THE DAILY BRIEFING

TECH DEAL French tech firm Atos wants to buy Dutch credit card microchip maker Gemalto, which has issued four profit warnings, for £3.8bn.

SALES SOAR Upmarket clothing brand Joules has defied the High Street slowdown, posting an 18pc rise in sales in the 26 weeks to November 26. Store openings helped boost revenue to £96.2m during the period.

STORE WAR Discounter Aldi has reclaimed its crown as the UK’s fastest growing grocer, serving up a 15pc increase in sales compared to last year, data published by Kantar Worldpanel revealed. AIRPORT POP-UP Toy retailer Hamleys has launched a pop-up store at Gatwick Airport in time for Christmas and it will remain open into the spring.

PICTURE THIS Teenagers favour Instagram ahead of Facebook, a study by global bank RBC Capital Markets found. It said 73pc of 13 to 18 year olds had an account with the picture and video-focused subsidiary of Facebook, but only 57pc were on the social network. CHINA HEDGE Investment firm Man Group has opened a hedge fund in China amid a rush to target the nation’s newly rich middle classes. PROFIT AIMS Online-only lender Starling Bank will be making a profit by the end of 2019, boss Anne Boden has said.

EASTERN PROMISE City grandees including HSBC chairman Mark Tucker and London Stock Exchange executive Nikhil Rathi are heading to China with Chancellor Philip Hammond this week in a bid to boost trade ties with the country. GEM CYCLE Diamond seller De Beers has sold £337m worth of diamonds during its latest sales cycle, up from £316m during the same cycle last year. MINE WORK Work on Berkeley Energia’s uranium mine in Salamanca, Spain, is due to start in the New Year with engineers Sanchez y Lago and Wood Group involved.

CHEM SALE Speciality chemicals firm Elementis is selling its surfactants chemicals business in the Netherlands to Kolb Distribution for £34m.

ALL CHANGE AIM-listed gas producer Saffron Energy plans to change its name to Coro Energy.