Daily Mail - 23.08.2019

Daily Mail, Friday, August 23, 2019

City Editor: Alex Brummer http://www.thisismoney.co.uk Business Editor: Ruth Sunderland

City Finance

4

supermarkets being closed

by Morrisons, putting

400 jobs at risk

by Lucy White

HSBC and Standard Chartered

have been accused of bending

the knee to China’s Communist

leadership after they published
anti-protest adverts in Hong

Kong newspapers.
The two British lenders were
slammed by democracy campaign-
ers for backing the Chinese regime,
which is seeking to crack down on

demonstrations that have
rocked Hong Kong for more
than two months.
In a full-page newspaper advert,
HSBC condemned ‘the disrup-
tion caused to the communities
in which our customers, staff and
shareholders live’.
Leaders of the protests, who
have faced threats and intimida-
tion from Beijing for defying its
autocratic rulers, were enraged.
Joshua Wong, an activist who
was twice jailed for his involve-
ment in previous democracy cam-
paigns, said: ‘It’s no surprise that
Standard Chartered and HSBC
are running anti-protest ads.
‘It just shows how much pro-
Beijing interference there is in
Hong Kong, eroding the open

business environment.’ The

HSBC advert appeared in the

Hong Kong Economic Times,

Hong Kong Economic Journal,

Sing Tao, Wen Wei Pao and Ta

Kung Pao.

Printed in Chinese, it added:

‘Hong Kong has thrived as a

result of its stability and resil-

ience. Maintaining its rule of law

is essential to Hong Kong’s

unique status as an international

financial centre.

‘That is why we fully support

the ambition to resolve the

present situation peacefully.’

Attempting to strike a concilia-

tory tone, HSBC – whose roots in

the former British colony date

back to 1865 – said it had a ‘deep

and special bond with Hong Kong

and its people’.

But Matthew Henderson, direc-

tor of the Asia Studies Centre at

think-tank the Henry Jackson

Society, said: ‘Last month, the

protesters begged HSBC to speak

out in their support.

‘But now these banks have pub-

licly distanced themselves from

the protest movement.

‘These advertisements look like

the result of political pressure.’

HSBC likes to parade its liberal

credentials, but last month, the

lender’s then-chief executive

John Flint came under fire after

he said the country’s Communist

system had ‘served its people

really well’, despite evidence of

widespread repression in Tibet

and ‘re-education’ camps – con-

sidered political prisons – for

Uighur Muslims.

The protests in Hong Kong –

which runs under a ‘one country,

two systems’ policy, meaning it

is technically part of China but

has a degree of freedom – began

earlier this year.

They were a response to Beijing

pressuring the territory’s govern-

ment to pass an extradition bill

which would allow authorities to

detain and extradite to the main-

land any citizens who criticised

the Communist regime.

The bill was later suspended,

but protests have continued as

Hong Kong’s citizens fear China

is attempting to increase its iron

grip on their homeland.

Standard Chartered’s ad was in

Wen Wei Po, Ta Kung Pao and Sing

Tao Daily, and said: ‘We strongly

support “one country, two sys-

tems”, and support the SAR [Spe-

cial Administrative Region] gov-

ernment in effectively maintaining

social stability and safety.’

A spokesman said: ‘With a pres-

ence in Hong Kong for 160 years,

Standard Chartered is fully com-

mitted to the city. We hope to see

a peaceful resolution.’

HSBC declined to comment.

Ocado suffers

second blaze

OCADO was forced to cancel a

number of customer deliveries after

a fire broke out at one of its robotic

warehouses for the second time

this year.

Four engines were called out at

7pm on Wednesday to extinguish

the flames, and 25 firefighters took

three hours to put them out.

Ocado said the blaze started out-

side the building in Erith, south

east London, in a skip for waste

packaging. None of the robots that

pack and handle its deliveries were

affected. However, the disruption

caused a string of customer deliver-

ies to be cancelled.

An Ocado spokesman said: ‘Given

that the facility was evacuated, as

required whenever a fire is reported,

there was some disruption to pick-

ing and some customer orders have

had to be cancelled.

‘We sincerely apologise to those

customers affected for the incon-

venience this causes.’

Just months ago a major fire gut-

ted Ocado’s warehouse in Andover,

Hampshire. The online grocer took

a £4.8m hit on sales from that blaze,

which saw more than 300 firefight-

ers called out, took three days to

extinguish and led to the evacua-

tion of hundreds of homes. Shares

fell 3pc, or 38p, to 1204.5p.

Another exit

at De La Rue

THE management exodus at trou-

bled De La Rue has continued, with

another top executive heading

for the exit.

The departure of Selva Selvarat-

nam, the banknote printer’s chief

technology officer, means four

senior members of staff have left

in the space of a few months.

De La Rue was already looking

for a chairman, chief executive

and senior independent director.

The firm has come under pres-

sure from activist investor Crystal

Amber to boost profits and cut

excessive bonuses.

It lost the contract to print Brit-

ain’s post-Brexit blue passports in

May last year.

This May it warned profits will be

lower than hoped and chief exec-

utive Martin Sutherland said he

will stand down when a successor

is found.

On July 23, the Serious Fraud

Office revealed it had launched a

probe into De La Rue over sus-

pected corruption in South Sudan.

Ashley talks with auditors Cobham sale backlash

MIKE Ashley’s Sports Direct is in talks with
a little-known auditor as it scrambles to
replace its former accountant.
The billionaire’s business is pondering
an approach from MHA Macintyre Hud-
son, which is expected to tender for
the retailer’s accounts.
Ashley, 54, (pictured) is under pres-
sure to find an auditor after Grant
Thornton ditched Sports Direct last
week following repeated
delays to its results and the
shock revelation of a
£605m tax bill.
He has failed to attract
an accountant from the
big four of PwC, EY,

KPMG and Deloitte – which handle most

FTSE 100 companies – amid concerns over

how Sports Direct is run. BDO, a mid-

market firm similar in size to Grant

Thornton, is also understood to

have passed over the role. MHA is

likely to go head to head with rival

auditor Mazars, which is also said

to be pitching for the business.

Rakesh Shaunak, chairman of

MHA, said: ‘We have had initial con-

versations, not with Mike Ashley

but his emissaries. We expect

to take part in the tendering

process, although we want to

know the full reasons why

Grant Thornton quit.’

A FORMER senior executive at Cobham

has urged ministers to block a £4bn takeo-

ver of the defence firm by private equity

bidder Advent.

John Myers, who was the director of flying

operations at Cobham subsidiary FR Avia-

tion between 1988 and 2002, said he fears

the 85-year-old company will be split up if it

falls into the US group’s clutches.

His intervention comes amid growing

opposition to Advent’s 165p-per-share

takeover offer, which was revealed last

month. The Liberal Democrats and the

Cobham family have both urged the Gov-

ernment to review the takeover.

Myers said: ‘There are two reasons why I

oppose the deal. The first one is emotional

in terms of it’s a British company that has

a long history. But the main reason is it’s a

global, high-tech defence company and the

thought of that being hived off to a private

American company that will basically tear

it apart is awful.

‘I want to see the Government step in and

say this is too important for Great Britain

and needs to be stopped.’

Myers, 74, was the deputy leader of the

Red Arrows before he joined Dorset-based

Cobham – which pioneered in-flight refuel-

ling technology – in 1984. He is still a share-

holder in the firm and is a close friend of

Lady Nadine Cobham, the widow of Sir

Michael Cobham who built up his father’s

business into the firm it is today.

The Cobham family has written to Defence

Secretary Ben Wallace urging him to stop

the takeover. Advent and Cobham declined

to comment.

Bank is accused of

support for Chinese

regime with adverts

attacking ‘disruption’

y y

OCADO wa

number of cu

a fire broke o

warehouses

this year.

Four engin

7pm on Wed

the flames, a

three hours

Ocado said

side the bu

east Londo

packaging. N

pack and ha

affected. Ho

caused a stri

ies to be can

An Ocado s

that the faci

requiredwhe

HSBC HITS OUT

AT D E M O C R A C Y

PROTESTS

Page 75