1 Nick Train, one of the City’s most experienced fund managers said his investment firm is suffering its worst performance in years. Train, who manages the £6.3 billion Lindsell Train UK Equity fund and is a co-manager of the £8.4 billion Global Equity fund, said his company was in “arguably the worst period of relative investment performance in our 20-year history”.
2 The government must ensure its post-Brexit trade agreements deliver benefits for businesses and consumers, rather than prioritising new deals, the public spending watchdog warned. The National Audit Office said that in pursuing multiple agreements, the government could fail to allocate resources for consultation.
3 The FTSE 100 has recovered its losses since Omicron hit after positive comments from GlaxoSmithKline and President Biden’s chief medical adviser. It finished ahead for a second day with a gain of 107.62 points, or 1.5 per cent, at 7,339.90, its highest since November 15.
4 A leading activist investor has criticised SSE’s governance as it steps up its campaign for the energy group to break itself up. Elliott, the US hedge fund, published a letter calling for changes it claims could boost SSE’s valuation by 30 per cent.
5 Zopa is to exit the peer-to-peer lending market that it pioneered. Jaidev Janardana, chief executive, said that it would close its peer-to-peer book in January after concluding it was no longer “commercially viable”.
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6 The average UK property changed hands at a record £272,992 in November, up 1 per cent on October, according to the Halifax. Sales prices grew at an annualised rate of 8.2 per cent last month.
7 Babcock, the naval defence engineer, has warned it is losing significant amounts of cash as its new management attempts to right the ship. Despite improved half-year operational performance, the company said it is having to cope with inflationary, supply chain and Covid-19 related business interruptions.
8 A fund management boutique that said getting bigger would compromise its performance has sold itself to a rival 12 times its size. Majedie Asset Management is being bought by Liontrust Asset Management for up to £120 million in shares and cash.
9 BA is expected to announce plans for a new Euroflyer service out of its Gatwick operation shortly. It will fly under the BA brand, with pilots and crew paid less than those at from Heathrow and to concentrate on European destinations.
10 Losses from developing e-cigarette and tobacco heating brands are set to peak this year at British American Tobacco, putting the new products on course to turn a profit by 2025. In a trading update BAT said they were a “sizeable contributor” to revenue growth.