p

7114.71

+25.13 (+0.35pc)

£$

Rate

1.2221

Change

-0.55¢

£€

Rate

1.1034

Change

-0.24¢

FTSE 250 19202.99

-132.89 (-0.69pc)

FTSE All Share 3905.48

+6.26 (+0.16pc)

FTSE All Share Yield 4.36

-0.01

FTSE Eurotop 100 2863.47

-0.90 (-0.03pc)

Nikkei 225 20479.42

+23. 34 (+0.11pc)

EURO STOXX 50 3365.38

-5.09 (-0.15pc)

S&P 500 2887.94

+18.78 (+0.65pc)

Nasdaq 7856.88

+29.93 (+0. 38pc)

52WkHigh 7727.49

52WkLow 6536.53

Yield 4.60pc -0.02

P/E ratio 14.69 +0.06

52WkHigh 27398.68

52WkLow 21712.53

Markets Currencies

FTSE 100 Dow Jones

p

26036.10

+258.20 (+1.00pc)

Commodities

Gold

q

$1539.19

(£1259)

-3.06 (-0.20pc)

Brent Crude

p

$60.49

(October)

+0.98 (+1.65pc)

Biggest riser

Fresnillo

728 p

+30⅜ (+4.36pc)

Biggest faller

Berkeley Gp Hdg

3775 p

-192.00 (-4.84pc)

Inside

Don’t write

off Salvini

Demise of

the Italian

strongman

suits the EU,

but he is not

finished yet

Ambrose

Evans-

Pritchard

Not so big

tobacco

Deal to

roll Philip

Morris

and Altria

into

$200bn

giant sparks

analyst

doubt

Page 32 Page 32 Page 30 Page 33

10am 12pm 2pm 4pm

Previous close

25600

25700

25800

25900

26000

26100

10am 12pm 2pm 4pm

7025

7050

7075

7100

7150

7125

Previous close

Business

Get the latest markets info, share prices and create a portfolio at telegraph.co.uk/markets-hub

Car production falls for 14th month

By Alan Tovey

CAR production in the UK is
stuck in reverse, falling
10.6pc in July – the 14th con-
secutive month of decline as
Brexit and global economic
uncertainties weigh.
A total of 108,239 cars
came off production lines
last month, making the year
to date output 774,760 –
almost a fifth down on 2018.
The drop was exacerbated
by model changes, meaning

work was halted on some

cars to allow for retooling.

With 80pc of UK-made

cars exported, a 10.2pc rise

in domestic demand could

not offset the 14.6pc drop in

cars going abroad.

The industry relies on

highly tuned supply chains

to deliver parts from abroad

and has been vocal in warn-

ing of the dangers that it sees

in a no-deal Brexit.

Mike Hawes, chief execu-

tive of the Society of Motor

Manufacturers and Traders,

said: “The global headwinds

are strong.

“With the UK market also

weak, the importance of

maintaining the UK’s global

competitiveness has never

been more important so we

need a Brexit deal – and

quickly – to unlock invest-

ment and safeguard the

long-term future of a sector

which has recently been

such an international suc-

cess story.”

Japan offers

a new dawn

for Ted Baker

By Mason Boycott-Owen

TED BAKER hopes to conquer Japan
after striking an exclusive  five-year
licensing deal with  Sojitz Infinity, a
subsidiary of the Sojitz conglomerate.
The FTSE 250 fashion brand told
investors the partnership would result
in a “marginally positive impact on pre-
tax profit” as Sojitz looks to use its ex-
pertise in the market to sell Ted Baker
clothes in Japan’s department stores.
Ted Baker opened its first shop there
in 2012 and has five, but recorded a loss
of £2.7m on the business in the year to

January.  Lindsay Page, chief executive
of Ted Baker, said the deal would help
with “meaningful long-term growth”.
It follows a venture with Shanghai
LongShang Trading Company to push
Ted Baker sales in mainland China,
Hong Kong and Macau.
Ted Baker wants to be a “truly
global lifestyle brand” and has identi-
fied Asia as a key growth area. The Ja-
pan deal  is expected to cost it around
£4m as it shifts stock. The firm has
560 stores and concessions, including
201 in the UK.
Kohei Ono, chief executive of Sojitz
Infinity, said Ted Baker “has the poten-
tial to appeal to more consumers in this
market”.
Ted Baker signed a  licence agree-
ment  with Next this month to sell
its childrenswear collections for spring
2020 in the UK, ending a relationship
with Debenhams. It saw total sales slip
0.3pc in the first half of the year.
Sojitz Infinity’s brands include New
York-inspired fashion label McGregor.

By Laura Onita

WH SMITH is making more money

from its shops in  hospitals than from

those in train stations and has told the

City it expects to meet its profit targets.

The retailer has been increasingly

focusing on lucrative travel locations

such as airports and railways stations,

while its high street shops have seen

sales dwindle in recent years.

Outgoing boss Stephen Clarke  is

banking on selling more stationery,

which has bigger profit margins than

newspapers and magazines, as well as

adding Post Offices to its stores to keep

the retail arm of the business steady.

The company said yesterday its travel

business “continued to perform

strongly”, while high street stores were

“in line with expectations”.

Trade within hospitals has become

more lucrative than train stations but

airports are leading the growth.

“Achieving flat profits in high

street, given the ... backdrop, is im-

pressive,” said Richard Taylor, of Bar-

clays. The City expects profits of

£155m for 2019. WH Smith will report

again in October.

The retailer, founded in 1972, has

about 1,600 stores across the globe,

with 428 outside the UK. In October it

snapped up US airport chain InMotion

for £155m to expand more aggressively

across the pond.

InMotion now has three stores out-

side the US, including one at Leeds

Bradford Airport.

Mr Clarke will be replaced by Carl

Cowling, the boss of its high street arm.

£155m

Analysts’ forecast for full-year profits

for WH Smith. The high street stationer

will report again in October

WH Smith on

track to hit

profit target

Lindsay Page, chief

executive of Ted

Baker, said the tie-up

with Sojitz Infinity

would help bring

‘long-term growth’

UK offshore wind capacity receives a royal boost

By Harriet Russell

BRITAIN’s offshore wind

farms are about to get bigger

after the Crown Estate ruled

that seven sites could com-

fortably expand their opera-

tions without posing any

threat to the environment.

The expansion will

add 2.85GW to the UK’s wind

farm capacity, equating to an

extra 10pc.

The Crown Estate is made

up  of land and holdings

across England, Wales and

Northern Ireland that

belong to the Queen. 

The collection is part of

the sovereign’s “public es-

tate” so the monarch is not

involved in the day-to-day

management of the land and

has only limited control.

The estate works closely

with industries and the Gov-

ernment to evaluate invest-

ment opportunities up to 12

nautical miles off the coast.

In February 2017, it invited

existing wind farms to apply

for project extensions. It

received eight submissions

by May 2018, all of which

met the specified criteria.

Yesterday, it said seven of

those applications would go

to the next stage of the leas-

ing process, following a

lengthy assessment of how

the  extensions might affect

nature conservation sites.

The successful projects

include Sheringham Shoal,

Dudgeon, Greater Gabbard,

Galloper, Rampion, Gwynt y

Môr and Thanet. Developers

include energy giants SSE,

RWE, E. On and Equinor.

The eighth site, Race

Bank, 17 miles north of Nor-

folk’s Blakeney Point, will

not go ahead because the

majority of the proposed ex-

tension sits within a Special

Area of Conservation. 

Before reaching the plan-

ning stage, the seven sites

will carry out further envi-

ronmental surveys.

By Tom Rees

THE pound suffered one of its sharpest
tumbles of the year yesterday as City
analysts warned that Boris Johnson’s
plan to suspend Parliament will send it
even lower in the coming weeks.
Investors rushed for protection from
sudden swings in sterling after the

Prime Minister asked the Queen to sus-

pend Parliament for five weeks, cutting

the time MPs will have to block a

no-deal Brexit.

Surging fears of a disorderly depar-

ture knocked sterling as much as 1.1pc

against the dollar to $1.2157, wiping out

last week’s tentative gains, before re-

gaining some ground. The currency

also slipped back below the €1.10 mark

against the euro, enduring one of its

worst intraday drops this year.

The setback sent the pound sliding

back towards the multiyear lows

reached earlier this month. Foreign ex-

change analysts warned the pressure

on sterling will now rise over the com-

ing weeks as the countdown to Oct  31

continues. Derek Halpenny, at MUFG,

said it was “only a matter of time” until

sterling breaks below the 31-month low

against the dollar in August.

The pound’s recent rally will “re-

verse pretty quickly” as the move “re-

inforces the perception of how serious

this government is on pushing us right

to the wire”, he added.

Petr Krpata, at ING, predicted that

sterling will also threaten to push be-

low a 10-year low against the euro in

the build-up to October’s crucial EU

summit. Mr Johnson’s move “under-

scores the uncertainty and the ample

downside risk the pound faces over the

coming weeks”, he warned.

Sterling is the worst-performing

currency against the dollar and the

euro in the past three months as

no-deal fears have risen, shedding

about 3pc of its value against its rivals.

Investors braced for a surge in market

volatility in the months ahead, taking

out insurance against sudden moves in

the pound. The currency’s two-month

implied volatility, a measure tracking

investors’ expectations for wild swings

in the coming months, jumped to its

highest level since January.

Stephen Gallo, at BMO Capital Mar-

kets, warned that markets will “not

react fully” until the prospect of a dis-

orderly Brexit or a snap election is

“abundantly clear”. He said there is still

a “disbelief ” among investors that “this

will happen in a messy way”. Sterling

could sink further next week “if it looks

like we are going to have a confidence

motion and elections before the end of

October”, Mr Gallo added. No-deal

Brexit worries also reverberated

through stock and bond markets. The

return on 10-year government bonds

sank to 0.44pc, close to a record low.

Housebuilders were the biggest fall-

ers on the FTSE 100 because of their

exposure to the UK economy. Airlines

also slipped before paring most of their

early losses.

The UK-focused FTSE 250 index

closed 0.7pc lower but the blue-chip

index was 0.35pc higher as prospects

for its large international earners were

boosted by the weak pound.

Pound slumps with fears of worse to come

Sterling falls 1.1pc against

dollar and bond returns

near record low over plans

to suspend Parliament

Thomas Cook’s £900m package deal could end its London listing

By Michael O’Dwyer

THOMAS COOK could be on the verge
of disappearing from the stock market
after the travel company reached “sub-
stantial agreement” with a Chinese
conglomerate and its creditors on the
key terms of a £900m rescue deal.
Fosun, the owner of Club Med and
Thomas Cook’s largest shareholder,

will pump in an additional £450m

under the agreement, as well as buy at

least 75pc of its tour operator business

and 25pc of its airline.

Fosun cannot own a majority stake

in the airline under European Union

aviation rules.

Thomas Cook’s banks and bondhold-

ers would make an additional £450m

available and have their existing loans

converted into equity in return for the

other 25pc of new shares in the tour

operator and a 75pc stake in the trou-

bled airline.

The board intends to keep its Lon-

don Stock Exchange listing, but the

company admitted the rescue plan

could “in certain circumstances” result

in the listing being cancelled.

Shareholders in the ailing travel

company would be all but wiped out,

but Thomas Cook said it still aimed to

proceed with their support.

It did not give any detail on how or

whether shareholders would be al-

lowed to buy more stock or what

proportion of the restructured group

their existing holdings would repre-

sent.

Based on the value of the bonds,

converting the amounts owed to banks

and bondholders into equity “would

imply around another £350m of new

shares being issued”, said Citi analyst

James Ainley.

The shares have fallen more than

90pc in the past year and shed another

17pc to 5.8p yesterday, valuing Thomas

Cook at less than £90m.

It was worth about £2bn less than

18  months ago. Thomas Cook aims to

implement the plan, which remains

subject to a legal agreement among the

parties, in early October.

It also remains subject to a number

of additional hurdles, including clear-

ance from competition regulators, for-

mal approval from creditors and

separating the airline and tour opera-

tor businesses.

Star turn A First Order officer and two stormtroopers patrol Galaxy’s Edge, the Star Wars-themed attraction that opens at

Hollywood Studios in Disney World, Florida, today. The 14-acre park, reported to have cost $1bn (£818m), offers visitors an

immersive experience based on the planet Batuu, including the chance to build their own lightsaber.

JOHN RAOUX/AP

‘Markets will not react fully

until the prospect of a

disorderly Brexit or a snap

election is abundantly clear’

The Daily Telegraph Thursday 29 August 2019 *** 29

RELEASED BY "What's News" vk.com/wsnws TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws