THE DAILY BRIEFING
CROSSRAIL VOTE
Workers on the Crossrail project are to be balloted for industrial action in a dispute over pay in the coming weeks.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union will vote in the coming weeks after the union said workers have learned their pay is around half that of other grades.
CASH PILE
Online wealth manager Nutmeg is now looking after more than £1bn of customers’ cash.
The firm – known as a robo-adviser because it uses a computer program to make investment recommendations – saw client numbers double to 48,700 in the past year.
PROFITS UP
Waste management firm Biffa is looking to buy more companies as it posted a 7.3pc rise in half-year profit to £76.3m and a 7.8pc rise in revenue to £481.6m. It collected 2.1m tonnes of waste, up from 1.9m tonnes last year.
REGULATION COSTS
Wealth manager Charles Stanley has warned the surging costs of regulation and falling commission income could hit full-year results. It saw shares slump as much as 9pc at one stage after cautioning it could struggle to meet full-year expectations.
The warning overshadowed halfyear results showing a 53pc jump in pre-tax profits to £6.9m.
SUPPORT WELCOMED
The boss of Countryside welcomed renewed government support for housebuilding as the company reported a 48pc leap in profits.
Countryside Properties sold 3,389 newly built homes in the 12 months to the end of September – 732 more than in the previous year.
STAKE SOLD
Publisher Euromoney is to sell its stake in Dealogic, a provider of financial content and analytics, to Ion Investment Group for about £100m.
It is the latest in a string of sell-offs by Euromoney, which is 49pc owned by the Mail’s publisher, Daily Mail and General Trust. Adjusted profits for the year to the end of September rose to £106.5m from £102.5m.
SLOTS HELD
Administrators for failed airline Monarch have won an appeal that will allow it to sell valuable runway slots to raise cash.
The collapse of Monarch, which was owned by private equity firm Greybull Capital, led to 1,858 workers being made redundant and the flights and holidays of about 860,000 people being cancelled.
WISE SAGE
A turnaround at Britain’s second-biggest tech firm,
Sage Group, pushed revenues up to £1.7bn in its last financial year.
The accountancy software company once dominated its industry but has been forced to fight off upstart rivals in the past few years.
It has switched to a subscription model in order to adapt to competition, which bosses say is paying off. Turnover was up 6.6pc during the year and subscriptions now account for 37pc of total revenue, up from 30pc.
SOFA BOUNCE
Sofa chain ScS has seen orders bounce back after a slump in the second half of its last financial year. The group said orders rose 2.9pc in the 16 weeks to November 18.
The orders mark an improvement on the company’s half-year trading statement released in August, when it reported a 5pc slump in secondhalf orders after being hit by more difficult retail conditions.
FLOWING REVENUE
Water firm United Utilities has posted a £5m rise in half-year profit to £160m as revenues rose from £853m to £876m, boosted by property sales, lower costs, and regulatory changes.
The firm, which serves the northwest of England, said it invested £394m during the period. Bosses plan to pay an interim dividend of 13.24p, an increase of 2.2pc.