(^42) DAILY MIRROR WEDNESDAY 24.07.2019
DM1ST
[email protected]
@grahamhiscott
020 7293 3030
mirror.co.uk/business
Edited by
GRAHAM
FINANCE HISCOTT
FIRM POUNDED
BY SFO PROBE
Bank note printer De La Rue is being
probed over alleged corruption.
The UK firm, which prints the Bank
of England’s money, confirmed that
the Serious Fraud Office had opened
an investigation into the group and
“associated persons”.
It said the claim relates to
“suspected corruption in the conduct
of business in South Sudan”.
De La Rue’s share price plunged
15% following the announcement.
“Given the early stage of these
matters, it is not possible to predict
reliably what effect their outcome
may have,” the firm said.
De La Rue recently saw two more
boardroom members quit, just weeks
after the chief executive headed for
the door.
£310m bill for
annuity rip-off
Bonus culture backfires on Standard Life
THOUSANDS of Standard Life
customers were mis-sold
pensions by bonus-driven staff, a
probe found.
Many were short-changed in old
age, or may have even died without
getting their proper payouts.
City watchdog the Financial
Conduct Authority yesterday fined
Standard Life Assurance nearly
£31million over a litany of failings.
However, with compensation and
improved pension payouts, the final
bill is estimated to be £310m.
The scandal centres on the way
Standard Life customers nearing
retirement got annuity information.
An annuity is an insurance allowing
people to swap pension savings for a
regular income for the rest of their
lives. People can also get an enhanced
annuity if they’ve got a medical
condition, meaning they’ll get bigger
pension payments because it’s
assumed they won’t live as long.
The FCA probe found Standard
Life call handlers didn’t always tell
people about enhanced products, or
to shop around for a better deal.
Staff were pressured to flog
products to bag cash bonuses and
other prizes, it said, with one sales
drive called “Mad March”.
The FCA said the failings stretched
from 2008 to 2016, when nearly 22%
of call handlers more than doubled
their basic salaries with bonuses.
Standard Life merged with
Aberdeen Asset Management in
August 2017 to become Standard Life
Aberdeen. Last September the firm
sold Standard Life Assurance to the
Phoenix Group. The £3billion deal
involved a provision to cover the cost
of the scandal.
More than £25m has been paid for
over 15,000 mis-sold policies, out of
81,000 cases being reviewed, which
may take compensation to £61m. That
could swell to £275m with future
enhanced pension payments added on.
Susan McInnes, chief executive
of Standard Life Assurance and a
Phoenix director, said: “While this
is an issue we were aware of when
we acquired Standard Life Assur-
ance, we would like to apologise
to affected customers.”
The FCA said: “Firms must have
controls in place to ensure they are
prioritising
fairness.”
Anglo American ..............2260.5 +20.5
AB Foods ............................2350.0 +6.0
Admiral Group ..................2257.0 -11.0
AstraZeneca .....................6464.0 +84.0
Aviva PLC ...............................418.1 +2.0
BAE Systems........................530.6 +6.6
BAT ........................................3064.0 -0.5
Balfour Beatty .....................218.8 -2.0
Barclays..................................160.1 +3.5
BHP Group .........................2042.5 +12.0
BR Land Co ...........................535.4 +3.6
BP .............................................527.3 +4.3
BT ..............................................190.1 +3.1
Capita Group .........................118.6 -0.2
Carnival ..............................3565.0 +101.0
Centrica ....................................89.0 +0.8
Compass .............................1964.5 +5.0
Diageo ..................................3407.5 +27.5
Direct Line ............................332.8 +1.0
Dixons Carphone ................120.9 +1.8
Easyjet ....................................1113.0 +5.5
Ei Group .................................283.0 -0.2
Ferguson .............................6012.0 +48.0
GlaxoSmithKline ..............1660.6 +6.0
Halfords ..................................212.8 -1.2
Hays .........................................152.3 +5.2
HSBC .......................................670.9 +8.3
Imperial Brands ...............2122.0 -6.0
International Airlines
Grp ...........................................453.8 +3.0
ITV .............................................106.3 -0.7
Kingfisher .............................223.1 +3.0
Land Securities ..................839.2 +4.2
Legal & General ..................269.4 +0.2
Lloyds ........................................57.0 +0.3
Marks & Spencer ...............206.6 0.0
Morrison ................................204.6 -1.1
National Grid .......................842.0 +8.5
Next ......................................5462.0 -18.0
Ocado ...................................1203.5 -16.5
Pearson .................................886.4 -4.6
Prudential ...........................1735.0 +22.5
Reckitt Benckiser ...........6559.0 -21.0
RELX .......................................1947.5 +5.5
Rentokil Initial ....................424.4 +3.2
Rio Tinto .............................4828.5 +10.5
Rolls-Royce ...........................877.2 +10.4
Royal Dutch Shell B .......2570.0 +4.5
Royal Mail .............................225.9 +2.3
RSA ..........................................574.8 +2.8
RBS ..........................................228.6 +0.1
J Sainsbury ..........................203.3 -3.6
SSE ..........................................1155.0 0.0
Severn Trent .....................2026.0 -16.0
Serco.........................................141.9 -1.9
Sports Direct .......................228.4 -0.2
Smith & Nephew ..............1756.5 +10.5
Smiths WH ...........................2116.0 +10.0
Stagecoach ...........................138.3 +0.3
Standard Chartered ..........714.6 +11.0
Standard Life Aberdeen 307.2 +5.7
TalkTalk ...................................109.5 +1.6
Taylor Wimpey ......................167.1 -0.6
Tesco .......................................229.9 -5.3
Thomas Cook ...........................4.7 0.0
Unilever ..............................5042.0 +12.0
United Utilities ...................784.4 -8.6
Vodafone ...............................130.8 +2.5
Reach PLC .............................84.8 -1.4
FTSE 100 up^ 41.9^ at^ 7556.9 2019 high 7609.3 2019 low 6692.7 Oil = $63.08 Holiday £
Euro ..................................................1.085
Australian Dollar ............................1.721
Bulgarian Lev ................................2.024
Canadian Dollar ............................ 1.583
Croatian Kuna ...............................7.685
Czech Koruna .............................. 26.571
Egyptian Pound .......................... 17.952
New Zealand Dollar ......................1.729
Polish Zloty ................................... 4.387
South African Rand ....................16.671
Swiss Franc ..................................... 1.188
Thai Baht .....................................36.260
Turkish Lira ................................... 6.647
UAE Dirham ................................... 4.398
US Dollar .......................................... 1.214
M1ST
6
Imperial Leather soap maker PZ
Cussons needs to clean up its act
for investors, say analysts.
Profits at the Manchester-based
business tumbled 37.5% to
£37million in the year to June – hit by
issues in its Nigerian arm.
The drop came despite strong UK
sales of its Carex soap and St Tropez
instant tan products.
Russ Mould, investment director at
City firm AJ Bell, said: “PZ Cussons
already delivered a hefty profit
warning to get the market in a lather
in January, but if investors thought all
the bad news was out of the way, they
need to think again.”
Supermarket
sales cool off
Supermarkets have suffered their
first fall in sales for three years.
Number crunchers at Kantar said
takings dropped 0.5% during the
past three months.
The main reason was a wet start to
the summer and being up against
last year’s heatwave-fuelled surge in
booze and barbecue food sales.
Fraser McKevitt, Kantar’s head of
retail and consumer insight, said: “It
was a challenging 12 weeks for all the
major grocers.” Shares in Tesco,
Sainsbury’s and Morrisons fell
sharply yesterday after they all saw
their sales drop more than 2%.
Clive Black, retail analyst at Shore
Capital, predicted there would be
“downward pressure” on previous
profits forecasts.
Kantar’s data showed Ocado’s
sales jumped 11.9%, with Aldi up
6.7%, and Lidl 7%.
Movie chain Odeon’s new
plush cinemas have proved a
roaring success – and
created more than
500 jobs.
The firm, currently
showing the new Lion King
film, now has 21 UK sites –
three new and 18 converted.
Each include recliner seats,
cutting-edge sound, Oscar’s
foyer bars and improved
quality of food.
The move has proved a
blockbuster hit, with Luxe
venues 40-50% full over
the average week, compared
with just 16% on average
for all UK cinemas.
Attendances in one Luxe
cinema nearly doubled.
THE LION’S SHARE
MANE
CHANCE See
The Lion King
at an Odeon
Luxe sites
Mixer
maker Fever-Tree
has lost some of its fizz
after revealing a slowdown.
Group sales jumped 13% to
£117.3million in the six
months to June – but sales in
the UK, which account for
more than half of its
business, rose by only 5%
because of “unseasonably
poor weather”. Half-year
profits rose 7% to
£34.9m.
zz
wn.
o
Fashion
firm Joules
bucked the high
street gloom as
annual profits
jumped 15% to
£13million after
sales leapt
17% to
£218m.
ment in
ndard Life
the firm
controls in place to ensure they ar
prioritisin
fairness
Mortgage war
hits Santander
High street bank Santander blamed a
mortgage price war for a 36% slump in
half-year profits.
Lenders have ramped up competition
for customers in the face of record low
interest rates and a weak housing
market, making borrowers picky.
Profits at Santander tumbled to
£575million in the first six months
of the year.
The Spanish-owned bank was also hit
by the cost of investment and PPI
compensation.
Santander caused anger after
announcing plans earlier this year to axe
140 branches across the UK, putting
more than 1,200 jobs at risk.
6
The International Monetary
Fund has cut its forecast for
how much the global economy will
grow this year, from 3.3% to 3.2%.
However, it upped its prediction
for the UK’s economy from 1.2%
to 1.3%, thanks to a strong start
to the year.
frankie
(Frankie)
#1