Morning Financial Press Review 15/11/19
Below are the key morning press headlines, featuring the The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
Some of the world’s biggest consumer companies have revealed the cost of doing business in Hong Kong, which is beset by anti-government protests, after led a series of warnings. The fashion retailer said yesterday that it had taken a £14 million writedown on the value of its shops in the territory and that it was negotiating with landlords about rent reductions over fears that the escalating levels of unrest will not end soon. Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong-based airline, said that the protests had “severely impacted demand and operations”, with a 35% drop year-on-year in the number of passengers arriving in Hong Kong last month.
Losses at have widened after it booked a £124 million charge on the struggling American coach service that it is seeking to offload. The transport group blamed a lower level of immigration in southern US states and increased competition for the hit to Greyhound, but said that plans to sell the business remained on course as part of a wider shake-up. Matthew Gregory, chief executive of First, said that the auction and talks with a number of prospective bidders were “well advanced”. However, apparent investor unease about the progress of the shake-up sent its shares down by as much 22%.
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has blacklisted shares in British security company because of the risk of human rights violations against its workforce in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Norway’s Council of Ethics, which monitors investments in the country’s £860bn Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), said there was an “unacceptable risk of the company contributing to systematic human rights violations”. Up to 30,000 staff, mostly working in security and construction, could be affected. The council said it had not officially considered whether G4S had used forced labour – a form of modern slavery – but it said “the company’s practice – in the worse cases – could place workers under constraint”. At the end of 2018, the GPFG owned 2.33% of G4S’s shares, worth around £66m, but has since sold most of them.
The boss of has stepped down temporarily after an investigation of the book-keeping found signs of possible wrongdoing. Pure Circle, which produces stevia, a natural sugar substitute, said yesterday that Magomet Malsagov, its chief executive, had “voluntarily agreed to stand aside on a temporary basis” after an examination of the company’s accounts identified “potential impropriety”. He will remain involved in the company as an adviser to John Slosar, the chairman, who has taken the role of chief executive on an interim basis. The disclosures mark a deepening of a crisis that began almost two months ago.
The boss of has launched a scathing attack on Jeremy Corbyn, warning a Labour victory in next month’s election would ‘crucify’ the economy. Patrick Dardis, chief executive of Young’s pubs and breweries, said he was even more fearful of a Labour win under Mr Corbyn than the damaging prospect of a hung Parliament and ongoing uncertainty over Brexit. Mr Dardis said: ‘The threat of a Corbyn government is a bigger issue for business than the current uncertainty. ‘A period of a Labour government would crucify the economy and it would take decades to recover from it.’ ‘That’s my concern and it’s as much for my children as it is for me,’ he added. His comments echo what is seen as the view across much of the City, that a government led by Mr Corbyn would be more damaging to UK business than a no-deal Brexit.
More bus passengers paid with contactless and mobile apps rather than cash on local bus routes for the first time in its history, the company has revealed. According to bosses, 43% of payments were made by cash, with 45% made through non-cash methods, in the latest push towards a cashless society. The remainder came from ticket sales via third parties. he detail came as FirstGroup said it sank to a £187.1 million pretax loss in the six months to September 30 due to ongoing problems in its US Greyhound coach business. On the company’s preferred underlying basis, which excludes one-off costs, it recorded a pretax profit of £28.7 million.
Strong performances at its South African and Middle Eastern businesses and a regulatory change at its Swiss business helped , the private healthcare group, to increase profits. The company, which is also listed in Johannesburg, said revenues rose 9 per cent year-on-year in the six months to the end of September while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) rose 4% to £222 million. On a statutory basis, Mediclinic reported pre-tax profits of £111 million, compared with a loss of £150 million last year after a writedown in the value of its investment in UK hospital group Spire Healthcare.
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