THE DAILY BRIEFING
SPACE AGE
elon Musk’s SpaceX has successfully launched its first rocket of 2018, carrying a top-secret payload for the US government.
the space company run by the owner of electric car firm tesla saw Falcon 9 launch from cape canaveral air Force Station in Florida.
FESTIVE BOOST
Bar and club operator Deltic has reported an 8.2pc increase in christmas sales compared to a year earlier. Deltic sold 10,000 bottles of champagne and prosecco in the four weeks to December 31 as it enjoyed a record New Year’s eve with £2.4m worth of sales made on the evening.
RECORD BREAKERS
the London Stock Exchange processed a record value of derivatives trades last year.
Its clearing arm Lch handled £643 trillion of the financial instruments, which are used for everything from guarding against sharp currency movements to betting on future commodity prices.
this is a 31pc rise on 2016.
BEST YEAR
Savers from 58 countries pumped £125m into businesses through investment website Seedrs last year.
It is the company’s best performance since launching in 2012, with 168 different projects backed.
Seedrs allows people to put their money into privately owned businesses, with potentially much better returns than the stock market – but far higher risk that the companies being supported could go bust.
BULKING UP
Markets firm TP Icap has bought US broker ScS commodities as it seeks to bulk up its energy and agriculture trading operations.
BANK JOB
top hSBc banker richard Davies has been poached by TSB to run its small business arm as commercial banking director. he was also boss of start-up lender oaknorth.
TOP CARATS
angola- focused
Lucapa Diamond Company has recovered 83- carat and 103- carat diamonds from its Lulo Diamond Project in angola. It marks the ninth 100- plus carat diamond recovered from Lulo, including a 404- carat stone which sold for £11.8m in 2016.
OIL DEAL
embattled oil services provider Petrofac has been hired by oil producer chrysaor for 12 months to support its operations in the North Sea.