THE DAILY BRIEFING
DIVIDEND RISE Profits at miner Anglo American have increased 45pc to £6.3bn while debt has almost halved to £3.2bn. Chief executive Mark Cutifani said dividends had increased by 40pc.
DIRECTOR ROLE Georgina Kessel, former secretary of state in the Mexican Ministry of Energy, is joining the board of miner Fresnillo as a non-executive director.
5G TRIAL Mobile carrier O2 is to test cutting-edge internet services at its events arena in London. Socalled 5G mobile technology, fast enough to stream a high-definition video without buffering, is set to be offered for free there from the second half of 2018.
TAXI LAUNCH London-based technology star Citymapper has launched a taxi service in the capital to rival Uber. It has been licensed by Transport for London and is free in its first week.
ON BOARD Joe Hurd, 48, a former adviser to Barack Obama, has joined the board of price comparison firm Go Compare. He runs a Silicon Valley investment business.
PROFIT UP Lending firm Together Financial Services made a profit of £31.5m in the last three months of 2017, £1.8m more than a year earlier.
CLEARING CALL Theodor Weimer, the boss of struggling German stock exchange Deutsche
Boerse, has called on the European Union to redouble its efforts to steal the City’s business. Weimer said it would be a win-win if London is stripped of its valuable euro clearing rights.
BANK LEASE Wall Street titan Bank of America has extended the lease at its City headquarters for an extra ten years until 2032. And Germany’s Deutsche Bank has won planning permission for a new headquarters in London.
BITCOIN PROBE MPs on the Treasury Select Committee have launched a probe into bitcoin amid fears the online currency is a Wild West where speculators face massive losses. They will look at whether regulation is needed.
TARGET LOWERED Analysts at Berenberg have downgraded Hotel
Chocolat’s rating and price recommendation after its new stores failed to be profitable in the year they opened. The bank has reduced its price target by 40p to 340p.