THE DAILY BRIEFING

SICK DAYS Time taken off for illness by employees is costing UK firms more than £3,600 per person every year, a study by the CBI, Bupa and HCA Healthcare suggests. AD BUYOUT Online ad company Digitalbox is being bought by investment company Polemos for £10m. CHEM STAKE Saudi petrochemicals giant Sabic has won regulatory approvals to buy 25pc of Swiss chemicals maker Clariant. DEAL BREAKERS This could be a record year for global M&A activity, according to research by global law firm Linklaters, which shows there has been £1.5 trillion in deals so far around the world. PROFITS SOAR Iraq-focused oil producer Gulf Keystone Petroleum has made a record half-year profit of £20m, compared to £541,000 during the same six months last year.

PROPERTIES SOLD Student accommodation manager Unite

Group has sold 14 properties to Singaporean media company Singapore Press Holdings for £180.5m.

NEW TRUST Veteran fund manager Mark Mobius has launched The

Mobius Investment Trust through his firm Mobius Capital Partners.

LIGHT LOSS Low-energy lighting firm Luceco made a £4.4m half-year loss, compared to a £6.5m profit last year. Sales were flat at around £75m.

OIL OVER Pradip Shah has stepped down from the board of India-focused oil and gas explorer

Hardy Oil and Gas after 18 years for health reasons. BEAN COUNTER AIM-listed fertiliser business Harvest Minerals has hired David Edghill as finance boss from Bulk Logistics.

SALES HIKE Flooring firm Victoria posted a 3pc sales boost for the five months to the end of August compared to a year earlier.

GROWING FAST Productivity at Britain’s high-growth companies is growing 14 times faster than average, according to a report from private equity firm ECI Partners. CASH RAISED London start-up Unmortgage, which lets families buy part-ownership of their home and rent the rest, has raised £10m. SNAP OUT Imran Khan, chief strategist of camera company and Snapchat-app owner Snap, has quit. LAWYERS FLOAT Legal finance group Vannin Capital is to be floated on the London Stock Exchange. The firm hopes to raise £70m.