THE DAILY BRIEFING
■ PARTY PROFITS The hot summer and World Cup partying lifted revenues at pub firm Marston’s by 15pc to £1.1bn in the year to September 29. However, profits dropped 46pc to £54.3m. The total annual dividend was hiked by 1.3pc to 7.5p per share.
■ BANK HIRE mobile phone-only lender Starling Bank has hired Helen Bierton as head of its retail arm. She was previously at Santander.
■ ORDER ORDERS UP Furniture retailer ScS has recorded a 3.5pc rise in orders during d the 16 weeks to november 17, compared with a year earlier. It c comes as the firm prepares to cease trading t from its 27 concessions sions at H House of Fraser stores.
■ ASSETS DEVALUED Retail landlord lord New River’s portfolio value has plunged a as the High Street remains gripped by b turmoil. The firm, which owns shopping sho centres across the UK, said its assets were worth £864m at the end of the six months to September Septem 30, down from £892m last year.
■ AIRLIN AIRLINE LOAN Up-for- sale airline line Flybe has taken out a £3.9m loan secu secured against one of its aircraft as the struggling firm scrambles to raise cash. The carrier will draw the funds from nordLB bank through an existing facility that was agreed in 2015.
■ BAN CONSIDERED Wealth managers could be barred from charging fees when customers pull their money out, under rules being mulled over by the City watchdog, the
Financial Conduct Authority. It is already set to ban them at online trading platforms.
■ SLUMP REWARDS Financier Crispin Odey has finally been rewarded for betting on a market slump. The 59-year- old trader’s mayfair-based hedge fund gained 7pc last month as stocks fell around the world, and is now up 50pc this year, making it one of the best performers in the industry worldwide.
■ SITE BACKING The UK’s competition regulator has given Auto
Trader the green light to launch a joint venture with Cox automotive that allows buyers to see a large selection of ex-fleet and lease vehicles on one online platform. ■ LOSSES SLASHED The online gambling company Stride Gaming has narrowed its losses from £25.6m in the year ending august 2017, to just £5m.