THE DAILY BRIEFING

STARSHIP BLOOPER Elon Musk has again renamed a rocket to be designed by his company Space X to carry humans to Mars. It will now be called Starship, after it was previously known as Big Falcon Rocket.

HAPPY PIG The surging popularity of Peppa Pig continues to boost Entertainment One. Half-year profits rose 7pc to £42m, but the media group slipped to a loss of £40m against profits of £2m a year earlier amid a restructuring of its film distribution business.

SALES GROWTH Aviation services firm John Menzies is on track to grow revenues by 8pc this year. Despite challenging conditions it has won 34 contracts so far this year worth £8m in annual revenues.

STORAGE HOPES Revenue at storage firm Big Yellow Group rose to £62.2m for the six months to September 30, up 7pc on a year earlier, although profits slumped 22pc to £61.4m due to changes in the value of its property portfolio.

PHARMA TAKEOVER Japan’s Takeda has received the green light from the European Commission for its £46bn takeover of drugs company Shire.

GOLDEN WEEK City gold traders handled £28.7bn of business a day last week. Statistics published by the London Bullion Market Association show that 30.2m oz of gold were traded daily compared to 34m in New York, the capital’s main rival.

COURT BLOW Investors suing Barclays over a £2bn US fundraising in 2008 have been told at appeal court in Manhattan the bank does not have to pay them compensation.

DIVI DELIGHT Boiler repair insurance firm Homeserve has boosted its dividend by 11pc to 5.2p, after sales climbed 10pc to £404.3m.

FALLING FIGURES Sales at John Lewis Partnership tumbled 4pc last week compared with the same period a year earlier as both the department store and Waitrose posted falling purchases.

CAPITAL BOOST Food start-up website Feedr has raised £1.5m to expand, with venture capital firm Episode One providing the cash, along with individuals including Wonga’s founder Errol Damelin.

FINTECH FUND London-listed investor Draper Esprit has led a £10m funding round for payments technology fintech start-up Form 3.