THE DAILY BRIEFING

VALUE DIPS Meadowhall shopping centre owner British Land swung to a £42m loss in the six months to the end of September as the retail sector struggles. The value of its estate fell 6.3pc to £12.9bn.

DIVI RISES Construction equipment firm Speedy Hire hiked its interim dividend by a fifth to 0.6p per share after group revenue jumped 6pc to £195m in the six months to September 30. BLACK FRIDAY Sales during the

Black Friday weekend are forecast to grow 3.1pc to £10.4bn in the UK compared with a year earlier according to Globaldata. Fashion and beauty is expected to be the best performing sector.

OFFICE INVESTMENT Office space firm WeWork is to receive £2.3bn from Japan’s Softbank. The deal allows Softbank to buy shares in the US firm it values at £32bn.

CUTS DRIVE Cost-cutting is to be stepped up at Deutsche Bank. The flagging German lender is to trim expenses by around £18bn over the next three years but is looking to save more.

UNION WIN Luxury taxi firm Addison Lee has lost a fight over workers’ rights. It said drivers were self-employed contractors, not workers, but the GMB union won a court case and yesterday that decision was upheld at a tribunal. BOSS NAMED South African Cornelius Louwrens has been appointed as the new boss of industrialist Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel UK, replacing Jon Bolton. BANK DEAL Digital bank Starling has inked a deal to let customers withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches.

HQ SALE The Financial Times newspaper base in London has been sold for £115m to M&G Real Estate. Advertising giants WPP are set to lease One Southwark Bridge as the FT moves across the city.

PROTEIN SWOOP Online nutritionists Science in Sport has bought PhD Nutrition, a protein powder maker, for £32m from the investment arm of Boots’ owner Walgreens Boots Alliance.

RENTAL BUYOUT Rented housing group Grainger is set to take control of the £696m property portfolio it was managing with Dutch pension fund APG. It will pay £396m to buy out APG.