Another Quindell broker quits

Insurance outsourcer Quindell has lost another supporter. A day after founder Rob Terry left the firm and following the resignation of both joint broker Canaccord Genuity and PR firm Redleaf, Andy Bryant, technology analyst at Quindell’s remaining broker Cenkos Securities, has jumped ship.

Bryant left "by mutual consent," a company spokesperson told Interactive Investor. "He resigned of his own volition. It had nothing whatsoever to do with Quindell."

Whether or not that is the case, clearly Bryant has been under pressure at Cenkos. Covering Quindell has been a thankless task for at least the past seven months. In that time, the share price has plunged by 93% from 649p to just 46p now. And just last month Bryant believed the "major risk-discount can unwind over the next few months (as the company 'rolls' cash, NIHL and telematics guidance into 2015) and support an initial re-rating back towards 500p."

More recently, he attempted to explain the controversial director share buying, which saw Terry, finance director Laurence Moorse and non-exec Steve Scott effectively sell over 10 million shares to Equity First Holdings (EFH) in return for cash to buy more Quindell shares. "All three directors have therefore simply increased their shareholdings (and have not sold or 'cashed-out' any stock)," said Bryant. They had.

It remains to be seen whether Cenkos sticks with Quindell. We're told they have no plans to quit. We'll see. Bryant, however, can at least sleep easy tonight and plan a long holiday knowing he's off the dreaded Quindell account.

Elsewhere, there are reports that the London Stock Exchange (LSE) is investigating this week's slump in Quindell's share price. Canaccord apparently handed in its notice in on 21 October, but Quindell only made public that information on Monday. That may mean it violated rule 11 of the AIM code, which reads:

An AIM company must issue notification without delay of any new developments which are not public knowledge which, if made public, would be likely to lead to a significant movement in the price of its AIM securities.

A LSE spokesperson declined to comment when Interactive Investor called.

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