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Litigation funder Burford Capital (BUR) suffered a major setback in its long-running dispute with the Argentinian government over the 2012 nationalisation of state oil company YPF, after a US appeals court overturned a $16.1bn (£12bn) judgment previously awarded in the case.

The firm had framed the dispute as a contract issue, as Argentina had broken YPF’s byelaws in not making an offer to minority investors of Petersen and Eton Park. But the court said that reliance on the byelaws did not create an enforceable contract claim against the state, which falls instead under the country’s expropriation laws.

In essence, the court ruled that the chosen claim route was not the right one and the investors should have taken part in the original compensation process. Burford will now likely pursue international arbitration on the issue, a process expected to take years. The shares have plummeted more than 40 per cent on the news.

“While we are optimistic about an eventual positive outcome in the case given the availability of international arbitration, we recognise that represents a meaningful delay in expected cash proceeds and affects investors’ views about Burford’s present value,” said chief executive Christopher Bogart.

Indeed, analysts have been assessing the costs. “In the absence of information on the remaining fair value of YPF, we prudently write-down the carrying value to zero, equivalent to a $1.6bn (£1.2bn) write-down,” said Berenberg analyst James Allen.

CVS (CVSG) chief executive Richard Fairman is set to step down for personal reasons, the veterinary services group said, but will remain in post until a successor is appointed to ensure a “smooth transition”. The shares fell 1.5 per cent in early trading.

Fairman, who joined the company as chief financial officer in 2018 and became CEO in 2019, oversaw the company’s expansion in Australia, the resolution of an investigation into the veterinary market by the Competition & Markets Authority and its eventual promotion to the FTSE 250.

Jadestone Energy (JSE) has suspended production at a field providing around 10 per cent of group production after Cyclone Narelle damaged the Stag platform and offloading facilities.

The company shut down the offshore Australia facilities before the cyclone hit, and said no oil had been spilled. “After returning to the facilities on 28 March, storm-related damage was observed on the Stag platform and at the offloading facilities,” Jadestone said.

Stag produces around 2,000 barrels of oil per day (b/d), compared to average group production of 20,000b/d, inclusive of gas.

Jadestone’s shares hit a 12-month high earlier this month as investors looked for weaker oil producers primed to rebound on the back of the oil and gas price hikes.

CAB Payments (CABP) has refused its biggest shareholders’ demand for more information to allow it to proceed with its $1.15 (86p) per share takeover bid, which the board described as “unsolicited” and “unrecommendable”.

A consortium led by Helios Investments, which owns a 45 per cent stake in the company, said on Friday that it had called on independent members of the board to “provide the requisite information” needed for it to proceed with its bid.

The firm warned that regulators would require the disclosures and that any delay would only prolong the process. It also described a rival 95p per share offer from StoneX (US:SNEX) as being undeliverable, as it would require the support of the consortium, which it has declined to grant.

However, CAB Payments’ independent board members have rejected both StoneX’s and the Helios consortium’s offer, arguing that Helios has only received public support from 7.59 per cent of external shareholders.

“Diverting management time and attention from executing the company’s business plan … in order to assist the Helios consortium in preparing the extensive information it has requested to execute its unrecommended offer, is not in the best interests of the company’s shareholders,” the board said in a statement on Friday.

CAB Payments’ shares currently trade at 83p.