Below are the key morning headlines from today’s papers, featuring the Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
Electric scooter-sharing business Bird will open in the UK when it launches its service in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Tuesday. The start-up allows customers to rent powered electric scooters by picking them up from the pavement. The scooters cost £1 to unlock and then 20p per minute to ride. Once a customer arrives at their destination, they can end the ride and leave the scooter on the pavement. Electric scooter companies are unable to operate on public roads in the UK because of a combination of restrictive transport laws, including the Highway Act 1835. The Department for Transport is currently consulting on the future of transportation in the UK. On-demand scooters are expected to be under consideration.
Big Short’s Eisman bets on decline of UK banks. A prominent US investor who made hundreds of millions of dollars by predicting the causes of the financial crisis is betting against two British banks in anticipation of a no-deal Brexit. Steve Eisman was the inspiration for Steve Carell’s character Mark Baum in the 2015 film The Big Short, based on the book by Michael Lewis. He suggested he would “short” as many as 50 British companies — placing bets their share prices will fall — if he believed that “Trotskyite” Jeremy Corbyn would become prime minister. Mr Eisman, now a managing director at Neuberger Berman, a New York-based investment firm, said that he expected parliament to reject any Brexit deal agreed between the government and the European Union. He declined to name the two banks he was shorting.
BHP brought to a halt by runaway train. A runaway BHP Billiton (BLT) train loaded with thousands of tonnes of iron ore travelled more than 90km across Western Australia without a driver before being deliberately derailed. The world’s largest mining company said that it had suspended its rail operations in the region while an investigation was carried out into the incident early yesterday, which involved a 268-wagon, four-locomotive train.
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) has warned that its business is set to slow down for rest of the year. Shares in Hiscox, which operates in the Lloyd’s of London insurance market and is also developing a retail business, fell by almost 6% to close at £15.52 after the cautious statement. Bronek Masojada, chief executive of Hiscox, said: “We have had strong growth, but as the market remains challenging, we will remain disciplined, and I expect our growth to moderate over the balance of the year.” Hiscox’s gross written premiums increased by 14.3% to $3 billion in the nine months to September 30. The company has had to pay out large claims in the past three months. Hiscox has set aside $125 million to cover claims due to Hurricanes Florence and Michael in the United States and Typhoons Jebi and Trammi in east Asia. That is smaller than last year’s disaster bill of $250 million, but this time claims include a number of large individual incidents in Hiscox’s commercial and retail businesses, including a marine loss of $13 million
The founder of Cenkos Securities (CNKS) has welcomed the broker’s decision to rehire its former boss only 18 months after he retired from the business. Andy Stewart said it was “very good” that Jim Durkin, 58, had agreed to retake the reins at the City stockbroker from his successor, Anthony Hotson. In a statement yesterday Cenkos said that Mr Durkin, one of the broker’s biggest shareholders, with a 9% stake, and who had previously held the post of chief executive for five years, would make a surprise comeback. Cenkos said also that its chairman, Gerry Aherne, had stepped down with immediate effect. Jeff Hewitt, a non- executive director, will take up Mr Aherne’s duties on an acting basis until a permanent replacement is found.
ITV (ITV) has poached Micro Focus’s finance boss Chris Kennedy to be its new chief financial officer as Dame Carolyn McCall reunites with a former EasyJet colleague. Mr Kennedy will join the commercial broadcaster in February, having held the same role at Micro Focus International (MCRO) , one of the UK’s biggest listed technology companies, for just 10 months. He was previously in control of EasyJet’s finances between 2010 and 2015, when Dame Carolyn was chief executive of the budget airline
City broker Cenkos Securities (CNKS) has reinstated its former chief executive and co-founder Jim Durkin just 18 months after he stepped down. Mr Durkin, who has more than 30 years of experience in the UK securities industry, will return to head up the company “once regulatory approval has been received”, replacing Anthony Hotson, the former Bank of England economist who joined the firm in August last year. The Aim-listed broker also announced that chairman Gerry Aherne has retired after six years in the role.
Shares at Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) are in the red after sliding 6.2% to £15.43 in lunchtime trade, its biggest one-day fall since February, as the insurer revealed a $15m (£11.5m) bill in preparation for a “worst-case scenario” Brexit. The FTSE 250 firm said that its European subsidiary, which is expected to start writing business from the start of January, was a “response to the outcome of Brexit” but also represented a “seamless transaction” to continue to serve customers on the continent.
The company building a fertiliser mine under the North York Moors national park has hired engineers to develop its port facilities. FTSE 250-listed Sirius Minerals (SXX) has signed up McLaughlin & Harvey for engineering, procurement and construction at its Teesside port development. Sirius is investing hundreds of millions of pounds in infrastructure that will process and export polyhalite from its mine when it starts producing in 2021.
Specialist pharmaceutical company N4 Pharma (N4P) , which is developing ways to deliver vaccines and cancer treatments to cells in the body, rocketed as it extended a research partnership. N4 has been working with Medimmune to develop nanoparticle medicines, as part of a Government-funded project. This ended last week, but the firms are now signing a collaboration agreement to allow their work to continue.
