suspected fraudulent behaviour’.

When, or if, the shares in the Abu Dhabi-based healthcare provider return to trading, a price collapse seems highly likely.

Those two late multi-million pound investments in NMC by New Zealand billionaire Richard Chandler and the Dubai property tycoon Hussain Sajwani – who is building golf courses with US President Donald Trump – don’t look quite so smart now.