Daily Express Thursday, August 8, 2019 49DX1STDiageo swallows alcohol-free spirits
JOHNNIE WALKER and Smirnoff owner
Diageo is going teetotal with a majority stake in
the first distilled, non-alcohol spirits brand.
The FTSE 100 drinks giant’s Distill Ventures
took a sip the year after Seedlip was launched in
2015 by Ben Branson. He will remain a
shareholder and director. Details of the
investment were not disclosed.
The spice-based drinks are served in more
than 7,500 bars, restaurants and hotels and sold
by Selfridges, Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
Diageo’s John Kennedy said: “Seedlip is a
game-changing brand.”HIGHER taxes and restrictions
on betting machine stakes
squeezed profits at Flutter.
The Paddy Power and Betfair
owner lifted half-year revenue
by 18 per cent to just over
£1billion but pre-tax profit fell
24 per cent to £81million. Thebottom line took a hit from a
£47million increase in taxes
and duties but the FTSE 100
firm said it is on track to hit
annual forecasts, with underly-
ing pre-tax earnings expected
to be between £420-440mil-
lion, excluding the US.Flutter books drop in earnings
cent of assets under manage-
ment above benchmark over
three years.
Assets under management
were up 5 per cent to
£577.5billion but adjusted pre-
tax profits fell from £311mil-
lion to £280million.
Shares fell 21¼p to 260½p.Standard Life profits hit
HALF-YEAR profits have
fallen for Standard Life
Aberdeen after customers
withdrew a net £15.9billion.
The outflow was an improve-
ment on the £16.9billion last
year and Standard also hailed
an improvement in its invest-
ment performance with 65 perto stop taking fees from investors. A
Woodford spokesman said: “The com-
pany will continue to charge a manage-
ment fee as we focus on repositioning the
portfolio, to cover the infrastructure and
resource costs associated with running an
actively managed fund.”
Woodford suffered a fresh blow yester-
day as Aim-listed litigation funder
Burford Capital, in which it holds a 7 per
cent stake, lost nearly half its £2.5billion
market value.
US hedge fund Muddy Waters issued a
report saying it was betting against
Burford’s shares, accusing it of mislead-
ing investors and creating “an egre-
giously misleading picture of returns”.
It said: “Burford is a perfect storm for
an accounting fiasco. Its disclosure
requirements are far lighter than they
should be and its governance strictures
are laughter-inducing. It is a poor busi-
ness masquerading as a great one.”
Burford shares plunged 516p to 605p.
It countered: “The report’s criticisms
are without merit.”MARKET REPORT
LEGAL & GENERAL was 7½p
poorer at 237¾p despite half-year
operating profit lifting 11 per cent
to £1billion after record annuity
sales of £7billion.
Fellow life and pensions firm
Phoenix Group gained 18p to
674½p after forecasting it would
generate cash towards the top end
of its £600-700million target range
this year.
Mining and commodities
heavyweight Glencore fell 2p to
229¼p as half-year adjusted
pre-tax earnings dropped by
nearly a third to $5.58billion
(£4.6billion).
A 5 per cent fall in crude prices
hit BP and Shell, down 1½p to
505½p and 11p to 2318½p.
Continuing doubts over funding
for its Yorkshire potash mining
project sent Sirius Minerals 1¼p
lower to 9¼p.
Europa Oil & Gas added 0.05p
to 2.65p following the award of a
15-year licence for its flagship
offshore Ireland Inishkea project.Bonuses fallout
for Hargreaves
BOSSES at Hargreaves Lansdown have By David Shand
waived their annual bonuses after nearly
a quarter or 290,000 of its customers
were trapped in Neil Woodford’s
suspended flagship investment fund.
The funds supermarket’s chief Chris
Hill had said he would not take his pay-
out, which was £1.7million in 2018, until
Woodford’s equity income fund reopens.
He has now gone one step further,
along with chief financial officer Philip
Johnson, whose bonus was £997,000 in
2018, research director Mark Dampier
and chief investment officer Lee
Gardhouse, whose pay is not disclosed.
Hargreaves had been under pressure
for continuing to recommend Woodford’s
equity income fund until he blocked
withdrawals in June. It will probably stay
closed until December.
A source said: “Chris believes this is
the right thing to do. He recognises the
impact that the gating (of Woodford’s
fund) has had on our clients. This demon-
strates his and Hargreaves Lansdown’s
continued focus on putting clients first.”
Hargreaves waived its fees for those
affected and continues to press WoodfordSenorita. The catalogue
comprises 93 songs.
Hipgnosis founder Merck
Mercuriadis said: “To be able
to write No 1 songs
consistently for more than a
decade and to have made
incomparable contributions
to establishing the most
important artistes of our time
is an almost impossible feat.
“He has, literally, defined
the modern pop era.”Seedlip’s founder Ben BransonHIPGNOSIS BUYS UP KATY’S HIT-MAKER
LONDON-LISTED songs fund
Hipgnosis has added to its
collection with the music
catalogue of American
songwriter and record
producer Benny Blanco.
Blanco has written 29 No 1
hits, working with the likes of
Katy Perry, above, Ed
Sheeran, Rihanna and Justin
Bieber, and is behind Shawn
Mendes and Camila
Cabello’s UK chart-topperEdited by DAVID SHAND
email: [email protected]
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Eurozone 1.06 euro
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Mexico 22.25 peso
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United States 1.18 dollarTOURIST’S POUNDSTOCK MARKETWORLD MARKETSSTERLING VALUECOMMODITIESDOLLAR VALUEFTSE 100 7198.7 +27.0
FTSE 250 18941.0 +94.8
FTSE ALL SHARE 3935.8 +15.1
Shares Traded 3436.8 millionWALL STREET
TOKYO 20516.6 -68.8
HONG KONG 25997.0 +20.8
GERMANY 11650.2 +82.2
FRANCE 5266.5 +31.9Dollar 1.216 -0.001
Yen 128.355 -1.180
Euro 1.082 -0.004Dollar/Yen 105.533 -0.9176
Dollar/Euro 0.890 -0.0026GOLD($) 1506.90
KRUGERRAND(£) 1241.31
SILVER(pence) 1345.85
BRENT CRUDE($) 56.35POPULAR SHARES ON THE RISE
AstraZeneca 7122 +46
Aviva 382 +¼
BAE Systems 553½ +17½
Barclays 147½ +¼
BT Group 184½ +¼
GlaxoSmithKline 1658 +11
Int Consolidated Airlines 456¾ +10½
Marks & Spencer Group 189 +¼
National Grid 843 +12
Royal Bank of Scotland 204½ +3½
Royal Mail 206¾ +1¼
Sainsbury (J) 190¼ +2
Tesco 216¾ +2
Unilever 4863 +37
Vodafone Group 147¼ +¾
Whitbread 4248 +24POPULAR SHARES UNCHANGED
Lloyds Banking Group 50¼POPULAR SHARES ON THE SLIDE
BP 505½ -1½
Centrica 68½ -1
HSBC Holdings 627½ -½
Rolls-Royce Holdings 730 -29
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' 2318½ -11
Standard Life Aberdeen 260½ -21¼AT A GLANCE
Base rate 0.75%
Halifax mortgage rate 3.99%
Retail Price Index +2.9% (CPI +2.0%)
House price Index +1.4%
Unemployment 1,300,000OTHER INDICATORS++ THE FTSE 100 THE FTSE 100 THE FTSE 100 ++
52 WEEK
COMPANY CLOSE +/- HIGH LOW52 WEEK
COMPANY CLOSE +/- HIGH LOW52 WEEK
COMPANY CLOSE +/- HIGH LOW
3i Group .........................................1076 +11 1164½ 756¼
A.B. Foods .....................................2371 2638 2041
Admiral Group ............................2071 -2 2300 1932½
Anglo American.....................1791¾ -16½ 2266 1464½
Antofagasta ................................... 825 +15½ 1022½ 727¼
Ashtead Group ...........................2150 +33 2438 1586½
AstraZeneca .................................7122 +46 7240 5325
Aveva Group ...............................3790 +16 4170 2284
Aviva .................................................. 382 +¼ 502¾ 364½
BAE Systems .............................. 553½ +17½ 636¼ 444
Barclays ........................................ 147½ +¼ 193 146
Barratt Development ............ 631½ +7¼ 663 434
Berkeley Grp Hldgs ..................3783 +45 3981 3226
BHP Billiton ..................................1760 -18¾ 2049 1490½
BP .................................................... 505½ -1½ 598¼ 485¾
British Amer.Tob ..................... 3006# +26 4222½ 2375
British Land ................................ 481½ +1½ 649¾ 476½
BT Group ..................................... 184½ +¼ 264¾ 182¼
Bunzl................................................2074 +27 2551 2039¾
Burberry Group ..........................2155 -5 2345 1623½
Carnival ..........................................3578 +79 5000 3412
Centrica ........................................... 68½ -1 155½ 68
Coca-Cola HBC ...........................2830 +63 3074 2244
Compass Group .........................2030 +31 2110 1483
CRH ..................................................2582 +18 2735 1971½
Croda International ..................4636 +50 5447¾ 4576
DCC ..................................................6350 +24 7390 5555
Diageo ............................................3379 +25½ 3526 2523½
Direct Line Insurance ................ 307 -½ 366½ 304
DS Smith ...................................... 320¼ 513½ 292¼
Evraz .................................................. 600 -2¼ 709½ 442
Experian Group ..........................2497 +50 2544 1728½
Ferguson .......................................5990 +66 6556 4749
Fresnillo ........................................ 680¾ +36 1027½ 601
GlaxoSmithKline ........................1658 +11 1730 1418
Glencore ...................................... 229¼ -2 341½ 220¼
Halma....................................... 1910½# +14½ 2094 1237Hargreaves Lansdown ............1833 -44 2433 1633
Hiscox .............................................1586 +5 1777 1418
HSBC Holdings ......................... 627½ -½ 725¾ 600¾
Imperial Brands ..........................2064 +17½ 2987½ 1846¾
Informa......................................... 835½ +3¾ 892 605¾
InterContinental Htl .................5261 +80 5738 3958½
Intertek Group ............................5522 +144 5962 4387
Intl Consolidated Airlines .... 456¾ +10½ 711½ 413½
ITV ................................................... 109¾ +3¼ 170 104¾
John David Group .................. 597½ +8½ 649¾ 318½
Johnson Matthey ......................2887 -22 3752 2620
Kingfisher .................................... 211¾ +2 299½ 202¼
Land Securities ......................... 777¾ +5½ 942¾ 767½
Legal & General ........................ 237¾ -7½ 291¼ 223¾
Lloyds Banking Grp................... 50¼ 66½ 50
London Stock Ex........................6790 +192 7058 3867
Marks & Spencer ......................... 189 +¼ 299 188¼
Melrose ........................................ 170¼ +1¾ 234 146¼
Micro Focus ..............................1649½ -10¾ 2491½ 1434½
Mondi .............................................1562 +8½ 2230 1541
Morrison (Wm) ......................... 184¾ 269½ 182¾
National Grid ...............................843# +12 889¼ 748¾Next .................................................5878 +20 6064 3991
Ocado .............................................1158 +21½ 1435 749¾
Paddy Power Betfair ................6600 +372 8120 5525
Pearson ............................................ 823 +13 1027½ 769¼
Persimmon ...............................1908½ +12 2501 1859½
Phoenix Group ......................... 674½ +18 724¾ 544
Prudential .....................................1513 -8 1824 1340
Reckitt Benckiser .......................5961 +31 7155 5593
Reed Elsevier ............................ 1924# +44½ 1978 1491½
Rentokil Initial ............................... 443 +8 447 284¾
Rightmove .................................. 509½ +6½ 585 421
Rio Tinto .........................................4195 -32½ 4976½ 3486
Rolls-Royce Group ...................... 730 -29 1089 723½
Royal Bank Of Scot ................. 204½ +3½ 270½ 197½
RSA Insurance Grp.................. 539½ +4¼ 641 496½
Ryl Dutch Shell ‘A’ ..................2330½ -2 2666 2213
Ryl Dutch Shell ‘B’ ..................2318½ -11 2705½ 2227
Sage Group ................................ 702¼ -¾ 820½ 525½
Sainsbury (J) .............................. 190¼ +2 341½ 186¾
Schroders ......................................2890 -4 3210 2334
Scottish Mortgage...................... 526 +8 568½ 441¼
SEGRO........................................... 742½ +12½ 789 585¼
Severn Trent .............................1966½ +2½ 2153 1770
Smith & Nephew ...................1839½ +22½ 1924½ 1258
Smiths Group ..............................1536 +1 1666 1279½
Spirax-Sarco .................................8060 -550 9400 5900
SSE ............................................. 1083½# +9½ 1280 1008
St James’s Place ............................ 933 +1½ 1171 914
Standard Chartered ................... 627 -3¾ 736¾ 519¾
Standard Life ............................. 260½ -21¼ 378¾ 224¾
Taylor Wimpey .......................... 148¾ +2¼ 192¼ 129¼
Tesco.............................................. 216¾ +2 266¼ 189½
TUI AG ............................................... 820 +18½ 1582½ 698
Unilever ..........................................4863 +37 5091 3931
United Utilities .............................. 759 -1 873½ 682½
Vodafone Group ...................... 147¼ +¾ 186¾ 123¼
Whitbread .....................................4248 +24 5114 3905
WPP Group................................. 912¼ +7½ 1301 800½26,007.07 -22.45▼