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AUGUST GRAHAM

@AugustGrahamOIL BEHEMOTH Saudi Aramcoreignited plans for a mega marketflotation yesterday as it reported a$46bn (£38bn) dividend for the firsthalf of the year.

Aramco also revealed one of thebiggest ever foreign investments inIndia, buying a 20 per cent stake inthe oil to chemicals business ofIndia’s Reliance Industries.

Later in the day, finance chief KhalidAl-Dabbagh said “the company isready for the IPO [initial public offer-ing],” but remained coy on timing.

The Saudi government, Aramco’sonly shareholder, will decide on theschedule, he said.

Crown Prince Mohammed binSalman opted to put the company’sinitial plans for a listing on hold latelast year.

Market watchers have been eyeingan Aramco float for several years,with exchanges in New York, Londonand Singapore courting the listing.

It is expected to become the biggest

public company in the world. Speculation that flotation plans

could be renewed were triggered earlier this year as the secretive com-pany released some of its finances aspart of its record-breaking interna-tional bond debut.

The numbers showed Aramco to bethe world’s most profitable company,well ahead of its closest rivals.

Yesterday’s half-yearly report, itsfirst ever, showed income before taxdown eight per cent, but still at amammoth $92.5bn.

Revenue fell slightly to $146.9bn inthe first six months of this year, from$148.8bn in the first half of 2018.Meanwhile, the company paid out$46.4bn in shareholder dividends.

It held oil production steady at 10mbarrels per day.

As it gears up to list, Aramco hasgone on an acquisition spree.

In March, it made a $69bn deal tobuy a 70 per cent stake in a Saudichemicals business. Just weeks later ittook a 17 per cent stake in Korea’sHyundai Oilbank for $1.3bn.

The company took yet another step

yesterday with a stake in Reliance Industries. The deal values the targetat $75bn.

The investment was touted by Reliance chair Mukesh Ambani as“amongst the largest foreign invest-ments ever in India”.

“This signifies perfect synergy between the world’s largest oil pro-ducer and the world’s largest inte-grated refinery and petrochemicalscomplex,” Ambani, who is Asia’s rich-est man, said.

It is part of a push to “further secureplacement of our crude oil in growingdemand centres,” Al-Dabbagh said.

Aramco is expanding its down-stream, or refining, chemicals andmarketing footprint globally by signing new deals and boosting thecapacity of its plants to secure newmarkets for its crude, while reducingits risk to any future downturn in oil demand.

Its officials had said the companywas looking at multiple downstreamopportunities in India, includingwith Reliance, to tap into growth opportunities there.

Axe to grind: Cabbies slam ‘PR gimmick’ as City shuts roads for lunchtimeALEXANDRA ROGERS

@city_amrogersTAXI drivers have blasted plans toclose off key locations in the City ofLondon to traffic during thesummer, saying the proposalsamount to a “PR gimmick”.

Key hotspots, including St MaryAxe and Chancery Lane, will be

closed for days in Augustand September toallow workers toenjoy traffic-freelunch breaks, theCity of LondonCorporationannounced today.

St Mary Axe –which hosts the

Gherkin, Cheesegrater and theBaltic Exchange – will be

closed to cars and taxisfrom today until Thursdayfrom 12pm to 2pm, whileChancery Lane will beclosed from 3-5September from 10.30amto 3pm. The closures areto allow activities, music

and food events to take place.Steve McNamara, general

secretary of the Licensed TaxiDrivers’ Association, said: “Whilethe taxi trade agrees strongly withthe need to tackle London’s toxicair, one-off stunts like car-free dayswon’t do much to cut pollution inthe long-term. Instead of PRgimmicks, the City of London

Corporation should make a realcontribution to improving airquality by installing more rapidcharge points for the 2,000 Londoncabbies who are out picking uppassengers in zero emissionscapable taxis.”

The Corporation said itsinitiative was in line with its planto open up public spaces.

SEBASTIAN MCCARTHY

@SebMcCarthyTHE LONDON Metal Exchange (LME)is to extend its final open outcrytrading sessions, supporting itshistoric method of buying and sellingover a potential shift towardselectronic platforms.

Frenzied five-minute dealingwindows are to be doubled to 10minutes on the trading floor of theworld’s oldest and largest market forindustrial metals.

The move came after volumessoared by more than 50 per cent in a trial period for zinc.

The 142-year-old LME’s ring is thelast open-outcry trading venue inEurope, with other exchangesshifting to electronic trading overrecent years.

“The LME believes the longer[afternoon] kerb period for zinc hasprovided market participants whouse the ring with more time to placeorders and then to react to pricemoves,” the group said.

RING TIME Open outcry tradingsessions to be extended by LME

FTSE 100▼ 7,226.72 -27.13 FTSE 250▼ 18,913.00 -179.15 DOW▼ 25,896.44 -391.00 NASDAQ▼ 7,863.41 -95.73 £/$▲ 1.208 +0.005 £/€▲ 1.078 +0.005 €/$▲ 1.222 +0.002

WINGING IT CAN THE RED ARROWS BOOST UK TRADE IN

NORTH AMERICA? FORUM P14

ARAMCO LAYSGROUND FORMEGA FLOAT

CITYAM.COM02 TUESDAY 13 AUGUST 2019NEWS

NEW ZEALAND LEGALISESCRYPTOCURRENCY SALARIESNew Zealand has become the firstcountry legally to back companies thatare paying employees in crypto -currencies, in a move that brings theoft-maligned asset class in line withmainstream forms of payment. Theruling by New Zealand’s tax authorityallows salaries and wages to be paid incryptocurrencies such as bitcoin from 1September.

SCOTLAND READY TO TAKEOWNERSHIP OF SHIPYARD The Scottish government is “ready andwilling” to take over the last civilianshipyard on the Clyde and wants to takeit into public ownership “as soon as

possible”, Derek Mackay, finance andeconomy secretary, said yesterday. Ship -builder Ferguson Marine Engin eeringlast week announced plans to put the116-year-old yard into administration.

INVESTORS LOSE IT ALL ASPARK HOME SCHEME FAILSInvestors who threw their cash into apeer-to-peer scheme offering returns ofup to 15 per cent are facing major lossesafter their loans turned sour. Users ofthe Fundingsecure platform pouredthousands of pounds into loans madeagainst “park homes” – bungalow-stylestatic caravans.

LIBERTY ‘SQUEEZED OUT’ OFBRITISH STEEL BIDDING A UK-based bid for British Steel is beingsqueezed out of the sale processbecause it will mean more jobs beinglost, it is claimed. Sources close toSanjeev Gupta’s Liberty said it has beenall but removed from consideration.

‘SERIOUS IRREGULARITIES’AT JAIL WHERE EPSTEIN DIEDInvestigators said they have found“serious irregularities” at the federal jailin New York where Jeffrey Epstein wasbeing held on sex-trafficking charges,deepening the mystery surrounding thedisgraced financier’s death.

VERIZON TO SELL TUMBLR TOWORDPRESS.COM OWNERVerizon has agreed to sell its bloggingwebsite Tumblr to the owner of popularonline-publishing tool WordPress.com,unloading for a nominal amount a sitethat once fetched a purchase price ofmore than $1bn (£828m). Automatticwill buy Tumblr and take on about 200staffers.

FINANCIAL TIMES THE TIMES THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THE WALL STREET JOURNALWHAT THEOTHERPAPERS SAYTHISMORNING

MOST BETS AGAINSTSTERLING FOR TWO YEARSPolitical upheaval in Italy helped thepound to recover from a 10-year lowagainst the euro yesterday but it rem -ains vulnerable, with bets againststerling at their highest level since 2017.

PATEL QUERIED CITIZENSHIPFEES BEFORE TAKING JOBPriti Patel raised concerns about bigincreases in child citizenship fees forthose born or raised in Britain just twoweeks before she became homesecretary. She told campaign groupCitizens UK in early July that she hadcontacted Home Office ministers overthe issue and understood “concernssurrounding this sensitive matter”.

CATHERINE NEILAN

@CatNeilanTHE UK government is pencilling inearly September as the next big Brexitshowdown, with the EU expected tobide its time until British politicianshave thrashed it out.

The parliamentary battle is set totake place on 9 September – a weekafter MPs return from summer recess,a senior government source said.

MPs are expected to use a debateabout an amendment to the NorthernIreland Act as an opportunity to seizecontrol, likely to be a confidence votein Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Rebels hope to create a governmentof national unity through which toseek an extension to Article 50 andblock Johnson’s plan to get the UK outof the EU by 31 October “do or die”.

A General Election could be trig-gered during this process, however it

MPs eye BrexitSeptember clash

ROYAL Navy warship HMS Kent left Portsmouth Harbour yesterday as it embarked on a US-led mission to protect ships in theGulf. The Type 23 frigate will relieve the £1bn destroyer HMS Duncan of its duties. The government has said it will provide anescort to all British-flagged ships after Iran seized the Stena Impero oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz last month.

Argentina is headingfor another decline

TOWARDS the end of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’sreign as President of Argentina, an international pollhinted at how politicians of her socialist persuasioncontinue to secure election in the Latin American

country. A global attitudes survey at the time asked respondentsto what extent they agreed with this statement: “Most people arebetter off in a free market economy, even though some people arerich and some are poor.” In emerging economies, a majorityoverwhelmingly agreed with the sentiment. Ninety-five per centagreed in Vietnam; 76 per cent in China; 74 per cent in Nigeria,and so on. The lowest level of support was in Argentina, wherejust 33 per cent agreed compared to 48 per cent who didn’t.Nonetheless, public sympathy with De Kirchner was waning giventhe economically disastrous consequences of her policies, and thefollowing year, 2015, saw conservative challenger Mauricio Macrielected to the delight of global investors who reacted accordingly.Macri’s term has been rocked, however, by setbacks to his reformagenda and the growing unpopularity of an austerity programmedesigned to kick Argentina’s public finances back into shape.Thus his defeat on Sunday in primary elections to left-wingcandidate Alberto Fernandez, who counts De Kirchner as hisrunning mate, should not have come as a shock – even if the scaleof the loss jolted markets, with the peso crashing as much as 25per cent yesterday while stocks also tumbled.Macri earned fewer than a third of votes, while Fernandez wasnot too far from securing half. The incumbent is likely to proposea significant easing of fiscal consolidation – perhaps with theblessing of the IMF – in a bid to win back support, but the scale ofthe task looks too great, albeit with two-and-a-half months to gountil the final poll. The peso’s fall portends another spell ofdecline for Argentina as it renews its support for interventionisteconomics and confrontation towards international bondholders.The likely approach of De Kirchner and Fernandez, however,chimes with public sentiment. A more recent international pollasked people whether international trade leads to job losses orjob creation. Argentina was, again, bottom of the ranking, with53 per cent saying that trade cuts jobs and just 19 per cent(correctly) saying it creates jobs. Do not be surprised if a new administration comes to power inlate October and embarks on a fresh period of protectionism andheavy-handed state control.

Follow us on Twitter @cityam

THE CITY VIEW

is widely thought Johnson’s teamwould press ahead, ensuring a no-dealBrexit by default.

Downing Street believes the EU willback away from any offer to reopentalks until after September’s clash, tosee where the chips fall. Despite IrishTaoiseach Leo Varadkar inviting John-son to Dublin for talks, it is thoughtunlikely that this will happen beforethe G7 summit in Biarritz, France atthe end of this month.

In particular, Downing Street isseeking for the Irish backstop to be re-considered, with Johnson blasting itas “anti-democratic”.

The Prime Minister’s officialspokesman said Johnson “believes adeal is in the UK’s and the EU’s bestinterests and he has said he will be en-ergetic in pursuit of a deal”.

“We very much want a deal butwe’re also clear about what needs tobe achieved in order to secure that.”

ANCHORS AWEIGH HMS Kent sets sail to Strait of Hormuz on a mission to protect British ships amid mounting Iran tensions

KPMG ousts topboss followingconduct probe JAMES WARRINGTON

@j_a_warringtonKPMG has ousted the head of itsfinancial services consulting divisionfollowing an investigation into hisconduct.

The Big Four accounting firm lastnight confirmed to reporters thatTim Howarth has left the company.

“We hold all of our people to avery high standard and take swiftand appropriate action against anyindividual whose behaviourcontravenes the firm's values,” KPMGsaid in a statement.

“We can confirm conduct issueshave been raised related to a partnerand following an internalinvestigation and disciplinary panel,that partner has left the firm.”

KPMG said Howarth, whose profilehas been removed from the companywebsite, has appealed the decision.The firm did not comment on thenature of the alleged misconduct.

03TUESDAY 13 AUGUST 2019 NEWSCITYAM.COM

ANNA MENIN

@annafmeninTHE FINANCIAL Conduct Authority(FCA) yesterday said it is making“wide-ranging enquiries” into the cir-cumstances surrounding last week’sshort attack on Burford Capital, afterthe litigation funder said it had iden-tified evidence of “illegal market manipulation”.

Shortseller Muddy Waters tweetedthat it was about to launch a newshort attack on 6 August, before releasing a report criticising Burford’smanagement and accounting prac-tices the next day.

Burford said yesterday it had identi-fied evidence consistent with “illegalmarket manipulation” of its sharesprior to the attack and had notifiedthe authorities.

In response, the FCA said it hadbegun “undertaking wide-ranging enquiries” last week. “We will con-tinue to make enquiries using thewide range of data and resources atour disposal,” the regulator added.

Muddy Waters yesterday hit back atBurford’s claims to have identified

Watchdog opensprobe of Burfordshorting activity

market manipulation, issuing a state-ment saying: “We posted an innocu-ous tweet the day prior to publishingour report.”

It continued: “We were very sur-prised by the share price fall, so feltwe had to de-risk our position givenhow significant a proportion of ourfund it was until we fully understandwhat was happening. This is entirelynormal and there is no market ma-nipulation.”

FCA data shows that Muddy Waterslessened its short position on Burfordon 6 August – the day Muddy Waterstweeted about an upcoming short attack. The shortseller, which is runby Carson Block, cut its short positionto 0.57 per cent from 0.71 per cent theprevious day.

On 7 August, the latest day forwhich data is available, Muddy Waters was 0.12 per cent short on Bur-ford.

Burford’s shares dropped 20 percent on 6 August, before plunging afurther 47 per cent the next day fol-lowing the release of Muddy Waters’report.

Pizza Hut and KFC owner YumBrands taps new chief executiveJAMES WARRINGTON

@j_a_warringtonPIZZA Hut and KFC owner YumBrands has named David Gibbs as itsnew chief executive.

Gibbs will succeed Greg Creed,who has served at Yum for 25 years.

The new boss is currently thefirm’s president and chief operatingofficer, and oversees the global KFC,Pizza Hut and Taco Bell divisions.

He will assume the role from thebeginning of next year, and will takeup a board position from November.

“I’ve had the privilege ofpartnering with our franchisees togrow the three iconic brands withinthe Yum Brands portfolio for over 30years and am honoured to follow inGreg’s footsteps,” Gibbs said.

Creed will serve as a part-timeadviser next year and will remain onthe board of directors.

“It has been an incredible journeyat Yum Brands during the past 25years and my absolute privilege toserve as chief executive during suchan exciting time for our company,”said Creed.

Argentine peso plunges as marketstake a battering on trade tensionsJAMES WARRINGTON

@j_a_warringtonTHE ARGENTINE peso plunged asmuch as 25 per cent against thedollar yesterday after the freemarketeer President Mauricio Macriwas thrashed in primary elections.

Macri – who has implementedausterity in an attempt to restoreconfidence – lost by 15.5 percentagepoints to opposition candidate

Alberto Fernandez, whose runningmate is former president CristinaFernandez de Kirchner.

It came as concerns that US-Chinatrade tensions and a no-deal Brexitcould spark a recession boosted theyen and bond markets, while stockmarkets suffered another tough day.

The pound fell to a 10-year lowagainst the euro in early trading, butstaged a comeback later in the day.

Early gains for European and Asian

stocks soon faded, and indices onWall Street also fell.

Overall, however, investors turnedto the safe haven of the Japanese yen,as well as gold and bonds.

It comes after Goldman Sachs saidit expects the ongoing trade war tohave a larger impact on the USeconomy than previously forecast.

In a note to clients the bank cut itsfourth-quarter growth forecast fromtwo per cent to 1.8 per cent.

HOTEL Chocolat has been left with a bitter taste in its mouth after police found itsChocmobile burnt out in Bedfordshire. The van, which was used to sell sweet treats,was stolen from the chocolatier’s Hertfordshire headquarters at the end of last month.

CHOC HORROR Hotel Chocolat’s hopesmelt as Chocmobile is found burnt out


JAMES BOOTH

@Jamesdbooth1SHARES in M&C Saatchi fell nearly aquarter yesterday after it announceda £6.4m charge after discovering accounting errors.

The advertising agency network saidthat following an internal accountingreview, it had set aside £4.9m relatedto specific issues identified within itsaccounts and £1.5m “as a conservativemeasure to provide for any potentialfurther items arising”.

The company said it is appointingindependent advisers to review its accounts and accounting systems toensure it has identified all possibleproblems.

It said it expects the independent review to be completed by November.

The company said it was also mak-ing a £1.4m adjustment relating to itsproperty assets as it is in the middleof an office refurbishment.

It set up an internal review into itsaccounting following a report fromits auditor KPMG which raised con-cerns about accounting controlsacross the group in late May 2019.

“The internal review confirmedKPMG’s concerns and found instances

M&C Saatchi’sshares crash onaccounting error

Lloyd’s of London has sought to cut costs by bolstering its electronic trading effort

SEBASTIAN MCCARTHY

@SebMcCarthyIT IS ONE of the oldest institutions in the City, but there are signs ofmodernisation at Lloyd’s of London.

The historic specialist insurancemarket has hit a milestone aftercompleting over 50 per cent of itsunderwriting deals electronically,meeting a target it set itself for thesecond quarter of this year.

For more than three centuriesmost insurers and brokers at Lloyd’shave been doing their deals face-to-

face over paper, but now theindustry is being encouraged tomove online in a cost-cutting plan.

London Market Group, a body forLondon’s specialist commercial(re)insurance brokers and under -writers, said Lloyd’s accepted over 60per cent of in-scope risks electron -ically, beating a 50 per cent target itset for the quarter.

“These numbers are encouragingand demonstrate a market-widecommitment to modernise the waywe do business at Lloyd’s,” said chiefexecutive John Neal.

of misapplication of accounting poli-cies in the division, mostly relating tothe timing of revenue recognitionand incorrect accounting of some as-sets and liabilities,” the company said.

M&C Saatchi said its recently appointed finance director MickeyKalifa has appointed a new finance director for its UK division togetherwith additional finance staff.

Four of its senior executives boughtshares in the company yesterday.

Chair Jeremy Sinclair, chief execu-tive David Kershaw and executive director Bill Muirhead bought 37,314shares for just over £100,000 and finance director Kalifa bought 27,985shares for £75,000.

“We are determined that our strat-egy of winning new business by start-ing new businesses will not beundermined by this, but recognisethat having so many young compa-nies in the group requires extra vigi-lance,” M&C Saatchi said.

Shares closed down 24.5 per cent at256p yesterday.

In a trading update published yester-day the company said it expected ayear-on-year decline in profit beforetax due to an unusually strong firsthalf in the prior year.

JAMES WARRINGTON

@j_a_warringtonMOBILE operator O2 has warnedOfcom that its plans to auctionspectrum for the UK’s 5G networkunfairly favour rival Three.

O2 has urged the regulator tochange the conditions of its auctionto ensure mobile companies cancompete fairly and consumers haveaccess to the highest-quality network.

In its response to an Ofcomconsultation, parent company Tele -

fonica raised concerns about theability of operators such as Three tobuy up small bands of spectrum,preventing rivals from acquiringlarger, adjacent blocks.

Operators prefer to own contig -uous blocks of spectrum, as thiscreates a more reliable service andfaster download speeds.

Three already holds a 100MHzcontiguous block, which it says willbe at least twice as fast as otheroperators’ networks.

“Ofcom’s policies to date have

favoured one operator, [Three],allowing it to establish a ‘kingmaker’position,” O2 said.

Ofcom has opened a consultationon whether it will implement newrestrictions on its spectrum auctionto help even out the spread of air -waves between different operators.The next auction round is set to takeplace in 2020.

A source said O2 wanted Ofcom to“undo” the results of last year’sauction, adding that this was “notfeasible”.

O2 complains 5G spectrum auctionunfairly favours mobile rival Three

ALEX DANIEL

@alexmdanielDEFINED benefit pension deficitsamong FTSE 350 companies havedropped nearly a third in the lastyear, but still more than half of firmsare operating on a deficit, accordingto research.

The collective pension schemedeficit for the top 350 listedcompanies in Britain fell 29 per cent

to £39bn last year, from £55bn theyear before.

Despite this, 54 per cent of firmsstill have a pension deficit, a reportby consultancy Barnett Wadding -ham said.

The figures represent a markedimprovement over recent years, asthe number of firms with a surplusdoubled from 23 per cent since 2013.

The deficit reduction has beendriven by a combination of increased

corporate bond yields and thecontinuing payment of deficitcontributions, the report said.

Barnett Waddingham corporateconsulting partner Nick Griggs said:“Defined benefit scheme liabilitieshave long weighed on companybalance sheets and, despite themeasures taken to limit their cost,they remain a far greater drain onresources than their definedcontribution counterparts.”

Pension deficits drop among FTSE350 firms but a majority still in red

Lloyd’s of London hits milestonetarget in electronic trading drive

HIGH-END crisp brand Kettle Chips is poised to be snaffled up by Valeo Foods forroughly £50m. Valeo, which owns brands including Barratt sweets and RowseHoney, is in talks to buy Kettle Foods’ UK and Ireland business, Sky News reported.

CRUNCH TIME Kettle Chips owner set tobe swallowed up by Irish food group Valeo

NATIONAL GRID POWERCUT REPORT DUE FRIDAYThe UK’s energy regulator has calledon National Grid to publish anurgent interim report on the powercut that wreaked havoc across thecountry last week. Ofgem saidNational Grid, which operates theelectricity transmission system inEngland and Wales, must report itsinitial findings by the end of theweek, while a final report is due on 6 September. The hour-long outageon Friday evening left almost 1m homes without power.

ASSETS AT INVESTMENTFIRMS REACH £200BNThe investment industry’s companyassets have surpassed £200bn forthe first time, and have doubledover the past six and a half years.The industry’s assets hit a record£200.3bn at the end of July,according to data from theAssociation of InvestmentCompanies, doubling in size sinceJanuary 2013. Almost half of thisgrowth came from investment firms putting their money intoalternative assets, which reached£80.3bn under management at theend of July.

CBS AND VIACOM MERGERTALKS ‘IN FINAL STAGES’CBS and Viacom are said to be in thefinal stages of talks over an all-stockmerger that values the latter at adiscount to its closing price onFriday. Viacom shareholders willreceive just over 0.595 shares in CBSfor each share they own, Reutersreported, citing two sources. Ifcompleted, the deal would reunitethe two media firms and bringtogether CBS’ TV networks, cablenetwork Showtime and bookpublisher Simon & Schuster withMTV, Nickelodeon and Paramountfilm studio.

IN BRIEF

TENCENT Musicmissed estimatesfor quarterly rev enue late lastnight, sendingshares downroughly 11 percent in after-hourstrading. The firm,dubbed China’sSpotify, post edrevenue of 5.9bnyuan (£692m), up24 per cent on lastyear but behindWall Street estim ates of5.95bn yuan.

TUNED OUT Tencent Music hits bum noteas quarterly revenue misses expectations


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JAMES BOOTH

@Jamesdbooth1TROUBLED five-a-side football operatorGoals Soccer Centres confirmed yester-day it is investigating its former chief executive and chief financial officer inconnection to an accounting scandalthat has rocked the company.

Former chief executive Keith Rogersand former chief finance officer BillGow had been named in previous pressreports as subjects of investigations.

Goals yesterday said: “Actions under-taken by Mr Gow and Mr Rogers whileemployees and directors of the companyform part of the current investigationsof the company into the mis-statementof historic financial statements.”

The five-a-side football operator announced earlier this month that itwas to de-list from the London Stock Exchange after an investigation into itsaccounting practices found “improperbehaviour”.

Trading in its shares was suspended inMarch after it said it had made a “sub-stantial misdeclaration of VAT”, totalling approximately £12m.

Over the weekend, the Sunday Timesreported that City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority hadopened a probe into alleged fraud at thecompany.

It also reported that audit firm BDOhad discovered “substantial destruc-tion” of electronic information at thecompany during an investigation intothe alleged accounting improprieties.

BDO took over as the company’s audi-tor from Big Four rival KPMG in June last year.

KPMG could face legal action from thecompany and its shareholders in con-nection with the episode.

Goals said yesterday: “The companycan confirm no finalised conclusionshave yet been reached, although asstated in the 2 August 2019 announce-ment by the company, it is clear inappro-priate actions have taken place.

“Once the company has concluded itsfindings the directors, alongside its advisers, will take appropriate actionand liaise with the appropriate authori-ties,” it added

Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct is a 19 percent shareholder in the business.

Sports Direct had previously blastedthe company’s handling of the account-ing crisis and unsuccessfully attemptedto oust its directors at its June annualgeneral meeting.

Sports Direct had also asked Goals’ directors to take a lie detector test inconnection with the scandal.

Rogers and Gow have previously denied the alleged fraud.

Ex-Goals SoccerCentres bosses inprobe firing line

Expectations for economic outlookin UK sink to lowest level since 2011SEBASTIAN MCCARTHY

@SebMcCarthyPUBLIC expectations for how the UKeconomy will fare over the next 12months are at their lowest level inmore than seven years, according toa report released yesterday.

The Office for National Statistics(ONS) said the outlook for thegeneral economic situation for theyear ahead is worse than at any

point since the last quarter of 2011.Expectations for higher

unemployment for the next 12months have also been climbingand are now higher than at anypoint for five-and-a-half years.

The data, sourced from aEurobarometer consumer survey,comes days after the ONS foundthe British economy shrank for thefirst time in nearly seven yearsduring the second quarter of 2019.

In the three months to June,output fell 0.2 per cent, missingexpectations of a flat performanceand dropping 0.5 per centcompared with the previous year.

Amanda Mackenzie, chiefexecutive of charity Business in theCommunity, said: “If this latestsurvey is anything to go by, theBritish public has got its fingerfirmly on the pulse of the UKeconomy.”

CITY OF LONDONTHE PLANNING ACTS AND THE ORDERS AND REGULATIONS MADE THEREUNDERThis notice gives details of applications registered by the Department of The Built Environment Code: FULL/FULMAJ/FULEIA/FULLR3 – Planning Permission; LBC – Listed Building Consent; TPO – Tree Preservation Order; OUTL – Outline Planning Permission

10 Godliman Street, London, EC4V 5AJ19/00750/FULL

level.Drapers’ Hall, Throgmorton Avenue, London, EC2N 2DQ19/00755/FULL & 19/00756/LBCRepair of stone pavilion on Throgmorton Avenue.South of Junction with Tudor Street and Temple Avenue, London, EC419/00779/FULLInstallation on the carriageway of a cycle hire docking station associated with the London Cycle Hire Scheme, containing a maximum of 33 docking points for scheme bicycles plus a terminal to secure and release bicycles and provide registration and payment facilities and

293 Cromwell Tower, Cromwell Place, Barbican, London, EC2Y 8DD19/00786/LBCAlterations to several internal walls and doors to make amendments to the room layouts including, adding a shower cubicle to the existing WC. Removal of fourth bedroom, new doors full height throughout and installation of false ceilings.135 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 3TP19/00789/FULLInstallation of four louvres at levels 5 and 7 of western elevation fronting Liverpool Street Station.

48 - 51 Leadenhall Market, London, EC3V 1LT 19/00791/FULL

extractor grilles at fascia level.

48 - 51 Leadenhall Market, London, EC3V 1LT 19/00792/LBC

extractor grilles at fascia level.Internal refurbishment and redecoration; renovation

19/00798/FULL(i) Erection of a single storey roof extension above

to create a one bedroom residential apartment (Class C3); (ii) Associated works to create access to the apartment; (iii) Extension of adjacent

53sq.m GEA).

Department of the Built Environment, North Wing, Guildhall, Basinghall Street, London EC2, between 09.30 and 16.30. Representations must be made within 21 days of the date of this newspaper online or in writing to PLNComments@

EC2P 2EJ. In the event that an appeal against a decision of the Council proceeds by way of the expedited procedure, any representations made about the application will be passed to the Secretary of State and there will be no opportunity to make further representations.

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JAMES BOOTH

@Jamesdbooth1RECRUITER Staffline yesterday said itsauditor PwC has resigned after it putits audit contract out to tender.

Staffline significantly delayed therelease of its 2018 results after PwC received an anonymous email the daybefore their scheduled release in Jan-uary, raising concerns about the recruiter’s accounting practices.

An investigation committee was established by Staffline to probe theallegations alongside an independentlaw firm.

PwC found that “there were someinstances of non-compliance with related employment legislation andregulations, but this has not resultedin any material liabilities or adjust-ments other than in relation to non-compliance with NMW [nationalminimum wage] regulations”.

Staffline made a £15m provision in its results in relation to historicalbreaches of minimum wage legislation.

Other than in relation to minimumwage liabilities, PwC said it found nomaterial adjustments to be made inthe group’s 2018 results or in its

Staffline auditorquits in wake ofaccounts delay

Angling Direct is the largest specialist fishing equipment retailer in the UK

Amsterdam-based IMA is Europe’s largest influencer marketing agency

SEBASTIAN MCCARTHY

@SebMcCarthyANGLING Direct reeled in rising salesover the first half of 2019, as thefishing retailer pressed ahead with itsexpansion plan.

While the company warned of a“challenging period for the wider UKretail sector”, revenue for the sixmonths to end of July jumped 21 percent to £26.5m.

The largest specialist fishingtackle and equipment retailer in theUK also posted a 41 per cent rise inretail store sales to £14m, boostedboth by the opening of five new

stores and 15 per cent like-for-likesales growth.

Angling Direct’s chief executiveDarren Bailey said in a statementattached to the results yesterday: “Iam pleased to report that thecompany’s performance for the firsthalf of the year is extremely robust,despite parts of the retail sectorexperiencing difficulties.”

Bailey added: “We havedemonstrated that our strategy tooperate both online and in-storeworks effectively together in nichemarkets.”

Online sales increased 10 per centto £11.9m.

previously reported financial results.The auditor said conduct issues

were identified during its probe andduring the independent legal investi-gation.

PwC said: “The company has disclosed that appropriate action willbe taken in relation to these conductmatters.”

In its resignation letter, PwC said:“The reason we are ceasing to hold office is that the company will soonbe undertaking a competitive tenderprocess for the position of statutoryauditor and we mutually agreed withthe audit committee not to partici-pate in this process.”

Staffline shares fell nearly 2.5 percent yesterday to 160.20p.

SEBASTIAN MCCARTHY

@SebMcCarthyFOUR in every 10 small companiesare raising their prices as a result ofhaving to pay higher wages,according to a survey from theFederation of Small Businesses (FSB).

The FSB warned today thatbusiness owners are paying them -selves less, increasing prices, holdingback investment and reducing staffhours in an attempt to absorbinflation-beating wage rises.

The new research said the mostcommon response to April’snational living wage increase amongsmall business owners directlyaffected by the change is to paythemselves less. Seven in 10 arelowering profit or absorbing costs inan attempt to handle the hike.

The fresh findings are included inFSB’s response to the Low PayCommissions’ current consultationminimum wage rates.

Small businesses continue to beahead of the curve on pay.

“More than half were paying allstaff the current national livingwage before they were obliged to doso – an even greater proportion weredoing so in the smallest firms,” saidMike Cherry, FSB national chairman.

He added: “We’re now seeing moresmall business owners than eversaying that living wage increases areimpacting the bottom line.

“Their first instinct is usually totake the hit personally, payingthemselves less rather than cutting staff.”

Growing wage bill driving a priceboom, business trade body warns

ANNA MENIN

@annafmeninSIR MARTIN Sorrell’s advertisingcompany S4 Capital has bought IMA,Europe’s largest influencermarketing company, for €10m (£9.3m)and will merge it with its existingcontent arm Mediamonks.

Amsterdam-based IMA, which wasfounded in 2010, selects influencersto create tailored online marketing

campaigns for brands, includingMicrosoft, Heineken and Samsonite.

Sorrell founded S4 Capital lastyear after leaving WPP, the world’slargest advertising agency. S4acquired Mediamonks, which isbased in the Netherlands, in July2018 for $350m (£290m).

“This merger is yet anotherexample of our focus on top-linegrowth,” said Sorrell.

“Influencer marketing is an

important subset of the digitalcontent marketing industry and ispredicted to double in size over thenext three years,” he added.

Victor Knaap, chief executive ofMediamonks, said: “IMA has been atthe forefront as this industry hasstarted to come of age. We lookforward to working with itsentrepreneurial team in developinghow powerful influencers can be aspart of a digital marketing strategy.”

Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital buys topinfluencer agency IMA for £9.3bn

Hooked on expansion: AnglingDirect defies British retail gloom

Royal Londonprofits rise butnew sales dropSEBASTIAN MCCARTHY

@SebMcCarthyROYAL London, the UK’s largestmutual life insurer, yesterdayreported a drop in new businesssales for the first half of this year.

The pensions provider blamed anindustry-wide reduction in definedbenefit transfers for a four per centyear-on-year fall in new businesssales to £5.8bn for the first sixmonths of 2019.

However, profit before tax rose116 per cent to £411m, as the firmcited strong market performancefor equities and debt securities.

Net inflows also jumped 31 percent to £5.5bn.

Chairman Kevin Parry describedfirst-half trading as “robust”,saying that the group was “wellprepared for Brexit and willcontinue to monitor carefully anydevelopments that might affect ourbusiness and customers.”

He added: “We continue tomaintain a robust capitalfoundation to allow us to invest inour future core products andpropositions whilst also innovatingto deliver better outcomes forcustomers in underservedmarkets.”

The results come amid achanging of the guard at RoyalLondon, which has appointed BarryO’Dwyer as its new chief executive.

O’Dwyer is set to take the reinsas boss next month.

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MATTRESS startups Eve Sleep and Simba have confirmed they are in talks to merge.Both have struggled in recent months, with Woodford-backed Eve suffering a stockcrash after offering shares at a steep discount during a funding round in December.

HEADING TO BED Mattress startups EveSleep and Simba confirm merger chatter


Heathrow on track to surpass 81mpassengers after July flying bumpALEXANDRA ROGERS

@city_amrogersHEATHROW said yesterday that it ison track to top 81m passengers thisyear after new figures revealed thatnearly 8m passengers used theairport in July.

The London hub airport hasalready flown 46m passengers sofar this year, a near 1.5 per centincrease on the same time theprevious year.

Domestic passenger numbersjumped nearly four per cent thanksto new routes to Newquay,

Cornwall, the Isle of Man andGuernsey.

Meanwhile, more than 130,000metric tonnes of cargo, includingpharmaceuticals and technicalequipment, went throughHeathrow last month.

The airport recently published itsmasterplan for the £14bn thirdrunway alongside its largest-everconsultation into the project.

Heathrow chief executive JohnHolland-Kaye said: “The masterplanfor the UK’s newest runway is set tobe finalised within 18 months’time and it was great to see

businesses up and down UKrecently write to the new PrimeMinister highlighting their supportfor this vital project and the needto get on and deliver it.”

The Court of Appeal is gearing upto hear a legal challenge from anumber of local councils andcampaigners later in October.

The groups are concerned aboutthe impact of noise and airpollution.

The High Court initiallydismissed the legal challenge butlast month they were givenpermission to challenge the ruling.

ALEX DANIEL

@alexmdanielTHOMAS Cook has confirmed it is inadvanced discussions with bond hold-ers for a £150m cash injection, on topof the £750m rescue deal it is alreadyworking on with lead investor Fosun,which would nearly wipe out its exist-ing shareholders.

The company’s market valuedropped 18.3 per cent yesterday.Shares were valued at just 7.9p afterthe announcement, having started2019 at 33p.

The money will help the embattledtravel giant stay afloat over the qui-eter winter period.

Last month, the 178-year-old tour operator began talks with Fosun for a£750m rescue that would give theChinese conglomerate control overthe firm’s package tour business.

Yesterday, Thomas Cook said it hadmade significant progress towards finalising the agreement.

The Fosun deal would involve theChinese firm, plus Thomas Cook’sbanks and bondholders, converting alarge chunk of the travel firm’s£650m bank debt and €1.15bn(£1.1bn) bond debt into equity.

Existing shareholders are “expectedto be significantly diluted” as a resultof the deal.

Thomas Cook said it hopes to goahead with the recapitalisation in October.

Analyst at CMC Markets David Mad-den said: “The company can’t seem toget a handle of its finances, and thetiming isn’t great given that somepeople are curtailing non-essential expenditure such as travel.”

In a statement, the firm told mar-kets: “Thomas Cook has made signifi-cant progress towards finalising thekey transaction terms of the recapital-isation with Fosun, the group’s corelending banks and subsequently withnoteholders representing approxi-mately 50 per cent of the company’s2022 and 2023 senior notes.

“This additional capital… will pro-vide further liquidity headroomthrough the coming 2019/20 wintercash low period.”

ALEX DANIEL

@alexmdanielA “STORM of steel andiron” raining down onpeople in a suburb of Rome overthe weekend sent engine makerRolls-Royce’s market valuetumbling more than half-a-billionpounds yesterday.

Romans were forced to takecover on Saturday as hotfragments of metal fell from a

Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet flyingover the Fiumicino district, nearthe city’s international airportwhere it had just taken off.

The Los Angeles-bound plane,operated by Norwegian, was fittedwith Rolls-Royce’s Trent 1000engine, a model which has beenplagued with reliability issues inrecent years. It is feared thefalling metal came from theaircraft’s engine.

Although nobody was hurt, the

incident over the weekend hasstoked fresh fears that Rolls-Roycehas not yet managed to containthe problems. Shares fell 3.5 percent yesterday.

“It seemed like a majorhailstorm, but the sun was out,”resident Paola Di Lazzaro toldItalian paper Il Messaggero overthe weekend.

“I went out on the balcony andsaw a storm of steel and iron. Iscreamed and ran in the house.”

Thomas Cook intalks for a fresh£150m cash grab

Rolls-Royce suffers after jet parts rain on Rome

The airport said it hoped to resume outbound flights at 6am local time today

Hong Kong airport grinds to ahalt as protesters fill terminalALEX DANIEL

@alexmdanielHONG Kong airport cancelled allflights yesterday after 5,000 pro-democracy protesters swamped itsmain terminal for the fourth dayrunning, as Beijing ramped up itsrhetoric against them.

The cancellations mark the big -gest economic disruption caused bythe protests, which have rocked thecity for 10 weeks.

More than 120 airlines operateover 1,000 flights to and from HongKong every day, making it one of theworld’s busiest internationalairports. British Airways (BA), VirginAtlantic and Cathay Pacific runflights to and from Hong Kong from the UK.

All three confirmed outboundflights from the airport wereaffected. However, both Virgin andBA said flights travelling to HongKong from London would go ahead.

Meanwhile, the Chinesegovernment said the protests havebegun to show “sprouts ofterrorism”, amid growing concernspolice have been too heavy-handedin dealing with activists by usingrubber bullets and tear gas.

Man-kei Tam, director of Amnesty International Hong Kong,said authorities had “once againdemonstrated how not to police a protest”.

Cathay Pacific shares tumbled to a10-year-low after the airline was toldby Beijing to bar staff who hadprotested from Chinese airspace.

THOMAS COOK

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Why are you supporting CGD? City Giving Day is an opportunity to unite ourlocal area for a great cause. Pool Re aredelighted to take part this year by hosting aSparkling Tea Party, raising much neededfunds for a range of worthy causes. We areselling tickets for an afternoon of indulgenceat the office, where guests can enjoy creamteas and other delicious baked goodies with acheeky glass or two of fizz.

Our ambition remains todevelop a programme ofsupport that encouragesand engages our employeesand wider stakeholders,whilst creating maximumsocial impact and making ameaningful difference tothe well-being of local olderpeople.

Chief Executive Julian Enoizi

Supporting City Giving Day

We are very proud ofour work with Age UK,which enables Pool Reto reinforce its corevalues, fosterinnovation, leadershipand personalaccountability -thereby providingsupport to our localcommunity throughvarious volunteeringand contributioninitiatives.

CHARITY IN ACTION

JOIN US AND REGISTER NOW AT

WWW.THELORDMAYORSAPPEAL.ORG/CGD

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH @LMAPPEAL #CGD #GoRed#peoplematter

Which charities do you support?We try and keep it local, our mainpartnership with Age UK Lewisham &Southwark focusses on the specific needs ofthe Stones End Day Centre in Southwark, aspecialist care and support Centre. Since1984 the Centre has developed a range ofservices to support the complex andchanging needs of disadvantaged elderlypeople.

How will you celebrate CGD?Our staff will all be wearing red! And asidefrom our afternoon tea party, we will also betaking part in the treasure hunt and quiz.

HITACHI TRIALS TECH FOR TICKET SENSORS Transport giant Hitachi yesterdaysaid ticket barriers could become athing of the past as it trails newtechnology that could scan ticketsvia a smartphone app. TheJapanese firm is currentlydeveloping and trialling technologythat uses sensors on trains to detecttickets via an app on passengers’mobile phones. Travellers would notneed to take their phone out of theirpockets or bags, as the technologycan detect it through material andclothing. Hitachi said passengerswill automatically be charged thecorrect fare and that it already hasexisting technology that ensuresthey will not be overcharged.

STATION DEFENDS USE OFFACIAL RECOGNITION TECHThe developer behind King’s Crosshas defended its use of facialrecognition technology, despiteconcerns about privacy and datause. Property development firmArgent, which is overseeing aregeneration project on the 67-acresite, said its use of the cameras was“in the interest of public safety”.“These cameras use a number ofdetection and tracking methods,including facial recognition, but alsohave sophisticated systems in placeto protect the privacy of the generalpublic,” a spokesperson said. It isunclear how many facial recognitioncameras have been installed at thesite, or how long they have been inuse. The Information Commiss -ioner’s Office (ICO) said it hasconcerns about the potential forinappropriate use of facialrecognition in a way that couldundermine privacy. An ICOspokesperson said it is currentlylooking at the use of [this]“technology by law enforcement inpublic spaces and by private sectororganisations, including where theyare partnering with police forces”.

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AUGUST GRAHAM

@AugustGrahamTHE TANZANIAN government yester-day lifted a ban which stopped AcaciaMining from exporting gold from itsbiggest mine, despite a continuingdispute between the two sides.

The gold miner was slapped withthe ban a month ago, amid claims ithad broken mining regulations.

The country’s mining commissionlifted the ban, but said it found regu-lation breaches and asked Acacia tosubmit a new mine plan by Friday.

The decision is separate to a moredamaging ban, which has prohibitedAcacia from shipping a gold-bearingore out of the country for years.

Soon after Tanzanian President JohnMagufuli was elected in 2015 hestarted intervening in the sector.

Last month, the World Bank said it expects Tanzania’s economy to grow5.2 per cent, lower than the seven percent rise Magufuli had targeted.

It cited a decline in investment, exports and private lending.

The bank accused the governmentof “unpredictable and intervention-ist” policies. Foreign investment hasshrivelled since 2013, while the pri-vate sector has put breaks on lending.

In 2017 Magufuli went all-out forAcacia, claiming it owed $190bn(£157bn) in back taxes for allegedlyunder-reporting the amount of goldin its ore. The fine represents aboutfour times Tanzania’s annual GDP.

At the same time, he slapped thecompany with an export ban.

Barrick Gold, which owns nearly 64per cent of London-listed Acacia, hasreached an agreement with Magufuliwhich would let the company resumeoperations in the country.

However, the agreement came witha condition to change the ownershipof Acacia, causing Barrick to table abid for the remaining shares.

After a back-and-forth over price,Acacia last month accepted Barrick’soffer.

Yesterday it said that shareholderswill be asked to vote on the issue on 3 September.

Problems remainas Tanzania liftsAcacia export ban

CITY OF LONDON

undermentioned streets will made several Orders on 8 August 2019 under Section 14(1) of the Road

New St Square (junction Thavies Inn) ---- Mobile Crane

Widegate Street (junction Sandy’s Row) ---- Utility Works

Carter Lane (Ludgate Square to Ludgate Broadway) ---- Utility Works

Cloth Fair (junction Kinghorn St) ---- Utility Works

Little Britain (King Edward Street to Montague St) ---- Mobile Crane

Nicholas Lane Utility Works

Lombard Street Carriageway Resurfacing

directed by signsEldon Street Mobile Crane

Stoney Lane Utility Works

Carolyn Dwyer BEng (Hons), Dated 13 August 2019

Director of the Built Environment

The clothing giant is seeking to retain customers in the face of tough competition

Nike swooshes with subscriptionNIVEDITA BALU

NIKE will launch a new subscriptionservice for children’s trainers thisweek that seeks to woo parents withan offer of fewer nightmarish trips tothe shoe shop in exchange for aregular fee and brand loyalty.

Aimed at the US kids’ shoe market,estimated at an annual $10bn(£8.3bn), Adventure Club builds onNike’s SNKRS app, which notifiesshoppers every time it launches anew shoe or has an exclusive trainerat a nearby store.

It is Nike’s latest plan to keep shop -pers returning to its brands as itstruggles with strong competition

from Adidas and a resurgence inretro brands such as Fila and Reebok.

With three tiers of subscription –$20, $30 or $50 a month – NikeAdventure Club is aimed at two to 10 year olds and effectively givessubscribers a new pair of Nike train -ers that cost about $50 or more oncea month, once every two months oronce every three.

If the kids pick, for example, NikeAir Max or Converses, members willsave almost nothing or up to $50 oneach pair. “Solving the need forparents with kids… means that weare going to start building relation -ships through kids,” the scheme’smanager Dave Cobban said.

Tullow sees topstart to Guyanadrilling effortsAUGUST GRAHAM

@AugustGrahamTULLOW Oil yesterdayhailed an “excellent start” toa South American drillingcampaign as it made a majordiscovery off the coast of Guyana.

The Jethro-1 well will likely holdover 100m barrels of oil, chiefexecutive Paul McDade said. Itbeats expectations.

“This substantial and high valueoil discovery in Guyana is anoutcome of the significanttechnical and commercial focuswhich has underpinned the reset ofour exploration portfolio,” he said.

The discovery means that theOrinduik licence is much less risky,the company said.

The licence includes another wellthat Tullow expects to start drillingthis month.

The discovery was at Jethro-1, a4,400 metre deep well in 1,350metres of water.

Tullow holds a 60 per cent stakein Orinduik, with Total and EcoAtlantic owning the rest.

Shares in the company closed upnearly 20 per cent yesterday.

Eco Atlantic, which is listed onAim in London, boomed by almost68 per cent.

CITY OF LONDON

undermentioned streets will make several Orders on 22 August 2019 under Section 14(1) of the Road

Wood St (Love Lane to Wood St Police Station Garage Entrance) ---- Mobile Crane

Great Winchester St (London Wall to Loading Bay of Pinners Hall) ---- Utility Works

St Mary Axe (Bury Court to Camomile St) ---- Utility Works

Old Fleet Lane ---- Carriageway Resurfacing

Basinghall St ---- Loading & Unloading

Charterhouse St ---- Mobile Crane

Newbury St (junction Kinghorn St) ---- Utility Works

Clements Lane (Lombard St to King William St) ---- Mobile Crane

Lombard St ---- Building Maintenance

Queen Victoria St (New Bridge St to White Lyon Hill) ---- Construction Site Access

banned right for Thames Tideway vehicles only as and when requiredColeman St ---- Mobile Crane

13 August 2019

DEBATEIs CarolineLucas’ all-

femaleemergency

cabinet a good

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no-dealBrexit?KIMBERLY

MCINTOSH SAYSYES, EMMA REVELL

SAYS NOPAGE 15

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11TUESDAY 13 AUGUST 2019 MARKETSCITYAM.COM

LONDON REPORT BEST OF THE BROKERS

ASIA-FOCUSED shares wereparticularly badly hit in London yesterday by worriesover protests in Hong Kong,while tour company Thomas

Cook plunged after updating on its re-capitalisation plans.

The FTSE 100 ended 0.4 per centlower at 7,226.72 points, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 dropped 0.9 per cent, to18,913, as concerns about the UK econ-omy lingered after data on Fridayshowed a surprise contraction in thelast quarter. Both the indices had ear-lier jumped about 0.6 per cent on theback of gains in China.

Rolls-Royce, which supplies enginesto Boeing, also weighed with a 3.6 percent fall after media reports that partsof an engine fell from a NorwegianBoeing 787 Dreamliner near Rome.

China-Hong Kongtensions weigh onLondon markets

FTSE

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Barclays analysts recently visited a Marks & Spencer store in Kent and liked whatthey saw. The company has almost doubled the floorspace devoted to food. Theanalysts described it as a “promising start” in its move to grow its food sales. Theygive the stock an “Overweight” rating and a target price of 290p.

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Liberum said advertising agency WPP has the potential for a “major re-rating”.While describing WPP as a “business in decline”, the broker said it expected it tomove away from its reliance on traditional media to drive profits. It gives the stocka “Buy” rating and a target price of 1,450p.

To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to [email protected]

WPP

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Travel company Thomas Cook tankednearly 18.3 per cent after saying share-holders were expected to be “signifi-cantly diluted” as part of a rescue plan.

Tullow Oil was among a handful ofgainers on the FTSE 250 with a 20 percent jump after saying it had made amajor oil discovery in Guyana.

CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBSCIRCASSIADr Rod Hafner (pictured),senior vice president ofresearch and development atCircassia Pharmaceuticals, aspecialty biopharm a ceuticalcompany focused onrespiratory disease, will stepdown from the board after 11years as a director. However,Rod will remain part of thesenior management team andwill continue in his role leading its businessdevelopment, supply chain, medical affairs, regulatoryand quality activities. Meanwhile, Jonathan Emms has

been appointed to the newly-created role of chiefoperating officer (COO). Prior to joining, Jonathan waschief commercial officer for Pfizer’s internal medicinesorganisation, where he led commercial activitiesacross the company’s global operations. Previously, heheld a number of senior posts at Pfizer, and oversawthe UK launch of Spiriva under the company’s co-promotion agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim.

BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCHBank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) has appointedGerardus Vos as head of financial technologyinvestment banking for Europe, Middle East and Africa(EMEA). He will join the firm in September, and bebased in London. Gerardus joins from Barclays where

he was head of technology and fintech equitiesresearch. He has 19 years of experience, primarily atBarclays and Citi covering the technology, softwareand payments sectors as a consistently top rankedanalyst. In this newly created role, Gerardus will bebased within BofAML’s EMEA financial institutionsgroup and report to Giorgio Cocini and Arif Vohra, co-heads of EMEA financial institutions investmentbanking. He will partner closely with colleagues acrossthe financial institutions team in EMEA and globally, aswell as our country team colleagues, to drive strategicdialogue with companies in the payments andfinancial technology sectors as well as in the broaderfinancial services sector. The bank acted as solefinancial adviser to Mastercard in the €2.85bn

(£2.64bn) acquisition of Nets’ corporate servicesbusinesses.

RPMIRPMI, which runs railway pensions schemes, has app -ointed chief fiduciary officer Michelle Ostermann, andmanaging director, group services Stuart Blackett, toits board of directors. Michelle was previously seniorvice president at British Columbia Investment Manage -ment and has over 25 years’ experience in Canada’spensions, investment and insurance indus tries. Stuarthas held a number of senior roles within RPMI and hasover 20 years’ experience in corporate and pensionsaccounting, as well as overseeing corporate tax issues,IT delivery and corporate strategy.

To appear in CITYMOVES please email your career updates and pictures to [email protected]

NEW YORK REPORT

Global worriesspook indicesUS STOCKS dropped more than

one per cent yesterday in abroad sell-off as simmering

geopolitical tensions spooked equityinvestors and drove a bond marketrally while the protracted US-Chinatrade war stoked fears of animpending recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Averagefell 391 points, or 1.49 per cent, to25,896.44, the S&P 500 lost 35.96points, or 1.23 per cent, to 2,882.69and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 95.73 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 7,863.41.

Brian Battle, director of trading atPerformance Trust Capital Partners inChicago, said: “There's a flight tosafety and there are multiple silos ofpolitical uncertainty.”

Coach owner Tapestry and Versaceowner Capri Holdings dropped 3.9per cent and 4.4 per cent, respectively,after Chin ese social media criticisedthem for selling t-shirts that showedHong Kong and Macau as countries.

Media giants CBS and Viacom are inthe final stages of negotiating an all-stock merger that values Viacom at adiscount to its Friday close, send ingViacom shares down 4.9 per cent.

CITYDASHBOARD YOUR ONE-STOP SHOP FOR BROKER VIEWS AND MARKET REPORTS

NEWS

AUGUST GRAHAM

@AugustGrahamSCOTTISH Power owner Iberdrola saidyesterday it had sold a £1.6bn stake inan East Anglia wind farm as it looksfor funds to expand its networks andrenewables production.

It signed a deal to sell 40 per centin the East Anglia One offshore plantto an arm of Macquarie Group.

Iberdrola will keep the remaining60 per cent in the massive windfarm, which will be one of theworld’s largest when it iscommissioned in 2020.

The company is working towards a

previously announced plan to invest€34bn (£31.5bn) by 2022.

It has said that around 39 per centof that money will be spent on ren -ew able energy, with half of it goingtowards its networks.

The Spanish energy giant currentlyruns two offshore wind farms, in theNorth Sea and Baltic.

It plans to add another 10,000mega watts (MW) over the comingyears. The East Anglia One projectwill add 714 MW to its portfolio.

It will focus on three areas, theNorth Sea, the Baltic and the US.

The news comes after Iberdrolalast year sold its entire portfolio of

fossil-fuel burning power generatorsin the UK for around £700m. It has awind pipeline of around 3,000 MW inthe UK.

At the time the firm said it wasstill committed to the UK and plansto spend £5.5bn in the country by2022, mainly to increase renewablesproduction.

The company has said that the“world is changing” and urgedenergy companies to “be part of thesolution to climate change and notpart of the problem”.

The UK has set a target to increaserenewables production, eliminatingnet emissions by 2050.

Scottish Power owner sells £1.6bnstake in new East Anglia wind farm

Deliveroo quits Germanyafter Takeaway tie-upALEXANDER HUEBNER

BRITISH Amazon-backed food deliveryservice Deliveroo announced yester-day that it will halt operations in Ger-many on Friday to focus on othermarkets in Europe and beyond.

The withdrawal of Deliveroo – whichsays it has 1,100 riders in five citiesand just under 100 employees in Ger-many – reduces competition for Dutchrival Takeaway.com, which last yearagreed to buy larger competitor Deliv-ery Hero’s business in the Germanfood delivery market.

Deliveroo’s decision comes as Take-away.com and British rival Just Eat

this month finalised the terms oftheir deal to create a global food deliv-ery company that will be a marketleader in the UK, Germany, theNetherlands and Can ada.

“We’ve decided to focus on othermarkets,” a Deliveroo spokespersonsaid regarding Germany, adding thecompany was not ruling out returningto the country in the future.

Deliveroo will shift its resources andinvestment towards boosting growthand expanding in markets around Europe and the Asia-Pacific region,the spokesperson added, noting thatthe company was growing rapidly inthe UK and France. Reuters

CITYAM.COM12 TUESDAY 13 AUGUST 2019MARKETS

Gold ............................................................1497.70 1.95Silver ..............................................................17.00 -0.02Brent Crude ....................................................57.38 1.15Krugerrand ................................................1498.60 34.15Palladium ..................................................1429.00 13.00Platinum .....................................................863.00 6.00Tin Cash Official .......................................16925.00 -10.00Lead Cash Official .....................................2004.50 80.50Zinc Cash Official........................................2351.00 -89.00

Copper Cash Official ..................................5722.50 21.50

Aluminium Cash Official ............................1737.00 8.50

Nickel Cash Official ..................................15490.00 120.00Aluminium Alloy Cash Official ..................1250.00 14.00

Cocoa Futures .............................................2211.00 10.00

Coffee 'C' Futures...........................................93.55 -3.75

Feed Wheat Futures ....................................143.00 -2.40

Soybeans Futures Continuation Contract...862.20 -11.40

AB INBEV..........................................................86.22 -1.02 92.71 56.32ADIDAS N ........................................................261.85 1.05 297.95 178.30AIR LIQUIDE.....................................................123.35 0.85 127.20 101.85AIRBUS BR......................................................125.20 0.08 133.86 77.50ALLIANZ..........................................................199.64 0.14 218.70 170.50AMADEUS IT GRP BR-A.....................................68.74 -0.20 82.20 58.06ASML HLDG.....................................................192.00 0.44 211.50 130.12AXA...................................................................21.60 -0.06 23.99 18.40BANCO SANTANDER............................................3.55 -0.06 4.68 3.55BASF N ..............................................................57.95 -0.14 81.73 56.20BAYER N............................................................64.15 -0.77 95.50 52.00BBVA ..................................................................4.28 -0.16 5.83 4.28BMW ..................................................................61.12 0.00 86.71 60.55BNP PARIBAS A ................................................39.67 -0.54 55.34 38.14CRH PLC ............................................................28.55 0.17 34.87 26.53DAIMLER N .......................................................42.30 -0.33 59.90 42.04DANONE............................................................77.78 0.12 79.42 59.72DEUTSCHE POST N............................................28.60 -0.25 32.20 23.43DEUTSCHE TELEKOM N ......................................14.50 -0.03 15.88 13.36ENEL N ...............................................................6.06 0.03 6.62 4.22ENGIE .................................................................13.31 0.03 14.39 11.31ENI N ..................................................................13.17 -0.02 16.67 13.15ESSILORLUXOTT...............................................128.50 -0.85 130.60 95.50FRESENIUS .......................................................42.42 -0.32 69.76 38.50IBERDROLA ........................................................8.89 0.08 9.13 5.81INDITEX ............................................................26.34 -0.16 28.86 21.85ING GROUP ........................................................8.50 -0.15 12.50 8.43INTESA SANPAOLO N...........................................1.84 -0.04 2.47 1.80KERING ..........................................................448.80 -5.80 539.80 351.70KON AH DEL BR ................................................20.43 -0.11 24.01 18.60L'OREAL..........................................................234.50 1.80 257.80 182.00LINDE ..............................................................172.50 2.95 0.00 0.00LVMH ..............................................................356.55 -7.80 392.65 242.30MUENCHENER RUECKV N.................................217.20 1.60 228.70 180.50NOKIA.................................................................4.74 -0.05 5.76 4.17ORANGE ............................................................13.26 0.05 15.25 13.08ROY.PHILIPS......................................................41.46 0.16 43.67 29.05SAFRAN............................................................127.15 0.50 137.20 99.98SANOFI .............................................................73.82 0.07 80.44 71.32SAP I...............................................................106.44 0.08 125.00 84.02SCHNEIDER EL ..................................................73.06 0.12 81.36 57.54SIEMENS N........................................................88.49 -0.82 114.10 88.39SOCIETE GENERALE ...........................................21.79 -0.49 35.01 20.81TELEFONICA........................................................6.25 -0.09 8.06 6.23TOTAL................................................................43.23 -0.26 55.39 42.65UNILEVER..........................................................51.30 0.50 55.40 45.30VINCI................................................................94.00 0.00 94.96 69.98VIVENDI.............................................................25.21 0.21 26.69 20.80VOLKSWAGEN VZ I ..........................................140.98 -0.70 163.70 131.02

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EU SHARES

3M....................................................................162.12 -1.35 219.75 158.04ABBOTT LABORATOR........................................84.64 -1.99 88.76 63.07ADOBE ...........................................................288.65 -6.18 313.11 204.95ALPHAB RG-C-NV...........................................1174.71 -13.30 1289.27 970.11ALPHABET-A..................................................1174.50 -14.40 1296.98 977.66AMAZON.COM ...............................................1784.92 -22.66 2050.50 1307.00AMERICAN EXPRESS .......................................123.95 -2.22 129.34 89.05AMGEN...........................................................205.78 9.53 210.19 166.30APPLE ............................................................200.48 -0.51 233.47 142.00AT&T.................................................................34.47 -0.07 34.64 26.80BANK OF AMERICA ...........................................27.64 -0.69 31.49 22.66BERKSHIRE HATH RG-B....................................197.18 -1.87 224.07 186.10BOEING CO......................................................332.88 -4.67 446.01 292.47CATERPILLAR ...................................................116.72 -2.66 159.37 112.06CHEVRON ........................................................121.56 -0.86 127.60 100.22CISCO SYSTEMS .................................................51.54 -0.89 58.26 40.25CITIGROUP .......................................................64.24 -1.81 75.24 48.42COCA-COLA CO ..................................................53.18 -0.24 54.82 44.25COMCAST-A......................................................42.46 -0.47 45.30 32.61DOW................................................................45.69 -0.95 0.00 0.00EXXON MOBIL ...................................................69.61 -1.23 87.36 64.65FACEBOOK-A ...................................................185.37 -2.48 208.66 123.02GOLDMAN SACHS GR.......................................201.41 -5.49 245.08 151.70HOME DEPOT .................................................206.58 -3.44 219.30 158.09IBM ..................................................................134.12 -2.01 154.36 105.94INTEL ...............................................................45.60 -0.38 59.59 42.36JOHNSON & JOHNSO .......................................131.90 -0.14 148.99 121.00JPMORGAN CHASE ..........................................107.69 -2.05 119.24 91.11MASTERCARD RG-A .......................................269.99 -4.96 283.33 171.89MCDONALD'S...................................................217.09 -4.06 221.93 156.56MEDTRONIC ......................................................101.15 -0.52 103.95 81.66MERCK ..............................................................85.71 0.19 87.07 65.68MICROSOFT .....................................................135.79 -1.92 141.68 93.96NETFLIX...........................................................310.83 1.90 386.80 231.23NIKE -B- ...........................................................81.65 -0.33 90.00 66.53ORACLE.............................................................53.23 -0.67 60.50 42.40PEPSICO ..........................................................128.35 -0.25 135.24 104.53PEPSICO ...........................................................118.61 0.56 119.74 101.06PFIZER .............................................................35.40 -0.95 46.47 34.78PHILIP MRRS INT..............................................82.39 -0.20 92.74 64.67PROCTER&GAMBLE .........................................116.00 -0.78 121.76 78.49TRAVELERS COS ..............................................146.33 -2.74 155.09 111.08TWITTER ..........................................................40.46 -1.07 43.48 26.19UNITEDHEALTH GRO.......................................243.20 -5.43 287.94 208.07UTD TECHS......................................................128.02 -3.22 144.40 100.48VERIZON COMM................................................55.69 -0.09 61.58 52.20VISA RG-A.......................................................176.34 -2.71 184.07 121.60WALGREENS BOOTS .........................................52.00 -0.79 86.31 49.31WALMART .......................................................105.19 -2.09 115.49 85.78WALT DISNEY ..................................................135.74 -2.78 147.15 100.35WELLS FARGO ..................................................45.42 -0.88 59.53 43.02

COMMODITIES CREDIT & RATESBoE IR Overnight .........................................0.750 0.00BoE IR 7 days ..............................................0.750 0.00BoE IR 1 month ...........................................0.750 0.00BoE IR 3 months .........................................0.750 0.00BoE IR 6 months.........................................0.750 0.00LIBOR Euro - overnight..............................-0.466 0.00LIBOR Euro - 12 months .............................-0.385 0.00LIBOR USD - overnight ................................2.095 0.00LIBOR USD - 12 months ................................1.988 0.00Halifax mortgage rate ................................3.990 0.00

Euro Base Rate ...........................................0.000 0.00Finance house base rate .............................1.000 0.00US Fed funds .................................................2.50 0.00US long bond yield ........................................2.14 -0.12Euro Euribor ..............................................-0.408 0.00The vix index ...............................................21.09 3.12The baltic dry index.................................1748.00 28.00Markit iBoxx EUR .......................................244.77 -2.59Markit iBoxx GBP ........................................355.21 0.07Markit iBoxx USD........................................260.21 0.44

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US SHARES

CONSTRUCTION & MATERIALS

BAE Systems . . . . . . . . .553.4 -5.2 636.2 443.9Cobham . . . . . . . . . . . . .163.9 -0.6 168.3 96.8Meggitt . . . . . . . . . . . . .608.4 -0.6 615.4 458.0QinetiQ Group . . . . . . . .275.2 -4.0 312.4 267.9Rolls-Royce Holdi . . . . .752.2 -27.2 1044.0 730.0Senior . . . . . . . . . . . . . .196.0 -5.0 327.8 185.4Ultra Electronics . . . . .2178.0 30.0 2178.0 1232.0

Bank of Georgia G . . . .1331.0 -60.0 1878.8 1310.0Barclays . . . . . . . . . . . . .141.5 -2.3 187.6 141.5Close Brothers Gr . . . .1262.0 -21.0 1660.0 1262.0CYBG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146.2 -8.5 352.8 145.3HSBC Holdings . . . . . . . .611.0 -11.0 721.3 600.8Lloyds Banking Gr . . . . .48.7 -0.8 66.6 48.7Metro Bank . . . . . . . . . .297.8 -1.0 3050.0 278.2Royal Bank of Sco . . . . .201.0 -3.6 270.4 197.5Standard Chartere . . . .614.2 -12.2 736.8 519.8TBC Bank Group . . . . .1346.0 -16.0 1728.0 1242.0

Barr (A.G.) . . . . . . . . . .636.0 -10.0 975.0 610.0Britvic . . . . . . . . . . . . . .864.0 -2.5 956.0 745.0Coca-Cola HBC AG . . .2755.0 21.0 3074.0 2244.0Diageo . . . . . . . . . . . .3424.0 39.0 3526.0 2523.5

Croda Internation . . . .4708.0 -36.0 5447.7 4576.0Elementis . . . . . . . . . . .139.4 -4.2 247.8 129.8Johnson Matthey . . . .2873.0 -58.0 3683.0 2620.0Sirius Minerals . . . . . . . . . .8.1 -1.1 37.0 7.5Synthomer . . . . . . . . . .291.0 0.8 532.1 279.8Victrex plc . . . . . . . . . .1876.0 -44.0 3408.0 1868.0

Balfour Beatty . . . . . . . .195.2 -3.1 296.5 194.2CRH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2651.0 10.0 2735.0 1971.5Galliford Try . . . . . . . . .543.0 -15.0 1104.0 512.0Ibstock . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215.0 -5.4 262.0 193.1

Centrica . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65.5 -1.0 155.6 65.2National Grid . . . . . . . . .847.4 -2.4 889.2 748.7Pennon Group . . . . . . . .697.8 -8.0 792.8 684.2Severn Trent . . . . . . . .1958.5 -28.5 2153.0 1770.0United Utilities . . . . . . .759.8 -1.2 873.6 682.4

Smith (DS) . . . . . . . . . .328.4 -3.6 511.8 292.2Smiths Group . . . . . . .1550.5 -6.0 1666.0 1279.5Smurfit Kappa Gro . . .2448.0 -2.0 3292.0 1934.0Vesuvius . . . . . . . . . . . .468.0 -5.8 662.0 466.2

Auto Trader Group . . . .538.0 2.8 606.0 388.5B&M European Valu . . .347.5 -1.5 426.3 278.6Card Factory . . . . . . . . . .161.9 -2.6 209.0 159.8Dixons Carphone . . . . . .111.0 0.0 178.6 107.6Dunelm Group . . . . . . .900.0 -10.0 981.0 482.8Inchcape . . . . . . . . . . . .567.5 -9.5 705.0 486.6JD Sports Fashion . . . . .605.8 -9.8 649.8 318.5Just Eat . . . . . . . . . . . . .800.4 10.4 805.8 533.8Kingfisher . . . . . . . . . . .204.2 -3.8 294.1 202.2Marks & Spencer G . . . . .187.9 0.3 299.1 186.8

Marshalls . . . . . . . . . . . .610.0 -12.5 690.0 412.2Polypipe Group . . . . . .403.4 -1.6 453.8 307.8

Contour Global . . . . . . .164.8 -1.8 246.0 150.1Drax Group . . . . . . . . . .273.6 -3.4 427.2 260.2SSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1109.5 15.0 1270.5 1008.0

Halma . . . . . . . . . . . . .1988.0 24.5 2094.0 1237.0Morgan Advanced M . . .251.0 -2.0 358.6 237.0Oxford Instrument . . .1284.0 -16.0 1424.0 842.0Renishaw . . . . . . . . . .3582.0 -24.0 5520.0 3460.0Spectris . . . . . . . . . . . .2281.0 -43.0 2898.0 1966.5

Aberforth Smaller . . . .1140.0 -8.0 1384.0 1120.0Alliance Trust . . . . . . . .804.0 -4.0 838.0 672.0Apax Global Alpha . . . .152.0 -2.0 159.0 127.0AVI Global Trust . . . . . .746.0 -10.0 781.0 660.0Baillie Gifford J . . . . . . .801.0 -4.0 866.0 663.0Bankers Inv Trust . . . . .933.0 -6.0 970.0 766.0BBGI SICAV S.A. ( . . . . . .154.0 -1.0 168.0 142.5BlackRock Smaller . . .1346.0 4.0 1560.0 1160.0BMO Global Smalle . . .1356.0 -14.0 1495.0 1220.0Caledonia Investm . . .3025.0 -5.0 3110.0 2650.0City of London In . . . . .402.5 -1.0 431.5 376.0Edinburgh Inv Tru . . . .540.0 -2.0 695.0 537.5F&C Investment Tr . . . .705.0 -6.0 737.0 616.0Fidelity China Sp . . . . . .207.0 -2.0 250.0 182.4Fidelity European . . . . .249.5 -1.0 257.5 202.0Fidelity Special . . . . . .245.0 -2.0 277.0 220.0Finsbury Growth & . . . .924.0 -9.0 956.0 740.0GCP Infrastructur . . . . . .125.6 -0.4 130.8 122.4Genesis Emerging . . . .751.0 -9.0 783.0 615.0Greencoat UK Wind . . . .137.6 -0.2 143.2 122.8HarbourVest Globa . . .1700.0 18.0 1726.0 1326.0Herald Investment . . .1288.0 -14.0 1364.0 1055.0HGCapital Trust . . . . . . .205.0 -5.0 220.0 175.0HICL Infrastructu . . . . . .161.8 -1.4 170.1 149.9International Pub . . . . .157.6 -2.4 163.4 146.8JPMorgan American . . .476.0 -4.5 494.5 386.5JPMorgan Emerging . .1006.0 -12.0 1066.0 759.0JPMorgan Indian I . . . . .723.0 -7.0 790.0 566.0JPMorgan Japanese . . .448.0 -3.0 470.0 367.0Jupiter European . . . . .832.0 -13.0 895.0 666.0Law Debenture Cor . . .566.0 -2.0 624.0 534.0Mercantile Invest . . . . .190.4 -3.4 219.0 168.0Monks Inv Trust . . . . . .922.0 -13.0 964.0 710.0Murray Internatio . . . .1150.0 -8.0 1208.0 1056.0NB Global Floatin . . . . . .89.5 -0.3 93.3 87.6NextEnergy Solar . . . . .119.0 -1.0 124.5 108.0Pantheon Internat . . .2285.0 -5.0 2330.0 1955.0Perpetual Income . . . .290.0 -1.5 364.5 289.0Pershing Square H . . .1438.0 -28.0 1480.0 990.0Personal Assets T . . .42900.0 -50.0 43075.438900.0Polar Capital Tec . . . . .1404.0 -16.0 1500.0 1066.0RIT Capital Partn . . . .2070.0 -15.0 2150.0 1892.0Riverstone Energy . . . .730.0 0.0 1282.0 720.0Schroder Asia Pac . . . . .435.0 -6.0 469.5 379.0Scottish Inv Trus . . . . . .814.0 -8.0 892.0 748.0Scottish Mortgage . . . .529.0 -6.5 568.5 441.4Sequoia Economic . . . .114.4 0.2 115.2 106.0Smithson Investme . .1244.0 -6.0 1278.0 1000.2Syncona Limited N . . . .231.5 -5.5 302.5 213.5Temple Bar Inv Tr . . . .1196.0 -10.0 1366.0 1116.0Templeton Emergin . . .775.0 -9.0 829.0 649.0The Renewables In . . . .127.0 -1.0 133.2 109.3TR Property Inv T . . . . .419.5 -2.0 433.5 353.5Vietnam Enterpris . . . .468.0 -4.0 477.0 420.0VinaCapital Vietn . . . . .354.5 -1.5 357.5 318.0Witan Inv Trust . . . . . . .213.5 -2.0 226.8 189.6Woodford Patient . . . . .45.0 0.8 91.0 40.1Worldwide Healthc . .2760.0 -15.0 2915.0 2325.0

3i Group . . . . . . . . . . . .1094.5 -5.0 1164.5 756.23i Infrastructure . . . . . .283.5 -2.0 303.0 232.5AJ Bell . . . . . . . . . . . . . .386.0 4.0 477.0 220.0Allied Minds . . . . . . . . . .60.0 -1.5 87.0 37.3Amigo Holdings . . . . . . .141.8 -3.2 297.5 140.4Arrow Global Grou . . . .214.2 -17.6 273.0 167.2ASA International . . . . .348.0 -29.0 510.0 320.0Ashmore Group . . . . . .495.6 -23.9 542.5 337.0Brewin Dolphin Ho . . . .287.6 -6.8 366.0 286.0Charter Court Fin . . . . .270.5 -4.5 375.0 228.8City of London In . . . . .426.0 6.5 440.0 360.0CMC Markets . . . . . . . . . .88.8 2.2 193.0 77.4Coats Group . . . . . . . . . .73.2 -0.8 91.3 69.8Georgia Capital . . . . . .1018.0 -2.0 1260.0 941.0Hargreaves Lansdo . . .1996.0 -70.0 2433.0 1633.0IG Group Holdings . . . .540.8 -21.2 915.0 474.8IntegraFin Holdin . . . . .380.0 -5.0 406.1 269.0Intermediate Capi . . . .1329.0 -24.0 1429.0 899.0International Per . . . . . .93.9 -9.9 243.0 93.9Investec . . . . . . . . . . . . .417.4 -4.4 561.0 414.3IP Group . . . . . . . . . . . . .60.7 -0.7 131.2 59.0John Laing Group . . . . .388.0 -1.0 402.0 285.0JTC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .356.0 -1.0 440.0 287.0Jupiter Fund Mana . . . .333.5 -6.7 432.0 287.6Liontrust Asset M . . . . .750.0 -12.0 816.0 532.0LMS Capital . . . . . . . . . . .50.3 0.0 53.5 44.0London Finance & . . . . .38.5 0.0 43.5 37.5London Stock Exch . . .6790.0 -50.0 7058.0 3867.0Man Group . . . . . . . . . . .155.4 0.1 183.0 126.8OneSavings Bank . . . . .331.2 -5.2 447.4 330.0Paragon Banking G . . .388.0 -7.0 500.5 379.2Plus500 Ltd (DI) . . . . . . .571.4 -8.0 2008.0 495.0Provident Financi . . . . .370.2 -15.8 692.6 370.2Quilter . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130.4 -5.5 156.6 110.6Rathbone Brothers . . .2120.0 -10.0 2634.0 2085.0Real Estate Credi . . . . . .168.0 0.5 175.5 163.0Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31.8 0.0 42.1 27.3River and Mercant . . . .265.0 5.0 330.0 212.0S&U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2140.0 -80.0 2605.0 1767.5Sanne Group . . . . . . . . .543.0 -11.0 752.0 450.0Schroders . . . . . . . . . .2787.0-105.0 3210.0 2334.0Standard Life Abe . . . . .247.4 -2.8 376.7 224.9TP ICAP . . . . . . . . . . . . .270.0 -10.0 324.5 267.2Walker Crips Grou . . . . .26.5 0.0 39.0 24.0XPS Pensions Grou . . . . .117.0 4.0 180.0 95.0

BT Group . . . . . . . . . . . .172.2 -0.8 264.7 171.8TalkTalk Telecom . . . . .103.7 -1.9 137.0 96.6Telecom Plus . . . . . . . .1274.0 -2.0 1528.0 1010.0

Greggs . . . . . . . . . . . . .2108.0 -24.0 2476.0 1006.0Morrison (Wm) Sup . . . .183.1 -1.2 269.4 183.1Ocado Group . . . . . . . .1192.5 -15.0 1435.0 749.8Sainsbury (J) . . . . . . . . .189.5 -1.8 341.5 187.9SSP Group . . . . . . . . . . .704.0 -3.0 744.4 615.1Tesco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .216.8 -1.4 266.2 189.6UDG Healthcare Pu . . . .771.0 -18.5 813.0 551.0

Associated Britis . . . . .2333.0 -52.0 2638.0 2041.0Bakkavor Group . . . . . . .99.0 -2.0 190.0 98.0Cranswick . . . . . . . . . .2612.0 -4.0 3454.0 2472.0Greencore Group . . . . .205.8 -1.3 230.0 162.9Hilton Food Group . . . .924.0 -9.0 1088.0 884.0Tate & Lyle . . . . . . . . . . .729.8 5.8 800.4 630.6Unilever . . . . . . . . . . . .4927.5 53.0 5091.0 3931.0

Mondi . . . . . . . . . . . . .1592.0 0.5 2200.0 1553.5

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Next . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5966.0 -50.0 6082.0 3991.0Pets at Home Grou . . . .224.2 -7.6 233.4 110.0Sports Direct Int . . . . . .229.8 -7.0 405.4 214.4Ted Baker . . . . . . . . . . . .913.5 0.0 2378.0 800.0Vivo Energy . . . . . . . . . .116.0 0.0 148.6 96.0WH Smith . . . . . . . . . .1982.0 -38.0 2186.0 1697.0

Assura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65.5 -0.5 66.4 52.4Convatec Group . . . . . . .181.0 -1.1 239.0 118.6Mediclinic Intern . . . . . .310.0 -9.9 498.7 293.4NMC Health . . . . . . . . .1910.0 -113.0 4120.0 1903.5Smith & Nephew . . . . .1897.5 15.0 1924.5 1258.0

Barratt Developme . . . .637.0 0.0 663.0 434.0Bellway . . . . . . . . . . . .2812.0 6.0 3226.0 2419.0Berkeley Group Ho . . .3848.0 3.0 3981.0 3226.0Bovis Homes Group . .1032.0 -5.0 1177.0 828.0Countryside Prope . . . .285.0 4.4 353.2 270.0Crest Nicholson H . . . . .344.2 -6.0 404.8 296.4McCarthy & Stone . . . . .132.2 -2.8 142.7 108.8Persimmon . . . . . . . . .1912.5 13.5 2489.0 1859.5

Admiral Group . . . . . .2014.0 -37.0 2300.0 1932.5Beazley . . . . . . . . . . . . .581.0 8.0 599.0 492.6Direct Line Insur . . . . . .293.4 -3.2 366.5 293.4Hastings Group Ho . . . .187.0 -2.0 274.2 174.0Hiscox Limited (D . . . .1583.0 -4.0 1777.0 1418.0Lancashire Holdin . . . .684.0 0.5 725.5 530.0RSA Insurance Gro . . . .530.2 -3.4 641.0 496.6Sabre Insurance G . . . .260.0 -3.5 294.0 249.0

Aviva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .379.9 -3.2 499.3 364.6Legal & General G . . . . .235.5 -2.5 291.2 223.7Phoenix Group Hol . . . .689.1 -4.3 724.8 544.0Prudential . . . . . . . . . .1477.0 -16.5 1814.5 1340.0St James's Place . . . . . .929.6 -12.4 1164.5 914.0

4Imprint Group . . . . .2870.0 -10.0 2940.0 1800.0Ascential . . . . . . . . . . . .366.4 -6.6 434.8 337.2Bloomsbury Publis . . . .231.0 4.0 243.0 190.5Centaur Media . . . . . . . . .41.5 0.0 56.5 34.7Entertainment One . . . .417.0 -7.2 483.4 336.4Euromoney Institu . . .1320.0 -30.0 1412.0 1132.0

Reckitt Benckiser . . . . .6127.0 96.0 7155.0 5593.0Redrow . . . . . . . . . . . . .549.0 -5.0 674.6 460.8Taylor Wimpey . . . . . . .147.8 0.1 192.3 129.3

Bodycote . . . . . . . . . . .680.0 -7.5 1017.0 676.0Hill & Smith Hold . . . . .1105.0 3.0 1306.0 902.5IMI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .942.8 -13.6 1227.0 870.0Melrose Industrie . . . . .169.3 -4.7 233.9 146.3RHI Magnesita N.V . . .3914.0-248.0 5085.0 3318.0Rotork . . . . . . . . . . . . . .305.6 -4.0 342.8 235.7Spirax-Sarco Engi . . . .7920.0 0.0 9400.0 5900.0Weir Group . . . . . . . . . .1321.0 -23.5 1920.0 1240.0

Evraz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .564.2 1.4 709.4 442.1Ferrexpo . . . . . . . . . . . .225.9 1.1 301.3 143.5

BBA Aviation . . . . . . . .300.4 -3.4 324.8 207.0Clarkson . . . . . . . . . . . .2315.0-210.0 2900.0 1878.0Fisher (James) & . . . .1992.0 4.0 2260.0 1600.0Royal Mail . . . . . . . . . . .204.8 -4.2 489.0 194.5

Future . . . . . . . . . . . . .1006.0 -8.0 1248.0 375.0Goco Group . . . . . . . . . . .81.4 -1.6 118.4 64.6Haynes Publishing . . . .223.0 0.0 227.0 160.0Huntsworth . . . . . . . . . .96.2 -0.8 125.0 81.0Informa . . . . . . . . . . . . .846.8 1.2 892.0 605.8ITE Group . . . . . . . . . . . .69.8 -1.0 83.7 56.3ITV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106.6 -1.2 168.9 104.7Moneysupermarket. . . .353.1 -4.5 417.7 264.0Pearson . . . . . . . . . . . .820.0 -7.8 1027.5 769.2Reach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89.0 -0.8 91.6 54.6Relx plc . . . . . . . . . . . .1946.5 5.5 1978.0 1491.5Rightmove . . . . . . . . . .522.8 3.7 585.1 420.9STV Group . . . . . . . . . . .370.0 -10.0 430.0 318.0Tarsus Group . . . . . . . . .424.0 0.0 438.0 243.0WPP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .971.0 -10.0 1301.0 800.4

Acacia Mining . . . . . . . .251.8 6.6 256.6 96.1Anglo American . . . . . .1817.4 -25.0 2266.0 1464.6Antofagasta . . . . . . . . .824.8 -4.4 1022.5 727.2BHP Group . . . . . . . . . .1797.4 -4.6 2049.0 1490.6Centamin (DI) . . . . . . . .140.2 -1.4 142.6 79.8Fresnillo . . . . . . . . . . . . .687.6 8.8 1027.5 601.0Glencore . . . . . . . . . . . .230.9 -0.3 341.5 229.3Hochschild Mining . . . .222.6 -3.0 229.0 149.1Kaz Minerals . . . . . . . . .495.8 -10.8 738.4 436.7Polymetal Interna . . . .1071.5 11.0 1080.0 597.2Rio Tinto . . . . . . . . . . .4040.5 -15.5 4976.5 3486.0

Inmarsat . . . . . . . . . . . .577.6 -0.4 585.0 362.8Vodafone Group . . . . . .148.3 -0.8 182.5 123.3

BP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .500.8 -2.1 598.3 485.9Cairn Energy . . . . . . . . .159.9 0.5 249.2 140.0Energean Oil & Ga . . . .1056.0 -6.0 1082.0 510.0Premier Oil . . . . . . . . . . .70.2 -0.5 143.6 55.6Royal Dutch Shell . . . .2377.0 4.0 2666.0 2213.0Royal Dutch Shell . . . .2349.0 10.0 2705.5 2227.0Tullow Oil . . . . . . . . . . . .214.5 35.4 266.3 165.2

Hunting . . . . . . . . . . . . .423.8 -9.0 849.0 419.8Petrofac Ltd. . . . . . . . . .390.0 -6.5 663.4 381.5Wood Group (John) . . .460.8 -4.2 796.4 389.9

Burberry Group . . . . . .2143.0 -72.0 2345.0 1623.5PZ Cussons . . . . . . . . . . .210.5 1.5 244.0 178.6

AstraZeneca . . . . . . . .7330.0 -21.0 7396.0 5325.0BTG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .839.0 -0.5 853.0 508.5Dechra Pharmaceut . .2882.0 -38.0 3168.0 2014.0Genus . . . . . . . . . . . . .2574.0 -48.0 2884.0 2098.0GlaxoSmithKline . . . . .1669.2 -0.6 1730.0 1418.0Hikma Pharmaceuti . .1985.0 31.5 2025.0 1510.5

BMO Commercial Pr . . .109.0 -2.6 149.4 106.0Capital & Countie . . . . .184.9 -5.9 279.5 184.9CLS Holdings . . . . . . . . .224.5 -7.5 255.0 195.4Daejan Holdings . . . .5500.0 -60.0 6190.0 5420.0Grainger . . . . . . . . . . . .222.8 2.0 278.5 205.8NewRiver REIT . . . . . . .160.4 0.6 269.0 156.8Safestore Holding . . . . .595.5 -8.0 658.5 499.4Savills . . . . . . . . . . . . . .880.5 -32.5 957.0 678.5St. Modwen Proper . . . .373.0 -5.5 441.5 365.0UK Commercial Pro . . . .84.7 -0.1 92.7 80.2

Big Yellow Group . . . . .955.5 -26.5 1062.0 852.5British Land Comp . . . .474.6 -9.9 643.2 471.7

Derwent London . . . .2926.0 -16.0 3328.0 2761.0Great Portland Es . . . . .649.6 -7.2 773.6 648.4Hammerson . . . . . . . . .215.0 -1.7 507.0 206.8Intu Properties . . . . . . . .34.4 -2.4 201.5 33.6Land Securities G . . . . . .757.8 -14.0 939.5 757.8LondonMetric Prop . . . .199.3 -2.1 215.2 172.7Primary Health Pr . . . . .131.2 -1.0 139.0 106.4SEGRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . .756.4 -7.2 789.0 585.2Shaftesbury . . . . . . . . .740.0 -8.5 928.5 740.0Tritax Big Box Re . . . . . .145.0 0.5 159.7 129.0Unite Group . . . . . . . . .1027.0 -5.0 1076.0 797.5Workspace Group . . . .809.0 -18.0 1075.0 789.5

Avast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .319.2 -8.4 345.8 229.6Aveva Group . . . . . . . .3834.0 -10.0 4170.0 2284.0Computacenter . . . . . .1413.0 -12.0 1562.0 952.0FDM Group (Holdin . . . .776.0 -16.0 1000.0 734.0Funding Circle Ho . . . . .120.0 -3.4 440.0 99.0Kainos Group . . . . . . . .516.0 -2.0 676.0 354.0Micro Focus Inter . . . . .1641.6 -31.0 2491.6 1434.4Playtech . . . . . . . . . . . .399.9 -3.4 556.8 361.8Sage Group . . . . . . . . . .705.0 -2.0 820.4 525.6Softcat . . . . . . . . . . . . . .917.5 3.5 993.5 565.0Sophos Group . . . . . . . .392.2 -8.8 539.5 298.2

Aggreko . . . . . . . . . . . .838.0 -7.6 882.0 691.8Ashtead Group . . . . . .2176.0 -41.0 2438.0 1586.5BCA Marketplace . . . . . .241.4 -0.4 247.0 178.5Bunzl . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2088.0 -30.0 2551.0 2047.0Capita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131.0 -4.7 150.2 99.9DCC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6524.0 22.0 7390.0 5555.0Diploma . . . . . . . . . . .1460.0 -8.0 1634.0 1150.0Electrocomponents . . .540.8 -11.2 761.6 480.0Equiniti Group . . . . . . .203.4 -4.8 266.0 186.2Essentra . . . . . . . . . . . .400.4 -3.0 473.8 325.4Experian . . . . . . . . . . .2556.0 12.0 2566.0 1728.5Ferguson . . . . . . . . . . .6016.0 -12.0 6556.0 4749.0G4S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174.5 -10.7 252.4 174.5Grafton Group Uni . . . .645.5 -19.5 937.0 630.0Hays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149.2 -1.4 212.0 135.7Homeserve . . . . . . . . .1105.0 -11.0 1263.0 849.0Howden Joinery Gr . . . .522.2 -4.0 573.4 416.4Intertek Group . . . . . .5576.0 -66.0 5962.0 4387.0Network Internati . . . .598.0 -14.0 628.0 500.0Pagegroup . . . . . . . . . .450.0 -2.0 623.5 415.0PayPoint . . . . . . . . . . . .905.0 -9.0 1118.0 748.0Rentokil Initial . . . . . . . .451.3 1.5 455.9 284.8Robert Walters . . . . . . .534.0 8.0 475.0 814.0Serco Group . . . . . . . . . .140.5 1.1 147.4 84.1SIG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116.5 -1.1 153.0 102.2Travis Perkins . . . . . . . .1185.0 -29.5 1465.0 970.0

British American . . . .3053.5 -3.5 4222.5 2375.0Imperial Brands . . . . .2083.5 -21.0 2987.5 1846.8

Carnival . . . . . . . . . . . .3584.0 -34.0 5000.0 3412.0Cineworld Group . . . . . .238.1 -4.3 323.6 238.1Compass Group . . . . .2073.0 9.0 2110.0 1483.0Domino's Pizza Gr . . . . .231.5 -1.1 297.2 224.4EI Group . . . . . . . . . . . . .281.2 -0.2 285.0 155.8FirstGroup . . . . . . . . . . . .113.5 1.2 116.6 79.3Flutter Entertain . . . .6600.0 -26.0 7290.0 5525.0Go-Ahead Group . . . .2020.0 -36.0 2200.0 1480.0Greene King . . . . . . . . .572.8 0.8 704.4 472.8GVC Holdings . . . . . . . .556.8 -12.6 1125.0 507.5InterContinental . . . .5378.0 37.0 5738.0 3958.4International Con . . . . .448.8 -4.0 711.4 413.5Marston's . . . . . . . . . . . .105.1 -2.3 124.7 89.9Merlin Entertainm . . . . .451.6 0.8 452.5 307.1

Millennium & Copt . . . .680.0 0.0 685.0 436.0Mitchells & Butle . . . . . .311.5 -4.5 322.0 238.0National Express . . . . .421.4 2.4 438.4 361.4PPHE Hotel Group . . .1820.0 0.0 1990.0 1495.0Rank Group . . . . . . . . . .158.6 -1.4 187.4 135.0Restaurant Group . . . . .136.3 -3.3 221.9 111.9Stagecoach Group . . . . .127.1 -1.1 177.0 115.5TUI AG Reg Shs (D . . . . .810.6 -12.4 1565.5 698.0Wetherspoon (J.D. . . . .1487.0 -14.0 1581.0 1066.0Whitbread . . . . . . . . .4240.0 19.0 5114.0 3929.0William Hill . . . . . . . . . .158.0 1.8 265.5 132.3Wizz Air Holdings . . . .3455.0 -2.0 3769.0 2329.0

Abcam . . . . . . . . . . . . .1220.0 -12.0 1539.0 1017.0Advanced Medical . . . .291.5 -1.0 370.0 260.0Alliance Pharma . . . . . . .72.8 0.0 95.6 60.0ASOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2280.0-149.0 6192.0 2107.0Blue Prism Group . . . .1100.0 -60.0 2575.0 1040.0Camellia . . . . . . . . . .10250.0 0.0 11750.0 9100.0CareTech Holding . . . . .370.0 -5.0 406.0 325.0Central Asia Meta . . . . .195.4 0.4 266.5 193.4Clinigen Group . . . . . . .929.5 -17.0 1069.0 721.0CVS Group . . . . . . . . . . .882.0 -14.0 1023.0 395.0Dart Group . . . . . . . . . .749.0 -22.0 1017.0 748.0Diversified Gas & . . . . . .103.0 -0.5 134.0 100.0Draper Esprit . . . . . . . .494.0 -6.0 645.0 458.0Eland Oil & Gas . . . . . . . .121.8 -1.2 134.0 97.0EMIS Group . . . . . . . . . .1176.0 -24.0 1242.0 864.0Fevertree Drinks . . . . .2160.0 -32.0 3956.0 2070.0First Derivatives . . . . .2635.0 -25.0 4390.0 2050.0Frontier Developm . . . .937.0 32.0 1385.0 740.0Gamma Communicati 1090.0 -20.0 1195.0 688.0GB Group . . . . . . . . . . .562.0 -16.0 631.0 410.5Gooch & Housego . . . .1190.0 -15.0 1880.0 954.0Hurricane Energy . . . . . .40.6 -0.2 60.8 39.0Impax Asset Manag . . .244.5 -2.5 295.0 184.0Iomart Group . . . . . . . .327.0 1.5 475.0 308.0IQE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58.5 -0.4 108.5 51.6James Halstead . . . . . . .516.0 -2.0 532.0 367.0Johnson Service G . . . . .173.2 1.4 174.8 113.6Keywords Studios . . . .1584.0 -20.0 2065.0 900.0Learning Technolo . . . .108.0 2.0 166.5 62.2M&C Saatchi . . . . . . . . .256.0 -83.0 394.0 255.0M. P. Evans Group . . . . .675.0 6.0 800.0 637.0Majestic Wine . . . . . . . .287.5 13.0 420.5 219.0Midwich Group . . . . . . .540.0 20.0 685.0 491.5Mortgage Advice B . . . .570.0 -22.0 720.0 490.0Next Fifteen Comm . . .578.0 4.0 658.0 469.0Nichols . . . . . . . . . . . . .1850.0 10.0 1876.0 1240.0Numis Corporation . . . .228.0 -6.0 422.0 221.5Polar Capital Hol . . . . .502.0 -38.0 644.0 448.0Purplebricks Grou . . . . .116.0 2.2 300.0 90.0Redde . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109.8 -5.0 196.0 90.0Renew Holdings . . . . . .390.0 10.0 436.5 333.0RWS Holdings . . . . . . .594.0 -1.0 652.0 415.5Scapa Group . . . . . . . . .207.5 -1.0 473.4 157.0Secure Income Rei . . . .421.0 5.0 421.0 371.0Serica Energy . . . . . . . .105.4 -0.6 142.0 74.9Smart Metering Sy . . . .452.6 1.6 665.0 451.0Telford Homes . . . . . . .349.0 1.0 430.0 267.0Thorpe (F.W.) . . . . . . . .329.0 3.0 340.0 248.0Watkin Jones . . . . . . . .210.0 3.5 232.5 192.2Young & Co's Brew . . .1650.0 -10.0 1885.0 1322.5Young & Co's Brew . . .1160.0 0.0 1275.0 1030.0

Tullow Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214.5 19.8Acacia Mining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251.8 2.7Woodford Patient C . . . . . . . . . . .45.0 1.8Hikma Pharmaceutic . . . . . . . .1985.0 1.6Reckitt Benckiser . . . . . . . . . . .6127.0 1.6Countryside Proper . . . . . . . . . .285.0 1.6Beazley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .581.0 1.4Ultra Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . .2178.0 1.4SSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1109.5 1.4Just Eat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .800.4 1.3

Sirius Minerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8.1 -12.3Clarkson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2315.0 -8.3Intu Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34.4 -6.6RHI Magnesita N.V. . . . . . . . . . .3914.0 -6.0G4S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174.5 -5.8NMC Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1910.0 -5.6CYBG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146.2 -5.5Ashmore Group . . . . . . . . . . . . .495.6 -4.6Bank of Georgia Gr . . . . . . . . . .1331.0 -4.3Provident Financia . . . . . . . . . . .370.2 -4.1

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MAIN CHANGES UK 350

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��

GILTS

��

��

� �AEROSPACE & DEFENCE

BANKS

BEVERAGES

CHEMICALS

ELECTRICITY

ELECTRONIC & ELECTRICAL EQ.

EQUITY INVESTMENT INSTRUM.

FIXED LINE TELECOMS

FOOD & DRUG RETAILERS

FOOD PRODUCERS

FORESTRY & PAPER

GAS, WATER & MULTIUTILITIES

OIL & GAS PRODUCERS

OIL EQUIPMENT & SERVICES

PERSONAL GOODS

PHARMACEUTICALS & BIOTECH

REAL ESTATE INVEST. & SERV.

SUPPORT SERVICES

TOBACCO

TRAVEL & LEISURE

AIM 50

Tsy 3.750 19 . . . . . . .100.22 -0.03 103.3 100.2Tsy 2.000 20 . . . . . .101.38 0.02 102.5 101.4Tsy 4.750 20 . . . . . .102.38 -0.02 106.4 102.4Tsy 3.750 20 . . . . . .103.45 0.01 106.3 103.5Tsy 2.500 20 . . . . . .355.49 -0.04 361.4 355.4Tsy 8.000 21 . . . . . . .113.81 0.01 120.4 113.4Tsy 4.000 22 . . . . . .109.34 0.06 111.3 109.0Tsy 0.500 22 . . . . . .100.51 0.11 100.5 97.7Tsy 1.875 22 . . . . . . .116.94 -0.04 118.3 115.5Tsy 2.250 23 . . . . . . .107.81 0.15 107.9 104.7Tsy 2.500 24 . . . . . .375.41 0.11 377.1 358.7Tsy 0.125 24 . . . . . . .115.05 0.05 115.6 110.9Tsy 5.000 25 . . . . . .125.77 0.19 125.9 122.1Tsy 4.250 27 . . . . . . .131.63 0.33 131.8 122.6Tsy 1.250 27 . . . . . . .139.04 0.24 139.5 128.4Tsy 6.000 28 . . . . . .150.63 0.35 150.8 140.5Tsy 0.125 29 . . . . . . .131.92 0.33 132.3 118.8Tsy 4.750 30 . . . . . .145.66 0.45 145.8 132.1Tsy 4.125 30 . . . . . .396.02 0.34 396.8 355.2Tsy 4.250 32 . . . . . .143.34 0.48 143.7 128.5Tsy 1.250 32 . . . . . . .162.04 0.20 162.6 144.1Tsy 0.125 36 . . . . . . .154.79 0.28 155.7 133.4Tsy 4.250 36 . . . . . . .151.30 0.54 151.9 133.1Tsy 4.750 38 . . . . . . .166.01 0.52 167.0 144.9Tsy 0.625 40 . . . . . .175.80 0.08 177.3 152.8Tsy 4.500 42 . . . . . .169.65 0.62 170.8 145.9Tsy 3.500 45 . . . . . . .151.73 0.67 152.9 128.0Tsy 4.250 46 . . . . . .172.26 0.67 173.6 145.7Tsy 4.025 49 . . . . . . .178.91 0.68 180.6 150.0Tsy 0.500 50 . . . . . .207.48 -0.16 210.3 173.7Tsy 0.250 52 . . . . . .204.34 -0.18 207.2 168.8

WORLD INDICES

FTSE 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7226.72 -27.13 -0.37FTSE 250 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18913.00 -179.15 -0.94FTSE All-Share . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3947.53 -18.01 -0.45FTSE AIM All-Share . . . . . . . . . . . . . 876.60 -9.42 -1.06

S&P 500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2882.70 -35.95 -1.23Dow Jones I.A.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25896.44 -391.00 -1.49Nasdaq Composite. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7863.41 -95.73 -1.20Xetra DAX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11679.68 -14.12 -0.12

CAC 40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5310.31 -17.61 -0.33Swiss Market Index . . . . . . . . . . . . 9760.02 10.10 0.10ISEQ Overall Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5842.32 -19.97 -0.34FTSEurofirst 300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1457.79 -4.48 -0.31

Hang Seng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25824.72 -114.58 -0.44Shanghai Composite . . . . . . . . . . . 2814.99 40.24 1.45STI Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3168.46 -18.14 -0.57ASX All Ordinaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6670.10 6.70 0.10

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MOBILE TELECOMS

MEDIA

MINING

SOFTWARE & COMPUTER SERV.

HHOLD GDS & HOME CONSTR.

NON LIFE INSURANCE

INDUSTRIAL TRANSPORTATION

GENERAL RETAILERS INDUSTRIAL METALS & MINING

CONSTRUCTION & MATERIALS

€/$ 1.1215 0.0018

€/£ 0.9286 0.0024

€/¥ 118.04 0.3223

/€ 1.0766 0.0030

/$ 1.2075 0.0041

/¥ 127.12 0.0731

FTSE 100

7226.7227.13

FTSE 250

18913.00179.15

FTSE ALL SHARE

3947.5318.01

DOW JONES

25896.44391.00

NASDAQ

7863.4195.73

S&P 500

2882.7035.95

FINANCIAL SERVICES

GENERAL INDUSTRIALS

LIFE INSURANCE

HEALTH CARE EQUIPMETN & S.

INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

REAL ESTATE INVEST. TRUSTS

NEWSLETTERS

The biggest storiesdirect to your inbox

GET THE MORNING UPDATE,CITY A.M.’S DAILY EMAIL

CITYAM.COM/NEWSLETTER

13TUESDAY 13 AUGUST 2019 FEATURECITYAM.COM

OFFICE POLITICS

WE HAVE all been there.Waiting impatiently atthe start of a meetingfor documents and con-ferencing applications

to load; the frustration when yourdevice crashes after working twohours on a document that didn’tauto-save; or having to travel hours toa meeting because it’s just not possi-ble to do it remotely.

These are not unusual circum-stances. In fact, these challenges are ex-perienced by office workers every day.

Recent research from Insight con-ducted across the UK highlights thatoffice workers have 1.8bn workinghours of their time wasted every yearbecause the technology that they’regiven is not good enough.

UK workers are wasting 1.8bn hours a year because of mediocre technology

Computersays no: Timeto upgrade the office tech

In 2019, employees should not becomplaining that IT makes their livesharder. Surely the digital age meansbusinesses are leading with the latesttechnology?

The truth is quite the opposite. Withthe average worker wasting 2.4 hoursevery week due to slow, overcompli-cated or unsuitable technology, it’s arecipe for a very unproductive work-

force. In fact, the time office workerslose every week adds up to the equiv-alent of 14 days, per worker, per year.

Employees are also being inundatedwith irrelevant information, resultingin disengagement with their employ-ers and colleagues.

Overall, office workers are missinginformation four times a week, andmore than a third of them overlookimportant or useful information atleast once a day – meaning that theyneed to work harder just to keep pacewith communication.

Employees who suffer informationoverload will simply switch off – it’s nosurprise that 60 per cent of officeworkers ignore internal informationuntil it’s brought to their attention.

As a consumer, you have access to a

huge range of technology and devices,where the information you receive istailored to your preferences. Busi-nesses should take the same approach.

Technology in the workplace thatcannot help streamline communica-tion and support a healthy work-lifebalance is clearly not fit for purpose.

One simple reason for technologyfrustrations is that employees oftenaren’t given the training they need. Astaggering 77 per cent of office work-ers have been given technology andapplications at some point withoutbeing told how to use them. So whileemployers may be making the tech-nology investments their users need,they’re falling at the final hurdle.

Left unchecked, frustrated employ-ees may begin to look elsewhere, with48 per cent of office workers sayingthat they would look for better tech-nology in their next job.

The world is changing; for many“work” is no longer a specific place,but something you do. People want towork when and where they want. Be-yond this, technology at work shouldmirror what we use at home.

If businesses don’t prioritise meet-ing their employees’ expectations, allparties will suffer, from workers whoare increasingly frustrated with theiremployer, to low productivity levelshindering business success.

Without the right technology, toolsand training in place, organisationswill eventually struggle to attract andretain employees. After all, who wantsto work in today’s world using yester-day’s technology?

£Emma de Sousa is managing director at Insight UK.

IT CROWD

CeXFree

Oh no. Not again,you cry. Thebuffering circlehas beenspinning in themiddle of yourscreen for 10minutes, whichonly means onething: all is lost.Your colleague in the ITdepartment asksif you’ve triedturning yourcomputer onand off again.You bang yourhead on yourdesk, thinkingthis probablywouldn’thappen if youwere working ona computer fromthis century. Buy,sell or exchangedevices throughthe CeX store.

Who wants towork in today’sworld usingyesterday’stechnology?

Emma de Sousa

CITYAM.COM14 TUESDAY 13 AUGUST 2019OPINION

EDITED BY RACHEL CUNLIFFE

[Re: The Treasury has stopped making1p and 2p coins, but should we justscrap them completely?]How timely to have a debate on scrappingout-of-date coins on the very day that thenew chancellor announces his plan tointroduce a whole new coin, thecommemorative Brexit 50p. What thisshows is that coins have a value that goesfar beyond the number stamped on theface – a value that is symbolic andemotional rather than purely financial.Launching the Brexit 50p coins into masscirculation is being taken as a sign thatthis Treasury, under this chancellor, is fullybehind Brexit (as opposed to under hispredecessor). In the case of the 1p and 2pcoins (which cost more to make than theyare actually worth), keeping them incirculation is a symbol that thegovernment has not forgotten the peoplefor whom such coins have a significantsentimental value. It’s an expensiveposturing act, refusing to move with thetimes in fear of upsetting people who haveno use for these coins, but value thenostalgia element. Nothing at all like theintroduction of the new 50p coins, then.R Levy

LETTERSTO THE EDITOR

Fun fact of the day.Of the two referendums that wereheld in the 1970s on UK EECmembership, the results wereamazingly similar.1972 – 67.7% to 32.3% in favour ofjoining.1975 – 67.23% to 32.77% in favour ofremaining.@EmporersNewC

Argentine peso opening 15-20%weaker after yesterday’s election.@M_PaulMcNamara

Yuan: Having a bit of a month lads Pound: Tell me about itPeso: Sostenga mi cerveza@Birdyword

Great admirer of Caroline Lucas, butputting a gender restriction on a govtpreventing no-deal is profoundlyunhelpful. There is simply noconnection between that subject andthe one we are discussing.@IanDunt

I thank @CarolineLucas for her fightagainst Brexit, and I will always standwith her on a platform to Remain, butI worry her new proposed plan wouldnot solve our country’s divisions. Thepeople must have the final say, notpoliticians from either side. @EmilyThornberry

Is there anything more sexist thanclaiming your gender determines yourworldview/behaviour/attitude?@trussliz

Remoaners: you care about thesymbolism of passports?Smallminded peons! Buffoons!Gammons! Also Remoaners: A 50p PIECE ABOUTBREXIT? NOT IN MY NAME! IT IS NOTCURRENCY! IT AN OUTRAGE! REFUSETO TAKE IT IN YOUR CHANGE! RESIST!RESIST!@ajcdeane

To coin a phrase

BEST OFTWITTER

IT WAS Michael Gove who popu-larised the term “the Blob” to de-scribe the establishment forcesbattling his education reforms.It’s such a perfect description, be-

cause it captures the experience ofanyone who tries to change the sys-tem – a constant, oozing pressure,flowing around your positions untilthey’re completely swallowed up.

Another education minister,George Walden, compared the expe-rience to trying to fight fog with ahand grenade: whatever you tried,it always returned.

Dominic Cummings, now incharge of Downing Street underBoris Johnson, earned his ferociousreputation in Whitehall because he,along with Gove and their allies,fought tooth and nail to drive theirreforms through, drawing morethan a little blood in the process.

Yet what has happened since is anobject lesson in the difficulties ofentrenching reform, let alone build-ing on it.

One of the lynchpins of the Goveagenda was the free schools pro-gramme – the idea that groups ofparents or teachers who were dissat-isfied with local provision could setup their own schools. A new reportby Suella Braverman MP, herself afounder of the Michaela free schoolin Wembley, shows that the schoolsthat have resulted have been highlysuccessful and highly popular.

The statistics speak for them-selves. Free schools are 50 per centmore likely to be rated outstandingby Ofsted than other types ofschools. They are strongly preferredby parents. They have extremelystrong academic results at both pri-

This an object lessonin how a series ofsmall bureaucraticchanges canundermine projectsof which Whitehallinsiders disapprove

Free schools show how hardit can be to battle the Blob

Robert Colvile

mary and secondary level. Just two per cent of schools are

free schools, but four of them areranked among the 10 best schoolsin the country. They are better fordisadvantaged pupils, and morelikely to be set up in disadvantagedareas. And so on and so forth.

But Braverman’s report – pub-lished today by the Centre for PolicyStudies – also shows how the mo-mentum has steadily been drainedfrom the free schools programme.

It’s not just that Gove’s successorsproved less willing to pick a fight(indeed, they were expressly or-dered not to stir things up toomuch). It’s an object lesson in howa series of seemingly small bureau-cratic changes can undermine proj-ects of which Whitehall insidersdisapprove.

In this case, they have not onlyslowed the pace of the programme(the government is on course todrastically undershoot its originaltarget for free school numbers), butstripped out what made it special.

The original idea was that freeschools would bring new ideas intothe education system. And one ofthe hallmarks of the original waveof free schools was their breathtak-ing diversity of education approach.

At Michaela, pupils recite Englishpoetry by heart and are taught tra-ditional hymns as a way of instill-ing British values among a diversecommunity.

Some schools teach Latin, othersfocus on maths, or sport, or arts, orworking with pupils’ hands. TheLondon Academy of Excellence, asixth form college supported bysome of the country’s leading pub-

lic schools, saw 22 of its pupils of-fered places at Oxbridge.

The other part of the original vi-sion was that these schools could(and should) be set up in areaswhere existing schools are failingtheir pupils.

Instead, the rules have beenchanged so that future free schoolswill in all likelihood be schools justlike any other.

The key change is that they cannow only be established where exist-ing schools cannot fit in all thepupils – serving to plug gaps inquantity rather than quality, as wasoriginally intended. This limits

their innovative potential.The Department for Education,

post-Gove, has also made it clearthat free schools are far from thetop of its priority list.

When Justine Greening, for exam-ple, needed to find an extra £1.3bnto raise per pupil funding, she tooka good chunk of it from the freeschools budget.

A project like free schools, foreignto the education establishment’sbloodstream, is always at risk of re-jection. But it’s not the only exam-ple of how the system works in itsown interests.

Consider the fact that the mainteaching union’s big idea for re-forming school inspection is toabolish Ofsted and let its membersmark their own homework.

Too many of those within the Blobwill, with some honourable excep-tions, serve their own conveniencerather than that of Britain’s pupils.

It is a tribute to Gove that so manyof his reforms have survived the ap-parent indifference of his succes-sors. But for education to improvefurther, it needs voices outside thesystem to support, defend and ex-tend reform. The price of freeschools is eternal vigilance.

And it also explains why Boris hascalled in Cummings to deliverBrexit. He may not have defeatedthe Blob forever, but in pushingthrough Gove’s agenda, he showedthat rarest of Whitehall abilities: toget big things done.

£Robert Colvile is director of the Centrefor Policy Studies. Fight for Free Schoolsby Suella Braverman MP is publishedtoday.

IT IS more than a decade sincethe unique sight of the Red Ar-rows – Britain airborne in for-mation – was last seen in theskies of the United States

Yesterday, they took to the skies inCanada at the Gatineau Airshow,marking the beginning of an 11-week tour of North America, whichincludes visits to more than 25cities to promote UK trade and de-fence interests.

Some states, such as SouthDakota, have never seen a UK tradedelegation before. This tour is anoverdue opportunity to define ourfuture trade and defence coopera-tion with the US and Canada.

Over the next three months, UK of-ficials and diplomats will travelacross these countries – from NewYork to Washington, Toronto to Hal-ifax, Portland to Seattle – promotingBritish interests while drawingcrowds to see one of the world’s pre-mier aerobatic display teams.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raaband international trade secretary

Liz Truss both landed in NorthAmerica last week to kickstart thediplomatic dialogue, as this govern-ment prioritises its commitment totrade with these nations

Canada and the US are two of thefastest-growing major worldeconomies. The US is the largest sin-gle export and import market forBritish goods, while bilateral tradewith Canada jumped by 17 per centto £20.6bn in the last 12 months.

All this has been achieved already,without the benefit of a compre-hensive free trade agreement.

Talking to local businesses, gover-nors, and officials at a state level iswhere government-backed trade re-ally happens. It’s where trade policyis discussed, where market accessdeals start, and where UK productsare most effectively promoted.

To take just one example, look atToronto’s Pearson InternationalAirport, which is undergoing a bil-lion-dollar expansion to almostdouble its footprint by 2037. Theproject requires a number of reno-

vations, presenting a real opportu-nity for British business.

Trade in travel and transportationservices contribute more than£2.6bn for the UK and Canada,while British aerospace exports toCanada jumped by nine per cent to£660m in the last year.

That’s why in Toronto, our tradeofficials will meet buyers and plan-ners responsible for the airport’s ex-pansion. We’ll make the case forBritish aerospace and highlight whyfurther enhancing trade relations isa win-win for both countries.

For many, the crucial questionthat the Department for Interna-tional Trade has to answer is

whether Britain can broker freetrade deals with nations such as theUS, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,and India when we leave the EU.

To achieve this in a way that bene-fits British businesses, we must domore than simply visit Washington,Sydney and New Delhi.

We need to forge closer relation-ships at state, city and town leveltoo, which is why the unique skillsof the Red Arrows are being har-nessed to engage audiences, consol-idate relationships with existingcontacts, and access some that weotherwise wouldn’t have. We mustuse all the assets at our disposal thatgive us our unique reach globally:our language, legal system, highereducation excellence, to name a few.

The Red Arrows tour will come toan end in October – the samemonth that we leave the EU – and Ihope this trip will act as a blueprintfor trading success. It is one thatcouldn’t come at a better time.

£Conor Burns is minister for trade policy.

The wings of the Red Arrows are elevatingUK trade interests across North America

Conor Burns

FORUM

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IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

AUGUST has already beeneventful for US-China rela-tions. Last week, China sus-pended purchases of USfarm products in response to

an escalation in American tariffs,meaning that President DonaldTrump won’t get the great agricultureorders that he tweeted about so en-thusiastically in June.

African Swine Fever means thatthere are fewer pigs in China to eat USsoy beans, so Beijing can afford tohold out on this particular front.

In fact, neither side in this fight isunder enough pressure to give way.There’s no sign of a US recession andit’s not obvious that import tariffswill feed through fully into US pricesand blue-collar living standards.

On the Beijing side, the fall in therenminbi, manufacturing movinginto South East Asia, and new invest-ments in automation in China haveall acted to limit the impact.

The Chinese economy is stuttering,but in the short term, power con-sumption continues to rise at 4.7 percent, airline passenger traffic is upeight per cent, and freight volumescontinue to grow at 5.5 per cent.

Both major industrial PMI indicatorshave been in contraction since April,but the Communist Party is manag-ing to keep the ship steady. China’sleaders would rather let the renminbifall than take the additional eco-nomic hit of new tariffs.

They are willing to let the currencyfall now because they can. China hasmuch stronger control over forexthan it had four years ago when it lostone trillion US dollars – a quarter ofits reserves – in a year.

Since then, the government has

made it much more difficult for cor-porates and individuals to access for-eign exchange, and have forcedinternational M&A giants such asHNA to sell assets and repatriate cash.Forex reserves have risen consistentlysince October 2018. There is no sign ofa panic exodus of capital.

So what are the risks that are keep-ing markets awake? To start with, theChinese economy remains addicted todebt. Total corporate, household andgovernment debt now exceeds 303 percent of GDP. This cannot continue.

The government has cut off shadowbanking channels, but is opening upinfrastructure credit and spendingagain in an effort to support growth.This won’t work, because returns aretoo low to pay off the debt.

America (and the west) wants China

to end corporate subsidies, but this isa challenge to the economic and so-cial model of the Communist Party.

Subsidies and government-directeddebt are everywhere, and the Partykeeps power in part by controlling thepurse strings. The Communists don’twant to change their model; the US isupping economic pressure to try toforce them.

What happens if the Chinese econ-omy is hit further on trade? Whathappens if China then suffers real in-stability from its debt burden? Wouldthe Communists accept systematicchange and the resulting loss of polit-ical power?

They now have better technology tocontrol social unrest. They would haveto free the exchange rate and the ren-minbi would collapse. It would havemassive implications for other emerg-ing markets and for world inflation.

What happens if more hawkish se-curity voices win out? US defence sec-retary Mark Esper recently said thatthe US might deploy intermediaterange weapons in Asia following itswithdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty. Chinasaid in response that it would not“stand idly by and be forced to takecountermeasures”.

What happens if Beijing chooses tointervene militarily in Hong Kong?There is discussion in the State Coun-cil that the unrest “now bears the fea-tures of a colour revolution”. Whatwould that mean for the world’s posi-tion on China?

The things which could really movemarkets haven’t begun to happen yet.

£Leo Austin is senior adviser at theConference Board China Centre.

Leo Austin

DEBATE

We need an emergency all-malecabinet to push through Brexit becausewomen are too accommodating andwon’t be firm and bullish enough tostand up to European leaders anddemand a good deal for Britain.

By Caroline Lucas’ logic, this is aperfectly reasonable position. To mostothers, it’s patronising and sexistnonsense. Choosing a cabinet based ongender (Lucas seems to think that beingfemale will make her fantasy cabinet“less tribal” and more trusting) has asmuch chance of producing a coherentBrexit strategy as one made up of left-handers, or people under 5’5.

Lucas is someone who rightly speaksout when women are generalised orstereotyped – she is a leading

campaigner against gender stereotypesin advertising children’s toys, forexample – but her self-proclaimedprogressiveness has taken a backseatwhen it comes to her desire to pervertthe will of the people and stop Brexit.

She should stick to her campaign tooverturn the referendum and keep thesexist stereotypes out of it.

£Emma Revell is a politicalcommentator.

Is Caroline Lucas’ all-female‘emergency cabinet’ a good ideafor avoiding a no-deal Brexit?At a time when compromise is absent,good faith gone and solutions scarce,radical proposals to stop a no-dealBrexit are a welcome change of pace.

An all-women cabinet may soundextreme, but we are in extraordinarytimes. Research launched yesterdayfound that one in five Brits arestockpiling food, drinks and medicinesin preparation. The government’s ownanalysis projects a recession and anincrease in unemployment levels toabove five per cent.

Crashing out of the EU also risksexacerbating inequalities that alreadyexist in our society. People on low-incomes, disproportionately ethnicminorities, are more likely to be badlyhit by any no-deal fallout.

Could a group of women morecommitted to compromise thanpopulism and posturing stop a no-dealdisaster? Potentially.

But to have any legitimacy as acoalition for national unity, CarolineLucas will need to cast her net widerthan white female MPs who votedRemain.

£Kimberly McIntosh is senior policyofficer at Race on the Agenda.

From subsidies to social unrest,China is keeping markets awake

What happens ifBeijing chooses tointervene militarily in Hong Kong? Whatwould that mean forthe world’s position?

KIMBERLY MCINTOSH

YES

EMMA REVELL

NO

Certified Distribution from 27/05/2019 till30/06/2019 is 85,617

This week’s spotlight feature focuses onMIRIS, a Norwegian-based SmartCommunity pioneer that leverages

blockchain technology to address thesustainability of the environment and itscoexistence with human activity.

Its flagship project is called “Svart”, theworld’s first energy-positive hotel. Situatednorth of the Arctic Circle in Norway, the off-grid hotel will reduce its yearly energyconsumption by 85% compared to currentbuilding standards. By utilisinghydroelectricity from a nearby fjord, as wellas harnessing solar and thermal energy, theproject will produce 60% more energy thanconsumed - enough to support surroundinginfrastructure.

Energy-positive buildings such as SVARTcould deliver 89% of the 45% decrease inemissions required to reach the scenariowhere global warming increases to 1.5℃above pre-industrial levels. Scheduled toopen in 2021, the hotel’s architecture isinspired by local coastal building traditions

and stands on wooden piles dissolving theboundaries between land and sea.

Svart aims to not only put #ecotourism onthe map, but also provide a prototype forthe building of low-latency ‘edge’computing, providing connectivity for IoTdevices within the Smart Community. Inorder to power these integrated SmartCommunity solutions, MIRIS has placedblockchain technology firmly at the heart ofconstruction, development funding andproject optimisation. MIRIS already has over470 investors investing in projects via their

16 TUESDAY 13 AUGUST 2019FEATURE CITYAM.COM

IN an increasingly globalised world,one would expect financial access tobe equally global. However, recentfigures show that around 1.7 billionof the world’s population doesn’t

have access to a bank or financial organ-isation. While developing countries likeIndonesia and South Africa are hardesthit, with 66 percent of Indonesia’s 260million population unbanked and 11million people either unbanked or un-derbanked in South Africa, few countriesare immune. Even the UK currently hasan unbanked population of around 1.6million.

This isn’t helped by global approachesto currency. Where previously the ‘goldstandard’ meant that money had a valuedirectly linked to gold, all governmentsnow issue fiat currency, something thatonly holds value because they order it to.

And as society becomes increasinglycashless, the consequences of not beingable to hold this fiat currency in a bankaccount can be crippling. Without abank account, there's no way to receivedirect deposits from an employer, andyou won't be able to start building acredit history for future borrowing. Youroptions for transferring and savingmoney are also often more expensive orless safe.

Although banks are undoubtedlyworking to expand their reach, it’s diffi-cult to find a ‘one size fits all’ solutionwhich works within the already estab-lished banking framework.

In the meantime, the internet canreach where financial institutions can-not. In Indonesia for example, estimatessuggest that internet penetration is 72percent in urban areas, 49 percent inrural-urban areas and 48 percent in ruralareas. This is a phenomenon we’re seeingacross the globe. As internet rates andsmartphones become more affordable,it seems the internet might be the an-swer for the areas underserved by tradi-tional finance. But what does this servicelook like in practice?

Knights in shining armour or wolvesin sheep’s clothing?

Much noise has been made about therise of "challenger banks" and the poten-tial that they have for the unbankedpopulation. Over the past few years,

we’ve seen startups like Monzo and Rev-olut flood the scene. Their services bringpromises of easy access to finance forthose who were previously locked out,and lower fees for people living abroadand sending their money home. At firstglance, it would appear that we’vefound the knights in shining armourthat the global unbanked populationneeds.

However, while low fees for sendingmoney abroad are undoubtedly a hugehelp for many, this doesn't address sev-eral of the day-to-day challenges that theunbanked market faces. In some coun-

tries, many citizens don’t have the sys-tems in place to allow them access to fi-nancial services. Countries like India arehome to generations of women withoutbirth certificates and official personaldocumentation. This means that finan-cial activities like opening a bank ac-count or applying for a loan are almostimpossible.

Unfortunately, while challenger banksdiffer ideologically from their predeces-sors, at the end of the day they are stillbanks. This means they still operatewithin a similar framework to their pred-ecessors, both financially and legally. This

Designed byPhill Snelling, Bowater Media

CITY A.M.’SCRYPTO INSIDER

Crypto A.M. shines its Spotlight on MIRIS

JAMES BOWATER

PARTNER CONTENT

Our series on AI, Blockchain, Cryptoassets, DLT and Tokenisation

A blockchain-basedplatform will increaseboth levels of liquidity

and transparency.

industry, he spotted an opportunity todevelop a new, better way to develop realestate that would bring benefits to allstakeholders. By digitising every aspect of areal estate projects, including thedescriptions, modelling and theconstruction process itself, inefficiencies willbe reduced. Moreover, the financing ofprojects through the use of a blockchain-based platform will increase both levels ofliquidity and transparency.

Furthermore, the recent acquiring oftokenisation venture builders, Redsand,illustrates the commitment of MIRIS inplacing new technologies at the core of itsbusiness. Redsand has been working ondistributed ledger technology since 2014launching ventures in FinTech and crypto.

Referring to the Svart project, Mathisenforesees that “the hotel will be an exercise insustainable smart property, combiningcutting-edge smart technology whilstmeeting the needs of a Zero Carbon era. Ourpartnerships are extensive and all are keento demonstrate the possibility fortechnology to exist seamlessly in remotelocations. It’s a test of strength andsustainability.”

For the future, MIRIS plans to help deliverSmart Communities by building datacenters in urban locations in Norway,followed by a wider roll out across theNordic region.

As temperatures soar, tech alone may notprovide the answers, but actual tangiblechanges in our built environment just might.

tokenised blockchain platform, soon to belaunched globally with a number ofinvestment instruments.

MIRIS CEO, Jan Gunnar Mathisen, hasgathered a team around him that embodies

a complete embracement of cutting-edgetechnologies to help fulfil the MIRIS vision ofcreating sustainable lifestyles in balanceand harmony with a sustainable planet.When Mathisen first entered the real estate

Global tensions continue to dominateworld headlines and the situation inHong Kong escalated yesterday with

all flights in and out being cancelled and thePeople’s Armed Police massing on theborder in Shenzen for ‘exercises’. With capitalflight happening from Hong Kong and goldcontinuing to be on the rise Bitcoin also appearsto be another suggested safe haven. Ironically Chinaannounced this week that it is close to issuing its own sovereigndigital currency as an alternative to cash. The project has been inthe works for five years and comes at a time when central banks aredebating the issue of Facebook’s Libra.

In the crypto market at the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is downslightly from last week at US$11,727.50; Ethereum (ETH) is atUS$211.65; Ripple (XRP) is at US$0.3013; Binance (BNB) is atUS$30.15 and Cardano (ADA) is at US$0.05303. Overall Market Capis down too at US$296.41bn (data source:www.CryptoCompare.com)

Usability continues to be a particular bother for me in my limitedmicro experience of trading crypto and am looking forward to theday this improves because mass adoption can only occur properlywhen the user experience becomes easy and familiar. In thisinstance a debt was paid to me in the form of a crypto token. Inorder to receive it I had to download a wallet that supported thattoken, then to trade that token I had to exchange it for Tether(USDT) to acquire BTC and then withdraw the BTC from theexchange to my Wirex account (https://wirexapp.com). The onlypart that was straightforward was with Wirex which I managed intwenty minutes. The rest of the process? Over a week with manyhours dealing with customer service agents which was no meanfeat either and definitely not an experience I’d wish to repeat - itwould certainly not pass ‘my dad test’!

In a watershed moment for the mainstream adoption of digitalassets, Bloomberg and Coindesk reported that MERJ exchange inthe Seychelles has become the first national stock exchangeglobally to list tokenized equity. I spoke to JIm Needham head ofdigital asset strategy at MERJ who said “The team at MERJ havebeen building this regulated infrastructure for 8 years and beganwork to include digital assets in 2016. These things do not happenovernight and to successfully conclude the first tokenized listing is agreat milestone for MERJ, for the Seychelles and for the digital assetcommunity in general”

And finally, crypto artist VESA who wrote the Guest Main Featureon 9th July 2019 (www.cityam.com/crypto-insider) contacted meto let me know that the article has now become the first blockchainverified crypto art movement manifesto. It is not the official one,following the decentralized principle, but it is the first one. ThisCodex Protocol registered edition of 12, will be available throughsale or a private auction in the coming weeks. Watch this space!

Jan Gunnar Mathisen, CEO MIRIS

AS TECHNOLOGYADVANCES, IS ITTIME TO REPLACETHE BANK INUNBANKED?

This could be revolutionary for coun-tries with unstable or inflated curren-cies like Venezuela, where inflation iscurrently at 10 million per cent. Citi-zens can now use payment tokensbacked by real assets which are oftenmore stable than their own paper cur-rencies - all for the price of a smart-phone. And if those assets are physical,then they can even generate a returnoff the tokens that they don't spend.

While it’s still early days, projects inthis space are starting to move from

proof-of-concept to operational. Andwhen they're in full swing, the focusmay shift to ensuring citizens have ac-cess to technology rather than finan-cial institutions. We may even start tosee a return by governments to the‘gold standard’, as a more inclusive andstable method of conducting transac-tions.

Perhaps then it'll be time to take the"bank" out of "unbanked", and look in-stead to terms like "inaccessible" or "un-reached" when discussing global accessto finance. And maybe it is the chal-lenger banks, rather than the banksthemselves, that should be looking inthe rear-view mirror.

Thomas Coughlin, CEO of Kinesis, inconversation with James Bowater. Forfurther information please visithttps://kinesis.money

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: THE VIEWS ANDOPINIONS PROVIDED BY CITY A.M.'S CRYPTOINSIDER AND IN THE CRYPTO A.M. SECTIONSHOULD NOT BE TAKEN AS INVESTMENT ORFINANCIAL ADVICE. ALWAYS CONSULT WITHYOUR FINANCIAL ADVISOR.

17TUESDAY 13 AUGUST 2019 FEATURECITYAM.COM

rigid governance puts up a huge obstacleto global financial inclusion.

It’s understandable why the challengerbanks have taken this approach, andwhy it has succeeded. Any system similarto the old one is likely to be the mosttrusted one. However, developments intechnology mean we have the tools tothrow this model out of the window en-tirely.

With this in mind, should it really bethe challenger banks that traditional fi-nancial institutions are really afraid of?

The Revolut-ion will be disruptedThe rise of new technology like

blockchain means that everyone withaccess to a smartphone can hold somefinancial power.

This goes beyond the infamouslyvolatile cryptocurrencies. Business hasevolved from the original digital cur-rency offering to products like stable-coins. These are cryptocurrenciesdesigned to minimise price volatility bylinking the currency to a "stable" assetor basket of assets. A stablecoin can bepegged to a cryptocurrency, fiat money,or to exchange-traded commodities(such as precious metals or industrialmetals).

In association with@CityAm_CryptoE: [email protected]

Forthe last few years, it’s been easy to dis-miss cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin assome weird thing techies were into. But

just like the internet and social networks,this weird niche technology is slowly spread-ing into the mainstream, with lawmakersdiscussing how to regulate it and more andmore outlets accepting it for payments.

At this point, you may be asking your-self… Should I learn about cryptocurrency?Or can I keep ignoring it? Here’s our recom-mendations of the sort of people whowould benefit from learning about cryptoand blockchain technology.

STUDENTS ENTERING THE WORKFORCEAs cryptocurrency and blockchain technol-ogy become more commonplace, they mayalso become a part of more and more jobs.Having a basic understanding of this newtechnology can help you stand out fromother applicants, or more quickly adapt tochanges when your job decides to integratethe blockchain into daily operations. Youmight even find that you want to work inthe blockchain and cryptocurrency indus-try! Leveraging blockchain knowledge andyour existing skillset (such as program-ming, marketing, or industry-specific train-ing) can help you find an exciting careerwith a startup.

NEWS HOUNDSIf you want to understand the news aboutprominent crypto stories like the dramasurrounding the QuadrigaCX exchange, orattempts to regulate, legislate, and outrightban cryptocurrency, it helps to have a foun-dational knowledge of what is being dis-cussed. You’ll be able to separate hype andfearmongering from facts, and understandthe true impact of what is being discussed.

WOMEN FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFEFrom students to professionals to grand-mas, every woman should have a basic un-derstanding of cryptocurrency. For toolong, this industry has been heavily domi-nated by male voices. The population of thecrypto community should reflect the diver-sity of the rest of the world. And all womencan benefit from having a greater under-standing of all aspects of finance, a world

that has also largely been male-dominated.

INVESTORS AND TRADERSIf you’re considering adding any sort ofcryptocurrency or blockchain assets to yourportfolio, whether it’s investing in an InitialExchange Offering (IEO) or a crypto-basedETF, you should develop a baseline under-standing of the blockchain and crypto “to-kenomics.” This will help you understandwhitepapers and the crypto market, andmake smarter investment choices.

CRYPTOCURRENCY SKEPTICS AND CRITICSEven if you’ve decided you don’t trust cryp-tocurrencies and that this is all just a bigbubble, you should understand it enoughto know what you’re arguing against.Knowledge is a great thing, and we live in atime with previously unimaginable accessto learning opportunities. So learn aboutblockchain and cryptocurrencies. You’ll ei-ther strengthen your arguments -- or findthat you’ve had a change of heart!

WHERE TO STARTIf you’re ready to take the first steps to learn-ing about cryptocurrency and theblockchain, congratulations! You’re aboutto enter an exciting new world. And itmight be easier to learn about than youever realized. There are online resourcesthat will allow you to learn at home, at yourown pace, such as Cointelligence Academy.The Academy courses cover basic cryptoknowledge, how to get started with cryp-tocurrency, how to research projects youmight want to invest in, how to market acrypto project, and more. Whatever yourreasons for seeking out a crypto education,you’ll find the knowledge you need to startyour journey.

You can also look for meetup groups inyour area, where you can network withcrypto enthusiasts and get your questionsanswered. Online forums can serve a simi-lar purpose. You can start learning today,and in no time at all you’ll be tossingaround phrases like “decentralized ledgertechnology” and “smart contract”!

On Yavin, Founder & CEO of Cointelligencehttps://www.cointelligence.com/

Bitcoin (BTC’s) dominance - a measureof its market capitalisation as apercentage of the market cap of all

cryptoassets - hit a landmark 70% this week,a feat last achieved in December 2017. Onthat occasion, the dominance was short-lived, with an altcoin bull run promptlycutting dominance to only 35% by mid-January 2018.

This latest period marks a torrid year foraltcoin projects, many of which havecontinued to lose market value over andabove the significant drawdowns incurred in2018. The growth in dominance comesdespite the launches of several well-capitalised projects including Algorand,Cosmos and BitTorrent. With little evidenceof renewed bullish sentiment or fresh retailfunds entering the market, few would bet onan altcoin reversal similar to that of late2017.

In the markets, Bitcoin is up more than 5%

across the week. A high of $12,330 hit onTuesday 6 August could not be sustained,with price falling to $11,115 beforerecovering to its current value of $11,329 atthe time of writing. Ethereum also rose thisweek, growing by 4.58% with a high of $239and a low of $202. The combined marketcap of all altcoins fell 4.66% across the week.Among the assets that managed to counterthe trend were tokens issued by exchanges,including Binance’s BNB (+9.85%) andHuobi’s HT (+9.91%).

Assets to watch this week includeCardano (ADA), which made a late rally togain 25% from its yearly low, set on 9August. Bulls will be seeking to maintainpositive momentum this week to initiate anew uptrend. Also worth watching isChainlink (LINK), which retraced 57% inUSD terms following its all time high of$4.50 set in June, but has gained 15% overthe past week.

CRYPTOCOMPARE MARKET VIEW

Who Needs to Learn about Crypto?

Bitcoin Hits LandmarkDominance Over Altcoins

Blockchain is now just over 10 yearsold. There are a growing number ofprojects coming out of the proof-of-

concept stage and moving into fullproduction. In the next 6 months,numerous industry associations,consortia and strategic partnerships willannounce their own blockchain projectsworking to solve broad industry problemsrelated to reconciliation, product andfinance liquidity in the supply chain,provenance and anti-fraud/anti-counterfeiting.

What happens next is an increased levelof competition - not between enterprises -but between blockchain platformsthemselves.

For example, when it comes tomaritime supply chain solutions there are

more than five different blockchainscurrently in the market. The biggest todayis Tradelens which was started by Danishshipping giant Maersk. Using Tradelens,Maersk was able to reduce oceanicshipping times by 40%. This is significantbusiness value across the supply chain.

In May of this year, two additionalshipping companies (MSC and CMA CGM).With these two companies joining, 3 ofthe top for shippers are using Tradelensand more than 60% of all maritimeshipping can be tracked on the Tradelensblockchain. This will put substantialpressure on the other projects to eitherscale up or shut down.

The same is true for other industries.Initially there will be a range of solutionsand eventually, one (or two) will emerge

as the winners. Consolidation will drive agrowing number of participants drivingvalue across the network.

BiTA (Blockchain in Transport Alliance)currently has more than 500 members.BiTA finally became credible enough thatCanadian based CP Rail, a traditionallyslow and conservative company, hasdecided to join the BiTA blockchain.

As these projects mature, the nextfrontier will be interoperability andcommunication between these industryblockchains - and that will drive the mostimportant opportunity in all ofblockchain: Identity.

Get in touch with [email protected] / Twitter @igetblockchain

CRYPTO A.M. INDUSTRY VOICES

Use terms like“inaccessible” or

“unreached” whendiscussing globalaccess to finance

Troy Norcross, Co-Founder Blockchain Rookies

BLOCKCHAIN: WHAT’S NEXT?

CITYAM.COM18 TUESDAY 13 AUGUST 2019LIFE&STYLE

OPEN VERDICTThe Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Volante offers a heady, roof-down rush. Tim Pitt goes for a grand tour.

hairpins with rare agility, thenpunches onwards like an AnthonyJoshua right-hook.

I stop at the summit to admire theview. The Prades mountains are beau-tiful, but the DBS – particularly inpearlescent Cosmos Orange – is no lesscaptivating. Details such as the‘curlicues’ behind the front wheelsand double diffuser create real down-force without resorting to giant scoopsand spoilers. It’s taut and athletic, yetimpossibly sensuous and romantic.Cards on the table, I think it’s the best-looking new car on sale.

Times are changing at Aston Martin.The DBX SUV arrives soon, along withtwo hypercars and a sharper, sportiernew Vanquish (the latter driven byDaniel Craig in the forthcoming Bondfilm). In a few years, the old-school DBSmay be usurped by a brave-new-worldelectric Lagonda. Catch one while youcan – and if you can.

£Tim Pitt writes for motoringresearch.com

ficiently special. No matter: the mountains loom

ahead and any quibbles about interiortrim are swiftly forgotten. Switchingfrom GT mode to Sport+, the exhaustbaffles open and the V12 fills its lungswith a rapacious roar. Acceleration isso savage, so brain-scrambling, I haveto remind myself to breathe. And thenoise – amplified, of course, by theVolante’s open cockpit – feels equallyoverwhelming: a shock-and-awe sym-phony of induction snarl, turbowhoosh and tailpipe crackle. Weekslater, I still get goosebumps thinkingabout it.

Changing drive modes also trans-forms the Superleggera from laid-backcruiser to serious supercar. On wind-ing roads carved into rocky hillsides,I’m acutely aware of its wider-than-a-Range-Rover hips, but nuanced steer-ing, tenacious cornering grip and hugecarbon-ceramic brakes all inspire con-fidence. With perfect 50:50 weight dis-tribution, the Volante dives into

Forgive me, officer, for I havesinned. If absolute power cor-rupts absolutely, then 725 met-ric horsepower tests even thesternest sense of resolve.

It will blast you to 62mph in less timethan it takes to say ‘Aston Martin DBSSuperleggera Volante’ and leave blacklines on the Tarmac longer than theCosta Brava. Thankfully, the Spanishtraffic cop is only booking me for an il-legal left turn; he clearly doesn’t ap-preciate how damn disciplined I’vebeen. I pay the €100 fine and rumblegingerly away.

Later, when I retrieve the crumpledticket from the glovebox, I note that by‘Tipo de vehiculo’, he has written ‘su-percoche’. We might not agree on mymanoeuvre – and no amount of mum-bled apologies in English wouldchange his mind – but this certainly isa supercar: ballistic, blue-blooded andworthy of any bedroom wall. Yet theVolante is also a ‘super-GT’ (Aston’swords), a luxurious trans-Europe ex-

press that straddles the gap betweenFerrari 812 Superfast and Bentley Con-tinental GTC. With the roof retractedand temperature a balmy 31 degrees,my righteous rage soon subsides. Per-haps taking it easy won’t be so hardafter all.

Indeed, effortless low-rev torque iswhat defines the DBS. With a mon-strous 663lb ft from just 1,800rpm, itfeels like the rear wheels could reversethe Earth’s rotation. Its 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 works with an eight-speedpaddleshift gearbox and carbon fibrepropshaft, serving up 0-62mph in 3.6seconds and 211mph flat-out – achiev-able with roof on or off, which must belike rolling down the window on anAirbus A380.

After my earlier altercation, I stickrigidly to the autopista speed limit outof Barcelona, enjoying the calm of theAston’s cabin. With eight-layer fabrichood folded and windows raised, it’squiet enough for normal conversationat 120kph (75mph), and the quilted

THE VERDICT: DESIGN hhhhiPERFORMANCE hhhhiPRACTICALITY hhhiiVALUE hhhhi

PRICE: £159,9000-62MPH: 4.1 SECSTOP SPEED: 187MPHCO2 G/KM: 230G/KMMPG COMBINED: 28.2MPG

NOT CONVINCED? CHECK OUT THESE ALTERNATIVES...

ASTON MARTIN DB11 V8 VOLANTE

THE VERDICT: DESIGN hhhhiPERFORMANCE hhhhhPRACTICALITY hhhhiVALUE hhhhi


BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GTC W12

THE VERDICT: DESIGN hhhhhPERFORMANCE hhhhhPRACTICALITY hhiiiVALUE hhhii


FERRARI 812 SUPERFAST


DESIGN hhhhhPERFORMANCE hhhhhPRACTICALITY hhhiiVALUE hhhii

ASTON MARTIN DBS SUPERLEGGERA VOLANTE

THE VERDICT

leather seats are soft and supportive.Anyone wedged in the toddler-sizedrear chairs won’t feel so lucky.

The DB11 dashboard and dated Mer-cedes media system disappoint in a carcosting £247,500, too. Compared withthe £176,000 Bentley, it doesn’t feel suf-

BY MOTORINGRESEARCH.COM FOR CITY A.M.

MOTORING

19TUESDAY 13 AUGUST 2019 SPORTCITYAM.COM

AFTER a horrid start to theyear, Patrick Reed has beenshaping up nicely for thelast two or three monthsand the 2018 Masters cham-

pion capped that return to form witha big win at the Northern Trust onSunday evening.

Jon Rahm had looked on track toclaim the second event of the FedExCup Play-Offs, which form the climaxto the PGA Tour season, until he bo-geyed 14 and 15. Rahm finished twoshots behind Reed.

The American took a short breakfrom golf in the spring, having felt ex-hausted. That is the mental strain oftrying to get your swing back and itcan drive you demented.

A rest – Reed didn’t touch a club for10 days – is a great idea and he cameback refreshed, recording a top-fivefinish in June and then a top-10 inThe Open at Royal Portrush.

Winning the Northern Trust for asecond time represents the 29-year-old getting back to where he belongs.

$15M PRIZEIt has also put Reed in a very strongposition in the FedEx Cup.

He has jumped from 50th to secondin the rankings heading into thisweek’s BMW Championship, whichwill determine not only who makes itto the Tour Championship but also –due to a new format – who gets ahead start at the season finale, wherea top prize of $15m is up for grabs.

Brooks Koepka still sits top of thepile, with Rory McIlroy third. It mighthave been better for Rory, who madeseven birdies in his final round at theNorthern Trust. Not for the first timethis year, a high bogey count cost himand his five dropped shots left him ina tie for sixth.

McIlroy, Justin Rose and Ian Poulterwill have happy memories of thisweek’s venue for the BMW Champi-onship: Medinah Country Club, sceneof Europe’s miraculous Ryder Cupcomeback in 2012.

All three know the venue inti-mately, although this will be a totallydifferent set-up. While US captainDavis Love III had all the rough cutaway for the Ryder Cup, this coursewill play like it has when hosting Ma-jors, the last of which was the 2006US PGA Championship.

PENALISE SLOW PLAYSlow play is back in the news afterBryson DeChambeau took more thantwo minutes to play some of his shotsat the Northern Trust.

The truth is, though, that this by no

means a new phenomenon. I feel likeI have been talking about this issuefor 45 years.

It has been going on forever and hasalways been discussed but refereesare not strong enough in penalisingit and it is a burden on the tours.

The amount of time DeChambeautakes is a joke, but he is not the onlyculprit. Given his unique methodol-

ogy, he may even be going as quicklyas he can – but he needs to speed up.

For me, two-shot penalties are theonly punishment that can really hurta player. Fining a few thousand won’tmake a difference to these guys, buttwo shots can decide whether youmake a cut or win a title.

Sam Torrance OBE is a multiple RyderCup-winning golfer and mediacommentator. Follow him @torrancesam

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GOLF COMMENT

SamTorrance

The amount oftime DeChambeautakes to play some

of his shots is ajoke, but he is not

the only culprit

Reed moved tosecond in theFedEx Cup withvictory on Sunday

Refreshed Reed back where he belongs

CITYAM.COM20 TUESDAY 13 AUGUST 2019SPORT

SPORTSAM TORRANCE Reed’s backto his best but DeChambeau’sslow play remains a joke PAG E 19

ARCHER READY FOR ASHESBATTLE ON LORD’S DEBUT £Jofra Archer says he’s “more readythan I’ve ever been” to make hisEngland Test debut in the Ashes atLord’s tomorrow. Australia coachJustin Langer has questionedwhether Archer has the stamina forthe longest format, but the 24-year-old, who is set to replace the injuredJimmy Anderson, believes he haswhat it takes. “I don’t think JustinLanger has seen me play first-classcricket,” he said. “I usually bowl 40overs every game. I think he hasanother thing coming.”

HEARN: JOSHUA V RUIZ JRVENUE GOOD FOR BOXING£Promoter Eddie Hearn hasdefended the decision to hostAnthony Joshua’s heavyweight titlerematch against Andy Ruiz Jr inSaudia Arabia. Saudi authoritieshave paid £83m to stage the fightnear Riyadh on 7 December andAmnesty International have accusedthe country of “sportswashing”. “Wehave an obligation to grow the sportof boxing to new areas and newregions,” said Hearn. “I guaranteeyou, with curiosity, the whole worldwill be watching this fight.”

ALISSON SIDELINED FOR AFEW WEEKS, SAYS KLOPP£Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson willbe unavailable for “the next fewweeks” with a calf injury, saysmanager Jurgen Klopp. Alisson wassubstituted 39 minutes intoLiverpool’s 4-1 win over Norwich onFriday and will miss Wednesday’sSuper Cup match against Chelsea.

RED BULL SWAP GASLY FORTORO ROSSO’S ALBON £Red Bull have replaced PierreGasly with Alexander Albon for theremainder of the Formula Oneseason. Albon, 23, has beenpromoted from Red Bull’s sisteroutfit Toro Rosso. Gasly has beendropped after struggling to sixthplace with 63 points from 12 races.

SPORT DIGEST

Andy Murray’s long-awaited return to singles after surgery ended in defeat to Richard Gasquet in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters last night. Murray, who had previouslyonly played competitive doubles following his hip resurfacing operation in January, lost 6-4, 6-4 to the Frenchman. The former British No1, 32, has said he is pain-free and,although he was rusty on his first outing, it was still an encouraging return for the Scot, who had received a late wildcard to play in the United States. Gasquet, 33, is making hisway back up the world rankings from No66 after missing the first four months of the season with a groin injury and will play Austrian Dominic Thiem in the second round.

STRONG RETURN Murray shows promise after making it back onto the singles court

AYEAR AGO, Ruaridh Mc-Connochie had not played asingle top-flight match ofrugby union. Yesterday, de-spite still never having

played competitively for England, hewas named in Eddie Jones’s 31-mansquad for next month’s World Cup.

It was a momentous day in Mc-Connochie’s career and one entirelyin keeping with a whirlwind 12months which have seen him go fromwilling apprentice at Bath to the Testarena with England. It is a positionwhich suits him just fine.

McConnochie may have played just15 times for Bath after joining theclub last summer, but he was already

a decorated international upon ar-rival, having won a silver medal at theRio 2016 Olympics in Sevens.

After making a switch back to theform of the game he played at Ran-gataua when in New Zealand as ateaching assistant, while studying atthe University of Gloucestershire andwith Nuneaton RFC, McConnochiejumped at the chance to join Bath.

Beginning the 2018-19 season withthe aim of simply “learning thegame” he was instead thrust into thePremiership spotlight, playing at full-back in place of the injured AnthonyWatson and on the wing when JoeCokanasiga and Semesa Rokoduguniwere unavailable.

“It was lucky I got my shot whenthey got injured,” he admitted at theend of the campaign. Lucky or not, bythe end of his debut season the 27-year-old had impressed so much thatan unexpected phone call from Eng-land head coach Jones followed.

“Whenever a chance is put beforehim he grabs it,” former GB Sevens in-ternational and ex-Nuneaton director

Uncapped back’sjourney to Englandsquad shows Jones’change of approach,writes Felix Keith

WORLD CUP SQUAD

£FORWARDS Dan Cole, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tom Curry, Ellis Genge, JamieGeorge, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, JoeLaunchbury, Courtney Lawes, LewisLudlam, Joe Marler, KyleSinckler, Jack Singleton, SamUnderhill, Billy Vunipola,Mako Vunipola, Mark Wilson.

£BACKS Joe Cokanasiga,Elliot Daly, Owen Farrell,George Ford, PiersFrancis, Willi Heinz,Jonathan Joseph,Jonny May,RuaridhMcConnochie(pictured), JackNowell, HenrySlade, ManuTuilagi,AnthonyWatson, BenYoungs.

of rugby Phil Llewellyn told theCoventry Telegraph.

“My pathway was completely differ-ent,” McConnochie said recently. “Ithelped my game massively, whetherit be aerially or running to beat peo-ple one on one and backing yourself.”

Having not yet made his Englanddebut – a late hip injury ruled himout of Sunday’s win over Wales – Mc-Connochie has become the first un-capped member of an England WorldCup squad since Joe Simpson in 2011.It is a remarkable story and one which

owes a lot to his background –both academic and in Sevens

– but also to Jones’s method-ology. “He’s a good charac-ter, good team man, [an]ideal guy to fit in as a util-ity back for the WorldCup,” Jones said.

When you consider theaxing of former favouriteBen Te’o following a fight

with Mike Brown while onEngland’s training camp and

McConnochie’s surprise call-up, it

is clear where Jones’s priorities forJapan lie. Personalities are important.With three more warm-up games tocome and just under six weeks untilthe World Cup opener against Tonga,squad harmony is paramount.

Although inexperienced, Mc-Connochie’s selection ticks a lot ofboxes and is emblematic of Jones’s ap-proach. And he’s not the only one; theAustralian has been unafraid of cast-ing aside the big names and anyonewho doesn’t fit the mould in favourof the next generation.

Te’o, Brown, Danny Cipriani, DylanHartley, Chris Robshaw, NathanHughes and Danny Care and their 465caps are gone. McConnochie,Cokanasiga, Lewis Ludlam, WilliHeinz, Piers Francis and Jack Single-ton and their 13 caps are in.

“A lot of good players have missedout, we feel for them, I feel for thempersonally,” Jones said yesterday.

He has made the calls. Now Jonesneeds to shape his fresher, less expe-rienced squad into one capable ofwinning the World Cup.

ROOKIE RUARIDH’S BREAK

WINGING IT HEAVEN SHOCK ENGLAND WORLD CUP CALL …

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