Published: 24 October 2022
By Suzanne Evans, Director, Political Insight
Over the weekend, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared to signal he would run for the Conservative Party leadership, flying back early from his Caribbean holiday as many of the same MPs who had previously lined up to call for him to resign - ultimately leading to Liz Truss’s premiership - lined up to urge him to put his name forward. Last night, it was claimed he had the required 100 signatures, and his name would be on the ballot paper. Then, this morning, he pulled out of the race. In a statement, he said: “I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do. You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament. And though I have reached out to both Rishi [Sunak] and Penny [Mordant] - because I hoped that we could come together in the national interest - we have sadly not been able to work out a way of doing this. Therefore I am afraid the best thing is that I do not allow my nomination to go forward and commit my support to whoever succeeds”. Sunak and Mordant have both announced they intend to stand. At the time of writing, Sunak appears to have significantly more support in the contest than Mordant, however over 150 Conservative MPs are still to declare whom they will back.
Sheffield has seen the biggest rise in house prices, which have climbed 18.9% since the start of the year to an average of £228,353 in September, according to figures from Halifax. In January, the average price of a home in Sheffield was £192,090. Overall, property prices in cities in the UK have grown at a higher rate than the rest of the country, rising on average by 9.2% since January, with average UK prices for a property in an urban area now standing at £238,144. The Halifax attributes this to the end of lockdowns, the return to the office, and easing of the lockdown-induced 'race for space’ that saw many move to the countryside. In Greater London, inner London boroughs are recording average property price growth of 6.8%, compared to 4.6% in the outer boroughs. Brent is one of only a handful of London boroughs to see prices fall so far this year, down 8.4%.
Frasers Group has become the fourth-largest shareholder in online fashion retailer Asos, having built up a 5% stake in the brand, which also owns Topshop. Frasers Group has also increased its investment in Hugo Boss, now owning 4.3% directly and a further 28.5% in put options. "Frasers Group has extensive ambitions to grow the business inside and outside of the UK and is constantly exploring the potential for further expansion," a trading statement said on Monday. Along with House of Fraser and Sports Direct, the group also owns Flannels, Game, Jack Wills, Evans Cycles and Sofa.com. It also has a significant shareholding in home and fashion brand Mulberry.
British healthcare investment trust Syncona is to buy US biotechnology firm Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation (AGTC) for around $23.5m (£20.78), or $0.34 (30p) per share, in cash. AGTC is a clinical-stage company focused on the development and commercialisation of adeno-associated virus based gene therapies for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases with an initial focus on inherited retinal diseases.
FTSE 100 online car dealer Auto Trader said it had sold its Webzone subsidiary to Mediahuis Ireland for €30m. Mediahuis owns the CarsIreland.ie and Cartell.ie websites. For the year ended 31 March 2022, Webzone, which trades as Carzone in Ireland, contributed total revenue of £4.9m and operating profit of £1.3m to Auto Trader's Group results.
Babcock International said on Friday that its Australian business has been awarded a AUD877m (£492m) multi-year programme to upgrade the Australian Defence Force's Defence High Frequency (HF) Communications System.
Boots said this morning that it plans to recruit more than 10,000 temporary Christmas period workers. The health and beauty retailer, part of the US listed Walgreens Boots Alliance, said the jobs would be a combination of in-store roles across Britain and jobs at distribution centres in central England.
Tesco has put up the price of its lunchtime meal deal for the first time in more than a decade. The cost of the package, typically a sandwich, a packet of crisps and a soft drink, has done up from £3.50 to £3.90 for customers who are not Tesco Clubcard holders. For those who are Clubcard members – and 70% of meal deal customers are - the price is up to £3.40 from £3. Tesco said the change reflects the surging cost of ingredients, manufacturing, and transport because of Russia's war in Ukraine, which forced up energy and core commodity prices. Last week, the Office for National Statistics noted that food inflation is now running at 14.5%, the highest level since 1980.
Barclays has been fined £50m by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over its conduct during a fund raising at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. Concluding an investigation that launched in 2013, the city watchdog said Barclays had failed to disclose certain arrangements agreed with Qatari entities as part of capital raisings announced between June and October 2008. In doing so, Barclays' conduct had been "reckless and lacked integrity", the FCA said. The FCA noted in particular that Barclays had paid £322m in fees to one Qatari entity for participating in the capital raisings, which it did not disclose to shareholders. Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the regulator, said: "There was no legitimate reason or excuse for failing to disclose these matters." In a statement, Barclays confirmed it has appealed the fine to the Upper Tribunal
for reconsideration. In 2020, three former Barclays executives were acquitted of charges, brought by the Serious Fraud Office, that they helped funnel the fees to Qatar, Sharecast News says. Former chief executive John Varley was acquitted in 2019 for a lack of evidence, with the case against the bank dismissed in 2018.
Deutsche Bank has reportedly laid off dozens of staff within its investment banking division globally as fears of a recession stymie deal-making, according to Bloomberg. Among the departures was Mason Parker, a managing director in the bank's leveraged finance business, who has been at the bank for more than 20 years. According to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg, Deutsche will probably see revenue from advising companies on mergers and the issuance of stocks and bonds slump 50% in the third quarter from a year earlier.
Property portal Rightmove has appointed Johan Svanström to succeed Peter Brooks-Johnson, who is to retire after presentation of the 2022 full-year financial results. Svanström has worked previously as Global President of Hotels.com and the Expedia Affiliate Network global leadership team. He will join the company on 20th February next year as executive director and CEO designate and will be appointed CEO on 6th March 2023.
Twitter shares tumbled on Friday following a report that President Joe Biden’s administration is discussing whether the US should subject some of Elon Musk's ventures to national security reviews. Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter as saying that this includes the deal for Twitter and SpaceX's Starlink satellite network, and that the US government is uncomfortable about Musk's recent threat to stop supplying the Starlink satellite service to Ukraine. Last week, Musk said that venture has cost him $80m so far. Officials are also said to have highlighted Musk’s “increasingly Russia-friendly stance” following a series of tweets that outlined peace proposals favourable to President Vladimir Putin. They are also reportedly concerned by his plans to buy Twitter with a group of foreign investors and potentially cut staff numbers at the social media firm dramatically.
China has announced its delayed economic figures, showing that its economy grew 3.9% in the July to September quarter from the same time last year, beating estimates and marking a bounce back from the 0.4% growth seen for the previous three months, when Shanghai was in lockdown. However, stocks in Hong Kong have slumped and the yuan has weakened against the US dollar, as it was confirmed over the weekend that Xi Jinping had been handed an historic third five-year term as President, sparking concerns he will continue with his ideology-driven policies – including the ‘zero-covid’ policy - at the cost of economic growth. The benchmark Hang Seng index has fallen by more than 6% this morning.
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