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Get more from your holiday money BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY HEY BABY – CHILL OUT AND LEARN TO FAIL STARTUP TIPS FROM LEADING ENTREPRENEURS FORUM P15 OFFICE POLITICS P16 INTERVIEW P17 MONDAY 12 AUGUST 2019 ISSUE 3,433 CITYAM.COM FREE FLIGHT RISK Cathay Pacific sacks SUMMER OF staff involved in Hong Kong protests GLOOM ON SEBASTIANTHE MCCARTHY quarterlyHIGH rate of 10.2 per cent and the property groupsST suffering a fall in @SebMcCarthy highest since January 2015. rental income following the rise in The latest sign of distress for bricks- vacancies. “July was a much more THE DECLINE of the British high and-mortar firms was also shown by challenging month for high streets street has deepened this summer the steepest decline in July footfall and shopping centres than for out-of- with vacancy rates hitting a four-year since 2012, as the number of town destinations,” said Diane high and sluggish footfall underlin- shoppers on high streets and in Wehrle, Springboard’s ing a torrid season for retailers. shopping centres tumbled marketing and insights Empty store fronts climbed to their from the previous year. director. highest level since January 2015 in BRC chief executive Helen She added: “Some of July, following a turbulent 12 months the minus 2.7 per during which some of Britain’s most Retailers have been hit by cent drop in high iconic retailers permanently closed competition from online street footfall was a their shops and carried out drastic rivals and higher costs consequence of a staff cuts. strong comparable of ALEX DANIEL said it had removed a pilot who was In recent months, a number of high Dickinson urged the gov- 0.3 per cent last year @alexmdaniel arrested at protests last week from street giants including womenswear ernment to relieve some of when we had a continu- active duty. retailer LK Bennett, department store the pressure bearing down on ous period of hot sunny HONG Kong’s flag carrier airline Cathay was acting on the demands group Debenhams and restaurant the high street by bringing in an weather, but for shopping Cathay Pacific has suspended a pilot of China’s aviation regulator, which chain Jamie’s Italian have collapsed, immediate freeze on business rates. centres – with the minus 3.1 per cent and reportedly sacked two airport has pressured the firm to suspend while dozens of other brands includ- Rising competition from online drop being as almost as severe as the employees as Beijing exerts more staff involved in the protests which ing Sir Philip Green’s fashion empire rivals, higher fixed costs and tough minus 3.4 per cent drop in footfall pressure on the city’s business chiefs have raged for 10 weeks. pressed ahead with dramatic cost- comparatives from last year have all last year – the weather clearly has less to help quash ongoing anti-govern- Last week, Cathay chairman John cutting plans. put the pressure on physical retailers impact on footfall than the ment protests in the territory. Slosar told a press conference: “We According to today’s data from the this summer, with many outlets sub- challenges created by the ongoing The operator took the decision after certainly wouldn’t dream of telling British Retail Consortium (BRC) and sequently turning to aggressive dis- structural change in retailing.” telling staff on Saturday it would bar [employees] what they have to think Springboard, national town centre counting to drawn in more shoppers. Previous BRC figures revealed last any “overly radical” employees from about something. They’re all adults, vacancy rates hit 10.3 per cent in Landlords have also been dented by month was the worst July for sales crewing flights to the mainland and they’re all service professionals.” July, a slight increase from the last the industry’s downturn, with retail growth since records began in 1995. FTSE 100▼ 7,253.85 -32.05 FTSE 250▼ 19,092.15 -45.46 DOW▼ 26,287.44 -90.75 NASDAQ▼ 7,959.14 -80.02 £/$▼ 1.203 -0.011 £/€▼ 1.073 -0.012 €/$▲ 1.120 +0.001 Indulging in the sweetest holiday ice cream The hidden bank Get the Equals currency card to avoid unnecessary bank charges making 18+. UK resident only. charges and get more from your Must have UK bank account. Terms and conditions apply. you feel sour money abroad. Search Equals. 02 NEWS MONDAY 12 AUGUST 2019 CITYAM.COM TWO TO TANGO Argentinians poised to bid farewell to Macri as challenger Alberto Fernandez cashes in on economic troubles THE CITY VIEW Window slams shut on litigation funder floats HE ATTACK by shortseller Muddy Waters on Burford Capital last week has slammed shut the window on other Tlitigation funders looking to go public. Muddy Waters criticised Burford’s use of fair value accounting – the inclusion of unrealised gains – and accused the funder of “aggressively marking” the value of the cases on its books, something Burford denies. The Aim-listed darling-turned-lame- duck lost nearly half its value on Wednesday before recovering some ground after it fired back at the shortseller. With fellow shortseller Gotham City Research also lining up to take a shot at Burford and a swarm of claimant law firms readying shareholder class action lawsuits, Burford faces a struggle to convince the market of its bona fides. The affair has smashed confidence in what looked set to be a ARGENTINA’s opposition candidate Alberto Fernandez was ahead in a presidential primary election yesterday against market- friendly incumbent Mauricio Macri (pictured), TV stations reported minutes after the polls closed. Fernandez has promised access growing listed sector. Two litigation funders – Manolete Partners to free medicines for retirees and better wages for workers while hammering Macri for a rise in poverty and unemployment. and Litigation Capital Management (LCM) – listed in London late last year, but they are unlikely to be joined by any of their peers any time soon. Augusta – which describes itself as the largest litigation funder in the UK by number of cases – is understood to have recently examined a London listing. Vannin Capital announced its intention to float last September, before pulling its offering, blaming a volatile market. Vannin said it was China greenlights SDIC’s pausing until conditions improve. However, its failed float is a case study of the problems litigation funders face on the public markets. First, the firm delayed the publication of its prospectus after telling investors it expected to lose several million pounds in a case it is funding against Costa $1bn flotation in London Rica, highlighting the unpredictable nature of litigation. SEBASTIAN MCCARTHY Second, in its 2018 accounts, 100 per cent of the revenue it 678.6m A-shares, can take place. range to raise as much as $1.7bn. @SebMcCarthy SDIC is estimated to have a market Its launch came as the City ramps booked was based on fair value movements on investments. value of 57bn yuan (£6.7bn) in up its efforts to strengthen ties with The only investments that crystallised that year resulted in a A CHINESE state-backed energy group Shanghai. non-European financial cities such as £5.1m loss. Hardly a cast-iron investment case. has said it has been given the green Sources told Reuters, which first re- Shanghai ahead of Britain’s immi- light by its government to press ported the story last month, that nent departure from the EU by Boris The fundamental question is how do you value lawsuits? Even ahead with a planned initial public SDIC was looking to raise between Johnson’s 31 October deadline. with the very best case things can go wrong; the judge might offering (IPO) in London. roughly $500m (£415m) and $1bn SDIC, which currently specialises in have a bad day, a jury could be won over by a mercurial China’s State Development and from the sale of GDRs. investing, constructing and operat- performance by an opposing lawyer. Investment Corp (SDIC) is set to issue SDIC plans to list through the ing electric power plants, could em- 10 per cent of its share capital as much-anticipated Stock Connect bark on its float in the second half of Manolete says it deals with the issue by funding lots of small global depositary receipts (GDRs) on scheme, a recently-launched recipro- the year, the sources said. cases with a fast turnaround time; LCM, by using conservative, the London Stock Exchange, giving cal arrangement between the Shang- The firm has also invested in alter- cash-based accounting. Such techniques are wise, but one has to the capital’s financial centre a much- hai Stock Exchange and the London native energy generation such as needed boost as it prepares to leave Stock Exchange. hydropower and thermal methods. wonder if this is one sector of the business world that’s largely the European Union. In June one of China’s largest bro- SDIC, which employs more than unsuited to public markets. Over the weekend, the group said kerages, Huatai Securities, became 40,000 people, already has a UK that Beijing’s Assets Supervision and the first business to put its name on presence due to its control of Scot- Administration Commission had the long-awaited Stock Connect land-based wind farm operator Red approved the listing. scheme, sparking hopes that dozens Rock Power. Consent is also needed from share- of other Chinese companies would The plan to list in London has holders and British and Chinese secu- follow suit. involved the hiring of banks Gold- rities regulators before the float, The Nanjing-based company priced man Sachs, HSBC and UBS to lead the Follow us on Twitter @cityam which corresponds to less than its stock towards the lower end of its transaction as global coordinators.