the times | Tuesday March 15 2022 47MarketsBusiness
C
itigroup is
setting up an
office for
junior
investment
bankers in Málaga,
where staff will work
shorter hours in an
attempt to attract
talent that might
otherwise be deterred
by the industry’s
infamously poor work-
life balance (Ben
Martin writes).
The American bank
said that it had picked
the southern Spanish
city on the Costa del
Sol because itInvestment Trust dipped 1¼p, or
1.2 per cent, to 102¼p.
Of London’s smaller companies,
Fonix Mobile, a mobile payments
business, rose 4p, or 2.7 per cent, to
152½p after a fist-half jump in
revenues and profit. Tracsis shares
rose 25p, or 2.8 per cent, to 925p after
it said that it had agreed a deal to buy
RailComm, a North American rail
software provider.
Bens Creek, an American
coalminer that was listed on London’s
junior market late last year, rose after
it said it had agreed a deal to supply
264,000 tonnes of coal on a monthly
basis to Integrity Coal Sales, a New
York-based supplier. Its shares closed
up 8p, or 10.7 per cent, to 83p.
There was no appetite for the
restaurant operator behind the
Fridays chain as its maiden results
showed that it made a loss last year,
albeit significantly smaller than 2020.
As a result, Hostmore, which started
trading at 147p in November, slipped
10p, or 10.9 per cent, to 82p.ALAMYCladding costs hint brings
out best in housebuilders
Jessica Newman Market report
S
uggestions that the costs of
cladding remediation work
may be a lot less than first
feared meant that
housebuilders suddenly had
investors back on their doorsteps
yesterday.
Shares in the builders had come off
the boil in recent months after
Michael Gove, the housing secretary,
demanded that they should foot the
bill for repairing or replacing
dangerous cladding on tower blocks
nationwide. However, after months of
negotiations between the industry
and the government over who should
pay, and how much, it appeared over
the weekend that a viable solution
may be on the cards.
According to The Sunday Telegraph,
findings from PwC, hired by theHouse Builders Federation to clarify
how much it would cost to remedy
unsafe cladding, suggest the figure is
“likely to be lower than £1 billion”.
Investors were also encouraged by
news that contributions towards the
final settlement will come from a
wider group of organisations, not only
the listed housebuilders.
Charlie Campbell, an analyst at
Liberum, which is a buyer of all nine
housebuilding stocks that it covers,
said that removing the uncertainty
around cladding for a “milder than
expected solution” would benefit an
industry that is already facing
challenges, including rising costs.
All the listed housebuilders
advanced. Persimmon, Britain’s
largest developer by market value,
added 120p, or 5.5 per cent, to £22.92;
Taylor Wimpey increased 5¼p, or
3.9 per cent, to 139¾p; Barratt
Developments gained 16p, or 2.9 per
cent, to 561¼p; and Berkeley Group
rose 129p, or 3.4 per cent, to £39.40.
Overall, London’s markets startedthe week on the front foot as
investors seized on even the most
tentative of positive signals from
Russia over peace talks with Ukraine.
The FTSE 100, which enjoyed its best
weekly gain in nearly a year last
week, improved a further 37.83 points,
or 0.5 per cent, to 7,193.47. The
FTSE 250 put on 264.64 points, or
1.3 per cent, to 20,471.25.
Miners weighed on the commodity-
heavy premier index as metals prices
eased. Glencore declined 29¾p, or
5.8 per cent, to 481½p and Anglo
American fell 201½p, or 5.2 per cent,
to £36.98½, while softer oil prices
caused Shell and BP to dip 36¾p, or
1.9 per cent, to £19.26¾ and 4p, or
1 per cent, to 356½p, respectively.
Asia-focused stocks were in the red
after a sell-off in Asian markets as
traders grew nervous about a Covid
wave in China. Fidelity China Special
Situations, which invests primarily in
Chinese companies, shed 17½p, or
7.1 per cent, to 228p and shares in
JP Morgan Emerging MarketsAbcam is no longer seeing red
technologyO
ne of Britain’s
biggest
biotechnology
companies swung into
profit last year.
The Cambridge-
based Abcam is on
track to achieve its
five-year growth plan,
despite disruption
caused by Covid-19. It
had full-year
unaudited sales of
£315.4 million.
On a reported basis,
pre-tax profits
jumped to
£4.7 million,
compared with a
£2.2 million loss the
previous year. It
bought BioVision, one
of its long-term
American suppliers,
last year for$340 million, which
Abcam said had
contributed to 1 per
cent of revenue.
Abcam raised its
revenue target for
2024 to between
£450 million and
£525 million.
The companysupplies products and
tools to two thirds of
the world’s scientific
researchers and has
been dubbed the
“Amazon of
antibodies”. Jonathan
Milner, a Cambridge
University scientist,
founded Abcam in
1988 and is the second
biggest shareholder
with a stake of nearly
6.9 per cent.
Alan Hirzel, chief
executive, said there
had been “sustained
progress” on its
“growth strategy
announced in
November 2019”.
Abcam shares,
which are listed on
Aim, rose 44p, or
3.6 per cent, to £12.44.Abcam supplies two
thirds of the world’s
science researchersWall Street report
Unloved technology stocks
dragged markets lower, although the
Dow Jones industrial average
escaped following the S&P 500 and
Nasdaq into the red, closing flat, up
(if you can call it that) a mere 1.05
points at 32,945.24.Company Change
Petopavlovsk Shares bounce after investor buys big stake 9.1%
Mitie Recovers after competition investigation knocked shares 7.9%
Network International Holdings Shares continue rally after positive results 7.6%
Coats Rebounds after recent weakness 7.6%
DS Smith Recovers some losses suffererd after recent trading statement 5.9%
Rio Tinto Investors unsure about offer for Turquoise Hill Resources -4.8%
Anglo American Exposed to weaker commodities prices -5.2%
Glencore Tracks slide in commodities prices -5.8%
National Express Liberum slashes price target -6.2%
Fidelity China Special Situatoins Sell-off in Asian equity markets -7.1%The day’s biggest movers
presented “a unique
and compelling
lifestyle proposition”.
Manolo Falcó, Citi’s
global co-head of
banking, capital
markets and advisory,
said that “an improved
and better-balanced
lifestyle will be a
defining feature” of the
office. “Low levels of
junior banker
retention are being
seen across the
industry and the
message is clear: the
key driver behind
many junior-level
departures is the
search for a better
work-life balance.”
The new office was
first reported by the
Financial Times, which
said that graduates
joining the officewould be expected to
work only eight hours
a day and not at
weekends. They will
take home roughly half
the salary that junior
bankers earn in
London, thought to be
about $100,000.
Citi has already
started to recruit 30
junior bankers for the
Málaga hub.
The pandemic has
thrown a spotlight on
working conditions in
City jobs. Covid led to
a surge in workload for
junior bankers, many
of whom were working
alone at home.
Investment banks
are now scrambling to
attract and retain
talent, with salaries
and bonuses rising as a
result.Citi takes
bankers to
the beach
Exchange rates
Bid Change
Australia $ 1.805 +0.02
Canada $ 1.667
Denmark Kr 8.842 -0.04
Euro ¤ 1.188
Hong Kong $ 10.216 -0.03
Hungary 443.335 -12.10
Indonesia 18701.070 -15.81
Israel Shk 4.282 +0.03
Japan Yen 153.986 +0.88
New Zealand $ 1.924 +0.01
Norway Kr 11.750 +0.05
Poland 5.616 -0.10
Russia 157.881 -17.31
S Africa Rd 19.657 +0.03
Sweden Kr 12.495 -0.19
Switzerland Fr 1.221
Turkey Lira 19.281 +0.02
USA $ 1.305
Rates supplied by MorningstarDollar rates
Australia 1.3874-1.3875
Canada 1.2801-1.2803
Denmark 6.7812-6.7817
Euro 0.9113-0.9116
Hong Kong 7.8291-7.8294
Japan 117.96-117.96
Malaysia 4.2025-4.2075
Norway 9.0233-9.0290
Singapore 1.3652-1.3655
Sweden 9.5896-9.5928
Switzerland 0.9362-0.9362Other Sterling
Argentina peso 142.32-142.33
Australia dollar 1.8083-1.8085
Bahrain dinar 0.4878-0.4949
Brazil real 6.6534-6.6711
Euro 1.1878-1.1880
Hong Kong dollar 10.204-10.205
India rupee 99.729-99.748
Indonesia rupiah 18677-18677
Kuwait dinar KD 0.3954-0.3978
Malaysia ringgit 5.4834-5.4899
New Zealand dollar 1.9275-1.9278
Singapore dollar 1.7795-1.7798
S Africa rand 19.683-19.694
U A E dirham 4.7934-4.7960Money rates %
Base Rates Clearing Banks 0.50 ECB Refi -0.50 US Fed Fd 0.00-0.25
Halifax Mortgage Rate 3.59Treasury Bills (Dis) Buy: 1 mth 0.294; 3 mth 0.625. Sell: 1 mth 0.170; 3 mth 0.5681 mth 2 mth 3 mth 6 mth 12 mth
Interbank Rates 0.7204 0.0000 1.0006 1.4864 0.0000
Eurodollar Deps 0.46-0.53 0.70-0.90 0.82-1.02 1.15-1.35 1.74-1.81Mkt Rates for Range Close 1 month 3 month
Copenhagen 8.8321-8.8828 8.8383-8.8396 116ds 352ds
Euro 1.1942-1.1872 1.1880-1.1879 11pr 34pr
Montreal 1.6603-1.6687 1.6686-1.6688 5ds 13ds
New York 1.2913-1.3078 1.3034-1.3035 2ds 8ds
Oslo 11.663-11.786 11.759-11.773 20pr 45pr
Stockholm 12.459-12.695 12.500-12.503 114ds 358ds
Tokyo 153.19-154.18 153.76-153.78 13ds 44ds
Zurich 1.2165-1.2229 1.2204-1.2206 17ds 54ds
Premium = pr Discount = dsSterling spot and forward rates
Gold/Precious
London Grain Futures metals (US dollars per ounce)
LIFFE Wheat (close £/t)
Mar 298.00 May 300.50 Jul unq
Nov 255.00 Jan unq Volume: 949
London Metal Exchange
(Official)
Cash 3mth Dec 22
Copper Gde A ($/tonne)
9875.0-9880.0 9920.0-9925.0 9865.0-9875.0
Lead ($/tonne)
2271.0-2272.0 2288.0-2290.0 2210.0-2215.0
Zinc Spec Hi Gde ($/tonne)
3780.0-3782.0 3799.0-3801.0 3333.0-3338.0
Alum Hi Gde ($/tonne)
3398.0-3399.0 3410.0-3411.0 3205.0-3210.0
Nickel ($/tonne)
48211.0-48211.0 48002.0-48002.0 46528.0-46528.0
Tin ($/tonne) 15mth
44000.0-44100.0 44050.0-44100.0 43485.0-43535.0European money
deposits %
Currency
1mth 3mth 6mth 12mth
Dollar
0.13 0.20 0.29 0.55
Sterling
0.72 1.00 1.49 0.81
Euro
0.10 0.15 0.20 0.50Data as shown is
for information
purposes only. No offer is made by
Morningstar or this publicationBecause of a technical issue, the gold fix
prices are from Friday.
Bullion: Open $1973.12
Close $1958.21-1958.78 High $1978.26
Low $1950.63
AM $1991.45 PM $1978.70
Krugerrand $1938.00-2042.00 (£1486.80-
1566.59)
Platinum $1051.00 (£806.31)
Silver $25.19 (£19.32)
Palladium $2428.01 (£1862.73)