the times | Tuesday December 21 2021 39
Business
Callum Jones, Martin Strydom
Renewed fears that surging corona-
virus infections could prompt a wave of
tighter restrictions triggered a sell-off
that rippled through global markets
yesterday.
The FTSE 100 endured its worst day
in three weeks as the rout spread from
Asia to Europe, with London’s premier
share index losing 1 per cent, or 71.89
points, to close on 7,198.03. The mid-cap
FTSE 250, which has a greater pro-
portion of domestically focused stocks,
also closed down 1 per cent, or 230.5
points, at 22,549.88.
In America the S&P 500 index
retreated more than 1.1 per cent, or 52.62
points, to close on 4,568.02, while the
Dow Jones industrial average fell 433.28
points, or 1.2 per cent, to 34,932.16.
The rapid spread of the new
Omicron variant of Covid-19 has
heightened unease among investors
after nations imposed strict inter-
national travel rules and considered the
return of lockdowns. Boris Johnson
said that the government would “re-
serve the possibility” of imposing
tighter restrictions. President Biden is
due to outline America’s position today.
The Netherlands imposed a strict
nationwide lockdown at the weekend
and Germany introduced further re-
strictions on travellers. France, Den-
mark and Norway have introduced
more stringent rules for arrivals.
Analysts said that markets also had
been hit by doubts that the White
House would be able to push through
Biden’s $2 trillion spending plan after a
setback over the weekend. Joe Man-
commoditiescommodities currenciescurrencies
$
1.400
1.350
1.300
1.250$£/$
$1.3220 (-0.0045)
90
80
70
60Dow Jones
34,932.16 (-433.28)
38,000
36,000
34,000
32,0001.200
1.175
1.150
1.125FTSE 100
7,198.03 (-71.89)Nov 19 29 Dec 7 15 Nov 19 29 Dec 7 15 Nov 19 29 Dec 7 15 Nov 19 29 Dec 7 15 Nov 19 29 Dec 7 15 Nov 19 29 Dec 7 157,500
7,000
6,500
6,000£/€
€1.1708 (-0.0061) ¤world markets (Change on the day)
Gold
$1,794.24 (-10.51) $
2,000
1,800
1,600
1,400Brent crude (6pm)
$70.41 (-3.20)A £4 billion takeover of Selfridges by
Central Group, of Thailand, and Signa
Group, of Austria, is close to being
announced, The Times has learnt.
A sale of the department stores group
by the Canadian Weston family could
be announced as early as this week as
both sides try to seal a deal before the
new year.
Selfridges, founded by Harry Gordon
Selfridges’ billionaire suitors close to sealing takeover deal
Ashley Armstrong Retail Editor Selfridge in 1908, has 25 stores world-
wide. Galen Weston, who died in April
this year, took Selfridges private for
£598 million in 2003.
Central Group, controlled by the
billionaire Chirathivat family, teamed
up last year with Signa to buy Globus,
a Swiss department stores chain in a
50-50 joint venture. It is understood
that they have structured a similar deal
for Selfridges. About £2 billion of
Selfridges’ valuation is ascribed to its
property, which plays to Signa’s real
estate expertise, sources said.
Signa was founded by René Benko,
now 44. Forbes classed him as Austria’s
fourth-richest billionaire this year after
rapidly expanding his empire into retail
and other investments, including joint
ownership of the Chrysler Building in
New York, the Eataly food chain and
stakes in Austrian newspapers.
Signa also jointly owns Kaufhaus des
Westens, often known as KaDeWe,a department store in Berlin, with
Central Group.
It is understood that the Weston
family, who hired Credit Suisse to run
an auction for Selfridges in July, viewed
Central Group as a responsible, experi-
enced buyer for the department stores
business. Central Group is run by Tos
Chirathivat, 57, grandson of its founder,
Tiang, a Chinese immigrant who
started out with one small shop in
Bangkok. Central now has a sprawlingempire with 3,700 shops around the
world.
Vittorio Radice, who ran Selfridges
between 1996 and 2003, is understood
to have been instrumental in the deal.
He has worked with Central for the past
decade since its purchase of La Rinas-
cente, an Italian department store, and
was promoted to its board in September.
Sources said that Anne Pitcher, the
managing director of Selfridges, would
continue to have an important role.The family business of George
Osborne, the former chancellor, has
returned to profit after securing emer-
gency Covid-19 financial aid.
Osborne & Little, the upmarket wall-
paper and fabrics company controlled
by Sir Peter Osborne, George
Osborne’s father, generated a profit of
£558,000 in the year to March, com-
pared with a £542,000 loss the year
before, according to accounts filed at
Companies House.
Its balance sheet was strengthened
by a £3.6 million loan under the govern-
ment’s coronavirus business inter-
ruption loan scheme and £510,000 in
furlough support. It helped the com-
pany’s cash balances to increase from
£1.1 million to £4.8 million. The business
had warned previously that without the
loan “material uncertainty cast doubt
on the company’s ability to continue as
a going concern”.
After the year’s end it made early
repayments of £1.85 million of the
Covid loan, repayable over five years. A
separate paycheck loan of £615,000 has
been “forgiven” by the US government.
The company also has cut costs,
including senior management pay. No
dividends were paid. George Osborne,
50, joined the company’s board last
year.
With trading “severely” affected by
the pandemic, revenue fell by 16 per
cent to £24.3 million, with sales down
18 per cent in the UK, 15 per cent in
Europe and by 15 per cent in North
America, its largest market. The
London-based company said that with
a lower cost base, it was “confident of a
further improved trading position” for
the year ending March 31, 2022. Profits
also were hit by Brexit. Duty on Euro-
pean Union goods imported into Brit-
ain and subsequently exported to cus-
tomers in the EU increased shipping
costs, adding £400,000 in the last quar-
ter of its financial year.Sell-off gives investors ‘harsh reality check’
Fear of new
shutdown
hits markets
chin, a Democratic senator for West
Virginia, said that he would not vote for
Biden’s Build Back Better bill. As a
result, Goldman Sachs downgraded its
US economic growth forecasts for next
year from 3 per cent to 2 per cent in the
first quarter and from 3.5 per cent to
3 per cent in the second.
Jack Ablin, chief investment officer
at Cresset Capital Management, des-
cribed a “triple whammy” of Omicron,
Biden’s legislative misfortune and the
Federal Reserve raising the prospect of
as many as three interest rate increases
next year.
The seven-day average for daily
Covid-19 infections in the UK has risen
by 71 per cent over the past fortnight. It
has increased in the United States by
21 per cent during the same period.
Thomas Mathews, of Capital Econo-
mics, said that investors had received a
“harsh reality check” after the opti-
mism unleashed by vaccinations. “If
worries about the spread of Omicron
abated, stock markets would probably
recover some of the ground they’ve lost
recently,” he said. “Nonetheless, we
wouldn’t expect that to mark the begin-
ning of another big rally.”
Economists at Jefferies, the invest-
ment bank, said that the situation had
changed over the past fortnight as cases
spread through American states with
high vaccination rates. “We know it has
already caused some businesses to
return to working from home and
others to close altogether in response to
employee infections,” they told clients.
“Thus, the economic impact has
already begun and is likely to get worse
before it gets better.”ALAN DAVIDSON/SHUTTERSTOCKCovid loans
help Osborne
firm paper
over cracks
Alex RalphStars align Roland Mouret, a label whose Galaxy dress was worn by celebrities
such as Rachel Weisz but which went into administration last month, has been
bought by Han Chong, the Malaysian-born founder of the Self-Portrait brand