BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY WE RANK THE MAGAZINE OH, CRUMBS OUR LATEST ISSUE THE CAPITAL’S BEST AND HITS THE CITY WORST MINCE PIES P26 TOMORROW WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 ISSUE 3,519 CITYAM.COM FREE

FINAL COUNTDOWN Tory lead SAATCHI OUT narrows as campaigns heat up IN AD GIANT BLOODBATH EDWARD THICKNESSE shares at the company tumbling. sole members of the board. @edthicknesse M&C Saatchi’s share price fell to 79p A search for new executive directors last Wednesday, nearly halving the will occur at pace, City A.M. was told. THE ADVERTISING world was rocked firm’s market capitalisation. The The firm has announced it will last night after Lord Saatchi stepped embattled firm has now lost nearly restructure its board, along with its down as executive director of the three quarters of its value since financial function, in response to agency he founded, a week after the March, when its shares what has been a torrid time for one firm’s shares imploded on the back of were trading at 400p. of the mainstays of ad land. a major profit warning. It was later revealed In a statement last night, Fellow Conservative grandee Lord that chairman Sinclair said: “We have ANDY SILVESTER would be pleased with such a result, Dobbs, Prince Charles’ former private Jeremy Sinclair, Ker- accepted the decision of @silvesterldn it’s clear a hung parliament is still secretary Sir Michael Peat and well- shaw and executive these directors to resign. very much a possibility. known City figure Lorna Tilbian also director Bill Muir- “We are determined to ANY CONSERVATIVE complacency Both Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned from the board in a bomb- head had bought restore the operational about coasting to election victory and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn shell statement released last night. £1m in shares on performance and prof- evaporated late last night, after a will tour target seats today in an City A.M. understands the decision the same day, in itability of the business, comprehensive poll suggested the attempt to shore up support. was taken as a result of a number of a show of sup- and are already imple- party’s expected majority has been Labour will be buoyed by the poll disagreements between members of port for the firm. menting all of the recom- cut in half over the last fortnight. but will need to rebuild momentum the eight-person board. Those three mendations set out in the The YouGov MRP poll, which after a leaked recording of shadow It is believed that chief executive directors — along PwC report we announced last successfully called 2017’s hung health secretary Jon Ashworth David Kerslake had offered to resign, with M&C week. parliament, predicted a Tory majority emerged yesterday. Ashworth offered but was told that this was not in the Saatchi’s finance “We had started a process to of 28, down from a previous a withering assessment of his party company’s interest. director — are reconstruct our board with new prediction of 68 made two weeks ago. leader — and appeared to call him a Last week the legendary Golden now the independent directors. This new The polls have narrowed security risk and describing the Square firm admitted a two-year board will have a mandate to con- significantly since then and Labour party’s prospects as “abysmal”. £11.6m accounting error after duct a full review of all aspects will see this as a sign that it is all to PwC conducted an independent of our governance.” play for on a frantic last day of £ A ROLLERCOASTER DAY ON THE review. That error, along with campaigning. While Tory strategists CAMPAIGN TRAIL: P2 a profit warning, sent £ THE CITY VIEW: P2

FTSE 100 ▼ 7,213.76 -20.14 FTSE 250 ▼ 20,781.09 -141.55 DOW ▼ 27,881.72 -27.88 NASDAQ ▼ 8,616.18 -5.64 £/$▲ 1.318 +0.002 £/€▼ 1.188 -0.001 €/$▲ 1.109 +0.002 02 NEWS WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 CITYAM.COM

ICAP IN HAND Celebs man the phones on broker’s charity day as they raise funds for the firm’s 27th annual global giveaway THE CITY VIEW An advert for what can go wrong in ad land

NE OF the grandest advertising agencies has lost some of its grandest names. Co-founder (and until last night, Oexecutive director) Maurice Saatchi joins Lord Michael Dobbs, Sir Michael Peat and Lorna Tilbian in a boardroom exodus. M&C Saatchi chairman Jeremy Sinclair said “we have accepted the decision of these directors to resign.” No thanks for the years of service, no praise for a job well done. You don’t need a magnifying glass to read into that. This was an old-school boardroom bloodbath, befitting the cast of characters involved. Lord Dobbs is the creator of House of Cards — the famous political drama riddled with plots, intrigue and scheming egos. Peat was once private secretary to Prince Charles and Tilbian is a City grandee once dubbed “the Queen of media.” She only joined the board at the start of last year. Sinclair’s brief BROKER ICAP held its annual charity day yesterday, with 100 per cent of the revenues and commissions generated on the day to statement, announced last night after the market closed, said be given to deserving good causes, including 26 UK charities. David Walliams (left) and Gareth Southgate (right) helped out on the firm planned to “reconstruct our board with new the floor on behalf of Into Film and the Prince’s Trust respectively. The firm raised $4.5m (£3.4m) last year. independent directors” charged with reviewing “all aspects of our governance.” He added that he was determined to restore profitability. Clearly drastic times called for drastic measures. Last week’s profit warning saw the agency’s share price tank to 79p. It was approaching 400p in March. Accounting Labour bigwig tears into “misstatements” and a fall in profit (plus the loss of valuable accounts) have left the venerable firm teetering on reputational ruin. Analyst Michael Hewson described last week’s revelations as “excruciating” and questioned “how the business was being run over the last few years”. Russ Mould of AJ Bell agreed, Corbyn in leaked audio labelling the situation “a mess” and noting that even the agency’s top creative minds “would have a tough time selling its ANDY SILVESTER own update”. Last night one of the City’s top media analysts was where voters “can’t stand Corbyn and Johnson spent much of yesterday @silvesterldn they think Labour’s blocked Brexit”; touring the country revelling in the still trying to get his head around the boardroom cull. “Perhaps • The civil service “machine will leaked remarks, saying the health they’ve stepped down now to protect their reputations in case THE LABOUR campaign’s nascent mo- pretty quickly move to safeguard [na- secretary was “absolutely right.” He anything else comes out?” he mused. Alternatively, he suggests mentum was derailed yesterday after tional] security” if Corbyn becomes said Ashworth “revealed that he thinks the emergence of a recording of the Prime Minister; and his own leader is a security risk and I the grand quartet may have tried to oust chief executive David Labour shadow health secretary • Opponents of Corbyn within the think it couldn’t be clearer than that”. Kershaw but having failed — “they’re not natural assassins” — describing the party’s prospects as Labour party “f***ed it up” by plotting But he will have been given pause by they stepped down in defeat. Whatever triggered the boardroom “abysmal” and appearing to call leader a coup “too early” in 2016. the latest YouGov/MRP poll. exodus, it’s hard to see Kerhsaw’s position as rock solid — and Jeremy Corbyn a security risk. The Tories immediately made hay, Considered the most authoritative Though a poll released late night sug- though Ashworth said the conversa- opinion survey conducted by YouGov, given the current state of the company (and its share price) gested Labour has been making ground tion was him “joshing” with a Conser- it pointed to the Conservative party anything’s possible — from a management buyout to a swoop on the Tories via attacks on Boris John- vative-supporting friend and that he winning a majority in tomorrow’s elec- from a rival. It’s even possible that Kershaw and his team son’s personality and on the NHS, it was attempting to inspire a degree of tion — though with polls narrowing lost a day of campaigning after the un- false confidence. towards election day as voters coalesce manage to turn around the firm’s fortunes. But while they try, guarded remarks were revealed. Ashworth said he looked like a “right around the two main parties, the it seems the knives are out in ad land. In what Ashworth (pictured) plonker” and apologised to the Labour margin of victory was scaled down. attempted to explain away as “banter” party for his comments, first revealed The poll said the Conservatives could with a friend, the Corbyn frontbencher by website Guido Fawkes. take between 367 and 311 seats. While — who has appeared regularly along- Corbyn dismissed the story, saying YouGov said 339 is the most likely side the leader during the campaign — that the shadow health secretary has outcome (a majority of 28), the range said on the tape: an “odd sense of humour” who is means a hung parliament cannot be • “It’s dire for Labour” on the always “making jokes”, and that the ruled out. Labour is predicted to pick Follow us on Twitter @cityam doorstep, especially out of the cities focus should be on the NHS. up 231 seats.

FINANCIAL TIMES THE TIMES THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THE WALL STREET JOURNAL SAUDI ARABIA RENEWS PUSH WHAT THE POLICE LAUNCH RAPE PROBE LCF FOUR RECEIVED £20M IN EXXON FOUND NOT GUILTY IN FOR $2TN ARAMCO VALUE OTHER INTO MYSTERY ‘MR X’ MOGUL BONDHOLDERS’ MONEY CLIMATE FRAUD INQUIRY Saudi Arabia is making a last-ditch One of Britain’s wealthiest men is under Nearly £20m of bondholders’ money A New York state judge cleared Exxon attempt to persuade its institutions and PAPERS SAY police investigation over allegations of was transferred from scandal-hit Mobil of fraud claims yesterday, saying wealthiest families to buy shares in rape and sexual assault. The multi- savings firm London Capital and New York’s attorney general had failed Saudi Aramco after it floats today as THIS millionaire businessman, whose Finance (LCF) to four businessmen to establish that the oil giant had Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman identity is protected by court orders, before its collapse, a court has been deceived investors about how it refuses to give up on his long-coveted MORNING agreed financial settlements last year told. accounted for the cost of future climate $2 trillion (£1.52 trillion) valuation. with two former female employees who change regulation. The verdict capped a As part of a plan to drive up the Saudi accused him of assaulting them. CO-FOUNDERS SET TO BUY three-week civil trial between the state oil company’s stock price, state SWOON FROM CREDITORS and Exxon after years of dispute. investment funds are being encouraged WTO’S ‘REFEREE’ SUPREME Upmarket furniture retailer Swoon has to buy Saudi Aramco shares following COURT CEASES OPERATION become the latest company to reflect CHEVRON SET TO TAKE A the start of trading in Riyadh. Global trade’s supreme court ceased the pressures of the sector after RECORD $10BN WRITE-DOWN nonmedical insurance coverage to operating last night, piling further agreeing a pre-pack administration. The Chevron is writing down the value of its NEW YORK LIFE IN TALKS TO employers for nearly $6bn (£4.6bn). pressure onto the established rules- business, which has been trading since natural gas assets by more than $10bn BUY CIGNA UNIT FOR $6BN New York Life had emerged as the based order after a sustained American 2012, was bought from administrator (£7.6bn) in the largest write-down by an New York Life Insurance is in advanced frontrunner over Met Life and Sun Life campaign. Businesses warned global KPMG by co-founders Brian Harrison energy producer in years, after a slump talks to acquire a Cigna unit that sells Financial in the auction for the unit. trade would be left without a “referee”. and Debbie Williamson. in prices. CITYAM.COM WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 NEWS 03

IT’S ON THE HOUSE October GDP at Lloyds ‘sorry’ at Spoons boss to plug £200m into pub chain zero as business in post-election boon COLOURFUL pub tycoon Tim calls out for help redress failures Martin yesterday announced plans to invest £200m in JD HARRY ROBERTSON Wetherspoon pubs and hotels in the coming years as he criticised @henrygrobertson Labour’s economic policies. BUSINESS groups have called on Martin, a strident Brexit the next government to tackle the over fraud case supporter, told City A.M. that slowing UK economy after data “Wetherspoon has thrived yesterday showed growth stagnated under a free market economy in October. JAMES BOOTH offers of compensation.” [but] the current Labour The economy’s performance was Cranston said there were “serious leadership prefers state below expectations of a 0.1 per cent @jamesdbooth1 shortcomings [around] the bank’s ownership and control”. expansion, but marked an LLOYDS Banking Group was yesterday approach to assessing direct and improvement from the 0.1 per cent found to have failed in its compensa- consequential loss caused by the drop witnessed a month earlier, tion of customers who were defrauded criminal misconduct”. latest figures from the Office for by staff at the Reading branch “Other inconsistencies also resulted National Statistics (ONS) showed. of HBOS. in unfairness, and the bank’s general “The next government must Boss Antonio Horta-Osorio yesterday failure to communicate in a suffi- make a priority of spurring apologised to customers who had been ciently clear and transparent way business investment and reducing failed by the bank’s redress scheme, caused confusion,” he added. London Stock Exchange turns to uncertainty,” said Tej Parikh, which will now be reopened. Lloyds confirmed they would accept chief economist at the Institute Six people, including former HBOS Cranston’s recommendation that all of Directors. managers, are currently serving a customers are offered an independent the market about shorter hours Suren Thiru, head of economics combined 47 years in prison for delib- re-review of their cases. at the British Chambers of erately pushing small firms out of Horta-Osorio yesterday defended the HARRY ROBERTSON members — mainly banks and Commerce, pointed to problems business before stripping their assets bank’s intentions behind the review brokers — for its views on a series of with “high upfront costs and skills for personal gain between 2003 and but offered an apology, saying @henrygrobertson options for shortening the current gaps that hold firms back”. 2007, during which the branch was Cranston “has concluded that cus- THE LONDON Stock Exchange 8am–4.30pm trading day by up to 90 “The next government must deal run by Lloyds. tomers may not have received fair out- yesterday launched a consultation on minutes. The deadline to respond is with these issues as an urgent The firm set up a customer review to comes due to flaws in the review shortening its trading hours, 30 January 2020. priority,” he said. deliver compensation to those in- process... I am very sorry that this has following calls by industry bodies The Investment Association, which In the three months leading up volved, but a report by Sir Robert happened.” which said such a change would jointly led the calls with the to October growth also flatlined, Cranston yesterday gave the damning The Financial Conduct Authority improve workplace culture and low Association for Financial Markets in while the UK’s ongoing verdict that it “did not achieve the pur- said it will ask Lloyds senior manage- liquidity rates. Europe, said it was “pleased the manufacturing malaise showed pose of delivering fair and reasonable ment how the failings had occurred. The stock exchange has asked its London Stock Exchange has listened”. little sign of ending.

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John Lewis & Partners Cashmere Turtleneck Sweater, £120. John Lewis & Partners Cashmere Sweaters from £85, Scarves from £60, Hats from £40, Gloves from £35. Prices correct at time of going to print. CITYAM.COM WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 NEWS 05 Bondholders to Insolvency boss predicts high street carnage is set to continue next year be wiped out in JAMES BOOTH the future will hold and structural [with] landlords facing forced @Jamesdbooth1 changes in retail are still restructurings in CVAs or voids in happening,” executive chairman Ric their portfolios in because THE EXECUTIVE chairman of Traynor said. businesses are going bust,” he said. insolvency firm Begbies Traynor said He added retail woes that have led The firm yesterday reported yesterday he expected tough to companies such as Clinton Cards revenue growth of 21 per cent to Chilango rescue conditions to continue for retailers. crashing into administration, and £33.8m and profit before tax growth The growth of e-commerce and retailers such as Monsoon agreeing of 280 per cent to £1.9m for the half- weak consumer confidence have hit company voluntary arrangements year to 31 October. It attributed its ANNA MENIN profit and is over two months late the retail sector hard. (CVAs) with their creditors, were also strong results to “favourable @annafmenin posting its accounts. “Headwinds in terms of consumer hitting the property sector. conditions in the UK insolvency It had £6.9m of debt at the end of demand with uncertainty over what “That has had a knock on effect market” which it expects to continue. AROUND 1,500 bondholders are set October, and a forecast deficit of to be left with a sour taste in their £300,000 from January next year. mouths after Chilango yesterday The company’s creditors, including launched a rescue plan known as a bondholders and landlords, now have company voluntary arrangement until 3 January to vote on the CVA (CVA), which could leave their invest- proposals. If they reject them, the ments rendered virtually worthless. company will enter administration. The stricken Mexican chain raised Shareholders will also vote on more than £5.8m across two mini- whether to issue preferential shares bond offerings — dubbed burrito to bondholders, which would put What will a general election bonds — in 2014 and 2019, with them first in line for any dividends bondholders promised eight per cent paid out by Chilango. returns on the controversial invest- Like the burrito bonds, the shares mean for markets? ment products. carry an annual dividend of eight However under CVA proposals filed per cent, but payment of this would yesterday, bondholders will now be be dependent on the success of offered the choice to transfer their in- the company. vestments into shares in the company, “Taking such a deep bath on an 7.339.840 or to cash out their investments at a investment is a disappointment, rate of 10p per pound. but was always a possibility,” one The financial markets are unpredictable at the best The CVA documents, seen by City bondholder told City A.M. of times, let alone in the run up to a general election. A.M., also propose that Chilango exits “What is frustrating is the complete While many traders will use polling data to help four leases for dormant sites and silence from Chilango’s co-founders... gauge sentiment leading up to the UK election on cuts rents by 40 per cent at three of its They were happy to take our money, 12 December, nothing is certain. That’s why it’s also UK 100 12 restaurants. but have yet to offer an apology, important to look at historical stock market data to 29 Oct 2019 The filings lay bare the stark finan- contrition or even a reassuring word,” help inform your trading position. cial pressures facing the restaurant they added. chain, which has never turned a Chilango declined to comment. The past two general elections, for instance, have heralded two very different outcomes. CMC Markets’ client sentiment data shows that on 8 May 2015, only 7.320.000 35% of clients with a position believed the FTSE 100 BACK IN STYLE would rise, yet it ended the day up 2.3%. It was a very different situation after the 2017 snap election, with Business tycoon more than two in three traders correctly forecasting Lord Alli buys the FTSE 100 would fall, as it dropped 0.38%. Traders were similarly unflappable in the face of parliament Koovs out of approval on 29 October 2019 for Boris Johnson’s snap election, after 71% of traders backed the index to administration climb. London’s benchmark index gained 1.1% by the close on 5 November. after funding fail 7.300.000

BRITISH businessman As a leading global provider of online trading, CMC Lord Waheed Alli yesterday Markets supports Opto trading intelligence with over bought India-focused 30 years’ industry experience. online retailer Koovs out of administration after its biggest shareholder 8 May 2015 8 June 2017 29 Oct 2019 Future Lifestyle Fashions Conservatives Snap election results Parliament backs Boris win majority in hung parliament Johnson’s election plan failed to invest an additional £6.5m into the company. The deal will allow the retailer to 35% 69% 71% continue to trade. LONG SHORT LONG 7.280.000

All clients All clients All clients Turtle Bay’s profit dives as casual Client sentiment data on UK 100 amid past election announcements dining market competition rises cmc markets + general election

JESS CLARK the mid-market restaurant sector @jclarkjourno and weak consumer demand. Adjusted earnings before interest, CARIBBEAN-STYLE restaurant chain tax, depreciation and amortisation Trade your way Turtle Bay suffered a sharp drop in fell from £12m to £7.6m. Spread betting & CFDs: profit in its last trading period, The company said yesterday it FX | Indices | Cryptos | Commodities | Shares following a pattern seen across the slowed its expansion plans and only UK’s casual dining sector. opened one new site during the year, Profit fell from £4.43m last year to but added that “there are still a large Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 75% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you £1.39m in the year ended 2 March, as number of good potential sites understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. the company grappled with around the UK”. Client sentiment is provided by CMC Markets for general information only. It is historical data in nature and is not an indicator of mindset performance. economic uncertainty and rising Turtle Bay added that the main It should not be the only tool traders use to inform their strategy and must not form the basis of your trading or investment decisions. costs, the firm said yesterday. external challenges it faces are Sales in the UK decreased 2.5 per Brexit, sector competition and cent due to soaring competition in rising costs.

CITYAM.COM WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 NEWS 07 ELECTION 2019

POLL WATCH Boris runs amok in final countdown The Tories are terrified of tactical voting costing them a majority and a new YouGov poll which suggests that 19 per cent of Brits are considering it will give CATHERINE NEILAN The three stops are revealing of them serious cause for concern. The so- @CatNeilan Labour’s dilemma in this election — called Remain parties have been working attempting to hold onto Brexit-sup- overtime to persuade people to come BORIS Johnson will today warn the porting heartlands in the north and together to prevent a Tory majority. country that “this election is the most midlands, whilst appealing to important in a lifetime” during the Remain-leaning cities like the capital. GOOD DAY last full day of campaigning. Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson Pub landlords celebrated yesterday The Prime Minister, who is attempt- will be targeting Conservative-held after an article suggested that during the ing to hammer home the message seats of Esher and Walton, Guildford so-called gin craze, as many as one in that either tactical voting or a poor and Wimbledon as part of her tour four Londoners were blind drunk at any Tory turnout could lead to another of the country, telling voters there is one time. Given the way the campaigns hung parliament, will begin his day just “one more day” to stop Brexit, by have turned in the last few days — from on a milk round in Yorkshire and end stopping Johnson. fake punches to JCBs to secret recordings it canvassing in Essex. She will deliver her final speech — we dread to think how many of the Johnson — who during a campaign in Conservative foreign secretary staffers in political parties will be utterly stop in a Staffordshire factory yester- Dominic Raab’s Esher seat, which the incoherent by 3pm on Friday. day drove a JCB emblazoned with a party is heavily targeting, saying: “To “Get Brexit Done” slogan through a everyone out there who has a growing BAD DAY polystyrene wall — will tell voters that pile of Lib Dem leaflets on their Mark Zuckerberg has made a song and the election is a chance to tell politi- kitchen table: we can win where dance about increasing transparency on cians “that they need to stop squab- you live.” Facebook political advertising, but media bling, move the country forward and She will add: “You can stop another outlets yesterday reported that many of unleash our potential”. Conservative MP being elected. You those in the archive had simply Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn mean- can stop Boris Johnson from getting a disappeared without trace, while will make stops in Middles- majority he doesn’t deserve. You can making recording who paid for brough, Bedford and London on a help us stop Brexit.” them or where they came from whistlestop tour of the country. The Lib Dems remain hopeful of tak- nigh on impossible. Expect the “My message to all those voters who ing Raab’s scalp in a so-called Portillo social media giant to get a are undecided is that you can vote moment, but polls in the capital — kicking over this at a for hope in this election,” Corbyn will where they had hoped to do well — select committee soon. tell a rally. have moved against them recently. The PM drove a tractor through a wall which had “gridlock” written across it City workers just about back Johnson but offer very little Brexit enthusiasm STEFAN BOSCIA personal and professional thought Labour had rarely been kind AND IAN JOHNSTON perspective. He’s probably the City’s to the City. @Stefan_Boscia best shot because there’s too much “Except for Blair maybe, but he was risk with the others.” pseudo-Tory,” he said. CITY A.M. carried out a tour of the One common thread running Others were unimpressed by any Square Mile’s lunchspots yesterday to through the City yesterday was a lack south of the border politicians — and take the temperature of the capital’s of trust in Jeremy Corbyn. by politicians in general. workers ahead of the election, “He would destroy the economy” Steven MacNeil said he would with most plumping for the Tories — said banker Darren Wilson. vote for the Scottish National Party albeit reluctantly. “Have you read McDonnell’s if he could. “It’s a minefield,” currency trader manifesto? We can’t afford the things “Bear in mind, it doesn’t matter Farhan Ahmed said. “I think we they want to do.” who you vote for,” he added. should keep Boris in, from both a Fellow banker Joe Robinson “Nobody’s winning from this one.” City workers aren’t thrilled by any of the options, but Corbyn has them worried

CITYAM.COM WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 NEWS 09 IN BRIEF STREAMING GOAL Tech giant nets rights DEBENHAMS HIRES NEW BOARD MEMBERS to Champions League with German deal Debenhams has appointed the Ted Baker risks former boss of Argos as a non- AMAZON executive director in order to yesterday strengthen its board as it announced its implements a turnaround plan. move into John Walden, who was chief European football executive of Home Retail Group takeover after streaming after until it sold Argos to Sainsbury’s in snapping up the 2016, has been appointed to the rights to show board of Debenhams’ parent Champions company Celine Jersey Topco. Kevin League games in Conroy, the founder and chief Germany. The US executive of advisory firm Conroy share price dive tech giant said it Media, has also joined as a non- scored exclusive executive director. rights to JESS CLARK “Given management and operational broadcast MR KIPLING OWNER APPOINTS FINANCE CHIEF @jclarkjourno uncertainty and the founder’s 35 Tuesday night per cent, the shares look vulnerable fixtures in the Mr Kipling owner Premier Foods has EMBATTLED retailer Ted Baker has to a takeover.” country for the appointed Duncan Leggett as its potentially entered takeover territory Michael Hewson, chief market ana- 2021/2022 season. permanent chief financial officer following a “train wreck” trading lyst at CMC Markets added: “The big after he took on the role on an update yesterday that sparked a share question now is whether the com- interim basis in August. Leggett, price dive. pany’s woes will deter a potential bid, who joined the company in 2011, The company’s share price closed after reports in the summer sug- replaced former finance chief 13.4 per cent down at 346p yesterday gested that founder Ray Kelvin... Alastair Murray, who has served in after the retailer slashed its profit despite his departure earlier this year Amazon increases dominance of the position for six years. forecast and announced that chief might be tempted to make a bid, with executive Lindsay Page and chairman the help of private equity.” HSBC SIGNS GLOBAL DEAL David Bernstein had quit. WITH FINTECH FIRM BUD The fashion brand’s stock has UK e-commerce market in 2019 HSBC is to ramp up efforts on Open TED BAKER plunged more than 75 per cent since Banking, following a global the beginning of the year. The sharp 450 P JESS CLARK $30bn (£22.7bn) in sales. partnership agreement with drop could leave it open to a buyout. @jclarkjourno The next largest player in the UK London fintech startup Bud. The Analysts said former chief executive, 400 — which is the world’s third biggest banking giant took a significant Ray Kelvin, who was forced to quit last 350 ONLINE retail giant Amazon e-commerce market — was Ebay with stake in Bud earlier this year, which year over allegations of “forced hug- 10 Dec increased its dominance of the UK a 9.8 per cent share. Supermarkets helped HSBC launch its mobile ging”, could be mulling a buyout. 300 346 e-commerce market this year, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Asda banking app Artha through First Kelvin, who denied all allegations, according to the latest research. followed with 4.6 per cent, 4.5 Direct. The deal will see Bud’s Open already holds a 35 per cent stake in 250 Amazon boosted its market share per cent and 3.9 per cent Banking technology rolled out in the firm he founded. from 28.8 per cent in 2018 to 30.1 respectively, according to research First Direct, followed by HSBC’s UK In an analyst note Peel Hunt said: 4 Dec5 Dec 6 Dec 9 Dec 10 Dec per cent this year, accounting for from Edge by Ascential. arm in 2020 and in other markets. It’s what we do

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NOT WORKING Second Home co-founder exits after US office costs run over budget Takeaway platform Just Eat rejects increased takeover bid from Prosus JESS CLARK at £5.1bn, “fails to reflect last business day before the revised @jclarkjourno appropriately the quality” of the offer — and is a premium of four per delivery company. cent on its original offer. FOOD delivery platform Just Eat Just Eat urged investors to back an Prosus, which is owned by South yesterday rejected an increased all-share offer by Takeaway.com, African conglomerate Naspers, has takeover bid from Prosus, saying the which values the company at £4.3bn, advised investors to accept its offer, offer still “significantly undervalues” saying the new rival bid only insisting that it will “deliver the company. represents a premium of 16 per cent certainty in the face of undeniable In a statement yesterday Just Eat on its pre-offer share price. industry change”. The rival company said the revised terms of 740p per It added that the Prosus bid is a argued that Takeaway.com has share, up from 710p per share and discount of five per cent on its underestimated the challenges in which values the delivery platform closing price on 6 December — the the UK market.

SAM ALDENTON, the co-founder of shared office startup Second Home, is stepping down after costs over ran at the company’s first US site in Hollywood, Sky News reported. The company is in the process of securing a £9m capital injection. ‘Challenging’ UK market narrows Ashtead’s profit

ALEX DANIEL “refocusing” its UK business on “lever- @alexmdaniel aging its platform to deliver long- term sustainable results, while EQUIPMENT hire giant Ashtead has generating strong cash flow”. bemoaned a “challenging” UK mar- “The UK market remains challeng- ket, in which profit of its home A- ing,” said chief executive Brendan Plant business shrunk by nearly a Horgan. third in the first half of the year. Richard Hunter, head of markets at The FTSE 100 company enjoyed a Interactive Investor, said yesterday of six per cent overall rise in profit, the news: “While there is a pre-tax owing to a strong performance in its profit which is up… the number is core US unit Sunbelt, but struggled in light of expectations. its smaller business on home soil. “Furthermore, there are wider wor- Shares fell 6.2 per cent to 2,220p ries overhanging the stock, not least yesterday, as analysts raised concerns of which is the company’s reliance on about Ashtead’s growing reliance on the US part of its business.” its US business, which makes up 86 per cent of overall revenue. ASHTEAD Profit before tax rose to £660m for P the six months ending 31 October, 2,400 while revenue was £2.68bn — a 14 per 2,350 cent rise. 2,300 Earnings per share were up 10 per cent, as the firm enjoyed a 17.3 per 2,250 10 Dec cent rise in profit at its Sunbelt busi- 2,200 2,220 ness in the US to £755.9m. 2,150 But profit at A-Plant, Ashtead’s UK arm, fell 32.1 per cent to just £30m. The London-listed firm said it was 4 Dec5 Dec 6 Dec 9 Dec 10 Dec IN BRIEF MORGAN STANLEY IS FINED WOODFORD SHUTS OFFICES €20M OVER BOND MEDDLING AS BUSINESS WINDS DOWN Morgan Stanley was yesterday issued a Neil Woodford’s investment company €20m (£16.8m) fine by French has moved out of its Oxfordshire offices Your efforts have made the regulators after its London desk faced as the business continues the process of twenty-seventh ICAP Charity Day accusations of using “pump and dump” closing down. Former star stockpicker tactics to manipulate sovereign bond Woodford announced that he was a remarkable success, in total prices. France’s stock market regulator, shutting down Woodford Investment benefitting more than 2500 the Autorite des Marches Financiers Management in October, following a charities globally. (AMF), said the bank manipulated dramatic fall from grace that had seen prices on 14 French government bonds his flagship fund frozen for several We are very proud to celebrate and eight Belgian bonds in June 2015. months and several holdings sold off. Morgan Stanley also manipulated the The business had been based in a this incredible achievement. price of a French government bond business park on the outskirts of Oxford futures contract, the regulator said since it launched in 2014, but its Together, we can be heroes. yesterday. “The seriousness of the registered address on Companies infringements is also reinforced by the House was yesterday updated to a sophistication of the contentious mail-handling company in Holborn, transactions conducted by the traders,” London. Woodford Investment the watchdog said. “The traders on the Management employed around 60 staff desk knew... there was high volatility at its peak, but has been operating on a and low liquidity on the market.” The skeleton workforce since Woodford’s bank’s share price was unaffected. empire collapsed in October. ADVERTISEMENT

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13234_19 M Promoted by Jennie Formby, General Secretary, the Labour Party, on behalf of the Labour Party, both at Southside, 105 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6QT. CITYAM.COM WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 NEWS 13 Google tops list UK chiefs fail to offer financial of best places to eco incentives EDWARD THICKNESSE @edthicknesse JUST one in 10 of UK chief executives have financial incentives work in Britain to promote environmentally friendly business practices, new research has found. EDWARD THICKNESSE Astrazeneca. Equal Experts won plau- A survey from Belgium’s Vlerick dits for its “progressive ways of work- Business School released today said @edthicknesse ing and attitudes to their people.” that only six per cent have bonuses GOOGLE has been named the UK’s Salesforce was praised for its “com- with specific performance best place to work by employees, pany culture” and “volunteering pro- indicators related to environment. according to the latest data from gramme”, whilst Hiscox employees Less than one per cent have long- company review website Glassdoor. applauded its “work/life balance.” term incentives focused on the The US tech giant rose 12 places in The sector which provided the Reality shows such as Love Island got the most social media engagement issue. The survey also found that Glassdoor’s annual Best Places to most companies was technology, with just over a fifth of chief executives Work in 2020 list, with 19 firms mak- 11 firms, followed by restaurants and in the UK had incentives that were ing this year’s list for the first time. construction with five and four not related to their business’ profit The rankings are unique in that firms respectively. BBC wins battle for social buzz or to shareholder returns. they are based only on anonymous The study, carried out by Xavier employee reviews. TOP 10 BEST PLACES Baeten, focused on the Stoxx 600 Google employees highlighted the TO WORK IN THE UK as streaming giants fall behind and included 159 UK firms. firm’s “cutting edge technology” and NAME RATING Baeten said: “There is a general “great, diverse culture”, saying that 1. Google 4.5 JAMES WARRINGTON the BBC generated more tweets than consensus in business, certainly the company “drives great proactive 2. Equal Experts 4.5 any other broadcaster in the year to among larger firms, that there is a behaviours in all”. 3. Salesforce 4.5 @j_a_warrington the end of November. climate crisis and that different The top five was rounded out by 4. Hiscox 4.4 TRADITIONAL broadcasters such as Out of a total of 98m TV-related stakeholders have to play a role in software companies Equal Experts 5. Softcat 4.4 the BBC and ITV are winning the tweets, 28m referred to BBC becoming part of the solution. and Salesforce, insurance provider 6. Abcam 4.4 fight to create a buzz around new shows, followed by 14.9m about “However, our research shows that Hiscox and IT firm Softcat. 7. Microsoft 4.4 shows, generating more social media ITV programmes. for the overwhelming majority of This year marked Equal Experts’ 8. SAP 4.4 chatter than their streaming rivals. Netflix came in sixth place with UK firms, there is no incentive for first entry to the list, along with 9. Topps Tiles 4.4 Figures published today by market 6m tweets, while Amazon was in top [bosses] to enact these firms such as Topps Tiles, Mace and 10. Arup 4.4 research firm Kantar revealed that tenth place with 1.5m. environment-focused initiatives”.

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xero.com 14 NEWS WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 CITYAM.COM STORM CLOUDS GATHER OVER TRUMP Democrats finalise articles of impeachment Huawei finance chief wins court fight in Canada MOIRA WARBURTON

LAWYERS for Huawei’s chief financial officer have won a court battle after a judge asked Canada’s attorney general to hand over more evidence and documents relating to the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, according to a court ruling released late last night. Associate chief justice Heather Holmes in the Supreme Court of British Columbia agreed with Huawei’s legal team that there is an “air of reality” to their assertion. But she cautioned that her ruling is limited and does not address the merit of Huawei’s allegations that Canadian authorities improperly handled identifying information about Meng’s electronic devices. Meng, 47, was arrested at the Vancouver International Airport on 1 December last year, at the request of the United States, where she is charged with bank fraud and accused of misleading the bank HSBC about Huawei’s business in Iran. She has said she is innocent and is fighting extradition. She was questioned by Canadian US HOUSE Democrats took the next step in the impeachment of President Donald Trump yesterday, as they filed two articles of impeachment: one, for abusing the power of authorities prior to her arrest, and the Presidency, and two, for obstructing Congress. If the US House judiciary committee approves those articles, they will be voted on later this week by the whole House, her team has asked to be given more and if they pass, a trial will begin in the Senate. Trump was defiant, urging a trial “sooner than later” as he addressed supporters at a rainy rally in Pennsylvania. documents about her arrest. Reuters Chinese property firms in plans to Indian hotel chain Oyo appoints new UK boss in British expansion upgrade eastern end of Square Mile ANNA MENIN 2013, Oyo has secured $1.7bn (£1.3bn) funding from investors HARRY ROBERTSON in an initiative to create a “business Hong Kong-based Lee Kum Kee, a @annafmenin including Softbank’s Vision Fund improvement district” (BID) in the company famous for inventing OYO YESTERDAY announced Rishabh and Airbnb. It claims to be the @henrygrobertson Square Mile. BIDs are defined oyster sauce, bought the Walkie Gupta as the new head of its world’s third largest hotel chain by CHINESE firms that own swathes regions in which businesses are Talkie on Fenchurch Street for operations in the UK, as the fast- room count, and aims to be the of the City are leading a drive to required to pay extra tax to fund around £1.3bn in 2017 in the growing Indian hotel chain seeks to largest by 2023. transform the area into a 24/7 projects in the area. largest ever UK office purchase. CC grow its offering in the country. The tech-driven chain, which leisure destination while Cheesegrater-owner CC Land and Group paid £1.2bn for the Gupta will take over from focuses on small budget hotels, has maintaining its status as a leading Walkie Talkie-owner Lee Kum Kee, Cheesegrater on Leadenhall the current UK head Jeremy Sanders, built a portfolio of 200 UK hotels in global financial centre. a Hong Kong foods company, are same year. The plan is to turn the who is leaving the company to the past year, with 5,000 rooms The owners of the skyscrapers among the group that will put in “eastern city cluster” – the part of spend more time with his family. across 50 towns and cities. Softbank known commonly as the up to £500,000 to test the project the City dominated by skyscrapers Gupta previously led Oyo’s led a $1bn funding round into Oyo Cheesegrater and the Walkie Talkie over a two-year period, the Times – into a leisure destination as well Indonesian division. in September last year, which valued are working with other landlords first reported. as an insurance and finance hub. Founded by Ritesh Agarwal in the company at $5bn.

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NO PLACE TO SPEND CHRISTMAS

The shocking truth is that this Christmas 22,000 young her eyes puts her in danger. It’s no wonder 68% of people in England will face homelessness, just like Katie. homeless young people feel scared while homeless.* Yet we call ourselves a civilised society. It’s just wrong. After being abused by her mother’s boyfriend, Katie was forced to leave home. No place to call home. No place to feel safe. With no place to call her own, 19-year old Katie is Will you help us put it right? forced to make desperate choices about where to spend Your Christmas gift today can help us give more the night. Doorway or park bench? Bus shelter or a seat homeless young people like Katie a safe place to on the night bus? stay while they get the help they need to move on to Wherever Katie ends up she will be at risk of robbery, independence and a better life. Please support our abuse, attack or exploitation by predators. Just closing Safe at Christmas Appeal today. Send: this form back • Call: 0800 472 5798 • Visit: centrepoint.org.uk/xmas

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Here is my gift to give a homeless young person a safe place this Christmas 

£18 could go towards training a Helpline worker to answer a call from Full Name: a homeless young person, and help them get to safety. Address: £40 1o†Ѵ7_;Ѵrr-‹=ou-mbmbঞ-Ѵl;m|-Ѵ-m7r_‹vb1-Ѵ_;-Ѵ|_-vv;vvl;m|ķ so that a young person gets the support or treatment they urgently need. £144 could sponsor a room for a whole year – a place where a young person Postcode: Telephone: can become more independent, look for a job and start their future. Other £ (your own amount) Email:

I enclose a cheque/PO/KKL voucher/CAF voucher made payable to Centrepoint $_-mh‹o†=ou7om-ঞm]|o;m|u;robm||o7-‹ĺ

I would like to pay by Visa/Mastercard (please circle as appropriate) );Ľ7Ѵoˆ;|ov_o‰|_;blr-1|o=‹o†uv†rrou|-m7v_-u;_o‰‹o†m]r;orѴ;1omঞm†;|om;;7‹o†u _;Ѵrķ|_uo†]_m;‰vѴ;‚;uvķ=†m7u-bvbm]-rr;-Ѵv-m7bm=oul-ঞom-0o†|;ˆ;m|vĺѴ;-v;Ѵ;|†vhmo‰_o‰ Card Number 0;v||ov|-‹bm|o†1_‰b|_‹o†0‹-77bm]‹o†u7;|-bѴv-0oˆ;ķ-m7ঞ1hbm]|_;u;Ѵ;ˆ-m|0oŠ;vĺ Valid from / Expiry date / Please contact me by email Ѵ;-v;1om|-1|l;0‹r_om; -v|‹;-uo†uv†rrou|;uv_;Ѵr;7†v1_-m];|_;Ѵbˆ;vo=oˆ;uƐƔķƏƏƏ_ol;Ѵ;vv‹o†m]r;orѴ;ĺ‹Ѵ;মm] Signature(s) Date †vhmo‰‰;1-m1o†m|om‹o†ķ‰;1-m1omঞm†;_;Ѵrbm]‹o†m]r;orѴ;‰b|_-_ol;-m7-=†|†u;ĺ Increase your donation by 25p for every £1 you donate with Gift Aid +o†urubˆ-1‹bvh;‹ĺ By ticking this box I confirm I am a UK taxpayer and want Centrepoint to Gift Aid all We promise never to sell or swap your details, and will always keep them secure. You can view our donations I’ve made in the last four years and any donations I make in the future until ubˆ-1‹oঞ1;bm=†ѴѴ-|‰‰‰ĺ1;m|u;robm|ĺou]ĺ†hņrubˆ-1‹ĺ+o†1-mor|o†|o=rov|-m71_-m];_o‰‰; I notify you otherwise. I understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains 1oll†mb1-|;‰b|_‹o†-|-m‹ঞl;ĺѴ;-v;1-ѴѴ0800 232320 and speak to one of our friendly team or Tax in any tax year than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations it is my email [email protected] |o7o|_bv-m7-vh†v-m‹t†;vঞomvĺ responsibility to pay any difference. Please return this form to: 8''639;£<9 f fT2+'£ <£)£1'2; Your name and address are needed to identify you as a current UK taxpayer. '8=-$'9;&T311<2-$!ধ32'2;8'T!83383!&T!8‰‹‰W +ou7om-ঞom‰bѴѴ]o|o‰-u7v=m7bm];m|u;robm|Ľvˆb|-Ѵ‰ouh‰b|_‹om]r;orѴ; !;]bv|;u;7oL1;-77u;vvĺ;m|u-Ѵo†v;ķƑƔ-lr;u7o‰m"|u;;|ķom7om ƐѶ ,ĺ -ѴѴ‹;-uuom7ruoˆb7bm]-11ollo7-ঞom-m7vrrou|ĺ);vol;ঞl;vv;lo7;Ѵv -m71_-m];|_;m-l;vo=|_;‹om]r;orѴ;‰;‰ouh‰b|_|oruo|;1||_;bub7;mঞ|‹ĸ olr-m‹moĺƐƖƑƖƓƑƐĺ!;]bv|;u;7_-ub|‹moĺƑƖƑƓƐƐĺo†vbm]-vvo1b-ঞommoĺƐѶѵƖĺ ($u;]bv|u-ঞommoĺѵƓƖƒƓƔƏƐѶĺ

_o‰;ˆ;u-ѴѴv|oub;v-u;|u;-m7-v|oѴ70‹|_;‹om]r;uvomĺ NAP1920Z-01U CITYAM.COM WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 NEWS 17 Grocers’ sales Booze boom: Britain’s pub numbers grow for the first time in a decade growth slows as JAMES WARRINGTON Northern Ireland gained five pubs growth firm Stampede, which and bars, while Scotland and Wales obtained the data through a Freedom @j_a_warrington both posted decreases. of Information request. THE NUMBER of UK pubs and bars The positive figures mark the first Stampede calculated that the grew in 2019, sparking hopes of a time the UK has enjoyed a net gain in increase in pubs and bars over the turnaround in fortunes for Britain’s drinking holes after a decade of last year could have created up to Christmas nears boozers after a decade of decline. decline. Between 2010 and 2018 the 9,000 new jobs and generated New figures from the Office for country lost 5,855 pubs — an average additional revenue of up to £740m. National Statistics (ONS) revealed that of 732 per year. However, the figures are less JESS CLARK SUPERMARKET SALES share to discounters there was a net gain of 320 pubs this While the boom will be a boon to reassuring for independent AND JOE CURTIS Aldi and Lidl in the year. This was driven by an increase of boozers, it could also spell good news publicans, as the overall growth was three months to the 345 sites in England. for employment, according to digital driven by large groups. @jclarkjourno start of December, @joe_r_curtis according to data SUPERMARKET sales from Kantar. growth slowed in the -0.8% 6.2% Sainsbury’s saw run-up to Christmas sales slip 1.1 per cent as shoppers waited to to leave it with a 15.7 stock up on festive sup- per cent stake, while plies, the latest figures Asda and Morrisons have shown. saw their respective Year-on-year super- sales fall 1.9 per market sales grew 0.5 cent and 2.9 per per cent in the last -1.1% 3.6% cent. Tesco, the best 12 weeks due to a performer of the Big lacklustre Black Friday Four, saw its revenue for grocers and a wet for the period slip 0.8 autumn, that has per cent to £7.54m to caused shoppers delay leave it with a 27.6 their Christmas food per cent stake in the shopping. supermarket sector. Joshua Mahony, sen- -1.9% 9.3% Lidl benefited the ior market analyst at most, seeing a huge IG said: “Grocers [will 9.3 per cent jump be] hoping that con- in sales of £1.68m sumers are delaying to snare a record their Christmas pur- high 6.1 per cent chases rather than market stake. simply cutting back Aldi was close on expenses.” behind with a sales Meanwhile, the -2.9% -0.8% rise of £2.2m to hold biggest supermarkets an eight per cent shed yet more market share in the market.

SEALED THE BEALE Dame Inga Beale set to join Clyde & Co as non-exec board director

GLOBAL law firm Clyde & Co today announced the appointment of Dame Inga Beale as non-executive director. The former chief executive of Lloyd’s of London will join the firm in the newly created position on 1 January. Grant Thornton’s US chief executive Stephen Chipman will also join as a non-executive director.

Co-op unveils expansion plan to open 30 shops before Christmas

JESS CLARK year for the high street. The grocer said the stores will @jclarkjourno include a free ATM, coffee dispenser CO-OP is aiming to open 30 new and bakery alongside the standard stores across the UK in the run-up to food aisles, with car parking Christmas, as the convenience store and Amazon lockers available at chain invests £25m in sites at selected locations. transport hubs, residential blocks All of the new stores, which and key city locations. began opening in November and The new shops are expected to will continue throughout December, create up to 500 jobs, bringing some are set to run on 100 per cent festive cheer to the UK retail renewable energy as the UK pushes industry following a challenging towards turning carbon neutral. 18 NEWS WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 CITYAM.COM

BUILDING BRIDGES Lord mayor visits San London investors raise $34m fund Francisco to explore the UK fintech market aimed at increasing tech diversity EMILY NICOLLE Capital, Dubai’s Rasmala and overlooked by venture capital. @emilyjnicolle individuals such as Transferwise co- Research conducted by Atomico founder Taavet Hinrikus and City this year found 92 per cent of A SMORGASBORD of investment stalwart Dame Cilla Snowball. funding invested in Europe goes to giants have collaborated in backing a Managed by founding partners all-male teams, while 83 per cent of new fund focused on diversity, both Francesca Warner and Matt founders are white. Separate BBB in terms of the founders it backs and Penneycard, Ada will target first- research showed that for every £1 of the customers those startups serve. cheque seed investments of around venture investment in the UK, all- Ada Ventures has today revealed a £500,000, with around half of the female teams receive less than 1p. $34m (£27m) fund, with the British fund reserved for follow-on support. “Fundamentally, Ada Ventures is Business Bank’s (BBB) Enterprise Chasing “the most diverse about true inclusion, and we will Capital Funds’ programme as its pipeline, and portfolio, of any fund invest in anyone, no matter what LONDON’s lord mayor William Russell today begins a three-day visit to San Francisco cornerstone investor. The fund is in Europe”, it hopes to make 30 they look like and where they come to discuss the UK’s fintech prospects as new research showed that the UK is the first also supported by US-based Bluesky investments in firms traditionally from,” said Warner. choice overseas market for fintech-focused North American venture capital firms. Water industry Former Boeing employee set to suffer plunge to testify today ALEX DANIEL @alexmdaniel A FORMER Boeing employee has in credit quality spoken of his guilt that he did not do more to try to alert people to the dangers of the 737 Max jet, ALEX DANIEL a new era for the water sector before giving evidence against the @alexmdaniel which allows water companies firm in a hearing today. to overhaul services, strengthen Boeing’s 737 Max was grounded THE WATER industry could suffer the infrastructure and improve our after being involved in two deadly steepest fall in credit quality in three natural environment, whilst keeping Delays are being exacerbated by incomplete claim forms and fraudsters crashes in Indonesia then Ethiopia, decades, after regulator Ofwat next bills low.” killing 346 people in total. week publishes its final financial Moody’s said that the regulator’s But before the first of these, demands for the industry over the draft plans would have given compa- Edward Pierson, a former senior next five years, according to Moody’s. nies £1.8bn less than they said they Aviation regulator ‘very sorry’ operations manager in Boeing’s Ofwat is likely to cut allowed cash needed to fund ongoing costs. flight test and evaluation unit, returns by about a third, the largest They could incur a further £1.4bn of said “warning bells” were going off reduction ever, and set targets that operational penalties if they fail to for Thomas Cook refund delays in his head. leave most firms in the lurch if they outperform their business plans. Pierson wrote to the company cannot improve performance. “Gaps are likely to remain signifi- ALEX DANIEL more than 50,000 people were about the potential dangers of the The regulator stunned the industry cant in the final determinations,” the @alexmdaniel still owed money, despite the fact jet, and will today testify before the in July, when it rejected all but three ratings agency said, adding that that the authority had already US House Transportation and suppliers’ business plans for 2020 to credit quality would likely deteriorate BRITAIN’s aviation regulator refunded £160m. Infrastructure Committee. 2025, in a bid to clean up their act. at its worst rate since privatisation in yesterday apologised to thousands of Thomas Cook folded in September He told NBC News: “I cried a lot. Ofwat demanded water companies the late 1980s. Thomas Cook customers facing after it failed to get rescue money I’m mad at myself because I felt pay their debts faster, become more Moody’s said if the final demands delays to refunds owed to them after from its lenders, sparking a like I could have done more.” efficient and treat customers better. do not change significantly, appeals the travel firm collapsed. mammoth effort by the CAA to Before the first crash in October It is due to publish its final ruling to the competition watchdog will Paul Smith, director of the Civil repatriate the 150,000 customers 2018, Pierson wrote: “All my on Monday. mean the price review will extend Aviation Authority (CAA), said the who were left stranded abroad. internal warning bells are going off An Ofwat spokesperson said yester- into late 2020. organisation was “very sorry,” “We really want to make these and for the first time in my life, I’m day: “This price review was designed However, reductions in water bills — adding it was “working tirelessly” to payments as quickly as we can sorry to say that I’m hesitant about to be demanding and stretching, and and in companies’ cash flows — will administer the payments. because it is money people are putting my family on a Boeing that is what we will be delivering — still take effect from April. Speaking on BBC radio, Smith said entitled to,” he said. aeroplane.” ‘Excitable Edgar’ won’t bring younger customers to John Lewis OHN Lewis had a tough 2019 — Stephan anything positive or negative about creating amazing, memorable Christmas advert, there might be Jforced to merge its management Shakespeare the brand in the last fortnight) Christmas adverts that make John more effective and possibly cheaper with Waitrose in order to save increased by 8.6 points with this Lewis synonymous with Christmas, methods to appeal to this crucial £100m, having reported a half-year group compared to a 6.4 increase but have little or even negative target market. loss for the first time in its history. nationally. Yet despite this, impact on their business goals. The department store has a strong Consideration (whether someone The data suggests that although Stephan Shakespeare is chief executive brand, topping the YouGov brand would consider purchasing from the millennials enjoy the annual of YouGov health rankings for two years in a brand in future) amongst row, and many eagerly await the millennials dipped by 4.7 points MILLENNIALS’ IMPRESSION OF JOHN LEWIS Overall, do you have a positive release of its yearly Christmas advert positive perception: two-fifths (43 since the release of the advert, while DECLINES AFTER CHRISTMAS ADVERT RELEASE or negative impression of John Lewis? in November. This year was no per cent) of 18 to 34-year-olds have a increasing by 1.7 among over 50’s, YouGov BrandIndex exception, with the young dragon positive view of John Lewis, and remained steady nationally. 58 known as Excitable Edgar increasing compared to almost half of those Equally, Impression scores 56 John Lewis’ Ad Awareness scores by aged over 50 (48 per cent). However, (whether someone has a positive or 54 27.6 points — the ad with the highest 16 per cent of the younger group are negative impression of a brand) 52 uplift in December. not aware of the brand compared to although increasing after the release 50 However, while John Lewis is three per cent of those aged over 50. by 4.3 points, then declined 14 points. 48 undoubtedly a staple of British high Since the advert was released on These scores suggest that 46

streets, the brand is struggling to the 12 December, YouGov data shows although the advert was positively 44 appeal to a younger demographic, that it created the most positive received by everyone, and even more 42 leading to an ageing customer base. buzz amongst 18 to 34-year-olds. so by 18 to 34-year-olds, the desired UK 18-34 50+ There isn’t much difference between Buzz scores (a net measure of impact potentially wasn’t achieved. 40 the age groups when it comes to whether consumers have heard John Lewis runs the risk of 12 Nov 17 Nov 22 Nov 27 Nov 2 Dec 7 Dec CITYAM.COM WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 NEWS 19 HEZZA: IT’S ALL CHANGE

the wrong decision. Any commenta- Catherine Neilan Heseltine has been a tor who is looking at the polls hears Michael member of the House knows Mr Corbyn is not going to be of Lords since 2001, and Prime Minister.” Heseltine alter previously served as But the polls are suggesting there the deputy prime could be a late Labour surge just as his tune on Boris minister the Lib Dems start to fall away. What does the man with 35 years’ experi- and the Tories ence in the Commons think about Jo Swinson and her team’s campaign? “They were probably unwise to put F THIS election has proved revoke at the forefront,” he admits. anything, it’s that political “The only way they could have allegiances aren’t what they used done that, given they were never Ito be — at least when it comes to going to get a majority, was through those normally found sitting in a second referendum.” parliament. Far from a Lib Dem majority, the Which is why I find myself speaking most likely options now are either a to Tory grandee, former frontbencher slim Conservative majority or another and Conservative peer Michael hung parliament. Would that really Heseltine about his efforts to back the be a good idea, after the stasis of the Liberal Democrats over the matter he last three years? believes is the biggest issue for the country since the 1940s. Heseltine is endorsing Monica Harding, the Lib Dem candidate for Esher and Walton, against foreign secretary Dominic Raab. Although the incumbent is sitting on one of the Corbyn winning is healthiest majorities in the country, Harding is snapping at his heels and a diversion — an Heseltine’s endorsement could tip attempt to scare more votes in her favour. But how can he be sitting in the Lords for one party the public into while actively backing another? “I would never leave the Conserva- making the wrong tive party. That doesn’t mean to say every word, every speech, every decision member I agree with,” he says. “The difficulty in this issue of loy- “It’s a much better outcome than a alty is this: what happens if you have majority for Brexit because it would said something all your life politically, lead to a second referendum,” Hesel- and every leader in that party has said tine says. It would “remove uncer- something similar — what happens if tainty far faster than the Brexit deal your party shifts? I can’t follow them. Boris has negotiated” because of the I can’t accept that we make this “very wide body of options” that country poorer, less power- comes with the UK’s future relation- ful, less influential.” ship with the EU. Although Heseltine Debating this deal will bring “a year shies away from out- of total unpredictability as all the right calling his friend details are explored” whereas a sec- and one-time col- about the Prime off — although I will say he is one would be a monumental disaster, but ond referendum could be concluded league Boris Johnson a Minister’s character in of the most ‘flexible’ politicians for its one great asset — that it’s not within that time. “Then you can go liar, he comes close to light of the ongoing I’ve known.” going to happen”. for parliamentary scrutiny,” he says. it by arguing “people hospital row, as well as Another question Heseltine would Heseltine believes there is “no But surely, I ask, after all this time were deceived” by the his trustworthiness. But rather avoid is the threat Labour chance” of a Labour government. “All it’s right that progress is made? Vote Leave campaign. he insists Johnson is ulti- poses, particularly with several the ‘reds under the beds’ warnings Heseltine disagrees. “All those claims about mately a liberal Tory who former Tories either standing as reveal is how worried [the Tories] are “If you are standing at the edge of a millions of Turks coming here, made a “calamitous” decision to Lib Dems or independents, most about their own side of the argu- cliff, it’s quite a lonely, dangerous about the piles of money for the back Brexit. of whom now look likely to lose ment,” says the former frontbencher. place to be. But if you jump over health service. These were deliberate “It was a career choice, a bad one in their seats. “He’s no risk at all because he’s the edge it’s a damn sight more deceptions,” he says. my view, but I am not prepared to get “Don’t let’s spend even a minute dis- not going to win. It’s a diversion — an dangerous — with certain predictable Heseltine dodges broader questions into the business of slagging someone cussing Corbyn’s programme, which attempt to scare people into making consequences.”

GREAT TIMING Luxury demand boosts Computacenter reveals that profit Watches of Switzerland in maiden results is ‘well ahead’ of financial forecasts

JOE CURTIS The FTSE 250-listed technology in line with, or slightly ahead of our @joe_r_curtis company said while it has a lot of expectations”, the company said. work to do in December, it has a The firm will next update the COMPUTACENTER gave investors a clearer picture on how the business market on 23 January ahead of the pleasant surprise yesterday by stating will perform. publication of its full-year results. it is “well ahead” of forecasts for the “The strong 2019 performance is current financial year. coming from Computacenter’s COMPUTACENTER Profitability and earnings per established businesses and, in the P share are on track to beat full-year second half of the year, from the 1,700 expectations, the IT supplier said, acquired business in the US which is 1,650 sending its share price up as much as now performing in line with our 1,600 1,605 seven per cent yesterday, before expectations following a difficult 10 Dec closing 4.7 per cent up at 1,605p. start to the year,” the board said. 1,550 The trading update for the 11 It added that the IT firm has not 1,500 months to the end of November came suffered a blow from existing 1,450 ahead of December, usually difficult contracts that hurt its WATCHES of Switzerland said yesterday strong demand for luxury watches had Computacenter’s busiest month of second half performance in 2018. helped it boost sales and profit in its first half-year results since floating in May. The the year. In fact, they “continue to perform 4 Dec5 Dec 6 Dec 9 Dec 10 Dec high-end retailer said revenue grew 17 per cent to £428.7m in the period to October. 20 NEWS WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 CITYAM.COM Another tough Chinese sales of automotives year in store for continue to fall ALEX DANIEL @alexmdaniel CHINESE car sales fell for a 17th consecutive month in November, as EU steel makers electric and hybrid car demand contracted yet again. Total automotive sales from the ALEX DANIEL decline for years, because of overca- world’s biggest market fell 3.6 per pacity in the wider EU market and cent compared to the same period @alexmdaniel Chinese state-subsidised firms last year, according to the China EUROPEAN steel makers have been undercutting the market with their Association of Automobile dealt a gloomy forecast for next year, cheaper product. Manufacturers (CAAM). as Moody’s ratings agency predicted The UK industry employed 323,000 It comes after a four per cent slowing demand and deteriorating people in the early 1970s, but now drop in October and a 5.2 per cent profitability for the industry. employs less than a tenth of that. Ghosn stands accused of understating his salary by about ¥9.1bn (£63.6m) drop in September. Key sectors using European-made Meanwhile, the European Commis- Car sales in China contracted last steel such as the automotive industry sion is planning a carbon border tax year for the first time since the are likely to need less of the material aimed at shielding steel producers 1990s as economic growth slowed next year amid a wider market slow- and other energy-intensive industries Japanese car maker Nissan faces and its trade war with the US down, it said. against cheaper imports from coun- started to bite. Meanwhile, escalating global trade tries with less strict climate policies. Local governments in China have tensions and a looming Brexit The EU executive’s president Ursula £17m fine in Carlos Ghosn scandal accelerated changes to emissions disrupting supply chains and stifling von der Leyen, who took office on 1 rules this year, making it tougher consumer confidence are major risks, December, is due to unveil a first ALEX DANIEL financial reporting, and has been to sell cars. it added. outline of her Green Deal today — imposed for understating Ghosn’s CAAM deputy secretary general Europe’s steel makers have suffered a package of regulations meant to @alexmdaniel pay after he was arrested in Chan Shihua said this is the a torrid 2019, with British Steel — the drastically reduce carbon emissions of THE SCANDAL engulfing Nissan over November last year over claims of “biggest reason for this year’s sales UK’s second-largest steel producer — the bloc. its disgraced former chairman Carlos financial misconduct. plunge”. on the brink of going bust, while The package will include a proposed Ghosn yesterday brought the car The fine covers the financial years He added that overall car Thyssenkrupp has issued one profit carbon border adjustment mecha- maker a fine worth £17.1m from from April 2014 to March 2018. production levels were now warning after another. Tata Steel has nism for selected sectors to be intro- Japan’s markets watchdog. Before then, Nissan is not liable for returning to normal and car also cut jobs across the board. duced by 2021, according to a leaked Nissan’s penalty is the second- underreporting, according to makers had boosted their product Britain’s industry has also been in Commission document. largest ever in Japan for false Japan’s markets watchdog. line-ups in the past few months.

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ince the EU referendum three- and-a-half long years ago, in- vestors have been steadily Sincreasing their cash levels – and Brexit uncertainty is likely The outcome of to be part of the story. The latest interactive investor (ii) the General Election flash election poll, carried out over the weekend (6-9 December) among remains the 615 customers, suggests an election “bounce” might see more cash biggest concern balances being put to work. for investors. More customers than ever (73%) think a Conservative victory would have the most positive influence on 2019, a Conservative majority is the markets. That is up from 66% on our only outcome City analysts want to previous poll (27-29 November) and see, believing that a conclusion to 61% on the one before (14-15 Brexit will introduce certainty. November). Political clarity could attract money This is by no means an illustration from overseas, and any positive of voting intensions or political market reaction to the election result affiliations but, if the result is a might convince domestic investors positive one for markets, cash that it’s finally time to put their cash holdings could start to change. Some to work.” 16% of ii customers polled say they will invest all their cash holdings POLL A CRACKER This article is provided for information amid a positive result for markets, purposes only and is not intended to be a while 40% plan to invest some of it. personal recommendation to buy or sell More than a quarter (26%) say Ahead of tomorrow’s General Election, interactive any financial instrument or product, they will keep their cash or to adopt any investment strategy. levels the same, while only investor’s latest flash poll reveals how customers are 3% will look to sell stocks to generate more cash. poised to go from stashing to splashing their cash The outcome of the General Election remains the biggest concern for Lee Wild, head of increasingly so the nearer we get to has had the biggest influence on READ MORE ONLINE investors at 53%, up two equity strategy at polling day. investment behaviour for 43% of our percentage points on our 27-29 interactive investor “It’s clear from the results that, for clients, while the economy is the Keep up to date on our news at: November poll and up from 44% on many, this election is all about number one issue for 36%. www.ii.co.uk 14-15 November. Brexit concerns are Boris Johnson a month ago – and Brexit. A UK departure from the EU “If there is to be a Santa rally in down two percentage points to 24% in the latest poll, but it is still by far WHICH POLITICAL PARTY DO YOU THINK WILL HAVE THE MOST POSITIVE INFLUENCE ON THE STOCK MARKET? IF THE GENERAL ELECTION RESULT IS POSITIVE FOR MARKETS, WILL YOU: the second-biggest worry for 45% 80% 15 November N b 29 November N b 99D December b investors. Concern over a US-China 40% 70% trade war has jumped three 35% 60% percentage points but are way 30% 50% behind at 16%. 25% Lee Wild, ii’s head of equity 40% 20% strategy, says: “Our final election poll 30% 15% is a great indicator of investing 20% 10% behaviour in the run-up to the vote 10% 5% on Thursday. The election outcome 0% 0% None of them - other Liberal Democrats Labour Conservatives Sell stocks to Rather not say Keep my Invest some of Invest all the has been by far the biggest concern factors will have a bigger generate more portfolio’s cash the cash in my cash in my for investors since it was called by impact on market deciscion cash levels the same portfolio portfolio CITYAM.COM WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 MARKETS 21

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BT Trade hopes stem P 195 Wall St slips as 190 tariffs close in 10 Dec FTSE’s drop as UK 185 ALL Street’s main stock 188.70 Windexes ended slightly lower 180 yesterday, though not far from record highs, as investors awaited concrete news on whether a new 4 Dec 5 Dec 6 Dec 9 Dec 10 Dec mid-caps slip up round of US tariffs on Chinese goods would take effect on 15 December — BT recently announced that it would refine its full-fibre internet pricing in order to a potential turning point in the accelerate take-up. It launched discounts on its fibe-to-the-premises offering, ongoing trade dispute. which analysts said shows a “logical price ladder is taking shape”. Brokers at Stock futures got a boost in RITAIN’s mid-cap index reading, more domestically-focused Jefferies issued a “buy” rating and a price target of 330p. premarket trade when the Wall Street tumbled yesterday after lack- stocks remained pressured. Journal said US and Chinese trade lustre domestic growth data, Fashion retailer Ted Baker plunged as negotiators were laying the Bwhile the FTSE 100 came off much as 36 per cent to levels not THE GYM GROUP groundwork for a delay in the tariffs. its earlier lows on a report seen since 2003, before closing down The Dow Jones Industrial Average P that planned US tariffs on China could 13.4 per cent after the sudden exit of 270 fell 27.88 points, or 0.1 per cent, to be delayed. its chief executive and chairman as it 27,881.72, the S&P 500 lost 3.44 The blue chip index had slid as much issued a second profit warning. 265 266.50 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 3,132.52 as 1.3 per cent, weighed down by a 10 Dec and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 260 more than six per cent drop in Ashtead FTSE 5.64 points, or 0.07 per cent, to after the industrial firm warned of P 255 8,616.18. challenging conditions in the UK. 7,250 Boeing shares dipped 0.9 per cent The FTSE 250 shed 0.7 per cent, as 250 after the aeroplane maker said it recent optimism over a prospective vic- 7,200 delivered fewer than half as many tory for the Conservative party in the planes in the first 11 months of 2019 10 Dec 4 Dec 5 Dec 6 Dec 9 Dec 10 Dec 12 December election gave way to con- 7,150 as in the same period a year earlier. cerns about slowing economic growth. 7,213.76 Netflix shares fell 3.1 per cent after a Data showed Britain’s economy grew 7,100 Budget gym operater The Gym Group is rolling out its small box format, and Needham analyst downgraded its at its slowest annual pace in nearly expects to open between five to eight per year, which analysts said extends the stock rating and said competition seven years in October. Though sterling company’s growth model to the end of the next decade. Peel Hunt issued a “buy” could lead to the loss of 4m premium managed to shrug off the negative 4 Dec5 Dec 6 Dec 9 Dec 10 Dec rating and a target price of 350p. US subscribers next year. CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS

MAZARS of Mazars’ Public Interest Committee, said: “Audit United States and Asia Pacific. She also serves as a REFINITIV Mazars, the international quality and governance standards are vitally partner and executive adviser to Z Corporation, a Refinitiv has appointed Richard Mably as head of news accountancy and advisory important to both the UK and global firm. Sir Amyas’ blockchain-focused fund. She has previously been an performance to enhance the value of Refinitiv’s firm, has appointed Sir Amyas experience and perspective will support the firm’s executive vice president and board member at N extensive news coverage. Richard has extensive Morse as an independent non- commitment to the application of the highest Avenue, part of Z Corporation, and an executive vice journalistic and editorial experience across some of executive to its UK Public levels of oversight, and I am delighted to welcome him president and board member for Coin Desk Japan. the world’s leading news agencies, with 25 years at Interest Committee, which to the committee”. Sir Martin Sorrell, executive chairman of S4 Capital, Reuters across a number of roles, including Europe, applies oversight to decision commented: “Naoko... has know-how and wisdom, the Middle East and Africa editor and global editor for making, quality and risk across S4 CAPITAL which are two critically important areas of expertise for financial markets and commodities. He has also held the audit business. Amyas was Digital advertising firm S4 Capital has announced the S4 Capital’s future. [She brings] years of experience in roles at AP-Dow Jones and Platts. David Craig, chief previously auditor general of appointment of Naoko Okumoto as non-executive strategic international business development, executive of Refinitiv, commented: “At a time of global the National Audit Office, the director. Naoko is currently the chief executive officer investment and portfolio management with a focus on trade wars... trusted news is more important to the independent body responsible for scrutinising and managing partner of Amber Bridge Partners, a fast-growing digital businesses operating at the financial community than ever before. Richard’s public spending for parliament. He was previously a strategic investment and consulting firm specialising critical nexus of business between North America and incredible experience as a journalist and editor will global managing partner of PwC. Denise Fletcher, chair in cross-border business development between the Asia Pacific.” help us to further enrich our news service.”

To appear in CITYMOVES please email your career updates and pictures to [email protected] NEWS Watchdog gives the green light for China’s inflation rockets Ovo Energy’s £500m SSE takeover after swine flu epidemic JAMES WARRINGTON The CMA opened an initial which is the UK’s largest independent HARRY ROBERTSON Pork prices fell slightly in November inquiry the following month, but supplier. Ovo will take over SSE’s 3.5m but were roughly twice as much as a @j_a_warrington yesterday confirmed the deal will customers, in addition to roughly @henrygrobertson year earlier. THE COMPETITION watchdog has not be referred for an in-depth phase 8,000 employees. CHINESE consumer inflation climbed In contrast, the producer price index given the green light to Ovo Energy’s two investigation. SSE has said it will do “all it can to to close to an eight-year high in (PPI) — the change in prices received by £500m takeover of rival supplier SSE’s “We’re delighted with the CMA’s ensure a smooth transition for November, driven by a doubling of domestic producers — fell 1.4 per cent retail arm. decision and look forward to bringing customers and employees”. pork prices as African Swine Fever in November. In a statement yesterday the SSE into the Ovo family,” said Ovo Chief executive Alistair Phillips- ravaged the country’s pig farms, offi- Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China Competition and Markets Authority founder and chief executive Stephen Davies said his firm was “very cial data showed yesterday. economist at consultancy Capital (CMA) said the deal, which will Fitzpatrick. pleased” the deal had been cleared. Nonetheless, factory-gate prices fell Economics, said the PPI reading could create the UK’s second-largest “There is a lot of work to be done, “This underlines our long-held for the fifth month in a row, high- be worse than it appears. energy supplier, would not but we’re excited about the challenge belief that a dedicated, focused and lighting the malaise in the country’s He said it “suggests that higher harm competition. ahead and the opportunity to help independent retailer will ultimately manufacturing sector brought about prices of consumer goods, one compo- In September Big Six energy even more customers on the journey best serve customers, employees and by the US-China trade war. nent of which is food, are partially supplier SSE agreed to sell its to zero carbon.” other stakeholders,” he said. Consumer prices rose 4.5 per cent masking the declining prices of indus- consumer business to Ovo for £400m The mega-merger marks a huge The deal is expected to complete in year on year last month — the fastest trial goods,” which have been hit by in cash and £100m in loan notes. expansion for challenger firm Ovo, January 2020. pace since the beginning of 2012. trade tensions with the US. 22 OPINION WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 CITYAM.COM FORUM EDITED BY RACHEL CUNLIFFE LETTERS In turning north, the Tories risk TO THE EDITOR Scrolling and abandoning their liberal base swiping

HAT do you do if you’re Labour may appear too “liberal” for pro-market vision for the future of [Re: Are young people today prepared a Conservative leader its northern voters, economic free- Rachel Cunliffe the NHS is not what Workington for the future impact of automation in whose flagship policy marketeers are hardly going to find Comment and features Man wants to hear. the workplace?] has split your party an alternative home with John Mc- editor at City AM Even on immigration, liberals are No one can predict the new technologies W and jobs that will exist in the future. This down the middle, with Donnell’s agenda of dismantling disappointed. While not as self- the result that you lost your work- the City and putting the state in defeating as Theresa May’s obsession uncertainty is daunting for all ages, but the ing majority live on air as a coterie control of vast swathes of industry. with cutting net migration at all future need not be bleak. People can and of former allies quit in protest? The idea that the business com- costs, the points-based system un- should prepare for a whole new way of Answer: cast your net further afield. munity could defect and vote for a veiled last week puts another layer working, adapting to and augmenting This is the Tories’ “Workington financial transaction tax and na- A pro-market vision of Home Office bureaucracy over the what any technology can offer. Scrolling Man” strategy — the bid to seduce tionalised broadband scheme is for the NHS is not visa process, and leaves it up to the and swiping may come naturally to those Leave voters in Labour’s traditional clearly deemed remote enough that government rather than businesses who’ve grown up in the digital age, but it heartlands in the north and Mid- the Conservatives can take their tra- what Workington to decree which skills mark an indi- does not give someone the required lands with the promise of deliver- ditional base for granted. vidual out as deserving of entry. mindset. More needs to be done to help ing Brexit. And it seems to be And in this election, they are prob- Man wants to hear Home secretary Priti Patel people in schools, at work, and in broader working. While there is still a huge ably right: Boris “f*ck business” couldn’t resist promising that the society — including the older generation amount of variation in the polls, all Johnson is still a far better bet than new system would also help reduce — so no one gets left behind. indicate a Conservative majority of Jeremy “We’re a threat” Corbyn. overall numbers, while the Prime Charles Bowman, partner at PwC and some degree, while Labour has been But what happens next? When Such a message might appeal to Minister himself wrote a deeply dis- former lord mayor of London put on the back foot. the votes are counted and the Con- the specific demographic the Tories missive op-ed vowing to end EU mi- Boris Johnson’s trip to Grimsby servative majority has been won, are targeting (the Workington Men, grants’ ability to “treat the UK as if and elsewhere in the north-east on where does the party go? How does if you want to be reductive), but it it’s part of their own country”. Poll pit Monday may not have gone entirely it govern, once it is relying on seats leaves the classical liberals who were They know, as does CCHQ, that smoothly, but as Will Tanner, polit- that are far away in both geography hoping we could become a free-mar- cutting immigration is a bigger For some parents across the country, ical strategist and director of the and outlook from where it has fo- ket powerhouse on the world stage concern for the Tories’ new targets polling day will not only represent their think tank Onward, pointed out, cused over the past decade? with little to shout about. than ensuring that businesses can chance to have a say on the next UK his message is resonating. For peo- If this campaign offers any indica- Or look at the decision to focus on hire the people they need. government, it will also represent another ple who have voted Labour all their tion, expect a shift state-wards. the NHS. This is traditionally solid Of course, many promises are childcare challenge as thousands of lives, in seats that have never Whereas once Brexit represented Labour terrority — expect the usual made on the campaign trail only to schools up and down the country are used turned blue, the Prime Minister is the chance to break free of lethar- series of soundbites out today with be watered down once the election as polling stations. Might I suggest that proving surprisingly popular. gic EU bureaucracy and let compe- the standard message about how we has been won. But if Boris finds buildings such as churches, which sit According to Tanner: “Brexit has tition reign supreme, the message have just 24 hours to save our health himself in office only due to a largely vacant on polling days, are used for twisted the kaleidoscope and Mr has morphed. Two weeks ago, the service. But the Conservatives handful of hitherto disregarded people to cast their votes? Then our Corbyn’s move towards a metropol- Prime Minister was extolling the launched their election campaign seats, expect the interests of those children do not have to miss a day of their itan and liberal posture alienates its virtues of Brexit making it “faster with the promise of new hospitals places to play a part in future Con- education, teachers are not provincial, culturally conservative and easier” for the government to and thousands of extra nurses, fight- servative policy. The party will inconvenienced, and working parents are base.” He may well be right. step in and protect jobs and uncom- ing the issue on Labour ground. adapt to accommodate them, and not left struggling to find childcare. However, as Conservatives migrate petitive industries in the UK, liber- They know that in those key mar- the next election will be fought Churches might appreciate the chance to north to hoover up these floating ated from EU state aid rules. ginals, the NHS amounts to a na- with their priorities in mind. have a fresh audience too, as I hear that votes, they too are abandoning their And far from using our newfound tional religion. All ideas of reforming At which point, liberals, business attendance numbers are falling again — usual hunting ground, particularly freedom to strike deals with the it, of increasing private provision, or leaders, and global citizens who last year, 18,000 fewer people attended the areas around the globalised rest of the world and become a of having a sensible conversation have made Britain home for them- services than they did the year before. I business mecca that is London and truly “global Britain”, apparently about what it should be for and how selves and their companies would think it is time that the UK government the south-east. Brexit is now an opportunity to it can adapt to cope with the in- be forgiven for wondering whether thought more practically, and the Church This has no doubt been priced in “back British businesses by ensur- creased demand of an ageing popu- this can still be considered the of England more creatively. to the Tory strategy. For all that ing the public sector buys British”. lation, have been banished. A liberal, party for them. Caroline Wade, managing director of WADE PR and north London parent

BEST OF Pension reform is political dynamite, but TWITTER Labour voters (41%) and Remain voters (40%) are much more likely to Macron’s attempt should be commended judge someone else negatively for voting differently to them than Conservative voters (19%) and Leave T WOULD take a heart of stone developed world. retirement. In reality, the cost of voters (13%) not to be amused by Emmanuel That is probably why opinion Paul paying an individual’s pension falls @YouGov Macron’s current predicament. polls put support for these reforms Ormerod entirely on those who are working IThe French President is trying among the population as a whole during his or her retirement. Not sure if it’s “The Moment”. But the to position himself as the leader at around 70 per cent, with even For anyone in work, the govern- Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Europe. But at the same time, the greater support among the young, ment’s promise of a pension in the driving a bulldozer clean through a streets of the major cities in France even if many from the minority di- future is rather like a slightly dodgy brick-wall was certainly some sort of are, quite literally, ablaze. France’s rectly impacted have taken angrily IOU. The amount you will end up moment. public services are crippled by the to the streets. getting depends upon how fast the @DPJHodges biggest strike in decades. Still, pension reform is known to economy grows over the coming The reason is the massive unpop- be potential political dynamite — would need to be borrowed. decades, how long people live, and I’m not sure there’s a better metaphor ularity of Macron’s proposed re- and not just in France. Raising the As it happens, considered purely ultimately on the generosity of those for the Brexit process than proudly forms to public sector pensions. pension age for women has become in isolation, a reasonable case can in employment when you retire. smashing though a wall of The retirement age in France is an issue in the current General be made for increasing the general Political debates on pensions are polystyrene you erected yourself. still only 62, compared to 66 in the Election here. level of the basic state pension in usually rather depressing for econ- @BDStanley UK. In general, the proposal is not to The Women Against State Pension the UK. Pension costs here are omists because of either the inabil- increase the age, but to pay slightly Inequality (WASPI) campaign ar- below the OECD average as a per- ity or the reluctance to understand All four seasons of The Thick of It are reduced benefits before the age of gues that when the retirement age centage of GDP, at only half the this point. now streaming. 64. However, the most contentious was raised for UK women in a series level of France. But this would not Much as it sticks in the throat to @NetflixUK part is to modify or even scrap com- of reforms, the 3.8m affected be a free lunch. Other aspects of say so, President Macron is to be ad- pletely the scams under which women, born in the 1950s, did not public spending would have to be mired for the stance he is taking. You can watch it live in the UK right many public sector workers get to have enough time to adjust. correspondingly reduced. now retire much earlier on full pension. Despite that fact that this is not The myth persists that people are £ Paul Ormerod is an economist at @georgiamaeblog France faces a serious pension mentioned in Labour’s manifesto, investing in a funded scheme with Volterra Partners LLP, a visiting professor funding problem. Spending on pen- John McDonnell has pledged to their taxes. They pay the money in in the Department of Computer Science Current election stage: being trolled sions costs no less than 14 per cent compensate these women. The cost when they are working, the invest- at UCL, and author of Against the Grain: by Netflix of the country’s GDP. Only Greece is a mere £58bn — around three per ments grow, and there is a pot ear- Insights of an Economic Contrarian, @emmamrevell and Italy are higher in the entire cent of GDP — almost all of which marked for them at their published by the IEA. CITYAM.COM WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 OPINION 23

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR VIEWS › E: [email protected] COMMENT AT: cityam.com/forum :@cityam Britain needs a national health DEBATE service, not a nationalised one Are the televised election debates a waste of time in their HROUGHOUT this election David moval — would see waiting times campaign, the Labour party nearly double in 12 months, from 13 current format? has returned time and time Hare weeks to 22 weeks. After three years, Tagain to the issue of NHS average waits would have reached 40 “privatisation”. weeks, with delays for orthopaedic Despite everyone’s hopes, the televised This won’t have come as a surprise procedures at a staggering 93 weeks. leadership debates have been a to anyone. Indeed, it is now standard This would require the NHS to build complete damp squib. They have been fare during elections for the argu- 42 new hospitals (and that means ac- a waste of everyone’s time, revealing YES little that we didn’t already know and ment to be put that the government tually new, not the existing hospitals STUART THOMSON of the day is pursuing “backdoor” or Boris Johnson has pledged to revamp) failing to apply any meaningful pressure “creeping” privatisation. non-public provision or “nationalise” just to stand still. With NHS waiting on Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn. But in 2019, add in the politics of a it. Nationalising health services from times are at record levels and forecast These debates have come to represent and look for formats that hold the potential post-Brexit trade deal with the high street pharmacy onwards to continue to grow as pressures everything that is wrong with current politicians to account. Arguably, the the US, with Jeremy Corbyn brandish- would be a herculean task, and it is mount, this is simply not an option. political debate — politicians sticking format that worked best this election ing leaked documents supposedly unclear what the benefits to patients It is likely that a fully publicly pro- obsessively to a script, talking too long, was the Andrew Neil style inquisition. showing American interest in the would be. In the main, patients are vided NHS would also remove vital di- and spouting their own version of the The broadcasters and political parties NHS, and the issue is a heady mix of satisfied with the care that they re- agnostic, community and home care truth without proper challenge. The real also need to sign up to the approach in claim and counter-claim. ceive across these services, and the provision from the system, not only battle then moves onto social media, advance. No one should have the Unpicking fact from falsehood is cost of taking them all into public hampering capacity, but also the inno- where both sides interpret the debate in chance to dodge equal scrutiny during challenging, but as we prepare to go ownership would be considerable. vation, expertise, and efficiencies that their own favour and share short clips future elections. to the polls tomorrow, there are sev- On the other hand, simply restrict- such services can bring. Again, this which highlight their candidates’ best eral often-overlooked truths which ing private provision in order to boast would add substantially to the existing moments or their opponents’ worst. £ Stuart Thomson is head of public need to be borne in mind, particularly a fully publicly provided NHS, with all pressures faced by NHS providers and The broadcast media need to reset affairs at BDB Pitmans. when confronted with Labour’s vision services brought back “in-house”, jeopardise the quality of care which of a fully “publicly provided” NHS. would mean removing significant ca- patients expect and deserve. The first big truth is that the Na- pacity from the system. This would Promising to end “NHS privatisa- tional Health Service has never been add to pressures in what we know is tion” is a line that is guaranteed to While the two-party system still a Nationalised Health Service. already an overstretched service. generate applause at rallies or de- appears to dominate the landscape as As the healthcare think tank the The impact would be felt by patients. bates. But a distinction needs to be we head into this election, beneath the Nuffield Trust pointed out recently, Recent research by the Independent drawn between moving to a private surface, exciting things are happening. NO around 22 per cent of NHS service pro- Healthcare Providers Network has healthcare model where patients Brexit has broken the old left-right MO LOVATT vision is already delivered by organi- found that stripping out private hospi- must pay for their own care, and al- divide. Labour Leavers are unhappy sations that are not NHS Trusts or tal capacity from the provision of lowing private provision within the with Jeremy Corbyn’s stance, Remain- other statutory organisations. This in- planned NHS care — things like hip free-at-the-point-of-use system as al- backing Tories are looking elsewhere, people have been mulling over the new cludes almost all of General Practice and knee operations and cataracts re- ready exists — and has existed since and smaller parties are clamouring to alignment for some time. But as they (your GP, in other words, is a private the NHS was first founded. pick up floating votes. work out which party best represents provider), dentistry, community phar- Voters need to look carefully at what Twitterati opinion is that the TV their views, and in which party leader macy, and optometry. Stripping out private a fully publicly provided NHS would debates are pointless. But that’s only they can place their trust, watching It also includes a large number of hospital capacity mean in practice, and how it would because they’ve made up their minds. would-be Prime Ministers go head-to- voluntary, social enterprise and other impact frontline patient care. The For the millions of people who are head on live TV has become a vital part private sector organisations, such as would see waiting facts suggest that it would be enor- considering voting for a different party of that decision-making process. private hospitals delivering care to times nearly double mously damaging. for the first time in their lives, the NHS patients free at the point of use. debates provide a great way to assess £ Mo Lovatt is a lecturer in Cultural and It is true that a future government £ David Hare is chief executive at the the veracity of political leaders. Creative Industries and co-chair of The could choose either to remove this Independent Healthcare Providers Network. True, they’re only part of the picture — Great Debate.

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FTSE 100 FTSE 250 FTSE ALL SHARE DOW JONES NASDAQ S&P 500 /€ 1.1879 Ä 0.0007 €/$ 1.1090 à 0.0023 7213.76 20781.09 4006.12 27881.72 8616.18 3132.52 /$ 1.3177 ÃÃ0.0021 €/£ 0.8418 0.0005 20.14 141.55 14.21 27.88 5.64 3.44 £ /¥ 143.28 0.3900 €/¥ 120.61 0.4000 ÄÄÄÄÄÄ Ãà Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low GILTS ELECTRICITY Temple Bar IT ...... 1364.0 -6.0 1376.0 1116.0 Inchcape...... 685.0 -2.5 687.5 519.5 Signature Avi ...... 324.9 0.0 406.0 258.8 Hiscox ...... 1353.0 -10.0 1777.0 1213.0 Softcat ...... 1106.0 1.0 1176.0 565.0 AIM 50 Templeton Em Mkts ....778.0 -6.0 829.0 670.0 JD Sports Fashion ...... 803.4 -2.6 807.0 318.5 RSA Ins Gp ...... 545.2 -0.6 597.0 496.6 Sophos ...... 558.8 -0.2 577.0 298.2 Tsy 4.750 20 ...... 100.97 -0.01 104.9 101.0 Contour Global...... 207.0 0.0 222.5 159.1 LEISURE GOODS Abcam ...... 1378.0 32.0 1500.0 1017.0 Vietnam Enterprise ...... 474.0 -3.0 509.0 421.5 Just Eat...... 781.6 0.6 812.0 570.6 OIL & GAS PRODUCERS SUPPORT SERVICES Tsy 8.000 21...... 110.97 -0.01 118.0 111.0 Drax Gp ...... 297.4 2.0 413.8 251.0 Games Workshp ...... 5660.0 -55.0 5845.0 2800.0 Advanced Medical ...... 266.0 2.5 354.5 225.0 VinaCapital Vietna ...... 327.0 -1.0 357.5 323.0 Kingfisher...... 213.0 -1.0 266.2 185.9 Tsy 2.500 24 ...... 361.61 -0.16 377.9 360.6 SSE ...... 1310.0 -8.0 1336.5 1008.0 LIFE INSURANCE BP ...... 469.3 -1.9 582.5 465.4 Aggreko ...... 826.8 -9.8 855.2 693.2 Witan Invest ...... 217.0 -1.0 225.5 189.6 Marks & Spencer ...... 206.4 -1.9 303.2 163.9 Alliance Pharma ...... 78.8 -0.6 80.4 60.0 Tsy 5.000 25 ...... 122.71 -0.15 126.0 122.7 ELECTRONIC & ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT Cairn Energy...... 176.4 -3.6 213.8 140.0 Ashtead Gp ...... 2220.0 -146.0 2450.0 1586.5 Wwide Healthcare ...3000.0 20.0 3000.0 2325.0 Aviva ...... 404.0 -0.4 438.8 352.3 ASOS...... 2956.0 -4.0 4186.0 2107.0 Tsy 4.250 27 ...... 128.19 -0.23 132.8 125.2 Next ...... 6872.0 -62.0 6934.0 3991.0 Energean Oil & Gas ...... 932.0 -16.0 1082.0 569.0 Halma ...... 2100.0 -14.0 2151.0 1297.0 Lancashire Hldgs ...... 712.5 -0.5 746.0 561.5 Babcock Intl Grp...... 605.0 0.4 605.0 416.7 Tsy 6.000 28 ...... 146.22 -0.30 152.1 143.1 FIXED LINE TELECOMMUNICATIONS Pets at Home Gp ...... 267.8 6.2 267.8 113.3 Premier Oil ...... 88.9 0.6 106.2 55.6 Blue Prism ...... 975.0 -38.0 1472.0 788.0 Morgan Advanced ...... 298.0 3.0 298.0 232.4 Legal & General ...... 284.8 -0.2 291.2 216.7 Bunzl ...... 2062.0 -45.0 2551.0 1943.0 Tsy 4.125 30 ...... 378.98 -0.02 404.2 364.2 BT Gp ...... 188.7 -3.7 251.9 158.9 Sports Direct Intl ...... 347.0 -5.4 352.4 214.0 Royal Dutch Shell A....2175.0 -1.5 2612.0 2144.5 Camellia ...... 9050.0 -150.0 11750.0 8600.0 Oxford Instruments ...1512.0 -12.0 1626.0 853.0 Phoenix Gp ...... 712.1 -1.6 745.5 551.6 Capita ...... 159.3 -4.7 173.1 99.9 Tsy 4.250 32...... 139.07 -0.36 146.4 132.4 Talktalk Telecom ...... 104.7 -1.4 126.5 96.5 Vivo Energy ...... 117.4 -0.4 139.5 111.4 Royal Dutch Shell B ...2156.5 -1.5 2622.0 2126.5 Caretech Holdings ...... 375.0 0.0 405.0 325.0 Renishaw ...... 3846.0 -46.0 4670.0 3232.0 Prudential ...... 1317.5 2.0 1790.0 1279.5 DCC ...... 6350.0 -28.0 7496.0 5750.0 Tsy 4.250 36 ...... 146.67 -0.39 155.7 137.5 Telecom Plus ...... 1338.0 -2.0 1528.0 1130.0 WH Smith...... 2422.0 -50.0 2472.0 1697.0 Tullow Oil ...... 45.6 5.7 250.0 39.9 Spectris ...... 2779.0 -32.0 2898.0 2188.0 St James Place ...... 1100.0 7.0 1143.0 913.6 Diploma ...... 1939.0 2.0 1939.0 1150.0 Central Asia Metals .....207.5 -3.5 266.5 180.0 Tsy 4.750 38...... 161.21 -0.45 171.8 150.0 FOOD & DRUG RETAILERS HEALTH CARE EQUIPMENT & SERVICES OIL EQUIPMENT & SERVICES EQUITY INVESTMENT INSTRUMENTS Std Life Aberdeen ...... 305.5 -4.8 322.3 231.1 Electrocomp ...... 647.0 -11.0 729.8 480.0 Clinigen Group ...... 850.0 0.5 1069.0 721.0 Tsy 4.250 46 ...... 167.69 -0.55 181.0 151.7 Convatec ...... 189.1 0.1 202.8 118.5 Equiniti ...... 203.2 4.4 236.2 186.2 3i Infrastructure ...... 290.5 -0.5 306.5 250.0 Greggs ...... 2108.0 -8.0 2476.0 1257.0 MEDIA Hunting ...... 377.0 -12.6 657.0 377.0 CVS Group ...... 1057.0 -3.0 1105.0 395.0 AEROSPACE & DEFENCE Morrison (WM) ...... 197.2 -6.7 245.8 176.9 Mediclinic Intl ...... 386.5 -5.0 401.3 293.4 Petrofac ...... 386.5 0.0 559.0 381.5 Essentra ...... 424.6 -0.8 442.0 325.4 Aberforth Smlr Cos ..1408.0 -12.0 1420.0 1114.0 4imprint ...... 3100.0 0.0 3130.0 1800.0 Dart Group ...... 1517.0 -48.0 1565.0 709.5 Ocado Gp ...... 1199.5 -5.0 1435.0 749.8 NMC Health ...... 2536.0 -11.0 3166.0 1801.5 Wood Gp(J) ...... 328.0 2.2 598.6 319.6 Experian ...... 2454.0 -5.0 2631.0 1843.0 BAE Systems ...... 551.4 -4.8 588.2 443.9 Alliance Trust ...... 808.0 -2.0 838.0 672.0 Ascential ...... 342.0 0.0 411.0 319.0 Diversified Gas & Oil ....101.5 0.5 116.5 97.0 Sainsbury(J) ...... 220.4 -3.1 293.9 177.1 Smith & Neph...... 1684.5 9.0 1990.0 1396.0 PERSONAL GOODS Ferguson ...... 6734.0 22.0 7004.0 4800.0 Cobham ...... 159.0 -0.2 168.3 96.8 AVI Global Trust...... 757.0 -4.0 781.0 660.0 Auto Trader Gp ...... 554.0 -7.6 606.0 436.2 Draper Esprit ...... 495.0 15.0 548.0 410.0 Meggitt ...... 642.4 -6.0 660.0 458.0 SSP Group ...... 637.0 -17.0 721.0 608.0 UDG Hlthcare ...... 809.5 3.0 832.5 551.0 G4S ...... 206.9 -3.3 234.3 168.3 Baillie Gifford Japan ...829.0 -4.0 840.0 663.0 Entertainment One ...... 557.5 0.5 589.0 336.4 Burberry Gp...... 2112.0 11.0 2345.0 1623.5 Eland Oil & Gas ...... 165.4 1.6 165.4 101.0 Tesco ...... 240.3 -2.8 253.0 189.6 HOUSEHOLD GOODS Hays ...... 165.1 -1.9 169.1 135.7 QinetiQ ...... 340.0 -0.6 351.6 267.0 Bankers InvTst ...... 950.0 -3.0 970.0 766.0 Euromny Inst Inv...... 1274.0 6.0 1498.0 1132.0 PZ Cussons ...... 200.0 -0.5 227.0 178.6 FOOD PRODUCERS Homeserve ...... 1220.0 1.0 1266.0 849.0 EMIS Group ...... 1078.0 -4.0 1242.0 864.0 Rolls-Royce ...... 701.0 -24.0 988.4 692.2 BlackRock Smaller ....1568.0 -16.0 1592.0 1160.0 Barratt Devel ...... 664.4 -5.8 684.4 434.0 Future ...... 1400.0 32.0 1572.0 465.0 PHARMACEUTICALS & BIOTECHNOLOGY Fevertree Drinks ...... 2123.0 -3.0 2475.0 1732.5 Senior ...... 188.0 -2.4 239.2 174.0 BMO Global Smaller .....139.5 -0.4 143.1 122.0 Assoc British Foods....2491.0 -32.0 2588.0 2041.0 Bellway ...... 3406.0 -38.0 3536.0 2447.0 Intertek Gp ...... 5420.0 -4.0 5962.0 4602.0 Informa ...... 776.6 -4.8 892.0 605.8 AstraZeneca ...... 7246.0 24.0 7580.0 5325.0 Ultra Electronics ...... 2076.0 10.0 2252.0 1232.0 Caledonia Inv ...... 3070.0 -15.0 3110.0 2740.0 Bakkavor ...... 142.4 0.0 170.0 93.3 IWG...... 403.2 -3.8 421.9 199.8 First Derivatives ...... 2675.0 65.0 3555.0 2050.0 Berkeley Grp Hldgs ...4558.0 -40.0 4712.0 3319.0 ITV ...... 142.9 -0.5 145.1 103.6 Dechra Pharma ...... 2728.0 -22.0 3036.0 2022.0 AUTOMOBILES & PARTS City of London IT ...... 419.5 -1.0 431.5 376.0 Cranswick ...... 3152.0 -54.0 3408.0 2472.0 Network Int...... 580.0 -5.0 628.0 513.0 Frontier Devs ...... 1172.0 -34.0 1254.0 740.0 Bovis Homes Gp ...... 1245.0 -4.0 1249.0 828.0 Moneysupermkt.com ...321.9 -1.9 417.7 267.0 Genus ...... 3118.0 20.0 3206.0 2146.0 Edin Inv Trust ...... 604.0 -5.0 652.0 535.0 Greencore Gp ...... 259.3 5.5 259.3 162.8 Pagegroup ...... 484.4 -2.8 539.0 367.8 Aston Martin...... 575.0 -5.0 1374.4 399.3 Countryside Prop ...... 429.2 -7.8 437.0 277.0 Pearson ...... 633.2 -6.6 1027.5 628.0 GlaxoSmithKline ...... 1750.2 21.8 1782.0 1436.0 Gamma Comms ...... 1210.0 -35.0 1275.0 730.0 European Opp ...... 801.0 -8.0 875.0 666.0 Hilton Food Gp ...... 1024.0 0.0 1088.0 884.0 Paypoint...... 960.0 -18.0 1118.0 748.0 TI Fluid Systems ...... 231.0 -6.0 237.0 155.2 Hikma Pharma ...... 1943.0 34.0 2200.0 1510.5 GB Group ...... 721.0 -2.0 723.0 420.0 F&C Investment ...... 729.0 -2.0 745.0 616.0 Tate & Lyle ...... 753.0 2.2 800.4 658.4 Rentokil Initial ...... 431.1 1.3 467.8 319.0 BANKS MAIN CHANGES UK 350 REAL ESTATE Gooch & Housego ...... 1280.0 20.0 1527.5 954.0 Fidelity China SPE ...... 214.0 0.0 250.0 183.4 Unilever ...... 4548.5 4.0 5324.0 3941.0 Sanne Group ...... 668.0 8.0 752.0 450.0 Hurricane Energy ...... 31.4 -0.7 53.6 31.4 Barclays ...... 170.1 -1.5 174.4 136.2 Fidelity Euro Values ....248.0 -2.0 257.5 202.0 FORESTRY & PAPER Risers à % Fallers Ä % Assura ...... 78.4 -0.9 79.3 52.5 Serco ...... 147.0 -2.4 160.0 89.4 BGEO Group ...... 1561.0 8.0 1755.0 1252.0 Fidelity Spec Val ...... 261.0 -2.5 271.5 220.0 Tullow Oil ...... 45.64 14.3 Ashtead Gp ...... 2220.00 -6.2 Big Yellow Gp ...... 1144.0 -6.0 1192.0 858.5 SIG ...... 119.1 -3.5 153.0 99.3 Impax Asset Mgmt ...... 332.5 17.5 332.5 184.0 Mondi ...... 1614.0 -33.0 1898.0 1510.5 HSBC Hldgs...... 558.9 -1.5 680.6 552.3 Computacenter...... 1605.00 4.7 Stagecoach Gp ...... 125.60 -5.8 BMO Comm Prop ...... 115.2 0.4 132.8 106.0 Iomart Group ...... 360.0 -3.5 398.0 308.0 Finsbury G&I Tst ...... 887.0 4.0 958.0 741.0 GENERAL FINANCIAL Travis Perkins...... 1522.0 -31.5 1614.5 1012.0 Lloyds Banking ...... 61.5 -0.7 66.6 48.6 GCP Infra Inv ...... 131.8 -0.2 132.2 122.4 Virgin Money UK ...... 182.85 4.3 Card Factory ...... 150.00 -5.2 British Land ...... 604.2 -4.8 638.4 468.3 TECHNOLOGY HARDWARE & EQUIPMENT IQE...... 53.0 -0.3 98.0 41.8 Bodycote ...... 890.00 3.2 Micro Focus Intl ...... 1055.40 -4.3 Royal Bank of Scot ...... 229.3 -0.7 270.4 177.7 Genesis Emerging ...... 738.0 -6.0 785.0 628.0 3i Group ...... 1055.0 -10.0 1184.5 756.2 Captl & Count Prop .....254.8 -7.0 270.5 184.8 James Halstead ...... 506.0 -6.0 532.0 418.0 Airtel Africa ...... 79.25 2.9 Paragon...... 499.40 -3.9 Spirent Comms ...... 216.0 -1.0 219.0 112.8 Standard Chartered ....682.8 4.4 736.8 575.7 Greencoat UK ...... 147.4 -2.0 149.8 124.4 Ashmore Gp ...... 474.6 -2.4 542.5 356.0 CLS Hldgs ...... 295.0 -1.5 296.5 204.0 Royal Mail...... 227.40 2.6 Quilter ...... 146.70 -3.4 TOBACCO Johnson Service Gp .....183.2 0.4 184.8 114.0 TBC Bank Group...... 1308.0 24.0 1706.0 1150.0 Harbourvest Glb ...... 1712.0 -8.0 1786.0 1326.0 Brewin Dolphin ...... 345.0 -2.6 350.2 287.6 Daejan Hldgs ...... 5310.0 10.0 6160.0 4715.0 Pets at Home Gp ...... 267.80 2.4 Grafton Group ...... 833.50 -3.4 Keywords Studios ...... 1332.0 3.0 1838.0 900.0 Virgin Money UK ...... 182.8 7.5 220.1 104.4 Close Brothers ...... 1507.0 -7.0 1605.0 1227.0 Derwent London ...... 3820.0 0.0 3820.0 2779.0 Herald Inv Trust ...... 1422.0 2.0 1428.0 1055.0 Future ...... 1400.00 2.3 Rolls-Royce ...... 701.00 -3.3 Br Am Tob ...... 2994.0 -6.0 3197.5 2375.0 Coats Group ...... 70.0 -0.1 91.3 68.1 Grainger ...... 279.4 -1.6 292.2 205.8 Learning Tech Gp ...... 115.2 1.0 130.0 62.2 BEVERAGES HICL Infr ...... 157.2 -2.2 174.0 156.6 Equiniti ...... 203.20 2.2 Morrison (WM) ...... 197.15 -3.3 Imperial Brands ...... 1675.8 -19.4 2713.5 1669.4 JPM American ...... 467.0 -2.5 494.5 386.5 Finablr ...... 215.0 0.4 215.0 140.2 Grt Portland Est ...... 861.0 2.8 861.0 649.4 M&C Saatchi ...... 103.0 -7.0 394.0 79.0 Barr (AG) ...... 565.0 1.0 975.0 540.0 Greencore Gp ...... 259.30 2.2 Hunting ...... 377.00 -3.2 TRAVEL & LEISURE JPM Emerg Mkt ...... 980.0 -4.0 1066.0 834.0 Hargreaves Lans...... 1862.5 2.0 2433.0 1633.0 Hammerson ...... 300.0 -7.5 388.4 203.9 M.P. Evans ...... 666.0 2.0 703.0 612.0 Britvic ...... 921.0 -21.0 1068.0 786.0 Carnival ...... 3201.0 -29.0 4430.0 3056.0 JPM Indian IT ...... 721.0 -3.0 790.0 633.0 IG Gp...... 680.8 -1.2 695.4 474.8 Crest Nicholson ...... 401.2 -4.0 435.2 310.8 RELX ...... 1828.0 5.5 2011.0 1581.5 Land Securities...... 947.0 -8.0 964.2 735.4 Majestic Wine ...... 215.0 0.0 318.0 214.5 Coca-Cola HBC AG ...... 2473.0 -38.0 3074.0 2299.0 Cineworld Group ...... 212.8 0.0 321.0 191.0 JPM Japan IT ...... 470.5 -1.0 476.0 367.0 Integrafin Holdings .....400.0 0.5 406.1 271.8 McCarthy & Stone...... 140.7 -1.3 158.8 123.5 Rightmove Group ...... 618.0 -8.4 630.6 420.9 LondonMetric Prop ...... 233.0 -3.2 241.2 172.7 Diageo ...... 3072.5 -3.5 3625.5 2701.0 Compass Gp ...... 1830.0 2.5 2138.0 1583.0 Midwich Group ...... 570.0 -28.0 633.0 474.5 Jupiter Fund Mngt ...... 383.0 -2.0 432.0 289.3 Intermediate Capital 1536.0 -19.0 1564.0 918.5 Persimmon ...... 2504.0 -23.0 2614.0 1836.0 WPP ...... 961.6 -5.8 1038.0 800.4 NewRiver Retail ...... 199.6 -3.4 246.0 147.6 CHEMICALS Dominos Pizza ...... 300.1 -5.9 309.8 221.2 Mortgage Advice B ...... 707.0 -5.0 712.0 546.0 Law Debenture ...... 606.0 0.0 618.0 534.0 Intl Public Prtnshps .....152.4 -3.2 165.4 146.8 Reckitt Benckiser ...... 5999.0 57.0 6688.0 5593.0 MINING Primary Hlth Prop ...... 150.6 -1.4 152.0 108.4 Investec ...... 423.7 -5.3 518.6 395.3 Redrow...... 680.0 1.0 681.0 460.8 Safestore Hldgs ...... 769.0 -9.0 778.0 506.5 easyJet ...... 1334.0 -29.0 1388.0 854.8 Next Fifteen Comm ...... 472.5 2.5 658.0 465.0 Croda International . 4848.0 -20.0 5375.0 4564.0 Mercantile IT ...... 245.5 -4.5 250.0 168.0 Anglo American ...... 2076.0 -1.5 2266.0 1666.6 IP Group ...... 62.6 0.7 122.0 55.7 Taylor Wimpey ...... 176.2 -1.6 192.2 131.0 Savills ...... 1001.0 -11.0 1012.0 678.5 EI Group ...... 283.8 0.0 285.0 176.8 Nichols...... 1577.5 -7.5 1880.0 1350.0 Elementis...... 169.1 -1.4 197.9 129.8 Monks Inv Tst ...... 921.0 -4.0 964.0 710.0 Antofagasta ...... 902.8 -2.0 1022.5 738.0 John Laing Gp ...... 400.0 -0.8 402.0 308.4 SEGRO ...... 867.8 -10.6 894.0 585.2 FirstGroup ...... 115.1 -1.3 137.5 79.4 Johnson Matt...... 2792.0 1.0 3454.0 2665.0 Murray Intl Tst ...... 1198.0 -4.0 1248.0 1074.0 INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING BHP Group ...... 1710.6 -4.6 2049.0 1563.0 Numis Corporation ...... 264.5 0.5 280.0 212.0 London Stock Exch ....6798.0 20.0 7514.0 3908.0 Shaftesbury ...... 943.0 -20.0 979.5 739.5 Flutter Ent...... 8674.0 -6.0 8924.0 5525.0 Synthomer ...... 309.0 1.8 420.8 279.0 NB Glbl Fltg Rate Inc ...... 91.1 0.0 91.1 87.6 Bodycote ...... 890.0 27.5 903.0 652.0 Centamin ...... 125.9 -1.3 152.3 79.8 Polar Capital Hdgs ...... 534.0 4.0 604.0 450.0 Man Group ...... 150.5 -2.2 175.2 126.8 St Modwen Props ...... 463.5 -6.5 472.0 373.0 Go-Ahead Gp ...... 1970.0 -42.0 2278.0 1480.0 Victrex ...... 2370.0 -24.0 2522.0 1845.0 Pantheon Intl Partn ..2385.0 0.0 2385.0 1955.0 Hill & Smith ...... 1345.0 5.0 1385.0 1049.0 Fresnillo ...... 554.4 -3.8 1027.5 539.6 Purplebricks Gp ...... 105.0 0.0 132.0 96.0 Onesavings ...... 405.8 -5.0 447.4 313.6 TR Property IT ...... 459.5 -1.0 466.0 353.5 GVC Hldgs ...... 829.0 -24.0 897.4 507.5 CONSTRUCTION & MATERIALS Perpetual Inc & Grth ...318.0 -3.0 339.0 284.5 IMI ...... 1139.5 -5.5 1145.0 899.0 Glencore ...... 217.1 -2.1 340.3 216.9 Redde...... 104.2 -1.6 127.6 100.6 Paragon...... 499.4 -20.1 519.5 379.2 Tritax Big Box ...... 149.0 -0.1 159.7 130.0 Intercontl Htls ...... 4792.0 -13.0 5738.0 4230.4 Pershing Square ...... 1384.0 -8.0 1570.0 990.0 Melrose Ind ...... 225.0 -2.8 237.9 155.1 Hochschild Mining ...... 159.2 -2.6 227.0 155.0 Balfour Beatty ...... 230.6 0.0 295.0 194.2 Plus500 ...... 843.0 -7.0 1647.0 495.0 UK Commercial Prop .....86.7 1.0 92.7 79.9 Intl Cons Airl...... 546.4 -7.0 667.6 413.5 Renew Holdings...... 436.0 -2.0 441.0 333.0 Personal Assets Tst .42100.0 50.0 43150.0 RHI Magnesita ...... 3732.0 -124.0 5000.0 3420.0 Kaz Minerals ...... 499.2 3.1 738.4 380.3 CRH ...... 2936.0 1.0 3014.0 1971.5 Provident Fin ...... 420.6 -5.7 658.6 356.0 Unite Group ...... 1233.0 -4.0 1251.0 797.5 Marstons ...... 130.1 -0.6 131.4 90.5 RWS Holdings ...... 639.0 -31.0 670.0 450.0 38900.0 Rotork ...... 323.8 -5.9 341.2 235.7 Polymet Int...... 1170.5 -12.5 1272.0 772.6 Galliford Try...... 759.0 -9.0 780.0 512.0 Quilter ...... 146.7 -5.2 156.6 112.2 Workspace Gp ...... 1162.0 -5.0 1167.0 789.5 Mitchells & Butlers .....436.0 1.0 470.5 238.0 Scapa Group ...... 235.0 -9.5 403.0 157.0 Polar Cap Tech Tst ...... 1474.0 -6.0 1514.0 1066.0 Spirax-Sarco...... 8700.0 -85.0 9400.0 5900.0 Rio Tinto ...... 4256.5 0.0 4976.5 3643.0 Grafton Group...... 833.5 -29.0 937.0 630.0 Rathbone Brothers ....2120.0 -5.0 2540.0 2075.0 SOFTWARE & COMPUTER SERVICES Renewables Infra Gp ...128.4 -0.2 133.2 109.6 Weir Gp ...... 1430.0 -16.0 1814.0 1240.0 Sirius Minerals...... 3.5 0.0 24.3 2.9 National Express ...... 449.8 -2.6 473.0 361.4 Secure Income REIT ..420.0 4.0 454.0 371.0 Ibstock ...... 265.0 -3.8 268.8 193.1 Schroders ...... 3236.0 -20.0 3349.0 2366.0 RIT Cap Partners ...... 2140.0 -5.0 2180.0 1892.0 Avast...... 426.6 -3.6 450.8 259.6 PPHE Hotel Gp ...... 1900.0 0.0 1990.0 1620.0 Serica Energy...... 121.0 0.0 143.4 103.6 Marshalls ...... 763.5 -7.0 804.0 438.2 TP ICAP ...... 395.7 -0.3 403.3 270.0 INDUSTRIAL METALS MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS Riverstone Energy ...... 428.0 -0.5 1144.0 403.5 Aveva Gp...... 4494.0 -32.0 4572.0 2284.0 Rank Gp ...... 248.5 -1.5 252.5 135.0 Polypipe Group ...... 514.0 5.0 517.5 315.2 Evraz ...... 361.6 0.6 709.4 341.4 Vodafone Gp ...... 142.7 -1.1 165.2 123.3 Smart Metering Sys....548.0 3.5 665.0 310.0 Schroder Asia ...... 444.0 -1.0 469.5 389.0 GENERAL RETAILERS Computacenter...... 1605.0 72.0 1605.0 952.0 Restaurant Grp ...... 147.5 2.1 160.2 111.9 DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIALS Ferrexpo ...... 144.6 0.7 301.3 123.0 Telford Homes ...... 349.5 0.0 358.0 267.0 Scottish Inv Tst ...... 814.0 -3.0 843.0 748.0 B&M ...... 388.3 -7.9 399.6 278.6 NONLIFE INSURANCE FDM Group...... 960.0 15.0 994.0 647.0 Stagecoach Gp...... 125.6 -7.8 167.0 115.5 Thorpe (F.W.) ...... 311.0 0.0 340.0 248.5 Smith (DS) ...... 368.2 -0.3 388.1 292.2 Scottish Mortgage ...... 517.5 -1.0 568.5 441.4 Card Factory ...... 150.0 -8.2 209.0 150.0 INDUSTRIAL TRANSPORTATION Admiral Gp ...... 2115.0 -27.0 2300.0 1958.0 Kainos Gp ...... 624.0 -6.0 676.0 430.0 Wetherspoon (JD) .....1500.0 -8.0 1624.0 1066.0 Smiths Gp...... 1599.5 -7.5 1692.0 1342.0 Sequoia Econ Infra ...... 115.0 0.0 117.6 108.5 Dixons Carphone ...... 129.9 -0.1 150.0 104.9 Clarkson ...... 2790.0 -20.0 2900.0 1878.0 Beazley ...... 528.0 -6.5 628.0 492.6 Micro Focus Intl ...... 1055.4 -47.4 2160.0 1004.0 Whitbread ...... 4618.0 -11.0 5114.0 3988.0 Watkin Jones ...... 242.0 -1.0 243.0 199.0 Smurfit Kappa Gp...... 2668.0 4.0 2774.0 2002.0 Smithson Inv ...... 1276.0 0.0 1304.0 1000.2 Dunelm Gp...... 1086.0 22.0 1086.0 482.8 Fisher (James) ...... 2005.0 5.0 2260.0 1650.0 Direct Line Ins ...... 298.2 -2.2 366.5 270.5 Playtech ...... 379.0 1.8 457.7 360.5 William Hill ...... 167.2 -1.4 205.2 132.3 Young’s Brew NV ...... 1215.0 0.0 1238.0 1030.0 Vesuvius...... 470.4 7.2 642.0 341.0 Syncona ...... 219.5 -3.5 294.0 213.5 Howden Joinery Gp..... 642.2 -5.8 648.0 416.4 Royal Mail ...... 227.4 5.7 310.8 188.4 Hastings Gp Hldgs ...... 179.5 -0.5 231.6 167.9 Sage Group ...... 722.4 -3.0 820.4 567.0 Wizz Air Holdings ...... 3883.0 -51.0 3955.0 2722.0 Young’s Brew-A...... 1625.0 25.0 1885.0 1322.5 EU SHARES US SHARES Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low ADIDAS...... 275.05 1.15 296.35 180.10 3M ...... 167.66 -2.17 219.50 150.74 AIR LIQUIDE ...... 122.25 -0.40 130.80 102.40 ABBOTT LABORATORIES ...... 84.56 0.69 88.74 65.56 ALLIANZ AG ...... 215.55 -0.45 223.80 172.16 ADOBE INC ...... 304.17 -2.88 311.27 205.16 AMADEUS IT GROUP ...... 72.18 -0.30 72.76 42.30 ALPHABET NON VTG-C ...... 1344.66 1.10 1343.56 976.22 ALPHABET-A ...... 1342.89 -0.10 1342.99 1116.79 ANHEUSER BUSCH INBEV ...... 70.68 -0.65 92.71 57.35 AMAZON.COM ...... 1739.21 -10.30 2020.99 1343.96 ASML HOLDING NV ...... 251.75 -0.20 252.60 130.88 AMERICAN EXPRESS ...... 120.90 0.44 128.57 89.50 AXA ...... 24.63 -0.17 25.38 18.54 APPLE INC ...... 268.48 1.56 270.71 142.19 BANCO SANTANDER ...... 301.50 -2.30 402.00 295.05 AT&T ...... 38.06 0.02 39.63 27.36 BASF...... 67.35 -0.44 74.49 56.20 BANK OF AMERICA ...... 33.53 0.02 33.67 22.73 BAYER AG...... 69.00 0.23 72.81 52.53 BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY...... 221.26 -0.12 222.74 187.76 BMW ...... 73.20 0.02 77.75 58.70 BOEING CO ...... 347.90 -3.31 432.69 294.16 BNP PARIBAS ...... 50.27 -0.50 51.55 38.55 CATERPILLAR INC ...... 142.87 0.04 148.16 113.38 CRH ...... 2936.00 1.00 3014.00 1971.50 CHEVRON ...... 117.89 0.59 126.54 100.99 CISCO SYSTEMS ...... 44.10 0.20 58.05 40.28 DAIMLER ...... 48.76 -0.30 59.31 40.53 CITIGROUP ...... 75.78 0.45 76.12 49.26 DANONE ...... 73.70 -0.32 82.00 60.28 COCA-COLA CO ...... 53.77 -0.30 55.77 44.69 DEUTSCHE POST AG ...... 33.97 -0.08 34.44 23.72 COMCAST ...... 42.77 -1.12 46.97 33.07 DEUTSCHE TELEKOM ...... 14.89 -0.13 16.25 14.10 DOW ...... 53.13 -0.14 66.65 40.71 ENEL ...... 6.73 0.05 6.98 4.93 EBAY INC ...... 34.72 0.15 41.57 26.14 ENGIE...... 14.41 -0.03 15.12 12.02 EXXON MOBIL ...... 69.06 -0.60 83.38 65.51 ENI ...... 13.67 0.04 15.94 13.04 FACEBOOK ...... 200.87 -0.47 204.87 174.60 ESSILORLUXOTTICA ...... 128.75 0.00 128.75 128.75 GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP ...... 221.88 0.07 224.61 156.35 FRESENIUS MEDICAL CARE ...... 66.00 0.94 76.32 56.64 HOME DEPOT INC ...... 215.90 -0.63 238.85 158.14 HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL ...... 174.04 -0.45 182.01 124.83 IBERDROLA ...... 8.79 0.00 9.54 6.02 IBM ...... 133.91 -0.01 151.36 107.57 INDITEX ...... 28.62 -0.11 32.37 2.55 INTEL ...... 56.59 0.06 58.90 43.46 ING GROEP NV...... 10.41 -0.07 12.05 8.34 JOHNSON & JOHNSON ...... 139.99 -0.51 147.84 122.84 INTESA SANPAOLO...... 2.30 0.01 2.38 1.83 JPMORGAN CHASE & CO ...... 134.50 0.09 135.04 92.14 KERING ...... 546.40 2.30 551.90 380.70 MASTERCARD INC ...... 288.61 -0.45 292.23 174.65 KON KPN NV ...... 2.72 -0.02 2.96 2.47 MCDONALD’S ...... 194.95 0.27 221.15 170.28 L’OREAL ...... 255.50 1.30 265.00 195.25 MEDTRONIC ...... 111.04 -0.09 113.09 82.45 LVMH MOET HENNESSY ...... 396.80 -2.45 408.65 243.65 MERCK & CO ...... 89.10 0.38 88.85 71.15 MUENCHENER RUECKVE ...... 260.20 -0.30 260.60 186.25 COMMODITIES TOURIST RATES MICROSOFT ...... 151.13 -0.23 152.32 94.13 NETFLIX ...... 293.12 -9.38 385.03 233.88 NOKIA ...... 21.88 0.00 21.88 21.88 Gold ...... 1464.70 +3.50 Copper Cash Official...... 5984.50 +117.25 Canada ...... 1.655 New Zealand ...... 1.864 NIKE INC ...... 97.01 0.38 97.00 67.53 ORANGE ...... 13.34 -0.12 15.01 13.15 Silver (Pence) ...... 1662.00 -32.00 Aluminium Cash Official ...... 1765.75 +15.50 Croatia ...... 7.9775 Norway...... 11.46 ORACLE ...... 55.82 0.51 60.15 42.69 ROYAL PHILIPS ...... 42.59 -0.16 44.34 29.10 Silver (Cents) ...... 1261.00 -29.00 Nickel Cash Official ...... 13197.50 -220.00 Czech Republic ...... 27.84 Poland ...... 4.4752 PAYPAL HOLDINGS ...... 103.62 -0.16 121.30 96.64 SAFRAN ...... 146.35 -1.65 149.90 100.70 Krugerrand ...... 1477.21 -0.90 Aluminium Alloy Cash Official ...... 1405.00 -5.00 Denmark ...... 8.4392 Singapore ...... 1.6657 PEPSICO ...... 136.27 -0.89 140.28 118.61 SANOFI ...... 86.66 4.80 85.25 72.24 Brent Crude ...... 64.25 -0.14 Natural Gas ...... 38.28 -0.77 Hong Kong ...... 9.7585 Sweden ...... 11.97 PFIZER INC ...... 38.48 0.16 44.57 34.24 SAP SE ...... 121.74 -0.20 124.38 85.79 Platinum ...... 890.00 -8.00 Tin Cash Official ...... 17115.00 +252.50 Iceland ...... 141.52 Switzerland ...... 1.2362 PROCTER & GAMBLE ...... 124.27 -0.60 124.94 87.36 SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC ...... 89.48 -0.78 90.58 57.58 British Sovereign ...... 345.24 -0.20 Zinc Cash Official ...... 2332.50 +85.00 India ...... 82.09 Turkey ...... 7.2705 TRAVELERS COMPANIES ...... 135.54 0.09 154.83 112.63 SIEMENS AG ...... 115.36 -0.66 117.94 85.00 Lead Cash Official ...... 1865.50 -15.00 White Sugar ...... 351.60 +4.10 Israel ...... 4.1055 United States ...... 1.2545 TWITTER ...... 29.84 -0.37 45.42 28.89 SOCIETE GENERALE...... 29.16 -0.17 30.48 21.13 UNITED HEALTH GROUP ...... 279.52 1.98 282.67 215.26 UNITED TECHNOLOGIES ...... 145.37 -0.85 149.36 102.06 TELEFONICA SA ...... 6.74 -0.02 9.18 5.94 WORLD INDICIES VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS ...... 61.23 0.22 61.19 53.05 TOTAL ...... 47.65 0.06 52.27 43.18 Price Chg %Chg Price Chg %Chg Price Chg %Chg Price Chg %Chg VISA ...... 182.26 -0.66 185.74 168.86 UNILEVER NV ...... 54.41 -0.06 57.56 46.03 FTSE 100...... 7213.76 -20.14 -0.28 S&P 500...... 3132.52 -3.44 -0.11 CAC 40 ...... 5848.03 +10.78 +0.18 Hang Seng ...... 26436.62 -58.11 -0.22 WALGREENS BOOTS ALLIANCE...... 58.41 -0.30 76.05 49.29 VINCI ...... 98.58 0.64 102.40 70.50 FTSE 250 ...... 20781.09 -141.55 -0.68 Dow Jones I.A ...... 27881.72 -27.88 -0.10 Swiss Market Index ...... 10390.53 -44.36 -0.43 Nikkei ...... 23410.19 -20.51 -0.09 WALMART ...... 119.14 -0.22 120.98 85.82 VIVENDI ...... 24.80 -0.10 26.42 20.97 FTSE All-Share ...... 4006.12 -14.21 -0.35 Nasdaq Composite ...... 8616.18 -5.64 -0.07 ISEQ Overall Index ...... 7060.33 -22.02 -0.31 STI Index ...... 3162.89 -16.93 -0.53 WALT DISNEY CO ...... 146.10 -0.11 151.64 100.35 VOLKSWAGEN AG ...... 175.70 -0.12 183.46 136.26 FTSE AIM All-Share ...... 900.77 -4.74 -0.52 Xetra DAX...... 13070.72 -34.89 -0.27 FTSEurofirst 300 ...... 1583.94 -3.52 -0.22 ASX All Ordinaries...... 6812.10 -24.30 -0.36 WELLS FARGO & CO ...... 53.69 -0.23 54.46 43.38 CITYAM.COM WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 FEATURE 25 PERSONAL FINANCE

ECEMBER is usually the sea- son to be jolly and reflect on the past year — though per- Dhaps it doesn’t feel that way as we head to the polls to- morrow. Nonetheless, as the year comes to a close, let’s look at the big personal finance stories of 2019, which may give us some clues about what’s in store for 2020. SAVING GRACE Let’s start with some good news around pensions. Fewer people have opted out of auto-enrolment than ex- pected, with the number of savers using the government scheme exceed- ing 10m, according to figures from the Pensions Regulator. The initiative has been gradually rolled out over the years, and in April 2019, we saw it reach its final phase, with contributions now at eight per cent (of which employees pay five per cent of their salaries). Unfortunately, the pensions indus- try has also been embroiled in some issues, with the NHS pension crisis topping the list. Experienced high- paid doctors have been scaling back their hours this year due to fears that they will be hit with massive pension tax bills. While the NHS has come up with what has been described as a “sticking plaster” solution by offering to cover these bills, we could see a wider reform of the complicated an- nual tapered allowance, which could affect private pensions too. Another worrying sign is the num- ber of people choosing to transfer their defined benefit pensions, which has reached alarming levels. This is partly because transfer values have hit record highs, but savers have also been tempted to take advantage of the pension freedoms only af- forded to them through defined con- tribution schemes. In July, the Financial Conduct Au- thority proposed a number of ways to improve financial advice, including a ban on contingent charging, in order to avoid the conflict of interest when recommending transfers. We will see the outcome of that consultation next year. FALLING STAR A year ago, if you had told most invest- ment professionals that Neil Wood- ford’s empire and reputation would Katherine be in tatters in 12 months’ time, they TRIALS AND Denham may have laughed in your face. But reflects life is full of surprises. The scandal around the UK’s most on the big famous fund manager has grabbed headlines this year and really brought personal finance to light a number of issues in the asset TRIBULATIONS management industry. stories of the year First, it has cast doubt on the useful- ness of best buy lists, particularly when execution-only investment platforms like Hargreaves Lansdown bear no re- the £2.5bn M&G property fund last being more challenging for the plat- tigation into the issue to find out the in the amount that they can offset sponsibility if a recommended fund week) has forced the regulator to look forms, though setting this limit extent of mis-selling, while in June, mortgage interest payments against manager strays from their strategy (or at reforming this industry to make it could also serve as a saving grace for the government slashed ground rents rental income, which has fallen to indeed, if they break the rules). work better for investors, many of many investors. to zero and banned developers from just 25 per cent from April this year, Second, Woodford’s prob- whom have had their trust dimin- selling new-builds on a leasehold down from 75 per cent in 2017-18. lems began when he piled ished by Woodford. We could see HOME COMFORTS basis. This doesn’t solve the problem These tax breaks will be completely investors’ money into the introduction of a whole new What about property? We have seen for existing leaseholders, but it’s a abolished in April 2020. early-stage companies — type of fund next year. the slowest house price growth in step in the right direction, and we’re All the major political parties have when people asked for We have also seen some dra- seven years, while in London, annual likely to see further changes in 2020. pledged to help the growing genera- their money back, he sim- matic changes to the peer-to-peer property prices have actually fallen. Every year, the buy-to-let market has tion of renters, with most at the very ply couldn’t sell the invest- investment sector, after a num- For existing homeowners, the good grappled with reforms, and 2019 was least promising longer tenancy agree- ments fast enough. ber of platforms collapsed. news is that property values can only no different. Fortunately, there has ments in their manifestos in order to As a result, Wood- On Monday, the regu- fall so far, given the short supply of been a clear move towards a fairer sys- give tenants more security. So regard- ford inadvertently lator introduced a 10 housing stock across the country. tem for tenants. Indeed, one of the less of who ends up in power later this highlighted the per cent peer-to-peer But beyond the general unease in biggest changes for landlords this week, it’s highly likely that the rules problems when cap to prevent in- the property market, we have seen year has been the ban on tenant fees around rental properties will con- illiquid assets are vestors from piling one issue come to a head in the past in June, with the deposit now capped tinue to toughen up. held in funds their life savings year in the form of the leasehold scan- at five weeks’ rent. Currently, this From tackling the housing crisis to that can be into these risky dal, where property developers have only applies to contracts signed after introducing a pensions dashboard, it’s traded on a daily investments. forced homeowners to pay extortion- 1 June, but it will encompass all agree- clear that there is going to be a shake- basis. The saga This means ate ground rents. ments as of June 2020. up of many personal finance issues (alongside the that next year Fortunately, the Competition and Landlords have seen other chal- next year, whoever moves into Down- suspension of could end up Markets Authority launched an inves- lenges this year, namely the reduction ing Street. Bring on 2020. 26 LIFE&STYLE WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 CITYAM.COM FOOD&DRINK

1. FLOR LIVE AND LET PIE hhhhh (£5 EACH, DINING IN)

Given Flor is one of the hottest new restaurants in London, it’s to be expected The best of this year’s mince pies, from trendy bakeries to supermarket staples its pie would shine: lovely, thick, salty pastry and intense mincemeat made with beef fat (or a “quincemeat” alternative). 2. PRET hhhii (£1.60 EACH)

This mince pie is so deep it looks like a little cup cake. There’s enough filling in there to pad out a Christmas pudding, and it’s rather good, if a tad sweet. Well worth picking up alongside your daily baguette, though. 2. SAINSBURY’S TASTE THE DIFFERENCE hhiii (£2.20 FOR SIX)

The pastry is too tough. There’s loads of filling but it’s quite gritty and bland, and the fruit is too smushed up and lacking in texture. Definitely a below average pie, without that all-important ‘wow factor.’ 4. M&S COLLECTION hhhhh (£2.50 FOR SIX)

A great all-round mince pie, the kind of thing you’d proudly take round to the neighbours to say merry Christmas. 1 2 Crumbly pastry. Nice whole fruit and a pleasing orange zesty aftertaste. 5. LEON hhhii (£2 EACH)

This is a mince pie for those with a sweet tooth with the combination of an icing sugar dusting and a rich, almost caramelised filling making it a bold choice, although the pastry is a little on the crumbly side. 3 4 6. KONDITOR & COOK hhhhi (£10 FOR SIX)

The legendary cake-makers should be all over their mince pie game – and they are. There’s an egg-washed regular version that uses a lovely whole-fruit filling, or a vegan version with a lovely crisp lid. Both are excellent. 7. TESCO FINEST BRANDY MINCE PIES 6 hhhhi (£1.75 FOR SIX) 5 7 Another hit. We must be feeling particularly festive this year, because all of these pies are just quality, quality, quality. The brandy gives this one a drunk-uncle- at-Christmas vibe. Wonderful stuff. This Sichuan recipe is delicious by name, delicious by nature How to easily MY FOOD SICHUAN PARTRIDGE (SERVES 4) £Preheat the oil to 160-180°C in a large thick bottomed saucepan. DIARY INGREDIENTS £Line a tray with kitchen towel. replicate one of £4 partridge legs, removed and halved, £Using a spoon drop the individual pieces and four partridge breasts of partridge into the oil and cook for 2-3 my favourite Mark Hix £3-4 tbs gluten free self raising flour minutes, turning them as they are cooking £2tsp light soy sauce with a slotted spoon until golden and crisp dishes at home £Salt and freshly ground black pepper then transfer to the kitchen paper (you may £300ml vegetable or corn oil for deep frying need to do this in a couple of batches hen I lived in “delicious rabbit” (yes, they actually £A handful of cut dried chillies (yes, a handful), depending on your pan). Bermondsey, my go to called it delicious), and remarkably, soaked in water for ten minutes £Turn the oil down and let it cool a little local restaurant (apart it lived up to its name. £2tbls Sichuan peppercorns and add the chillies, Sichuan pepper and Wfrom Jose, of course), It was chopped into pieces £A piece of root ginger (50g) scraped and ginger, and cook on a low heat for 2-3 was a Sichuan Chinese straight through the bone, fried thinly sliced minutes then stir in the spring onions and place called Crystal China on Tower until crispy and made formidably £6 medium spring onions, sliced on the angle cook for 30 seconds then finally stir in the Bridge road. fiery with those unmistakable partridge and transfer to a warmed serving The menu has all the things I like, Sichuan peppercorns that make METHOD dish. including plenty of offal: any of my your mouth go numb. You could £Mix enough cold water with the flour and £The oil kind of emulsifies and acts as a more squeamish readers need to also make it with pheasant, soy sauce to make a batter then season. sauce, so don’t be alarmed. You can keep get a grip, it’s delicious. One won- chicken or partridge (as I have in £Cut the partridge breasts into four then some of the oil for next time. derful addition to the menu was my recipe): it’s delicious either way. mix with legs into the batter. £Serve with rice or greens. CITYAM.COM WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 FEATURE 27 OFFICE POLITICS The key to a perfect Christmas campaign

voke the petitions that a cuddly Last year, Iceland nailed its festive advert. orangutan did. That requires a gen- What can brands learn from the retailer? uine tug on the heart strings. However, the decision to tie yourself to a politically-minded organisation, WAS the month before Petronella such as Greenpeace, should never be Christmas (in 2018), and the taken without full consideration. At festive cheer was seemingly Panérus my agency, we have previously worked T“cancelled” for British frozen BABY BRAIN with Reporters Without Borders and food giant Iceland. other NGOs on various issues. In every “We’re absolutely gutted,” a de- Pregnancy Week instance, there has been an internal feated Richard Walker, Iceland’s By Week discussion where decisions are made managing director, told the BBC. Free around whether the organisation is “We wanted to share this message far compatible with our own values. and wide.” Ahh, the miracle A business pledge is for life, not just Well, for Richard, Christmas mira- and the attempted boarding of a Russ- of life. If you’re for Christmas, which is something cles are very much real. ian oil rig — was deemed too hot for TV. pregnant, or that Iceland found in the months fol- This particular miracle began when Such censorship, however, proved know someone lowing last year’s campaign. Having the supermarket chain repurposed a counterproductive. In the following who is expecting, promised to remove palm oil from its Greenpeace animation titled “Rang- weeks, the video amassed over 30m this app can help own-brand products, it was uncovered tan” for its Christmas campaign: a views online, a petition, and the back- you keep track of that instead of doing so, Iceland re- touching animation of a young girl ing of newspaper columnists and the pregnancy. moved its label from 17 palm prod- (voiced by Emma Thompson) befriend- celebrities such as James Corden. To Use it to record ucts. More sleight of hand than a ing an orangutan in her bedroom, add the cherry on top of the Christmas Despite being exception to the rule. weight, and helping one to the orangutans. who goes on to tell her of the damage cake, it was crowned the UK’s favourite banned from There have been banned and contro- count down to Broadcasters and regulators need to being done to the mammal’s habitat Christmas ad according to YouGov. TV, Iceland’s versial festive ads this year. Sweden’s the due date. keep up with the changes in the media in the pursuit of palm oil — a sub- Iceland had come to dinner with the ‘Rang-tan’ own Ulrika Jonsson got pulses racing The app even landscape and update regulations to stance found in household products biggest turkey in the shop. Whether video amassed in an advert on the Underground, enables you to better serve how content is shared and from shampoo to biscuits. you believe those who say it was inten- over 30m when asking people to “be my stocking know roughly spread today — or they run the risk of Heartwarming? Absolutely. Too polit- tionally pushing the boundaries, the views online filler” for dating app Lumen. how big the baby becoming irrelevant bystanders to the ical? Yes, according to Clearcast, the ban proved to be a catalyst. No longer And while it wasn’t banned, Peloton is growing. For next runaway viral video online. body enforcing the UK Code of Broad- were people skipping through the re- built a “sexist-dystopian” nightmare instance, at As for companies looking to produce cast Advertising, which prohibits ads tailer’s paid slots on television, they with its campaign featuring a husband week 13, it is their own Iceland moment, it ab- “on behalf of a body whose objects are were now actively seeking the video buying his wife an exercise bike for about the size solutely counts if you’re “naughty or wholly or mainly of a political nature”. out and demanding to see it more. Christmas — presumably to burn off of a peach. nice” the rest of the year round. Rang-tan’s origin as a Greenpeace So why have we not seen a repeat of the mince pies. short — an organisation whose previ- this approach in 2019? Perhaps it’s be- Both were talking points, naturally. £ Petronella Panérus is Sweden country ous PR efforts include scaling Big Ben cause this tale of Christmas past is the But a scantily-clad Ulrika won’t pro- manager for The North Alliance. 28 PUNTER WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 CITYAM.COM THE PUNTER HONG KONG RACING TRADER

character, but when Purton gets on Wally Pyrah previews Wednesday’s Zac Purton will be hoping him their record of three wins and to get back to winning four places from 11 runs reads very card from Happy Valley ways at Happy Valley well. If everything goes according to plan, Purton will sit midfield on Speedy Wally watching Moreira’s every move and be ready to pounce Purton can make and go for glory after turning into the home straight. Moreira will be at short odds to ex- tend his winning partnership with Le Terroir when they line-up in the clos- ing Sea Eagle Handicap (2.50pm) over a Speedy return six furlongs. The combination is seeking a hat- trick after two impressive course and distance wins this season, but both have come from the favoured inside draw. to winning form This time they are going to have to work harder from an outside num- ber (10), plus the handicapper hasn’t been impressed, raising him 17lbs AGIC Man’ Joao Moreira Moreira will arrive at the inner-city higher for his two wins. is back in the big time track today with his card marked in Purton meanwhile, has been having ridden a five- eight of the nine races and all are booked to ride South African import ‘M timer at the LONGINES guaranteed to be heavily supported. CUE THE MUSIC who made an encour- Hong Kong Interna- While the Brazilian was sending his aging impression when finishing tional Races at Sha Tin on Sunday. supporters home happy on Sunday, strongly in a competitive handicap When Moreira is in this kind of spare a thought for his great rival Zac over five furlongs three weeks ago. form he is unstoppable. Last week- Purton who must have left the track With a class drop in his favour and end’s victories in two international thoroughly disappointed. an ideal draw setting him up for a Group Ones aboard Glory Vase and The reigning champion had a night- he is riding a couple of short-priced sistency this season which included trouble-free journey, he could prove Beat The Clock may not have been for mare, losing on hot favourites Exul- favourites. a three-quarters-of-a-length defeat of too strong for his rivals in the closing the purists, but his success on Fat tant and Aethero, with the latter The old adage of ‘the form-book Speedy Wally over track and trip back stages. Turtle later in the afternoon had to found to be running a fever, while never lies’ will be put to the test in October. be seen to be believed. Hong Kong’s favourite horse, Beauty when Moreira partners Flame Lily Speedy Wally is now a whopping He had his thousands of supporters Generation, was also beaten. and Purton renews his association 9lb better off for that defeat which POINTERS screaming with delight after weav- Purton, who has a full book of rides with SPEEDY WALLY in the Robin should be enough to gain his re- ing a magical passage through his ri- at the Valley today, will be desperate Handicap (1.45pm) over the extended venge. Speedy Wally 1.45pm Happy Valley vals in the closing stages to hit the to put that set-back behind him and mile. The Caspar Fownes-trained gelding, Cue The Music 2.50pm Happy Valley front near the winning line. will be keen to upset Moreira when Flame Lily has been a model of con- it has to be said, is an unpredictable No Racing Luck needed with Ho’s mount in Valley handicap APPY Valley’s extended mile important, with jockeys not wanting drawn in stall two and is ridden by encouraging seasonal reappearance Ho at present. Htrack tests both the adaptability to travel any further than their rivals in-form jockey Chad Schofield. when fifth in September. The main danger looks to be of the horse and the skill of the by getting caught wide, but also However, the negative is that this More importantly, he has trialled Perfect Glory, representing the all- jockey. mindful that if they race along the is his first try over both the track and twice in eye-catching fashion against powerful Purton and Caspar Fownes Starting just past the grandstand rail they need to find daylight before trip and he bombed out last month Group-rated horses in preparation combination, who steps up in in front of the noisy beer garden, turning into the short home straight. over seven furlongs at Sha Tin. for this contest and don’t be put off distance again. both horse and rider have to Triumphant Horse looks an It’s also interesting that his regular by an outside draw of 11. negotiate four bends, with the home obvious candidate for an ideal pilot Vincent Ho has opted to stay He has won both his races drawn POINTERS straight only just over one-and-a-half journey in the Nightjar Handicap loyal to RACING LUCK, who he rode from that number and other than furlongs long. (1.15pm) over the extended mile. He twice to victory over course and Joao Moreira and Zac Purton, no Racing Luck 1.15pm Happy Valley The draw is obviously vitally possesses good early speed, is well distance last season and produced an jockey is riding better than Vincent CITYAM.COM WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 PUNTER 29

5 60 ALL TIMES GRATEFUL (45) 11 820084 CASIMIRO (21) (GF) SAND MARTIN HANDICAP (CLASS 3) (3YO+) (COURSE C) HAPPY VALLEY (6) C Yip 4-8-13 ...... T So(2) 63 (8) C Yip 5-8-3 ...... K Teetan 78 2.15(TURF) 5f 3yo plus12 dec. Runs: 2 Wins: 0 Places: 0 Runs: 25 Wins: 2 Places: 2 €12,812

Going: GOOD 6 360 SUPER ALLIANCES (18) 12 058946 FLYING GODSPELL (24) (D) (A) 1 316116 GENTLE BREEZE (14) (B) (CD) (G,GF) (7) J Size 3-8-11 ...... U Rispoli 76 (3) J Ting 6-8-3 ...... H T Mo(3) 74 (3) P Yiu 5-9-7 ...... M Chadwick 92 FRIGATEBIRD HANDICAP (CLASS 5) (3YO+) (COURSE C) Runs: 3 Wins: 0 Places: 1 Runs: 37 Wins: 3 Places: 6 Runs: 18 Wins: 4 Places: 4 10.45(TURF) 5f 3yo plus12 dec. 1 2 139008 KASI FARASI (14) (HT) (GF,G) 7 077073 THE ONE (14) (B) 13 VITALITY FORTUNE (H ) 1 087002 EXCEL DELIGHT (14) (H) (9) Y Tsui 6-8-10 ...... S De Sousa 76 (13) L Ho 4-9-0 ...... RESERVE - (12) J Ting 5-9-5 ...... H Lai: 94 (7) J Size 4-9-7 ...... J Moreira 58 Runs: 10 Wins: 2 Places: 1 Runs: 11 Wins: 0 Places: 1 Runs: 0 Wins: 0 Places: 0 1 3 1541-0 THE WEATHERMAN (32) (GF,S,GS) Runs: 7 Wins: 0 Places: 1 8 53067 VICTORY IN HAND (38) (T) 14 000900 BRAVERY AND POWER (77) (HT ) 2 336086 EVER STRONG (38) (E/S) (A) (2) K Lui 4-8-10 ...... K Teetan 75 (14) W So 4-9-1 ...... RESERVE 69 (5) D Whyte 3-9-5 ...... L Hewitson 103 (12) K Man 6-9-6 ...... C Y Ho 56 Runs: 7 Wins: 3 Places: 1 Runs: 5 Wins: 0 Places: 1 Runs: 7 Wins: 0 Places: 0 4 557281 SPECIAL STARS (14) (CD) (G) Runs: 26 Wins: 3 Places: 3 9 000 WONDER WIN (18) (HE) BETTING: 5/2 Confucius Day, 3 Dr Respect, 5 Casimiro, 8 Flying Godspell, 12 Far- : 3 845989 FLYING MONKEY (21) (T) (CD) (GF) (8) L Ho 4-8-10 ...... H T Mo(3) 58 shad, 14 After Me, Hero Time, 16 Speedy Dragon, 20 Others (2) J Size 4-9-4 ...... J Moreira 95

(10) T Yung 7-9-6 ...... A Badel 63 Runs: 3 Wins: 0 Places: 0 Runs: 13 Wins: 3 Places: 2 1 NIGHTJAR HANDICAP (CLASS 3) (3YO+) (COURSE C) Runs: 27 Wins: 2 Places: 3 10 WIND PACIFIC (HT ) 5 -72805 DRAGON PIONEER (14) (B) (CD) (GF,G) 1.15(TURF) 1m 3yo plus12 dec. 4 79-023 LA BOMBA (14) (B) (10) Y Tsui 6-9-3 ...... C Schofield 94 (1) C Shum 4-9-1...... A Badel - (11) D Whyte 5-9-6 ...... K Teetan 57 Runs: 22 Wins: 2 Places: 4 Runs: 0 Wins: 0 Places: 0 1 006483 PERFECT GLORY (21) (C,BF) (G,GF) 6 263926 FRUSTRATED (35) (B) (CD,BF) (G,GF) Runs: 8 Wins: 0 Places: 2 11 00/0 HUMBLE STEED (214) (7) C Fownes 5-9-7 ...... Z Purton: 97 5 989756 ISLAND WINNER (10) (TP) (4) F Lor 4-8-13 ...... M Poon(2) 95 (12) T Yung 5-8-8 ...... K Leung 60 Runs: 14 Wins: 2 Places: 2 (3) P Yiu 4-9-5 ...... K Leung 59 Runs: 3 Wins: 0 Places: 0 2 012465 RACING LUCK (77) (CD) (G,GF) Runs: 11 Wins: 2 Places: 3 1 7 7-11 HARMONY AND RICH (179) (H ) (G,GS) Runs: 7 Wins: 0 Places: 0 12 325786 DIAMOND LEGEND (35) (TV) (CD) (G) (11) K Lui 6-9-4 ...... C Y Ho 94 6 007680 JIMSON THE DRAGON (10) (TB) (9) W So 3-8-13 ...... Z Purton - (11) A Cruz 7-8-4 ...... L Hewitson 76 Runs: 21 Wins: 3 Places: 3 (2) C Yip 5-9-4 ...... M Poon(2) 62 Runs: 3 Wins: 2 Places: 0 Runs: 36 Wins: 2 Places: 6 3 3523-0 ARCATRAZ (81) (P) 8 7117 VICTORIAM (94) (BF) (GF,G) Runs: 11 Wins: 0 Places: 1 13 8806 SPEEDY MISSILE (14) (H) (4) John Moore 4-9-3 ...... L Hewitson 99 7 900070 BANDY (14) (B) (11) K Lui 4-8-12 ...... B Shinn 88 (13) J Ting 4-8-9 ...... RESERVE 68 Runs: 8 Wins: 1 Places: 2 (5) Richard Gibson 4-9-2 ...... N Callan 57 Runs: 4 Wins: 2 Places: 0 Runs: 4 Wins: 0 Places: 0 4 845817 RICKFIELD (45) (CD) (G,SW) Runs: 7 Wins: 0 Places: 0 9 17 CALIFORNIA LEVEE (35) (TP) (D) (G) :BETTING: 5/2 Navas, 3 Eight Trigrams, 7/2 Here Comes Ted, 6 The One, 10 Others (9) A Millard 7-9-3 ...... M Poon(2) 93 8 000000 CHEEKY BEE (18) (B) (1) A Cruz 3-8-11 ...... C Y Ho 103 Runs: 35 Wins: 7 Places: 2 MESIA HANDICAP (CLASS 4) (3YO+) (COURSE C) Runs: 2 Wins: 1 Places: 0 €9,240 (6) A Millard 5-9-1 ...... L Hewitson 65 12.15 5 SMILING CITY Runs: 16 Wins: 0 Places: 0 (TURF) 1m1f 3yo plus12 dec. (3) D Whyte 4-8-13 ...... S De Sousa - 10 652225 UTOPIA LIFE (18) (B) (BF)

9 227734 EXPONENTS (10) (V) (BF) (G,SW) (8) K Man 4-8-10 ...... S De Sousa 99 1 909387 HEAVENLY THOUGHT (35) (H) (G) Runs: 0 Wins: 0 Places: 0 Runs: 12 Wins: 0 Places: 4 (9) Y Tsui 6-9-1 ...... Z Purton 58 (6) F Lor 5-9-7 ...... J Moreira: 78 6 090025 SURREALISM (21) (H) (D) (A,GF,GS) Runs: 30 Wins: 2 Places: 7 (1) D Ferraris 4-8-9 ...... N Callan 95 11 211873 WINNING METHOD (21) (TB) (D) (G) Runs: 17 Wins: 1 Places: 2 10 499000 ROMAN ODYSSEY (45) (T) (7) C Shum 3-8-8...... K Teetan 95 2 230077 PERFECT TO PLAY (14) (HT) (C) (GF,G) Runs: 17 Wins: 3 Places: 4 (4) K Man 8-9-1 ...... M Chadwick: 61 (12) C Fownes 5-9-7 ...... Z Purton 76 7 485930 TRIUMPHANT HORSE (32) (HB) Runs: 6 Wins: 2 Places: 2 Runs: 29 Wins: 1 Places: 7 (2) J Ting 5-8-6 ...... C Schofield 97 12 0319-0 BEAUT BEAUT (32) (HV) (CD) (G,GF) Runs: 28 Wins: 2 Places: 5 €15,195 11 000897 CHARITYDREAM (10) (TP) (6) L Ho 6-8-5 ...... A Badel 90 3 730348 MAGNETISM (21) (TB) (C) (GF) Runs: 7 Wins: 0 Places: 1 (8) W So 4-8-10 ...... H N J Wong(3) 54 (5) D Ferraris 7-9-4 ...... K Teetan 79 8 336088 HARRIER JET (21) (TV) (C) (GF) Runs: 20 Wins: 3 Places: 5 Runs: 9 Wins: 0 Places: 0 (12) P O’Sullivan 8-8-5 ...... K Teetan 99 13 370059 GIANT TURTLE (42) (T) (C) (G) Runs: 49 Wins: 6 Places: 10 12 338096 WHISTLE UP (14) (13) A Millard 8-8-12 ...... RESERVE 103 4 804318 KING’S MAN (10) (V) (CD) (G) Runs: 40 Wins: 2 Places: 9 (1) L Ho 6-8-1 ...... T So(2) 65 (3) P Yiu 7-9-3 ...... N Callan 78 9 580059 SUMSTREETSUMWHERE (21) (HV) (CD) (G) Runs: 37 Wins: 5 Places: 9 Runs: 23 Wins: 0 Places: 5 (8) L Ho 5-8-4 ...... T So(2) 99 14 564495 HINCHINLOVE (21) (T) Runs: 43 Wins: 4 Places: 10 13 590553 SUREWIN (10) (B) (GY) (14) T Yung 5-8-12 ...... RESERVE 101 5 090079 WON WON TOO (24) (TP) (GS) Runs: 22 Wins: 1 Places: 2 (13) C Chang 4-9-0 ...... RESERVE 57 (7) C Yip 5-9-3 ...... U Rispoli 71 10 -60000 EXALTATION (18) (TB) Runs: 21 Wins: 1 Places: 6 Runs: 16 Wins: 1 Places: 2 Runs: 19 Wins: 1 Places: 0 (6) A Cruz 3-8-3 ...... H T Mo(3) 94 :BETTING: 5/2 Special Stars, 5 Winning Method, 8 Harmony And Rich, 10 Others

14 000980 GALAXY RACER (18) Runs: 9 Wins: 0 Places: 2 €8,904 6 983215 BULLISH GLORY (14) (H) (CD) (G) SEA EAGLE HANDICAP (CLASS 3) (3YO+) (COURSE C) (14) J Ting 4-9-6 ...... RESERVE 65 (8) C Chang 6-8-13 ...... S De Sousa 71 11 006996 MONSTER KAKA (21) 2.50(TURF) 6f 3yo plus12 dec.

Runs: 6 Wins: 0 Places: 0 Runs: 33 Wins: 3 Places: 4 (5) D Hall 5-8-3 ...... A Badel 99

:BETTING: 5/2 Excel Delight, 4 Exponents, 9/2 Island Winner, 5 La Bomba, 7 Others 7 606608 GOOD DAYS I (14) (TB) (C,D) (G,GF) Runs: 9 Wins: 0 Places: 0 1 25-464 CUE THE MUSIC (21) (T)

(4) C Shum 6-8-13 ...... A Badel 77 12 387241 FRESH POWER (38) (TB) (G,GF) (5) D Ferraris 4-9-7 ...... Z Purton 91 ALBATROSS HANDICAP (CLASS 4) (3YO+) Runs: 30 Wins: 3 Places: 4 (10) Y Tsui 6-8-2 ...... M Chadwick 89 Runs: 5 Wins: 0 Places: 1 11.15(COURSE C) (TURF) 6f 3yo plus12 dec. Runs: 24 Wins: 2 Places: 6 2 -12112 TRANSCENDENT (178) (T) (D) (GS,G,A) 8 519187 CURLING LUXURY (10) (C,D) (G,A) 1 777901 LORIZ (21) (B) (CD) (G,GF) (9) Y Tsui 7-8-12 ...... L Hewitson 69 13 630453 PICKEN (21) (G) (7) A Cruz 3-9-7 ...... H T Mo(3): 112 (6) P Yiu 4-9-7 ...... C Y Ho 76 (13) J Size 5-8-11 ...... RESERVE 93 Runs: 10 Wins: 5 Places: 2 Runs: 46 Wins: 6 Places: 5 Runs: 17 Wins: 3 Places: 5 3 211211 LE TERROIR (49) (HP) (CD) (G,GF) Runs: 11 Wins: 2 Places: 0 9 622646 DOR DOR (21) (H) 2 000085 POWERMAX (14) (B) (CD) (GF) (11) J Size 4-8-11 ...... C Schofield 72 14 0 CHAMP PATROL (18) (10) L Ho 4-9-6 ...... J Moreira 97 (1) Richard Gibson 7-9-5 ...... Z Purton 76 (14) Richard Gibson 4-8-11 ...... RESERVE 54 Runs: 15 Wins: 4 Places: 2 : Runs: 15 Wins: 0 Places: 5 Runs: 1 Wins: 0 Places: 0 4 925494 MY DARLING (35) Runs: 30 Wins: 4 Places: 8 10 000000 GREAT SMART (35) (B) (G) (11) T Yung 7-9-4 ...... 3 BRAVE POWER (T) (10) L Ho 4-8-9 ...... H Lai 66 :BETTING: 5/2 Perfect Glory, 5 Racing Luck, 6 Fresh Power, 8 Monster Kaka, 12 Sur- M Chadwick 98 (4) A Cruz 3-9-0 ...... K Teetan - Runs: 12 Wins: 1 Places: 0 realism, 14 Smiling City, 16 Triumphant Horse, 20 Others Runs: 27 Wins: 2 Places: 4

Runs: 0 Wins: 0 Places: 0 995434 (14) (TP) 5 153131 SHINING ACE (21) (B) (CD) (GY,GF,G) 11 CHEERFUL STAR ROBIN HANDICAP (CLASS 4) (3YO+) (COURSE C) (TURF) 1m 3yo 4 0 FOREVER SHARP (71) (T) (3) J Size 4-9-3 ...... B Shinn 94 (2) F Lor 5-8-8 ...... M Chadwick 79 1.45plus12 dec. (3) C Shum 4-9-0...... A Badel 35 Runs: 13 Wins: 4 Places: 4 Runs: 24 Wins: 0 Places: 3 1 455625 CASA DE FORCA (21) (P) (D,BF) (GF,A) 6 190573 PRIVATE ROCKET (24) (P) (A,GF) Runs: 1 Wins: 0 Places: 0 12 008800 DASHING DART (21) (TB) (GY) 5 8 SUCCESS ALLSTARS (14) (1) P O’Sullivan 8-8-6 ...... K Leung 75 (7) A Cruz 4-9-7 ...... M Chadwick 76 (8) D Whyte 3-9-0 ...... S De Sousa 93 (11) D Ferraris 4-9-0 ...... L Hewitson 49 Runs: 20 Wins: 3 Places: 3 Runs: 12 Wins: 2 Places: 3 Runs: 33 Wins: 3 Places: 7 2 272555 SONIC FIGHTER (24) (G) 7 254928 FIRST RESPONDER (35) (TP) Runs: 1 Wins: 0 Places: 0 13 600699 HAPPY ROCKY (14) (TB) (CD) (G) 6 698254 IRON BOY (14) (B) (D) (G) (13) C Chang 8-9-2 ...... RESERVE 74 (9) P O’Sullivan 6-9-7 ...... B Shinn: 76 (1) John Moore 3-8-12 ...... N Callan 97 (8) D Whyte 8-8-13 ...... J Moreira 76 Runs: 19 Wins: 2 Places: 3 Runs: 12 Wins: 0 Places: 4 €4,935 Runs: 51 Wins: 3 Places: 8 3 233134 FLAME LILY (21) (T) (CD) (G) 8 SEATTLE CHOICE Runs: 40 Wins: 2 Places: 8 14 312406 FAMILY LEADER (24) (HB) (CD) (G) 7 749000 TARGET FINDER (32) (H) (14) C Fownes 5-9-1 ...... RESERVE 71 (5) F Lor 5-9-2 ...... J Moreira 73 (12) A Millard 4-8-12 ...... K Teetan - (12) C Chang 3-8-4 ...... M Chadwick 58 Runs: 20 Wins: 1 Places: 8 Runs: 0 Wins: 0 Places: 0 Runs: 16 Wins: 1 Places: 4 4 -09233 CITY LEGEND (21) (B) 9 147527 NORDIC WARRIOR (35) (B) (CD) (G) Runs: 7 Wins: 0 Places: 0 BETTING: 7/2 Heavenly Thought, 5 Perfect To Play, 11/2 King’s Man, : 8 871169 LOTUS BREEZE (60) (TB) (CD) (G) 6 Cheerful Star, Dor Dor, 7 Bullish Glory, 8 Magnetism, 16 Good Days I, 20 Others (12) T Yung 6-8-13 ...... K Leung 76 (6) Richard Gibson 4-8-9 ...... A Badel 91 Runs: 14 Wins: 2 Places: 3 (10) W So 8-8-6 ...... M Poon(2) 71 Runs: 21 Wins: 0 Places: 11 Runs: 54 Wins: 6 Places: 8 €39,610 THE SWEDISH CUP (HANDICAP) (CLASS 4) (3YO+) 5 080 GREEN GENERATION (32) (B) 10 470763 STARLIGHT (14) (CD) (G,GY) 12.45(COURSE C) (TURF) 6f 3yo plus12 dec. 9 300909 NICE FANDANGO (18) (H) (CD) (A,G,GF) (6) D Hall 5-8-9 ...... M Poon(2) 64 (2) C Yip 7-8-8 ...... U Rispoli 99

Runs: 45 Wins: 7 Places: 9 (2) C Fownes 6-8-4 ...... H N J Wong(3) 75 1 083d037 FARSHAD (14) (B) Runs: 3 Wins: 0 Places: 0 6 878805 NITRO EXPRESS (18) (TB) (CD) 11 994000 SHANGHAI MASTER (35) (CD) (G) Runs: 43 Wins: 4 Places: 11 (12) Y Tsui 5-9-7 ...... S De Sousa: 78 10 070050 BRILLIANT (63) (HT) (10) D Ferraris 8-8-8 ...... K Teetan 78 (4) K Lui 6-8-7 ...... C Y Ho 101 Runs: 20 Wins: 2 Places: 1 Runs: 26 Wins: 2 Places: 3 (7) K Lui 5-8-3 ...... K Leung 74 2 402352 CONFUCIUS DAY (21) (TB) (BF) Runs: 33 Wins: 2 Places: 6 7 0089 TURF BRILLIANT (21) 12 482039 E MASTER (14) (V) (CD) (G) Runs: 6 Wins: 0 Places: 0 (11) C Chang 5-9-6 ...... Z Purton 78 11 352148 FORTUNE PATROL (171) (B) (G) (11) W So 4-8-8 ...... T So(2) 67 (9) C Fownes 6-8-6 ...... L Hewitson 96 Runs: 16 Wins: 0 Places: 4 Runs: 22 Wins: 3 Places: 5 (5) A Millard 5-8-3 ...... H Lai 73 3 328448 HERO TIME (35) (HTB) (CD) (G,GF) Runs: 4 Wins: 0 Places: 0 8 9078 VEGA RHYTHM (18) (H) 13 462807 HANDSOME REBEL (18) (HB) Runs: 27 Wins: 2 Places: 4 (10) Richard Gibson 6-9-4 ...... A Badel 77 12 055047 HAPPY HAPPY STAR (10) (B) (D) (A) (4) L Ho 4-8-8 ...... H Lai 70 (13) Y Tsui 4-8-9 ...... RESERVE 98 Runs: 18 Wins: 2 Places: 2 Runs: 11 Wins: 0 Places: 1 (9) J Ting 6-8-2 ...... H T Mo(3) 75 4 542300 SPEEDY DRAGON (24) (D) (G) Runs: 4 Wins: 0 Places: 0 9 087378 MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE (21) (E/S) 14 099155 ALLIED AGILITY (10) (H) (G,GF) Runs: 26 Wins: 2 Places: 2 (2) D Hall 5-9-1 ...... T So(2) 75 13 GORGEOUS INHERITOR (1) J Size 4-8-7 ...... C Y Ho 78 (14) P Yiu 4-8-8 ...... RESERVE 95 Runs: 15 Wins: 2 Places: 2 Runs: 7 Wins: 2 Places: 0 (13) C Yip 4-9-0 ...... RESERVE - 5 LUCKY QUALITY Runs: 9 Wins: 0 Places: 2 10 622370 SPEEDY WALLY (10) (T) (CD) (G) Runs: 0 Wins: 0 Places: 0 (6) C Fownes 3-9-0 ...... C Y Ho - :BETTING: 5/2 Le Terroir, 6 Cue The Music, 7 Shining Ace, 9 My Darling, 10 Others (8) C Fownes 9-8-8 ...... Z Purton 76 :BETTING: 13/8 Powermax, 11/4 Iron Boy, 9/2 Loriz, 7 Nice Fandango, 12 Others Runs: 0 Wins: 0 Places: 0

6 000880 E GENERATION (35) (D) (G) Runs: 44 Wins: 5 Places: 11 Happy Valley Racecourse Turf Track Starts THE HONG KONG GOLF CLUB CENTENARY CUP (HANDICAP) (4) K Man 4-8-12 ...... M Poon(2) 65 11 00077 BREAK RECORD (38) (TB) 11.45(CLASS 4) (3YO+) (COURSE C) (TURF) 6f 3yo plus12 dec. 1000M 2400M 2200M Runs: 9 Wins: 1 Places: 0 (2) C Shum 4-8-4...... A Badel 70

1 590975 NAVAS (63) (B) (CD) (G) 7 80 VIGOR CHAMP (24) Runs: 5 Wins: 0 Places: 0 (5) Richard Gibson 7-9-7 ...... Z Purton: 75 (7) T Yung 4-8-12 ...... K Leung 57 12 00-532 EVERYONE’S ELITE (21) (B) Runs: 2 Wins: 0 Places: 0 (3) K Man 5-8-4 ...... S De Sousa 78 Runs: 32 Wins: 3 Places: 2

2 90 FLYING EMPEROR (35) 8 09477 DR RESPECT (42) (ET) Runs: 7 Wins: 0 Places: 2 (3) C Chang 3-9-3 ...... H N J Wong(3) 47 (1) J Size 5-8-8 ...... J Moreira 73 13 000661 KANBEKI MOLLY (21) (CD) (GF) Runs: 5 Wins: 0 Places: 0 (13) P Yiu 4-8-8 ...... RESERVE 76 Runs: 2 Wins: 0 Places: 0

3 620622 EIGHT TRIGRAMS (71) (BF) 9 0000 SPICY REALLY (14) (HB) Runs: 7 Wins: 1 Places: 0 W (4) D Hall 4-9-1 ...... C Y Ho 73 (9) F Lor 4-8-6 ...... H N J Wong(3) 62 14 668003 THUNDER STOMP (7) (CD) (G) Runs: 4 Wins: 0 Places: 0 (14) Y Tsui 7-9-6 ...... RESERVE 78 Runs: 7 Wins: 0 Places: 3 Runs: 52 Wins: 4 Places: 10 4 34 HERE COMES TED (18) 10 005519 AFTER ME (7) (T) (C) (GF) (10) D Ferraris 3-9-0 ...... J Moreira 72 (5) P Yiu 4-8-3 ...... M Chadwick 74 :BETTING: 9/4 Everyone’s Elite, 7/2 Flame Lily, 6 Speedy Wally, 8 City Legend, Runs: 2 Wins: 0 Places: 1 Runs: 22 Wins: 2 Places: 2 €13,433 10 Casa De Forca, 12 Break Record, 18 Sonic Fighter, 20 Others Cards provided by 30 SPORT WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 CITYAM.COM SPORT Chelsea qualify for Champions League last 16 despite an unnecessarily nervy Lille finale, writes Felix Keith

RANK Lampard was clear in his view on Chelsea’s crunch match with Lille last night. The Blues needed a result from their final Champions LeagueF group game to reach the last 16 and their manager was ready to embrace the occasion. BANANA “I like the pressure of this game being a knockout,” he said pre-match. “If we’re going to do anything good here, then we are going to need lots of these nights.” For 78 minutes of the tie any sem- blance of pressure was hard to iden- tify inside Stamford Bridge as Chelsea SKIN set about their task admirably and held a comfortable 2-0 lead. Chelsea knew a win over the French side would guarantee their progres- sion to the last 16 regardless of the outcome of Ajax’s meeting with Va- lencia in Amsterdam and for such an AVOIDED occasion Lampard’s blend of youth and experience was understandably tilted towards the latter. Tammy Abraham was the sole repre- sentative of the homegrown young- CHAMPIONS LEAGUE done and dusted. sixth game without a cleansheet and qualifying for the Champions League sters, with Fikayo Tomori injured and After the break Abraham and Pulisic frustration for Lampard, but worse knockout stages. Mason Mount and Reece James left on CHELSEA LILLE were taken off to conserve energy still, having eased through the game Qualifying, albeit in second place, the substitutes bench. The rotation to- ahead of Saturday’s Premier League all evening, the panic button was from what turned out to be the tour- wards more established players ap- game against Bournemouth but the pressed. Yazici flashed a shot wide be- nament’s most competitive group is peared to be the right call as the Blues one-way traffic only continued. fore, more alarmingly, Chelsea were no mean feat, especially considering coasted through a straightforward Kurt Zouma and the fit-again Anto- caught shorthanded at the back and the transfer ban they have operated first half. nio Rudiger were busy seeing who Remy ran through on goal. Thank- underneath. could complete the highest percent- fully for the home team he chose the Valencia’s 1-0 away win at Ajax sent ONE-WAY TRAFFIC Abraham2 19’, Remy1 78’ age of passes. Jorginho, Kante and wrong option and shot tamely at Kepa last year’s semi-finalists into Europe’s Lille didn’t throw a punch in London, Azpilicueta 35’ Matteo Kovacic were settled in mid- Arrizabalaga. secondary cup competition and with the French side looking very field. There was little sign of danger With five minutes of injury-time helped to highlight just how far inch the bottom dwellers of an other- until, suddenly, Yusuf Yazici beat added on Chelsea just about managed Chelsea have come in a short space of wise fiercely competitive Group H. Willian got to the byline and Azpilcueta and pulled the ball back to curb their instincts and take the time under Lampard. With Christian Pulisic dancing squared for Abraham to tap in from for the previously anonymous Loic ball to the corner flag, rather than go With the right blend between hun- through tackles and Chelsea pushed close range and ease any lingering Remy to return and haunt his former gung-ho for a killer third goal, and gry, exciting young players, the more right up the pitch, the hosts searched nerves. And when Cesar Azpilicueta club with a thumping finish off the the win was secured. experienced ones and a January trans- for an opener. Emerson tested Mike lost his marker, Zeki Celik, to head in underside of the crossbar. And although there was annoyance fer window approaching in which Maignan and N’Golo Kante volleyed Emerson’s curling corner 16 minutes that they nearly let a far inferior side they can strengthen, Monday’s draw wide from the edge of the box before later you would have been forgiven for PANIC BUTTON send them to the Europa League, that in Switzerland should be approached the breakthrough came. thinking the tie, and progression, was Lille’s first shot on target ensured a should be outweighed by the pride at with optimism rather than caution. Mourinho can address anti-youth opinion in Munich

that Harry Kane will not feature in rotts, the Sessegnons, all these young Dortmund and Bayern interested. “Of course there is the prestige of Spurs boss can Munich tonight and the resurgent players that we have.” At a club such as Spurs, Mourinho the club also involved, and we are Dele Alli and Son Heung-Min could Troy Parrott, 17, could be in line to will not be able to depend on the going to try to go with a team that alter perception of also be rested following their heroics start after coming off the bench to club’s ability to buy whichever players gives us some guarantees to try to in the 5-0 win over Burnley. make his Premier League debut he desires, so the production line of fight for a result that we don’t need, him versus Bayern The attacking flair on display in against Burnley. youth players, as well as keeping but a result that we want,” he said. north London on Saturday epito- Just last week he was playing in them happy and integrating them, is For Bayern, interim boss Hans-Dieter tonight, believes mised the impact Mourinho the Uefa Youth League and particularly important. Flick faces a similar dilemma with has had since joining Tot- any involvement tonight Perhaps had it been of greater im- the team guaranteed first place in the Michael Searles tenham three weeks ago. against European giants portance at his former club Chelsea, group. They have scored 16 Bayern would round off they may not have sold young talents The reigning Bundesliga champions N ONE hand, Tottenham’s goals in five games like Mohamed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne do not need to win, but could use the match with Bayern Mu- since he took charge, Youngster Troy Parrott and Romelu Lukaku. boost to their confidence as they nich tonight represents an despite him typically could replace the rested Tonight’s game could also be a come into the tie following back-to- opportunity for them to being associated with Harry Kane tonight chance for Ryan Sessegnon to ignite back league defeats that have left enact revenge on the 7-2 more defensive and or- his Spurs career. The 19-year-old left- them in seventh place. They are in thrashingO suffered at the hands of the ganised tactics. a spectacular week for back has been deemed one of Eng- real danger of losing their domestic German side earlier this season. Tonight is a chance for him. land’s brightest talents, but has crown, with Borussia Monchenglad- On the other, with both sides al- him to prove his critics Mourinho is said to be keen played just 30 minutes this campaign bach moving seven points ahead of ready guaranteed to progress to the wrong by using some of the tal- on the player, who is the only due to injury. them in first place after beating Bay- round of 16 and Tottenham unable to ented youth players at his disposal. out-and-out striker Spurs have to back Other opportunities could be given ern 2-1 on the weekend. move above group leaders Bayern, the “It’s a great opportunity for young up Kane. to the likes of Oliver Skipp, 19, Kyle Victory tonight would see Bayern game also gives Jose Mourinho a people,” he said ahead of the game. “A However, Parrott has just 18 months Walker-Peters, 22, and Japhet Tan- progress as the only team in the chance to rest some players ahead of great opportunity for the develop- left on his contract and is reported to ganga, 20, although Mourinho will be Champions League with a 100 per the busy festive schedule. ment of these young players, the want assurances over playing oppor- wary of avoiding another humiliation cent record. Mourinho’s youngsters The new boss has already confirmed Walker-Peters, the Skipps, the Par- tunity with teams such as Borussia after restoring his team’s confidence. will have other ideas, though. CITYAM.COM WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2019 SPORT 31

LEEDS GO TOP WITH HULL REDS RISE UP Liverpool overcome Salzburg 2-0 to reach the last 16 WIN BUT FULHAM SLIP UP SPORT DIGEST £ Leeds beat Hull City 2-0 last night to cartilage in his left knee in 2016 and overtake West Brom at the top of the the problem saw him bowl a limited Championship. Jordy de Wijs’s own amount in the 1-0 Test series defeat by goal and Ezgjan Alioski’s finish in the New Zealand. Stokes told TalkSport: “I last 20 minutes was enough, but West just need to toughen up, I guess, but Brom can reclaim top spot away it’s alright and it’s just treatment now. I against Wigan tonight. Elsewhere, will be fine to bowl [in South Africa].” third-placed Fulham were beaten 2-1 away at Preston in a game which saw ‘FORMULA ONE TITLE WAS red cards for both sides. Millwall LOST IN FERRARI DESIGN’ overcame Bristol City 2-1 to record an £ Ferrari boss Mattio Binotto says his impressive win at Ashton Gate, but team had lost the 2019 Formula One Charlton slipped to a 1-0 home defeat title to rivals Mercedes before the at the hands of Huddersfield. season started. Ferrari had the fastest straight-line speed and earned nine EX-DERBY AND QPR BOSS pole positions to Mercedes’ 10, but SMITH DIES AGED 79 Lewis Hamilton dominated the season £ Tributes were paid yesterday after from start to finish. “I think we lost this former Derby County, Oxford United, last year when designing that car,” QPR and Portsmouth manager Jim Binotto said. “I think the car project Smith died aged 79. Smith, who was was not good enough to start with.” affectionately known as “The Bald Eagle”, spent nearly 40 years in SCHAUFFELE: REED STORY management with nine clubs HAS BEEN OVERBLOWN throughout the Football League. “All at £ Xander Schauffele has backed QPR are deeply saddened to have American team-mate Patrick Reed to learned of the passing of former R’s feed on the negativity around his manager Jim Smith,” QPR said. actions at the Hero World Challenge. Reed was penalised two strokes for STOKES: I AM FINE TO BOWL improving the lie of his ball, but ON SOUTH AFRICA TOUR Schauffele says it won’t affect his Liverpool beat Red Bull Salzburg 2-0 in Austria last night to qualify for the last 16 as Group E winners. Salzburg put up a fight, starting £ Ben Stokes says he will be fit to performance at the Presidents Cup brightly and testing Reds goalkeeper Alisson on several occasions to threaten the defending champions, who needed at least a point to bowl for England in their upcoming this week. “Patrick is a competitor and progress. But, after spurning three presentable opportunities in the first half, Liverpool moved clear in the second. Naby Keita headed in Test series against South Africa, he’s been in a situation like this before from Sadio Mane’s chip after the Senegalese forward had tempted goalkeeper Cican Stankovic out and Mohamed Salah netted brilliantly despite a knee injury. The all-rounder where he’s taken some heat and the from a tight angle just 100 seconds later to seal their progression ahead of Napoli, who finished second after a 4-0 thrashing of Genk. underwent an operation on torn guy just feeds off of it,” he said.

FOOTBALL COMMENT

Trevor Steven Pellegrini is

ANUEL Pellegrini says he not worried about West on thin ice and Ham being relegated Mfrom the Premier League, but he needs to wake up because right now that is a possibility. Monday’s 3-1 home defeat by Arse- nal means the Hammers have taken must hand out just four points from their last eight games – a run that leaves them one point above the drop zone in 16th place and puts them rock bottom of the form table. In fact, the only positive result in that terrible run – a 1-0 win over hard truths Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last month – may have had an unin- tended negative effect, fooling them into thinking that a liberated, open style of playing is working. In reality it is the opposite. West Ham actually started the sea- son well, after getting their opening day 5-0 mauling by Manchester City out of the way. A six-game unbeaten league run was a time of feast; now they are going through a famine. They just can’t seem to sustain per- formances for a full 90 minutes. There is no long-term form under Pel- legrini and once you are on a slip- pery slope it is difficult to get off. talent, but also the right mentality. the weekend, with interim Everton Pellegrini must act now, because get- Pellegrini is an experienced man- When your team is struggling it is THE STATS BEHIND THE SLIDE manager Duncan Ferguson getting ting a result from Saturday’s league ager, but he is not used to leading a about working hard together, com- his players to simply work harder game against 18th-placed Southamp- side who are battling to avoid relega- municating well and digging deep to Slump: West Ham took 11 points from against Chelsea. They made 37 tack- ton is vital. tion. He has previously taken charge ensure everyone is turning in 6/10 their opening eight Premier League les – the most of any team in the Pre- West Ham might be backing their of sides like Real Madrid and Man- performances, instead of 4/10 ones. games, but have managed just five from mier League this season – and won manager at the moment, but there is chester City, so I wonder if he is more A good way to tell how well a side is their most recent eight. 3-1. no doubt their board of directors focused on coaching quality, attack- drilled is by watching how they oper- Home struggles: Pellegrini’s side have Players like to have clear instruc- have done their homework on poten- ing football. ate collectively. shipped 17 goals in eight home league tions. After a poor performance video tial replacements. Right now that is not what West The majority of football, perhaps 95 games. They have conceded three in analysis can be used to highlight Lose at St Mary’s and the Hammers Ham need. Half of their 28 goals con- per cent, is about what you do out of each of their last three games against when people have switched off and could find themselves in the relega- ceded have come in the past six possession: how you keep your shape, Newcastle, Tottenham and Arsenal. mistakes have been made. Hard tion zone and Pellegrini could find games and they need to get back to close space and make clever tactical Goals dried up: Striker Sebastian Haller, truths are needed after falling apart himself without a job. basics to stop the rot. decisions. the £45m summer signing, scored three too frequently and conceding far too If you can do those things well, you goals in his first three league games, but many goals. Trevor Steven is a former England THE RIGHT MENTALITY will gather confidence and the other has netted just once in his most recent It’s not about being negative, but footballer who played at two World Cups To succeed in the Premier League as five per cent will come. 12 appearances. about recognising what is most im- and two European Championships. a player you need the right level of We saw a good example of this on portant when you are in a dog fight. @TrevorSteven63 FREE LIVE EVENTS | AT THE FINECO LONDON HUB

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