WEDNESDAY 15 DECEMBER 2021 INTERNATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR EUROPE

Capitalism works ECB tightrope Art of restructuring

The global supply chain has passed Rising inflation demands balancing Chinese pupil’s lessons for his
its big test — MARTIN SANDBU, PAGE 19 act from Lagarde — BIG READ, PAGE 17 Wall St teacher — TOM MITCHELL , PAGE 6

Inflation alert Briefing

IMF urges UK UK inflation
5
i Efficacy of Pfizer antiviral pill confirmed

to raise rates
Final trial results have confirmed earlier data on
Annual % change in the drug that showed it cut risk of hospitalisation or
consumer prices 4 death by up to 89 per cent in high-risk people. Pfizer
says the pill will work against Omicron.— PAGE 6
The IMF has urged the Bank of England
to raise interest rates without delay, i Ukraine tensions propel gas prices
accusing the central bank’s interest rate 3 Concern that a potential Russian invasion would
setters of “inaction bias” as inflation spi- further disrupt supplies have sent European and
rals in the UK. UK gas prices to new highs, beating October’s
Ahead of the BoE’s next big meeting records.— PAGE 12; JONATHAN BREARLEY, PAGE 19
tomorrow, the fund warned that UK 2
inflation would rise to 5.5 per cent early i Pressure on Japan’s female union boss
next year, saying it had allowed prices to Tomoko Yoshino, the first
soar by finding excuses to do nothing. woman to lead the Rengo union
1
The fund said raising rates did not group, has said male colleagues
mean stimulus had to end, adding that urged her to reject the job as
the central bank should understand the her gender made her unable to
delicate balance between undermining 0 win wage battles.— PAGE 4
confidence and allowing inflation to
become more persistent. 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 i Apple under fire after retaliation claims
Call on UK page 2 forecast The US labour department has said it is probing
Pressure on Fed page 4
Sources: ONS, IMF Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA
claims the company retaliated against an employee
Big Read page 17 who complained of harassment. Ashley Gjovik was
fired for allegedly leaking confidential data.— PAGE 8

i Rentokil cleans up with Terminix deal

Freeze on UAE’s $23bn warplane

The London-listed group has agreed to buy the
market leader in termite extermination in North
America in a $6.7bn deal that will create the world’s
biggest pest control provider.— PAGE 6; LEX, PAGE 20

deal as ties cool with Washington

i Nato chief eyes Norway central bank job
Jens Stoltenberg has applied to be the next governor
in a move set to spark debate over monetary policy
independence and custody of Oslo’s $1.4tn oil fund.
He is friends with premier Jonas Gahr Store.— PAGE 2

i Gourmet food for isolating HK bankers

3 Abu Dhabi suspends talks 3 US wants to add strings 3 Fears over Huawei exposure
ANDREW ENGLAND
AND SIMEON KERR — DUBAI
The United Arab Emirates has sus-
pended talks with the US over its $23bn
deal to buy 50 F-35 fighter jets in a sign
of friction in the Gulf state’s relations
with Washington.
An Emirati official said yesterday Abu
Dhabi had informed the US that it was
reassessing the deal because of “techni-
cal requirements, sovereign operational
restrictions and cost-benefit analysis”.
The sale of the F-35s was agreed last
year by the Trump administration after
the UAE signed an accord to normalise
relations with Israel. But the deal has
come under mounting scrutiny since
President Joe Biden took office.
Abu Dhabi has raised concerns over
the restrictions Washington is seeking
to put on the Gulf state’s use of the war-
planes. The White House has also been
worried that its use of Huawei’s 5G tech-
nology raises the risk that sensitive
information could be leaked to Beijing.
Washington has been putting pres-
sure on the UAE to reduce its exposure
to the Chinese telecoms technology.
General Kenneth F McKenzie, com-
mander of the US central command,
said this year that he was concerned by
the risk of technology transfer. He
added that the US was “working hard
both internally within the United States
and with our UAE partners to ensure
that’s resolved satisfactorily”.
But as the talks have dragged on, the
UAE — a key US ally in the Arab world —
has become frustrated with pressure
from the US, as it tries to strike a balance
Bankers furious at being caught up in one of the
strictest quarantine regimes have been taking
deliveries of wine and expensive bites from senior
between its relations with Washington exacerbated by the chaotic withdrawal staff at the territory’s de facto central bank.— PAGE 4
and China, its biggest trade partner. from Afghanistan.
Emirati officials argued there were A person briefed on the UAE position
few cost-effective alternatives to Hua- said Abu Dhabi was confident that Datawatch
wei’s 5G technology and were worried issues related to Huawei could be
that they would be sucked into a new resolved. But the critical matter was
cold war between the US and China. Abu Dhabi whether the US would put limits on how Hitched Civil partnerships
The decision to suspend the talks, first has raised the UAE could use the F-35s. Civil partnerships (’000) made a comeback
reported by the Wall Street Journal, concerns over “They want the strongest possible Same-sex 8 in 2020. Having
Opposite-sex fallen significantly
comes a week after the UAE sealed a the restrictions relations with the US,” the person said.
since same-sex
€17bn-plus deal with France to buy 80 Washington “The question is: is the US ready to 6
marriage was
Rafale jets and 12 Caracal helicopters wants to place reciprocate and be committed?” legalised in 2014,
made by French groups Dassault Avia- on the Gulf The Biden administration said it was 4 they became
tion and Airbus. Sheikh Mohammed bin state’s use of the committed to the deal “even as we con- an option for
Zayed al-Nahyan, Abu Dhabi crown F-35 fighter jets tinue consultations to ensure that we 2 opposite-sex
prince and de facto UAE leader, has a have a clear, mutual understanding of couples in
deepening relationship with Emmanuel Emirati obligations and actions before, 0 England and
Macron, the French president. during, and after delivery”. 2008 10 12 14 16 18 20 Wales at the
There is also unease over perceived Additional reporting by Aime Williams England and Wales Source: ONS end of 2019
US disengagement from the region, in Washington

Toyota steps up electric cars spending

pledge to $35bn in drive to rival Tesla
ERI SUGIURA AND LEO LEWIS — TOKYO “I wasn’t interested in Toyota’s EVs year. It had said it would sell 2m electric
until now. But now I’m interested in fut- and fuel-cell vehicles by 2030 and spend
Toyota will pour $35bn into a shift
ure EVs,” said Akio Toyoda, Toyota’s $13bn investing in batteries.
towards electric vehicles as the world’s
president. Toyoda said the company’s high-end
biggest carmaker sets itself up for
Despite trailing Volkswagen and Gen- Lexus brand would be at the forefront of
direct rivalry with Tesla and joins other
Prosecutors seek to close groups in a push for carbon neutrality.
eral Motors, Toyota could become a for- the company’s more aggressive battery
down ‘Russia’s conscience’ midable force in the electric car market, push, with all of these models becoming
It marks a big increase in its electric tar- some investors believe. pure electric by 2035.
Analysis i PAGE 2 gets as it aims to sell 3.5m battery- “They don’t make announcements The company plans to target custom-
powered vehicles a year by 2030, with like this unless they believe they can do ers in the US and China, where it hopes
the launch of 30 electric models includ- it and want to do it. It tells me there is a they will make the switch to electric ear-
Austria €3.90 Malta €3.70
Bahrain Din1.8 Morocco Dh50 ing sports cars and commercial vehicles. high level of commitment,” said Chris- lier than other models.
Belgium
Bulgaria
€3.90
Lev7.50
Netherlands
Norway
€3.90
NKr40 The company has in the past argued topher Richter, an analyst at CLSA. “Battery cars are going to be expen-
Croatia Kn29 Oman OR1.60 that a longer-term fix for global warm- Although the figure trails the €52bn sive and the people best positioned to
Cyprus €3.70 Pakistan Rupee350
Czech Rep Kc105 Poland Zl 20 ing should be a mix of hybrids, electric pledge on electric from German rival buy them now are the people who own
Denmark
Egypt
DKr38
E£59
Portugal
Romania
€3.70
Ron17
vehicles and hydrogen-powered vehi- VW, it dwarfs the $17.7bn promised by Lexuses, not Corollas,” said Richter.
Finland €4.70 Russia €5.00 cles instead of a single bet on battery- Japanese rival Nissan when it unveiled However, the company stopped short
France €3.90 Serbia NewD420
Germany €3.90 Slovenia €3.70 powered cars. But this focus has worried its long-term electric vehicle last month. of committing its entire bet on electric
Greece
Hungary
€3.70
Ft1200
Spain
Sweden
€3.70
SKr39
investors, who fear the group is dragging The $35bn, to be divided equally vehicles, arguing that it could not accu-
India Rup220 Switzerland SFr6.20 its feet on its electric plan, particularly between car development and battery rately predict either the development of
Italy €3.70 Tunisia Din7.50
Lithuania €4.30 Turkey TL40 as the technology has driven Tesla’s improvement, is also a significant inc- the technology or the pace of adoption.
Luxembourg
North Macedonia
€3.90
Den220
UAE Dh20.00
stratospheric rise in market value. rease since its last announcement this Harley-Davidson’s electric deal page 6

Subscribe In print and online World Markets

STOCK MARKETS CURRENCIES INTEREST RATES
www.ft.com/subscribetoday
email: fte.subs@ft.com Dec 14 prev %chg Dec 14 prev Dec 14 prev price yield chg
Tel: +44 20 7775 6000 S&P 500 4613.56 4668.97 -1.19 $ per € 1.127 1.128 £ per $ 0.756 0.756 US Gov 10 yr 147.95 1.44 0.02
Fax: +44 20 7873 3428 Nasdaq Composite 15132.54 15413.28 -1.82 $ per £ 1.324 1.323 € per £ 1.174 1.173 UK Gov 10 yr 0.64 0.03
Dow Jones Ind 35493.76 35650.95 -0.44 £ per € 0.852 0.852 ¥ per € 128.196 128.061 Ger Gov 10 yr -0.37 0.01
© THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD 2021 FTSEurofirst 300 1822.87 1837.20 -0.78 ¥ per $ 113.715 113.575 £ index 81.207 81.043 Jpn Gov 10 yr 112.87 0.05 0.00
No: 40,891 ★ Euro Stoxx 50 4151.90 4183.04 -0.74 ¥ per £ 150.502 150.253 SFr per £ 1.223 1.221 US Gov 30 yr 120.25 1.82 0.01
FTSE 100 7218.64 7231.44 -0.18 SFr per € 1.042 1.041 Ger Gov 2 yr 104.64 -0.69 0.02
Printed in London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Dublin,
FTSE All-Share 4100.24 4109.33 -0.22 € per $ 0.887 0.887
Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid, New York, Chicago, San
CAC 40 6895.31 6942.91 -0.69
Francisco, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul,
Dubai Xetra Dax 15453.56 15621.72 -1.08 COMMODITIES price prev chg
Nikkei 28432.64 28640.49 -0.73 Fed Funds Eff 0.08 0.08 0.00
Hang Seng 23635.95 23954.58 -1.33 Dec 14 prev %chg US 3m Bills 0.05 0.06 -0.01
MSCI World $ 3162.00 3188.26 -0.82 Oil WTI $ 70.02 71.29 -1.78 Euro Libor 3m -0.61 -0.61 0.00
MSCI EM $ 1230.61 1238.54 -0.64 Oil Brent $ 73.00 74.39 -1.87 UK 3m 0.09 0.08 0.01
MSCI ACWI $ 740.27 746.26 -0.80 Gold $ 1787.80 1779.75 0.45 Prices are latest for edition Data provided by Morningstar
2 ★
Annual report
IMF calls on UK to increase interest rates
Fund warns Bank of
England to act swiftly and
ease inflationary pressure
CHRIS GILES — LONDON
The IMF has urged the Bank of England
to raise interest rates, warning that
demand was too strong in the economy
and UK inflation would rise to about
5.5 per cent early next year.
Two days ahead of the central bank’s
next Monetary Policy Committee meet-
ing, Kristalina Georgieva, IMF manag-
ing director, said the UK needed to
“withdraw the exceptional support pro-
vided during 2020”.
In its annual health check on the Brit-
ish economy, the fund accused the BoE’s
Group that preserves the
memories of Stalin-era crimes
fights court battle to survive
POLINA IVANOVA — MOSCOW
Little about the green-grey building on
Varsonofyevsky Lane in central Mos-
cow suggests that it was home for 30
years to the main execution squad of the
Soviet secret police.
About 15,000 people were shot and
killed in its basement and backyard,
tour guide Vasily Starostin told a small
group gathered outside its gates one
sub-zero day last week, on a walk organ-
ised by Russia’s oldest civil rights group,
Memorial, and based on its mammoth
archival research into Soviet-era
crimes.
The group has worked since 1989 to
preserve the memory of some of the
darkest moments in Russia’s history,
but its work could soon be halted after
government prosecutors accused it of
failing to properly identify itself as a
“foreign agent” and alleged that its
human rights centre supports extremist
groups.
Moscow courts are convening this
week to consider liquidating Memorial
at two parallel trials after initial hear-
ings late last month.
“If it happens, it will truly be a trag-
edy,” said Starostin, as participants in
the “topography of terror” walk peered
through the gates of the run-of-the-mill
Moscow house that, according to
Memorial’s research, was also once a
laboratory for testing lethal poisons on
political prisoners.
The move has triggered a public out-
cry, with some accusing the government
of wanting to suppress the memory of
Stalin-era crimes, from the Gulag labour
camps to the purges of the 1930s.
“Memorial is being taken from me
right now,” author Ludmilla Petrush-
evskaya wrote in an open letter, “and so
is the memory of the condemned and
the executed, of those who . . . died of
hunger and those who froze to death en
route from one Gulag to another.”
Open letters have been signed by
many others, including the widow of
author Alexander Solzhenitsyn, whose
novels exposed the horror of the Gulag
system. Over 120,000 people have sup-
ported a petition to save the group.
MAKE A SMART INVESTMENT
Subscribe to the FT today at FT.com/subscription
FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017
Trump vs the Valley
Tech titans need to minimise
political risk — GILLIAN TETT, PAGE 13
HMRC warns
customs risks
being swamped
by Brexit surge
3 Confidence in IT plans ‘has collapsed’
3 Fivefold rise in declarations expected
JAMES BLITZ — WHITEHALL EDITOR
A computer system acquired to collect
duties and clear imports into the UK
may not be able to handle the huge
surge in workload expected once Britain
leaves the EU, customs authorities have
admitted to MPs.
FINANCIAL TIMES
Bracken House, 1 Friday Street, London EC4M 9BT.
Subscriptions & Customer service
Subscription offers: www.ft.com/subscription
Contact: +44 207 775 6000, fte.subs@ft.com
Manage your personal account: mma.ft.com
Advertising
Tel: +44 20 7873 4000 asiaads@ft.com,
emeaads@ft.com
Letters to the editor
letters.editor@ft.com
Executive appointments
Tel: +44 20 7873 4909
www.exec-appointments.com
Published by: The Financial Times Limited,
Bracken House, 1 Friday Street, London EC4M 9BT.
Tel: +44 20 7873 3000; Fax: +44 20 7407 5700.
Editor: Roula Khalaf.
Germany: Demirören Media, Hurriyet AS-Branch
Germany, An der Brucke 20-22, 64546 Morfelden-
Walldorf, +49 6105 327100. Responsible Editor, Roula
Khalaf. Responsible for advertising content, Jon Slade.
Italy: Monza Stampa S.r.l., Via Michelangelo Buonarroti,
153, Monza, 20900, Milan. Tel. +39 039 28288201
Owner, The Financial Times Limited; Rappresentante e
Direttore Responsabile in Italia: I.M.D.Srl-Marco Provasi -
Via G. Puecher, 2 20037 Paderno Dugnano (MI), Italy.
Milano n. 296 del 08/05/08 - Poste Italiane SpA-Sped. in
Abb.Post.DL. 353/2003 (conv. L. 27/02/2004-n.46) art. 1
.comma 1, DCB Milano.
Spain: Bermont Impresion, Avenida de Alemania 12, CTC,
interest rate setters of allowing inflation
to spiral upwards by finding excuses to
do nothing at its regular meetings. “It
would be important to avoid inaction
bias, in view of costs associated with
containing second-round impacts [of
inflation],” the IMF said.
While acknowledging the BoE’s task
on timing monetary tightening was dif-
ficult, the IMF said the inflationary ten-
dencies would not fade quickly.
It forecast that inflation would return
to the BoE’s 2 per cent target only by
early 2024, having risen to “peak at
about 5.5 per cent in the spring of 2022”.
The economy would settle with out-
put at about 2 to 2.5 per cent below the
path the fund thought possible before
the pandemic, worse than its estimates
for other advanced economies, some-
‘Russia’s conscience’ faces legal liquidation
Defence case:
a Memorial
employee leaves
Russia’s
Supreme Court
after yesterday’s
hearing, which
was reconvened
to December 28
Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty
WORLD BUSINESS NEWSPAPER UK £2.70 Channel Islands £3.00; Republic of Ireland €3.00
A Five Star plan? Dear Don...
Italy’s populists are trying to woo
the poor — BIG READ, PAGE 11
May’s first stab at the break-up
letter — ROBERT SHRIMSLEY, PAGE 12
Lloyd’s of Brussels Insurance market
UK £3.80; Channel Islands £3.80; Republic of Ireland €3.80
Briefing
to tap new talent pool with EU base
THE END
i US bargain-hunters fuel Europe M&A
Europe has become the big target for cross-border
dealmaking, as US companies ride a Trump-fuelled
equity market rally to hunt for bargains across the
HOW DRIVERLESS
OF THE TECHNOLOGY IS
Atlantic.— PAGE 15; CHINA CURBS HIT DEALS, PAGE 17
i Report outlines longer NHS waiting times
A report on how the health service can survive CHANGING AN
ROAD
more austerity has said patients will wait longer for
AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE
non-urgent operations and for A&E treatment while
some surgical procedures will be scrapped.— PAGE 4
i Emerging nations in record debt sales
FT WEEKEND MAGAZINE
Developing countries have sold record levels of
government debt in the first quarter of this year,
taking advantage of a surge in optimism toward
emerging markets as trade booms.— PAGE 15
Credit Suisse
Art of persuasion Mystery deepens
i London tower plans break records
A survey has revealed that a
record 455 tall buildings are
planned or under construction over disputed painting of Jane Austen
engulfed in
adjust its negotiation position with the in London. Work began on
EU, a Whitehall official said. “If running almost one tower a week
our own customs system is proving during 2016.— PAGE 4
much harder than we anticipated, that
ought to have an impact on how we i Tillerson fails to ease Turkey tensions
fresh tax probe
press for certain options in Brussels.” The US secretary of state has failed to reconcile
In a letter to Andrew Tyrie, chairman
of the Commons treasury select com-
tensions after talks in Ankara with President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan on issues including Syria and the
28821, Coslada, Madrid. Legal Deposit Number
(Deposito Legal) M-32596-1995;
Publishing Director, Roula Khalaf;
Publishing Company, The Financial Times Limited,
registered office as above. Local Representative office;
C/ Infanta Maria Teresa 4, bajo 2, 28016, Madrid. ISSN
1135-8262.
UAE: Masar Printing & Publishing, P.O. Box 485100,
Dubai. Editor in Chief: Roula Khalaf.
France: Publishing Director, Jonathan Slade, 46 Rue La
Boetie, 75008 Paris, Tel. +33 (0)1 5376 8256; Fax: +33 (01)
5376 8253; Commission Paritaire N° 0919 C 85347; ISSN
1148-2753.
Turkey: Dunya Super Veb Ofset A.S. 100. Yil Mahallesi
34204, Bagcilar- Istanbul, Tel. +90 212 440 24 24.
Sweden: Responsible Publisher - Christer Norlander
© Copyright The Financial Times 2021.
Reproduction of the contents of this newspaper in any
manner is not permitted without the publisher’s prior
consent. ‘Financial Times’ and ‘FT’ are registered trade
marks of The Financial Times Limited.
The Financial Times and its journalism are subject to a
self-regulation regime under the FT Editorial Code of
Practice: www.ft.com/editorialcode
Reprints are available of any FT article with your
company logo or contact details inserted if required
(minimum order 100 copies).
One-off copyright licences for reproduction of FT articles
are also available.
For both services phone +44 20 7873 4816, or email
syndication@ft.com
FINANCIAL TIMES
INTERNATIONAL
thing Georgieva said was down to labour control of consumer spending power.
market tightness limiting the amount This should come from higher inter-
the economy could grow without infla- est rates, the IMF said, and the Treasury
tion. “We are in no position today yet to spending less in 2022-23 rather than
identify to what extent [this labour
market tightness] is due to the pan-
having most of the post-coronavirus
spending restraint in the following year.
It said this shift would “help contain
demand in the short run with the bene-
‘It is important to bear in fit of also reducing the drag on growth in
mind that initial steps to [the medium term]”.
The fund acknowledged that the out-
raise rates would still leave look was highly uncertain with the new
policy accommodative’ Omicron coronavirus variant spreading
rapidly. It said new restrictions lowered
demic and what role Brexit may play in growth a little over the winter.
it,” Georgieva said, referring to Britain’s With inflation its top policy concern,
exit from the EU in January. Inflation it focused on how the central bank
would come down because of a combi- should withdraw the support it had
nation of lower global energy prices, provided during the pandemic. This
more effective supply chains and tighter included lowering interest rates to
Civil rights. Extremism claims
Government prosecutors argue that torious, successful. Naturally, the his- ‘History
Memorial on several occasions broke a tory of Stalinism and the purges gets in
law requiring it to label all of its publica- the way.” is very
tions and online posts as having been Memorial, which is dubbed “Russia’s important
produced by a “foreign agent”, a desig- conscience” by some, has helped open
nation given the group in 2016. monuments and museums and has to the
Yesterday — which also marked the hung up hundreds of plaques in cities people in
anniversary of the death of one of marking the last known addresses of
Memorial’s founding members, Nobel Soviet political prisoners. power. And
Peace Prize winner Andrei Sakharov— Memorial has also combed through this history
Russia’s Supreme Court reconvened to archives to create searchable databases
consider the case, which was first heard of the prison and death records of the has to be
last month. It decided to reconvene on Soviet era’s many millions of victims — glossy,
December 28. but also of the names of over 41,000 per-
Describing the court cases against petrators from the NKVD secret police. victorious,
Memorial as a “criminalisation of mem- Last week, the Supreme Court ruled successful’
ory”, Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior fellow against a historian seeking to declassify
at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said that certain archived documents that would
the group had become an obstacle to the have revealed more NKVD names.
mythologised retelling of Russia’s past. Arguing in court, representatives of the
“History is very important to the peo- FSB, the NKVD’s current iteration, said
ple currently in power,” Kolesnikov such a disclosure would jeopardise
said. “They don’t have many modern- national security.
day achievements to brag about, and At a meeting of Russia’s human rights
visions of the future are pretty absent council last week, President Vladimir
too . . . So the most important glue for Putin said he respected Memorial’s
holding everything together is history. activities, but he also understood the
“And this history has to be glossy, vic- group to have defended terrorist groups.
Accession bid
Bulgaria PM pledges to back North Macedonia’s EU ambitions
MARTON DUNAI — BUDAPEST table . . . discussions about compro-
mises are much easier to have. Once this
Bulgaria’s new prime minister has sig-
is all achieved . . . I believe we can hap-
nalled that Sofia will end its obstruc-
SATURDAY 1 APRIL / SUNDAY 2 APRIL 2017
pily sign Macedonia into the EU.”
tion of North Macedonia’s bid to join
The U-turn comes after Bulgaria last
Censors and sensitivity
Warning: this article may be
FEBRUARY 4 2017
upsetting — LIFE & ARTS
the EU once his new government takes
year vetoed its neighbour’s EU accession
How To Spend It
office in the coming weeks.
talks amid disputes over history and
Chic new lodgings
Kiril Petkov, who was confirmed as pre- identity. Critics at the time accused
mier by parliament on Monday after his Boyko Borisov, Bulgaria’s former centre-
party took the largest share of the vote right leader, of resorting to nationalism
in last month’s elections, made the to distract attention from months
pledge as he reaffirmed Bulgaria’s com- of protests against organised crime and
mitment to Nato and the west. “We are corruption on his watch.
on the right side of Nato and EU policies, Borisov was ousted in April elections,
100 per cent,” he told the Financial but failure to agree a coalition led to
Times in an interview before he was fresh polls in July and in November,
confirmed as prime minister. when Petkov’s centrist We Continue the
“We will propose a new process [on Change (PP) party won about a quarter
North Macedonia] very fast, with a lim- of the vote.
ited timeframe, just six months long.” Petkov and his coalition partners —
Sofia wanted certain issues to remain the Socialist party, “turbo-folk” pop star
on the table, he said, including both Slavi Trifonov’s anti-establishment ITN,
sides pledging to fight hate crime and the liberal Democratic Bulgaria —
against the other and North Macedonia completed the first draft of a coalition
referring to its historical connection to agreement last Monday.
Bulgaria in its constitution. But he indi- The immediate challenge will be tack-
cated compromise was possible. ling the coronavirus crisis. Bulgaria has
“Let the two populations start talking among the world’s highest death rates
about the benefits of working together,” and lowest vaccination rates.
he said. “Once we put the upsides on the “We have to increase vaccinations, for
0.1 per cent and raising the total amount
of money created to buy government
bonds to £895bn.
While the IMF said there was a deli-
cate balance between undermining con-
fidence and allowing inflation to
become even more persistent, the BoE
should recognise that raising rates
would still leave stimulus in place.
Without saying action should be
immediate, it told monetary policy-
makers not to delay. “It is important to
bear in mind that initial steps [to raise
rates] would still leave policy accommo-
dative, that changes in policy can pro-
vide important signals to dampen infla-
tion expectations, and that policy is best
focused on the period 12 to 24 months
out, when it has its maximum impact.”
See FT View
Memorial’s human rights centre, well-
known for its work in Chechnya and
other southern Russian republics, has
questioned some of the cases against
groups ruled as terrorist or extremist in
Russia, including Islamist group Hizb
ut-Tahrir and the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
A Moscow city court will convene
tomorrow to consider whether in doing
so it has broken the law.
This branch of Memorial also main-
tains a modern-day list of political pris-
oners, and its numbers are now compa-
rable to those seen in the late Soviet
period, according to Sergei Davidis,
head of the group’s political prisoner
support programme.
“It is the absolute highest number in
the history of modern Russia,” Davidis
said.
Ending the Memorial walk around
central Moscow, tour guide Starostin
said he believed that even if the group
were shut down, the idea behind it
would survive. “You can ban us and liq-
uidate us as an organisation, but you
can’t ban the idea itself — that’s the most
important thing,” he said.
sure,” said Petkov. “We will put up a suf-
ficient budget for promotion. We cannot
close Bulgaria again.”
Petkov will also face a complex for-
eign policy balancing act at a time when
Russia is playing an increasingly asser-
tive role in the region.
North Macedonia, which first called
itself the Republic of Macedonia,
emerged out of the former Yugoslavia
and was granted EU candidate status in
2005. Its application was held up for
years by Greek opposition to its original
name, which Athens complained
implied a territorial claim on the Greek
‘Let the two populations
talk about the benefits
of working together’
Kiril Petkov
Wednesday 15 December 2021
Monetary policy
Nato chief’s
bid to lead
Norway
central bank
stirs concerns
RICHARD MILNE — OSLO
Nato secretary-general Jens Stolten-
berg has applied to be Norway’s next
central bank governor in a move likely
to spark fierce debate over the inde-
pendence of monetary policy and over-
sight of the world’s largest sovereign
wealth fund.
Stoltenberg, who was Norway’s prime
minister in 2000-01 and 2005-13 before
becoming head of the military alliance,
was named yesterday alongside deputy
central bank governor Ida Wolden
Bache and 20 other applicants including
students, pensioners and a bus driver as
formally seeking the post.
The former leader of the Labour
party, which in September took power
for the first time since 2013, is aiming to
replace Oystein Olsen as governor of the
central bank, who presides over mone-
tary policy but also supervises Norway’s
$1.4tn oil fund and its management
under former hedge fund manager
Nicolai Tangen.
Stoltenberg said Norway’s finance
ministry had asked him if he would be
interested in applying for the central
bank position. “That is what I’m doing
now, and it’s a job for which I am very
motivated,” he added. He would take up
the job, if appointed, on October 1.
His supporters have said that having a
political heavyweight in the role would
be desirable and that few understand
Norway’s economy as well as Stolten-
berg, who as finance minister conceived
the spending rule that decides how
much government can take out of the oil
fund each year.
But critics argue that the credibility of
both Norges Bank and the oil fund
would be placed at risk by putting a
former politician — and one who is close
friends with current Labour leader and
prime minister Jonas Gahr Store — in
charge.
Gisle James Natvik, a professor at
Norwegian Business School, called
Stoltenberg’s political and Nato experi-
ence “disqualifying” and said it would
weaken Norges Bank.
Stoltenberg is due to step down as
head of Nato in the autumn of 2022 but
the Norges Bank job is free from the
spring after Olsen decided to resign a
year before the end of his tenure.
As secretary-general of Nato, Stolten-
berg gained plaudits for holding the
military alliance together during the
turbulent presidency of Donald Trump,
who toyed with the idea of withdrawing
the US.
However, Nato is still struggling to
define its role as Washington increas-
ingly considers China as a threat while
eastern European countries such as the
three Baltic states and Poland rely on
the alliance as a defence against a resur-
gent Russia.
Stoltenberg told the Financial Times
in October that countering China would
be an important part of Nato’s rationale
in the future.
Bache was seen as the initial favourite
in Norway after a solid career in the cen-
tral bank including as head of monetary
policy, but Oslo was electrified by
rumours that Stoltenberg was consider-
ing the job. The prime minister has said
he will recuse himself from any discus-
sions about the governor job if Stolten-
berg applied.
region of the same name. The issue was
resolved in 2019 when the qualifier
“North” was added.
Meanwhile, relations between Sofia
and Skopje deteriorated, with many
Bulgarians rejecting the concept of a
separate Macedonian identity and lan-
guage, and disputes over events dating
back to the second world war.
But Petkov faces a challenge in fram-
ing his North Macedonia policy. Tri-
fonov has cultivated an image rooted in
romantic nationalism — which in Bul-
garia encompasses the claim that North
Macedonia is ethnically and culturally
Bulgarian. His party has nominated the
coalition’s foreign minister and energy
minister.
A recent Gallup International poll
found fewer than 10 per cent of Bulgari-
ans support North Macedonia’s EU aspi-
rations outright, and more than 70 per
cent back upholding Bulgaria’s veto on
Skopje’s accession talks until the bilat-
eral disagreements are settled.
Petkov aimed to win both sides round
with sweeteners, including investment
in infrastructure and cultural projects.
“We are willing not just to talk the talk
but also put some money on the table.”
Wednesday 15 December 2021 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES 3

INTERNATIONAL

World banks on boosters to see off Omicron threat

Third dose of vaccine creates far better army of antibodies to target virus and may kick in after only 48 hours
HANNAH KUCHLER, DONATO PAOLO
MANCINI AND OLIVER BARNES
LONDON
In the race to protect their populations
against the Omicron coronavirus vari-
ant, countries including the UK and US
are rolling out extensive booster pro-
grammes after data showed additional
jabs provided more protection against
the new strain than two shots.
The data, from the University of
Oxford on Monday, showed levels of
neutralising antibodies that attacked
the virus fell against Omicron, com-
pared with Delta, in people who had
taken two doses of the vaccine it devel-
oped with AstraZeneca, or of the BioN-
Tech/Pfizer shot.
The substantial fall in antibodies,
Oxford said, “suggests that while there
is no evidence of increased potential to
cause severe disease, or death,
increased infections in previously
infected or vaccinated individuals may
be likely”. With early hospital data sug-
gesting Omicron is more transmissible
than the dominant Delta variant, boost-
ers look more beneficial than ever.
How do boosters work?
Covid-19 booster vaccines familiarise
the body’s immune system with the
spike protein — the exposed part of the
virus that binds with human cells. They
enable the immune system to get better
at recognising and responding to the
real virus if it hits. Boosters increase lev-
els of antibodies and T-cells, which
strengthen the immune system’s
response to the virus, according to
Charles Bangham, professor of immu-
nology at Imperial College London.
“The purpose of the booster is to
increase the strength of the antibody
and T-cell immunity, so if you are rein-
fected, it becomes a trivial infection:
you are less unwell and you are less
likely to transmit it to others,” he said.
Teresa Lambe, an Oxford professor
who helped create the university’s Cov-
id-19 vaccine and co-authored Mon-
day’s study, said a third dose helped
“solidify or make a stronger memory
immune response”.
“That means you’re in a better posi-
tion for your immune response to kick
in when you see the virus, so you’re bet-
ter protected,” she said.
Why are they better at protecting
against Omicron than two doses?
The current Covid-19 vaccines were
designed to tackle the original strain of
Sars-Cov-2, which first emerged in the
Chinese city of Wuhan. But a third dose
boosts the immune system so signifi-
cantly that it creates a much better
army of antibodies to swarm the virus,
even if it has mutated considerably.
The booster provokes a “burst of
action” which is much quicker and
larger than for the initial doses, said
Peter English, an expert who used to
work for Public Health England.
“Larger amounts of antibodies in the
bloodstream can still somewhat neu-
tralise the different variants.”
Early data from a laboratory test
show a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine
resulted in a 25-fold increase in the neu-
tralising antibodies that attack the virus
against Omicron, a similar level of pro-
tection provided by two doses against
the Wuhan strain.
UK Health Security Agency data from
“real world” cases of Covid-19 caused by
Omicron suggest the boosters given in
the UK — Pfizer and Moderna — topped
up protection to make them 70 to 75 per
cent effective against the variant.
How long does it take for the
protection to kick in?
The UKHSA data measured efficacy
from two weeks after the booster.
Pfizer’s trial data, collected before Omi-
cron emerged, showed the levels of anti-
bodies that fight the virus soared seven
days after a third jab was administered.
But some suspect extra protection
may come even earlier than that. Eng-
lish said boosters for the virus that
causes whooping cough had an impact
within 48 hours. “I can’t see why Cov-
id-19 would be that different. The
booster response . . . can swing into
action very, very quickly and very rap-
idly produce antibodies,” he said.
Are variant-specific boosters being
developed?
Vaccine manufacturers are already
tweaking their designs to prepare shots
tailored to the Omicron variant. Pfizer
Sri Lanka: locals receive boosters in Colombo yesterday — Chamila Karunarathne/EPA-EFE said it could have an Omicron booster
available by March, because mRNA
technology can be used to rapidly pro-
duce a variant-specific vaccine.
But its availability broadly depends
on how long a trial will take. Regulators
are likely to require another trial that
would take at least two months.
Airfinity, the health analytics firm,
predicts that in a best-case scenario,
only 6bn doses of an Omicron-targeted
shot will be available by October 2022. If
vaccine makers switched only half the
production, that target would be
reached in January 2023 at the earliest.
Will we need to boost forever?
A scientific consensus has not yet
emerged about whether Covid boosters
will be needed every year.
But Kingston Mills, professor of
experimental immunology at Trinity
College Dublin, predicted booster shots
would be required “ad infinitum”, point-
ing to how dramatically Omicron has
mutated. “It very much depends on how
quickly we control the Sars-Cov-2 virus
around the world. If it’s mutating in
under-vaccinated parts of Africa, we are
at the whim of any of those mutations.”

English data show substantially increased risk of breakthrough

infections with Omicron, but boosters push risk back down
towards Delta levels
Relative risk of symptomatic infection for someone with the Pfizer/BioNTech
vaccine compared with an unvaccinated person
100% (same risk as unvaccinated)
Shading represents
confidence interval
75 around central
Omicron
estimate
50

25 Delta

0
10-14 15-19 20-24 25+ 2+ wks since
Weeks since second dose booster
Source: UK Health Security Agency

South Africa study

Two Pfizer doses give 70%

defence against hospital stay
JOHN BURN-MURDOCH, OLIVER BARNES
AND SARAH NEVILLE — LONDON
Two doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vac-
cine provide 70 per cent protection
against being admitted to hospital with
the Omicron coronavirus variant,
according to the first real-world analy-
sis of protection against severe disease
with the new strain in South Africa.
But the defence offered against Omicron
is lower than the 93 per cent protection
provided against the Delta variant, the
report from Discovery Health, the larg-
est private healthcare provider in South
Africa, found.
The study also showed that rates of
severe disease had been lower during
the early phase of the country’s Omi-
cron wave than during the same period
in previous surges.
‘The average patient,
primarily healthy . . . will
recover within five or
maximum seven days’
The study has not been submitted for
peer review.
The risk of an adult with Covid-19
being admitted to hospital since
November 15 is 29 per cent lower than
during South Africa’s first wave,
researchers discovered. This reduction
in severity holds after adjusting for age,
vaccination and previous infection sta-
tus, and underlying health conditions.
The findings demonstrate that,
although the number of infections with
Omicron is likely to grow exceptionally
high as it takes hold, the share of those
that develop into severe disease should
be lower than the rates seen in the past
20 months.
Professor Glenda Gray, president and
chief executive of the South African
Medical Research Council (SAMRC),
said very high levels of previous infec-
tion, combined with rising vaccination
coverage, could have produced a wave
that appeared to be “delinked from
death and hospitalisation”.
Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South
African Medical Association, yesterday
addressed the UK House of Commons
science and technology committee. She
told MPs the length of stay in hospital of
Omicron cases whose condition was not
serious enough to require oxygen treat-
ment was less than half that of Delta-
related cases.
She added that cases seen by general
practitioners in South Africa were
largely mild. “The average patient, pri-
marily healthy, that we are examining
on a day-to-day basis . . . will recover
within five or maximum seven days,”
she said.
However, Simon Clarke, associate
professor in cellular microbiology at the
University of Reading, stressed that the
increased contagiousness of Omicron
“could easily outweigh” the drop in dis-
ease severity observed.
“Similarly, a mass sickness of people
who are not ill enough to end up in hos-
pital, but who need to convalesce at
home, could deliver a substantial shut-
down of public services and slowing of
economic activity,” Clarke added.
One area of concern has been the ele-
vated rates of coronavirus admissions
among children. The study found that,
although rates had been higher in recent
weeks than during past waves, many of
these were coincidental admissions
where the patient tested positive only
after admission for another reason and
the majority of children admitted with
Covid symptoms recovered within
about three days.
But the authors cautioned that all of
their findings were very preliminary.
They said that the age profiles of Discov-
ery Health members and the South Afri-
can population more broadly might
limit the extent to which its conclusions
would translate to other countries.
The study corroborated earlier find-
ings by the SAMRC that Omicron was
more able than other variants to rein-
fect people who previously had corona-
virus, particularly when previous infec-
tion was many months ago.
Among people infected during South
Africa’s first wave in mid-2020, the rela-
tive risk of reinfection with Omicron is
2.5 times higher than reinfection with
another variant.
Pfizer backs antiviral pill see Companies
4 ★
Inflation
Producer price rise adds to pressure on Fed
US central bank likely to
reduce bond buying and
signal increases in rates
COLBY SMITH — WASHINGTON
ERIC PLATT — NEW YORK
US producer prices rose at the fastest
pace on record in November, piling
pressure on the Federal Reserve to more
swiftly dial down the emergency policy
settings it put in place during the pan-
demic in order to tame surging inflation.
The producer price index published
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics yester-
day jumped 0.8 per cent in November,
for an annual rise of 9.6 per cent. That is
Class divide echoes through Maxwell trial
Neighbouring towns with little
in common reflect wealth gap
between Epstein and victims
JOSHUA CHAFFIN — NEW YORK
On the eighth day of the government’s
sex-trafficking case against Ghislaine
Maxwell, a prosecutor asked a witness,
known as Shawn, what the difference
was between Palm Beach and West Palm
Beach, two Florida towns separated by a
drawbridge.
“Money’s no object over there,” said
Shawn, a West Palm Beach native,
sounding as though the nearby island
was a different planet. Growing up, he
told the jury, he had “very rarely” even
ventured into Palm Beach because “I
didn’t have enough money to buy any-
thing in the gas station”.
That changed, he said, when he began
ferrying his 14-year-old girlfriend to the
island to provide sexualised massages
for Jeffrey Epstein. Soon they were
struggling to find a store to change the
cash in West Palm Beach — where “they
don’t accept hundred-dollar bills”,
Shawn said.
Class is threaded through the Epstein
story. Maxwell, an Oxford-educated
product of fee-paying British public
schools, used hers to smooth the social
path of the Coney Island-born Epstein
when they joined in 1990s Manhattan.
Now, class is present in Maxwell’s
criminal trial too. It loomed as witnesses
recounted over the past two weeks how
a tall British woman with what one
called a “proper English” accent lured
them when they were young and poor
into a world beyond their imagination.
It sounded practically Dickensian
when one Maxwell accuser described
how Epstein had sent a chauffeur-
driven car to bring her and her mother
across the bridge for tea at his Palm
Beach mansion. The girl was 14 at the
time, and her father had died months
earlier, bankrupting the family, she said.
After offering himself as her patron,
Epstein would go on to abuse the girl for
years, she testified. Maxwell helped, she
said, by winning her confidence and
gradually pushing her boundaries.
Maxwell denies this and other sugges-
tions of wrongdoing. Her attorneys
insist she has been made a scapegoat for
the sins of Epstein, who died by suicide
in a New York prison cell a month after
he was arrested in 2019.
They have also tried to use class to
North Africa
Tunisia president promises elections next year Female union boss tells of opposition from men
HEBA SALEH — CAIRO
Kais Saied, Tunisia’s populist presi-
dent, has said that parliamentary elec-
tions will be held at the end of next
year, delaying any potential return to
democracy as he tightens his control of
the north African country.
The president, who has been ruling by
decree since suspending parliament and
the constitution in July, said the election
would be preceded by a referendum on
a new constitution. In a televised speech
on Sunday night, he described the July
coup as “correcting the path of the revo-
lution and the path of history”.
Until Saied shut down parliament and
suspended the constitution on July 25,
Tunisia was seen as the only successful
example of a democratic transition
among those Arab countries that rose
up against dictatorship in 2011.
The country’s democratic experi-
ment, however, had come to be discred-
ited in the eyes of many Tunisians
because of political infighting and the
failure of weak coalition governments to
address deepening economic problems,
rising poverty and the coronavirus pan-
the fastest year-over-year rate since the
data were first collected in 2010.
“Core” producer prices also broke
records. After stripping out volatile
items such as food and energy, prices
rose 6.9 per cent from the previous year,
the biggest rise since August 2014, when
the BLS first began its calculations.
The report comes at the start of a two-
day meeting for the US central bank,
which is debating how to adjust the
amount of stimulus it is providing to an
economy that is experiencing the high-
est inflation in almost 40 years.
The Fed is expected to announce
today that it will scale back its asset pur-
chase programme more quickly, dou-
bling the pace it set just a month ago.
Florida. Sex-trafficking case
‘I’ve never seen a divide
quite like in Palm Beach
County. You can go from
heaven to hell in 15 miles’
demic. The country last held an election
in 2019.
The lengthy transition period “will be
costly and Tunisia is on the verge of
bankruptcy, I am not sure how he
intends to finance this”, said Youssef
Cherif, a political analyst who heads
Columbia Global Centers in Tunis.
Transition period ‘will be
costly and Tunisia is on
the verge of bankruptcy’
Youssef Cherif, political analyst
The president has yet to unveil an eco-
nomic plan for the heavily indebted
country and has mostly blamed corrup-
tion for the deteriorating economy.
Tunisia is in talks about a loan with
the IMF, but previous governments
have found it difficult to implement
reforms required by the lender to cap
the public sector wage bill and reduce
subsidies.
Saied, who remains popular, said par-
liament would stay suspended until new
elections on December 17 next year and
FINANCIAL TIMES
INTERNATIONAL
The aim is to end the bond-buying pro-
gramme several months earlier in order
to give the Fed the flexibility to raise
interest rates sooner.
Chair Jay Powell set the stage weeks
ago when he signalled his support for an
earlier exit in the face of what he said
were mounting risks that inflation could
become a more persistent problem.
Once concentrated to a few sectors
most sensitive to pandemic-related reo-
penings and supply-chain disruptions,
such as used cars and travel-related
expenses, consumer price inflation has
shown clear signs of broadening out.
The BLS noted that last month’s
increase in producer prices was also
“broad-based”, with expenses related to
their advantage during the trial. In her
opening statement, attorney Bobbi
Sternheim claimed the accusers were
money-grabbers who had twisted the
truth in hopes of a financial “jackpot”. It
was reminiscent of political strategist
James Carville dismissing former Presi-
dent Bill Clinton’s sexual assault accus-
ers in 1994 by remarking: “Drag a
hundred-dollar bill through a trailer
park, you never know what you’ll find.”
It is not clear whether class issues will
sway the jury of mostly working-class
New Yorkers who will decide the fate of
a British socialite. Throughout the trial,
prosecutors have shown them photos of
Epstein’s private jets and opulent prop-
erties in New York, New Mexico, the
Caribbean and Palm Beach, where the
bathroom had a sofa.
As a gossip columnist in Palm Beach,
Jose Lambiet developed a jaded view
about the divide between Palm Beach, a
manicured bunker of old money, and
West Palm Beach, a place built to house
the help which long suffered from a rep-
utation for drugs and violence.
“The story here, in my book, is how
the rich have once again found a way to
screw the poor,” Lambiet, now a private
before that, in July, there would be a ref-
erendum on a constitution drawn up by
an appointed committee.
“There will be a popular consultation
starting from the beginning of January
through online platforms and ques-
tions, which we want to be clear and
brief, will be formulated so the people
can express their will,” said Saied, who
has made no secret that he opposed the
parliamentary system and preferred a
form of direct democracy that bypasses
political parties.
“He clearly wants a constitution with a
presidential system, and there is enough
[support] for that within the popula-
tion,” said Cherif, who described the
online consultation as “weird”. He
added: “The opaque consultation . . .
would lead to [a stronger president]
anyway, but who will exercise the checks
and balances? I worry that his constitu-
tion will establish authoritarian rule.”
Saied accused unnamed politicians of
having robbed and impoverished the
country. “I made the decision that had
to be made, because I could not leave the
country to beasts and raptors,” he said
of his seizure of power in July.
services, transport and warehousing
moving higher. Prices for iron and steel
scrap, as well as gasoline and food items
rose as well.
The Fed is also today expected to sig-
nal multiple interest rate rises next year,
with further adjustments pencilled in
for subsequent years. In September, the
last time the so-called “dot plot” of indi-
vidual interest rate projections was pub-
lished, Fed officials were evenly split on
whether lift-off from today’s near-zero
levels would occur in 2022. Now, econo-
mists anticipate the dot plot to show two
rises in 2022, followed by three or four
in 2023 and again in 2024.
Moderate Democrats are pushing the
Fed to contain inflation, which has been
detective, said of the Epstein case.
“These girls were from five or six miles
away, as the crow flies, where the houses
are worth $50,000 or $60,000.”
West Palm Beach, across the Intrac-
oastal Waterway from Palm Beach, has
changed as the region has prospered. It
has caught some of the spillover as bil-
lionaires have pushed millionaires off
Palm Beach island. It is now becoming a
hub for hedge funds fleeing New York to
take advantage of Florida’s low taxes.
Goldman Sachs has just leased space.
Still, downbeat pockets remain, as
they do in other towns in the vicinity
such as Royal Palm Beach and Loxa-
hatchee, from which many of Epstein’s
victims hailed. “I’ve never seen a divide
quite like the one in Palm Beach
County,” said Jonathan Beaton, who
worked as a television reporter in the
area for many years. “You can go from
heaven to hell in 15 miles.”
You can also find resentment. When
he testified last week, Juan Alessi was
still bitter from his dozen years as
Epstein’s Palm Beach property man-
ager. “It was slavery,” he said.
Maxwell called him “John” and insti-
tuted house rules that he found “degrad-
Japan
ERI SUGIURA, LEO LEWIS
AND KANA INAGAKI — TOKYO
Male colleagues of the first woman to
head Japan’s largest trade union associ-
ation begged her to turn the job down
because they believed her gender made
her incapable of fighting corporate
Japan for higher wages.
In an interview with the Financial
Times, Tomoko Yoshino described a
barrage of efforts to derail her promo-
tion to president of the Japanese Trade
Union Confederation (Rengo). The
organisation, she said, was supposed to
represent all workers but had for years
maintained a “male-centred image”.
“Men told me I should definitely
decline the offer, as not only were we
going to have a general election [in
October] and an upper house election
[in 2022], but next year’s wage negotia-
tion was also going to be tough due to the
pandemic,” Yoshino said. “They said it
was too difficult for a woman to handle
the job in such a difficult time.”
But opposition to her appointment,
she said, had been offset by the huge
support of Rengo’s female membership,
politically toxic for the Biden adminis-
tration as it seeks to pass its $1.75tn
Build Back Better spending legislation.
Republicans and some members of
the president’s party have resisted the
spending package, citing the pain
imposed on Americans by inflation.
White House officials, like most econ-
omists, expect inflation to moderate
next year, but there is significant uncer-
tainty about when this will begin.
“The numbers are going to be pretty
strong for at least the next six months,
so it means the rhetoric around inflation
is going to continue to mount until the
peaking occurs late in the first quarter
or second quarter,” said Alan Det-
meister, an economist at UBS.
Palm Beach:
Jeffrey Epstein’s
home, centre,
had a sofa in
the bathroom.
Below, Epstein
and Ghislaine
Maxwell
Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/
Tribune News Service/Getty
ing”. One example: Maxwell forbade
staff from making eye contact with
Epstein. She reprimanded Alessi in an
email to another staffer for “doing a
truly awful job” after he had allegedly
failed to stock pens and bottled water
“in the black Merc”. The Mercedes.
At times, the social gap between Max-
well and her accusers has seemed vast.
While Maxwell flew on Concorde, was
friends with the UK’s Prince Andrew
and attended Chelsea Clinton’s wed-
ding, one of her accusers, Carolyn,
dropped out of school in West Palm
Beach at 13, and began dating Shawn,
then 17, who lived across the street. Car-
olyn had been molested by her grandfa-
ther, she told the jury, and her mother
was an alcoholic and a drug addict.
The first time she went to Epstein’s
house, Carolyn testified, she was
greeted by a woman with an English
accent who would arrange some of the
100 or so sexualised massages she
would give Epstein in the next two years.
Carolyn went on to become a drug
addict, a prostitute and a single mother.
In court last week, she faced Maxwell,
who sat across the room. At one point
she railed at her: “You broke my soul!”
who saw the promotion as a clear signal
of progress. “In a sense, something that
had been a source of frustration among
women has now been transformed into
expectation,” she said.
Yoshino, who assumed the top role in
October, made the comments as Rengo
prepares for the annual shunto negotia-
Tomoko Yoshino:
‘They said it was
too difficult for a
woman to handle
the job in such a
difficult time’
tions between labour and management
across Japanese industry.
The process, which begins in January,
has for many years delivered relative
disappointment to workers and to gov-
ernment administrations that had
hoped larger wage increases would
induce a broader economic recovery.
Rengo last week adopted a plan to
demand a total increase of 4 per cent in
the negotiations, combining a pay scale
and a regular pay increase, the same tar-
get for the seventh consecutive year.
Wednesday 15 December 2021
Covid curbs
Hong Kong
gourmet food
helps placate
bankers in
quarantine
CHAN HO-HIM — HONG KONG
Senior staff at Hong Kong’s de facto
central bank have been delivering wine
and gourmet food to bankers isolating
in the city’s hotels, in an attempt to
appease those furious at being caught
up in one of the world’s strictest quar-
antine regimes.
A spokesperson from the Hong Kong
Monetary Authority told the Financial
Times yesterday that senior officials
had “from their own pockets . . . sent
confectioneries to a handful of execu-
tives under quarantine as a token of per-
sonal regard”.
The Chinese territory has stuck to a
“zero Covid” approach with tough quar-
antine rules imposed on arrivals — most
are required to undergo 21 days of man-
datory hotel quarantine — triggering
frustration from many business groups
and bankers.
With international groups threaten-
ing to quit Hong Kong, analysts have
warned that the city was risking its sta-
tus as Asia’s premier financial hub with
its extreme pandemic control policies.
Local officials in November revoked
quarantine exemptions for some
groups, including senior business exec-
utives and bankers, to “plug loopholes”
in a bid to satisfy Chinese authorities
amid discussions about resuming some
quarantine-free travel between Hong
Kong and the mainland, which could
happen as early as this month.
The revelation about bankers’ care
packages first came on Monday in an
interview with HKMA chief executive
Eddie Yue by the Chinese-language
Hong Kong Economic Times, where he
admitted the monetary authority had
sent “wine and gourmet food” to finan-
cial workers in hotel quarantine.
“Hopefully, they will be less angry
about Hong Kong’s [strict quarantine
measures],” Yue told the local publica-
tion.
With the emergence of the Omicron
variant, Hong Kong has over the past
two weeks placed dozens of countries,
including Japan and Australia, on a
“high-risk” list, banning all non-resi-
dents from entering the city, while
returning residents must undergo quar-
antine for three weeks with multiple
virus tests required. The city has
recorded eight Omicron cases as of yes-
terday, all detected during isolation.
In an effort to retain employees, big
investment banks such as JPMorgan
Chase and Morgan Stanley announced
plans last month to reimburse their staff
up to $5,000 for hotel quarantine stays.
During the pandemic, senior execu-
tives from large banks have gone
through quarantine in Hong Kong,
including HSBC chair Mark Tucker who
completed 21 days of quarantine this
summer after arriving from the UK. The
bank’s chief executive, Noel Quinn, also
underwent hotel quarantine last year.
But not all top bankers were forced to
experience the city’s tough quarantine
measures. Jamie Dimon, chair and chief
executive of JPMorgan Chase, was
allowed to skip quarantine in November
when he flew in from the US for the first
time in more than two years for a 32-
hour visit to meet regulators and staff.
Hong Kong authorities said then that
Dimon had to “minimise social contact”
and have his itinerary approved by local
officials.
The government is supporting the
trend of wage increases and is poised to
raise the threat of blocking investment
tax credits for large companies that fail
to raise workers’ pay. Big companies
usually respond around March.
Yoshino will probably use her position
to raise pressure on the many compa-
nies dragging their feet on gender equal-
ity and “womenomics” policies intro-
duced during the past decade.
The Cabinet Office said last month
that 33.4 per cent of the 2,189 big com-
panies listed on the first section of the
Tokyo Stock Exchange did not have any
female executives as of July. Such com-
panies included Canon and chemical
manufacturer Toray Industries, which
have both produced chairmen of Kei-
danren, the largest business federation.
Japan ranks 120th among 156 coun-
tries in the 2021 gender gap rankings,
according to the World Economic
Forum. Yoshino said she had seen many
female leaders passed over for the high-
est positions in the trade union associa-
tion. “I made up my mind that I should
never miss a chance to break the glass
ceiling by myself.”
Wednesday 15 December 2021 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES 5
6 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES Wednesday 15 December 2021

Under scrutiny Despite the US justice department’s probe into the sector, short sellers can prove beneficial y MARKETS INSIGHT

Pfizer antiviral Born to be filed Harley-Davidson to spin off

and float electric bikes unit via Spac merger
Rentokil to
buy US peer
pill effective in Terminix in
$6.7bn deal
Omicron cases, LEKE OSO ALABI AND IAN JOHNSTON

Rentokil will acquire US extermination

trial results say

group Terminix in a $6.7bn deal that
will create the biggest pest control pro-
vider in the world.
The UK group has bought more than
220 companies since 2016 but the latest
deal, which values Terminix’s equity at

3 Hospital admission rates reduced $55 per share, is its largest in recent
years.

3 Merck revises down rival’s efficacy Andy Ransom, Rentokil’s chief execu-
tive, told investors on a call yesterday
that the company would continue to
look for acquisitions in North America,
HANNAH KUCHLER — LONDON toms but is still 88 per cent effective in Asia and the Middle East, and in the
JAMIE SMYTH — NEW YORK
high-risk patients within five days. hygiene and wellbeing sector.
Pfizer’s Covid-19 antiviral pill cuts the Earlier, Merck revised down the effi- The $22bn pest control industry has
risk of hospital admission or death by cacy rate for its antiviral from 50 per continued to grow during the pandemic,
up to 89 per cent in high-risk patients, cent to 30 per cent. While the UK has with the expansion of middle classes,
according to final trial results that approved the Merck pill, the US regula- increased concerns over viruses and dis-
confirm earlier data. tor has yet to make a decision, after sci- eases brought about by Covid-19 and cli-
The positive results come after a rival entific advisers voted only narrowly in mate change propelling the sector.
antiviral from Merck proved less effec- favour of it. The deal values Terminix’s equity at a
tive than initially hoped and at a time “This positive result will drive market premium of 47 per cent to its closing
when the new Omicron variant surges in share decisively to Pfizer and will result price on Monday. Brett Ponton, chief
several countries. in another two years of massive revenue executive of Terminix, said: “This is an
Although the trial was held while windfalls,” said Geoffrey Porges, an ana- exciting next step that significantly
Delta was the dominant variant, Pfizer lyst at healthcare-focused investment advances Terminix’s journey towards
believes the antiviral, known as Pax- bank SVB Leerink, although he said that becoming a global leader in pest man-
lovid, is likely to work against Omicron. this was dependent on how quickly the agement.”
An early lab study showed it contin- company could supply the drugs. London-listed Rentokil will pay about
“There’s no reason to believe that this $1.3bn in cash to Terminix shareholders
medicine isn’t equally effective against and the rest in shares. The boards of
‘This will drive market Omicron, and for that reason could be both companies backed the deal.
share to Pfizer and result our best hope, and biggest beneficiary, Rentokil’s shares rose to a record high
of the coming global Omicron wave,” The deal with AEA Bridges Impact Corp will give LiveWire an enterprise value of $1.8bn and a New York listing following the announcement of the deal,
in another two years of Porges said. climbing as much as 6 per cent in early
massive revenue windfalls’ The final data on high-risk patients NIKOU ASGARI — NEW YORK
CLAIRE BUSHEY — CHICAGO
However, as interest in Spacs has found to have faked a prototype of its trading yesterday, but later dropped
showed that of 697 people given Pax- plunged from frenzied highs at the electric truck. sharply and closed down 12 per cent.
ued to work against Omicron, and other lovid, five were hospitalised and none Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson start of the year, so too have shares in The move to separate Harley’s elec- “These are two highly complemen-
studies are under way. died. In contrast, 44 of the patients is spinning off its electric bikes divi- electric vehicle companies, several of tric vehicle business marks a change tary businesses with a similar opera-
Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chief execu- given a placebo were hospitalised and sion and listing it on the stock mar- which have little to no revenue. in strategy for the company, which tional playbook,” said Ransom. “We will
tive, said the data were “further corrob- nine died. In an interim analysis for ket through a merger with a blank Jochen Zeitz, chief executive, said has kept the LiveWire brand in-house open our first innovation centre in the
oration” that the antiviral candidate standard-risk patients, two out of the cheque company, taking a similar that Harley’s long record as a manu- for a decade. Harley had planned to US and provide our industry-leading
would have a “meaningful impact on 333 who received the drug were hospi- route to other electric vehicle groups facturer set it apart from nascent elec- invest $190m to $250m a year to innovations and digital technologies to a
the lives of many”. talised, compared with eight in the pla- that have gone public. tric vehicle companies. develop and produce electric motor- far larger customer base.”
“Emerging variants of concern, like cebo arm. There were no deaths in “This is not the founder-led cycles. The US makes up more than half of
Omicron, have exacerbated the need for either of the trial arms. Harley’s electric motorcycle unit, start-up that has no history,” Zeitz The deal will be funded through the global pest control market and the
accessible treatment options for those However, the trials included only LiveWire, is set to merge with AEA said. “This is a [more than 100]-year- $400m raised by the AEA Bridges acquisition will enable Rentokil to
who contract the virus . . . if authorised unvaccinated participants, so there are Bridges Impact Corp, a special pur- old company with a solid manage- Spac in September 2020, a $100m expand its presence in North America.
or approved, this potential treatment no data on the degree to which the drugs pose acquisition company run by ment team that is spinning off a busi- investment from Harley and $100m Terminix, which is the market leader in
could be a critical tool to help quell the reduce the risk for vaccinated patients, executives of private equity firm AEA ness that we believe in.” in financing from Taiwanese motor- termite control in North America, had
pandemic,” he said. who have a lower risk of severe disease. Investors and investment group Several high-profile electric vehicle cycle manufacturer Kymco, which $2bn of revenues in 2020, mostly from
The US drugmaker, which is stepping The Pfizer drug needs to be taken with Bridges Fund Management. The deal companies that have listed via Spacs will make a so-called private invest- the US.
up production, has said it will have only ritonavir, a generic HIV medication, to will give LiveWire an enterprise value have also faced scrutiny from regula- ment in public equity, or Pipe. Terminix shareholders will own
180,000 courses available this year but keep it in the body at high enough con- of $1.8bn. tors. Last week, the US Securities and Harley will own 74 per cent of approximately 26 per cent of the com-
has raised next year’s target to 80m. centrations to tackle the virus. One LiveWire’s listing will make it the Exchange Commission subpoenaed LiveWire, with 12 per cent held by the bined group, which will serve 4.9m cus-
Paxlovid also cuts the risk of hospital- potential problem is that many high- latest electric vehicle company to go electric car company Lucid Motors, Spac shareholders and the rest by the tomers around the world.
isation and death for standard-risk risk patients could find that ritonavir public via a Spac deal this year, as requesting documents related to its Spac founders and Kymco. Rentokil, founded in 1925, at present
patients by 70 per cent, the trial showed. cannot be taken with their current med- investors have clamoured to fund projections and disclosures. Lords- The combined company will trade operates in 87 countries and had reve-
The drug works best if first given ication. Pfizer has said the drug interac- companies promising to revolutionise town Motors is under investigation by on the New York Stock Exchange nues of more than £2.8bn in 2020.
within three days of the onset of symp- tions could be managed in many cases. the future of transport. federal prosecutors, while Nikola was under the ticker LVW. See Lex

Contracts & Tenders

Beijing’s treatment of Evergrande turns a trauma into a trifle

Evergrande. Like Paulson and his col-
INSIDE BUSINESS leagues at the Federal Reserve, which
feared the moral hazard consequences
ASIA of rescuing Lehman Brothers, the party
does not want to create a precedent by
Tom bailing out Evergrande.
Unlike them, the party has many
Mitchell more levers at its disposal to ensure that
Evergrande fades away slowly, thus
reducing the shockwaves from its col-
lapse. These include party control of the
All politics is local, so pay off the people
who protest outside City Hall first. Local
authorities across China used Septem-
ber, October and November to secure
Evergrande’s bank accounts in their
jurisdictions and make sure they were
reserved to complete developments —
many of which were funded by advance
payments from homebuyers — as well as
contractors, some of which protested at
the developer’s Shenzhen headquarters

I
n the midst of the global financial
crisis Wang Qishan, then a Chinese
Financial Notice to Advertisers vice-premier, expressed his disap-
Calls to the Financial Times Advertising pointment to Hank Paulson, his
Department may be monitored. friend and US counterpart on bilat-
eral financial and economic issues.
Acceptance of any advertisement for
The two had known each other since
publication will be subject to the then
current terms and conditions of insertion of
the late 1990s when Paulson, then at
advertisements in FT publications. Goldman Sachs, advised Wang and
other senior Chinese leaders on a series
A copy of the terms and conditions of of initial public offerings by big state-
insertion of advertisements in FT owned enterprises and banks. But as
publications can be obtained from documented in Dealing with China, the
+44 (0)20 7873 3000, or viewed at former US Treasury secretary’s mem-
www.FT.com/advertising oir, a decade later, Wang watched in dis-
belief as Wall Street dragged the global
economy into the abyss.
“You were my teacher but look at
your system, Hank,” Wang said as the
media, the central bank and Ever-
grande’s state-bank creditors, which are
owed about one-third of its $300bn in
liabilities.
If Wang had only known in 2008 what
he knows now, this is what he might
have taught his teacher about the art of
restructurings, Chinese Communist
party-style:
Never surprise the market. Bore
it instead. Ever-
grande admitted in Unlike the Fed in 2008,
effect that it would
default on its debts the party has many more
on December 3, levers at its disposal to
missed bond pay-
ments on Decem- ensure that Evergrande
b e r 7 a n d w a s fades away slowly
declared to be in
“restricted default” by Fitch Ratings on
in mid-September.
They also sat down in September to
work out settlements with retail inves-
tors who had bought high-yield Ever-
grande investment products — months
before international investors finally
got serious about forming creditor com-
mittees and attempting to engage Chi-
nese officials.
Don’t just blame the CEO. Make him dis-
appear from public sight and reserve the
right to arrest him. The People’s Bank of
China reiterated its criticism of Hui Ka
Yan for Evergrande’s woes again in
October and early December. Apart
from brief reports about Hui exhorting
employees to soldier on and reassuring
everyone that all would be well, Ever-
grande’s founding chair has been invisi-
ble over recent months. It is otherwise

Businesses For Sale likes of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers

and Merrill Lynch failed or were
snapped up on the cheap by rivals. “We
aren’t sure we should be learning from
you any more.”
Wang, who has since risen to become
vice-president, and his Chinese Com-
munist party colleagues have since
learnt a lot about managing corporate
collapses of their own. In recent years
Business for Sale, Business Opportunities, Business Services, the party has presided over the restruc-
Business Wanted, Franchises turings of domestic giants such as con-
Runs Daily
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... glomerate HNA and Anbang Insurance.
Classified Business Advertising Now it is turning its attention to an
UK: +44 20 7873 4000 | Email: advertising@ft.com even bigger challenge, the so far slow-
motion collapse of real estate developer
December 9.
The markets largely yawned, mainly
because they had been warned this
moment was highly likely as early as
mid-August, when China’s central bank
hauled in Evergrande management for a
high-profile scolding.
Between then and last week’s fait
accompli, Evergrande also made a series
of last-minute bond repayments that
delayed the inevitable, but gave the
market more time to abandon illusions
that Beijing might rescue Evergrande.
Investor sentiment towards other
indebted developers was badly affected
but not much else.
known as the Jack Ma treatment.
There are worse fates. As HNA’s
restructuring was wrapped up earlier
this year, the conglomerate’s top two
executives — Chen Feng and Adam Tan
— were arrested. Meanwhile Ma, whose
flagship ecommerce and online finance
groups have been at the centre of a regu-
latory frenzy over the past year, is still
far from the public spotlight but once
again can enjoy lavish overseas holi-
days. If Hui is lucky he will similarly
fade away into a luxurious, low-profile
irrelevance.
tom.mitchell@ft.com
Wednesday 15 December 2021 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES 7
8 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES Wednesday 15 December 2021

COMPANIES & MARKETS

Technology Technology

Apple probed over fired whistleblower Hackers roll

Former manager claims
company retaliated after
harassment complaints
PATRICK MCGEE — SAN FRANCISCO
PATRICK TEMPLE-WEST — NEW YORK
The US Department of Labor is investi-
gating Apple over claims that it retali-
ated against an employee who com-
plained of workplace harassment and
unsafe working conditions.
Ashley Gjovik, 35, had been a senior
engineering program manager for six
years at Apple when she was fired in
September for allegedly leaking confi-
dential information.
Gjovik, who has written on Twitter
about her allegations of harassment,
surveillance and workplace safety
issues, alleged that she was dismissed
under a false pretext after several com-
plaints that led to more than a dozen
instances of retaliation including job
reassignment.
The labour department declined to
comment but confirmed its investiga-
tion in a letter to Gjovik seen by the
Financial Times, dated December 10.
Stephen Kohn, an employment law-
yer, said the burden of proof needed for
the agency to open an investigation was
high, and that the case would be closely
watched because it was especially rare
for a labour dispute with Big Tech “to
Technology. Artificial intelligence
break into the public” domain. The
labour department rarely investigated
such cases, he said, because of the wide-
spread use of non-disclosure agree-
ments to “silence” whistleblowers.
Apple declined to discuss specific
employee matters, citing privacy, but
said: “We are and have always been
deeply committed to creating and main-
taining a positive and inclusive work-
place. We take all concerns seriously
and we thoroughly investigate when-
ever a concern is raised.”
For Apple, the probe could mark the
most significant setback in a series of
labour disputes this year that included a
shareholder proposal requesting more
information about the company’s use of
non-disclosure agreements. Gjovik’s
original complaints stemmed from mid-
March, when she cited “chemical expo-
sure” concerns at her Apple office in
Sunnyvale, California.
The facility is located on a so-called
Superfund site, requiring special over-
sight owing to previous contamination
by hazardous waste materials beneath
the building.
When Apple sent an email about
wanting to test the site for “vapour
intrusion”, Gjovik’s questions about it
were rebuffed by Apple’s employee rela-
tions department.
“They intimidated me not to speak
about my safety concerns,” Gjovik
alleged.
The labour department will examine
whether Apple retaliated over claims
about occupational safety and hazard-
ous waste management liability, along-
side another allegation that falls under
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or Sox, which
sets out the rules for financial record
keeping.
Gjovik pointed to a potential conflict
of interest regarding Apple board mem-
ber Ronald Sugar, chair of the audit
committee, as he was previously chief
executive of Northrop Grumman, the
defence company responsible for the
dump — and maintenance — of waste
materials beneath the Sunnyvale office.
Sugar could not be immediately
reached for comment.
out more than
1.2m global
cyber attacks
via Log4J flaw
HANNAH MURPHY — LONDON
Hackers including Chinese state-
backed groups have launched more
than 1.2m attacks on companies glo-
bally since last Friday, say researchers,
through a vulnerability in a piece of
open-source software called Log4J.
Cyber security group Check Point said
that the attacks relating to the vulnera-
bility had accelerated, and that at some
points its researchers were seeing more
than 100 per minute.
Perpetrators include “Chinese gov-
ernment attackers”, said Charles Car-
makal, chief technology officer of cyber
company Mandiant.

Gig workers want ‘bot bosses’ called to account
Uber drivers among those
asking how software systems
evaluate and punish them
MADHUMITA MURGIA — LONDON
Over two years, Alexandru, a 38-year-
old Uber driver in London amassed
nearly 7,000 trips and kept a flawless
five-star customer service rating.
When other drivers complained that
Uber’s system was punishing them for
no reason, he did not believe them. “My
feeling was this wasn’t the whole truth.
Surely they must be guilty of some-
thing,” he said.
But in July last year, Alexandru
received his own warning from Uber’s
computers, telling him he had been
flagged for fraudulent activity.
Another warning came two weeks
later. A third would lead to his account
being shut down. He stopped using the
app, in fear of being permanently
barred, and began racking his brain for
what he might have done wrong.
Like many gig economy companies,
Uber manages its tens of thousands of
UK drivers with artificial intelligence
programs, which handle everything
from using facial recognition to check
identities, to pairing drivers with cus-
tomers, to spotting fraud when drivers
cheat passengers or share accounts.
Using humans to manage such a huge
operation would be impossible, the
companies claim.
But gig economy workers complain
there is little redress when the computer
makes a wrong decision, and that the
companies do not tell them how algo-
rithms assess them, choosing instead to
keep the process largely secret.
Alexandru claimed that while he was
warned for fraud, such as extending the
time or distance of a trip, he was not
given any explanation of what had hap-
pened, and was unable to find out.
“It’s like you find a warning left on
your desk by your boss, but they are
inaccessible, and if you knock on their
door, they say, just stop whatever you’re
doing wrong, or you will be fired, but
they won’t tell you what it is,” he said.
When he called Uber for support, no
one could help. “They kept saying, ‘The
system can’t be wrong, what have you
done?’”
Finally he took his case to a non-gov-
ernmental organisation, the Workers
Info Exchange (WIE), which is lobbying
companies such as Uber to explain how
their systems work. In October, Uber
apologised for flagging him by mistake.
“[Uber] use AI software as an HR
Italy has fined department for drivers,” said Alexan-
Deliveroo and dru. “The system might make you stop
Glovo, a grocery working, it might terminate your con-
delivery app, for tract with Uber, it might cost you your
not revealing [private hire] licence,” he said.
how their Uber said that while it did use auto-
computers mated processes for fraud detection,
allocated jobs decisions to terminate a driver were
and rated only taken following human review.
performance During the past eight months, more
Alessia Pierdomenico/
than 500 gig workers from companies
Bloomberg
such as Amazon Flex, Bolt, Deliveroo
and Uber, have also asked WIE for help
in understanding automated decisions.
Under European law, drivers have the
right to know whether and how they
have been subject to automated deci-
sion-making. But just 40 workers have
seen raw data on their working patterns.
No company has clearly explained
how the data was used by their comput-
ers to make decisions, said WIE. “The
key is the Kafkaesque element of what it
means to have an algorithm as your
boss,” said Eva Blum-Dumontet, senior
researcher at advocacy group Privacy
International, who has launched a cam-
paign alongside the App Drivers and
Couriers Union to support a new WIE
report called Managed by Bots. “People
are getting suspended, unable to work,
for reasons they don’t know about. The
company’s employees themselves don’t
know. The insanity of the situation has
an impact on their mental health — the
feeling of being treated as if you are
guilty, without knowing why.”
In Europe, regulators and courts are
beginning to recognise the harm. In Jan-
uary, an Italian court ruled that
Deliveroo had discriminated against
workers because its computers did not
differentiate between workers who
were unproductive and those who were
sick or exercising their right to strike.
Italy has also fined Deliveroo and
Glovo, a grocery delivery app, for not
revealing how their computers allo-
cated jobs and rated performance.
In March, a Dutch court ruled ride-
hailing company Ola had to provide the
data that generated “earnings profiles”
of drivers, used to decide job allocation.
But enforcement generally remains
weak. “The laws — both employment
and data privacy laws — are failing these
drivers,” said Cansu Safak, the report’s
co-author and WIE researcher. “When
‘The key you try to exercise these rights, you find
yourself speaking to bots again.” She
is the found the industry “deeply hostile and
Kafkaesque resistant” to worker rights”.
Uber said: “Our technology plays an
element of important role in keeping everyone that
what it uses our platform safe, as well as max-
imising earning opportunities for driv-
means to ers and couriers.” It added that Uber was
have an committed to being open and transpar-
ent about its systems, a claim disputed
algorithm by critics, who said gig companies
as your treated the way their algorithms work
as a trade secret.
boss’ Privacy International and WIE on
Monday launched a petition demanding
details such as how automated decisions
are reviewed from half a dozen gig plat-
forms. The goal is to draw attention to
the increasing automation of all work-
places, not just the gig economy.
“Everybody feels safe, they have a
nice job and this won’t affect them, just
those poor Uber drivers. But it isn’t just
about us,” said Alexandru.
“What if AI decides if an ambulance is
sent to your house or not, would you feel
safe without speaking with a human
operator? This affects all our lives.”
The flaw in Log4J allows attackers
easily to gain remote control over com-
puters running apps in Java, a popular
programming language.
Jen Easterly, director of the US Cyber-
security and Infrastructure Security
Agency (Cisa), told industry executives
that the vulnerability was “one of the
most serious I’ve seen in my entire
career, if not the most serious”, accord-
ing to US media reports. Hundreds of
millions of devices are likely to be
affected, she said.
Check Point said the hackers were in
many cases taking control of computers
to use them to mine cryptocurrency, or
to become part of botnets, vast net-
‘Attackers gain almost
unlimited power — they
can extract sensitive data
. . . install ransomware’
works of computers that can be used to
overwhelm websites with traffic, to send
spam, or for other illegal purposes.
Cisa and the UK’s National Cyber
Security Centre have issued alerts urg-
ing organisations to make upgrades
related to the Log4J vulnerability, as
experts attempt to assess the fallout.
Amazon, Apple, IBM, Microsoft and
Cisco are among those that have rushed
to put out fixes, but no severe breaches
have been reported publicly so far.
The vulnerability is the latest to hit
corporate networks, after the emer-
gence of flaws in the past year in com-
monly used software from Microsoft
and IT company SolarWinds. Both these
weaknesses were initially exploited by
state-backed espionage groups from
both China and Russia.
Carmakal said that Chinese state-
backed actors were also attempting to
exploit the Log4J bug, but declined to
share further details. Researchers at
SentinelOne have also told media that
they have observed Chinese hackers
taking advantage of the vulnerability.
According to Check Point, nearly half
of all attacks have been conducted by
known hackers. These included groups
using Tsunami and Mirai — malware
that turns devices into botnets, or net-
works used to launch remotely control-
led hacks such as denial of service
attacks. It also included groups using
XMRig, a software that mines the hard-
to-trace digital currency Monero.
“With this vulnerability, attackers
gain almost unlimited power — they can
extract sensitive data, upload files to the
server, delete data, install ransomware
or pivot to other servers,” said Nicholas
Sciberras, head of engineering at vul-
nerability scanner Acunetix. It was
“astonishingly easy” to deploy an
attack, he said, and it would “be
exploited for months to come”.

Technology Retail & consumer

NSO considers closing Pegasus spyware unit
JAMES FONTANELLA-KHAN — NEW YORK
MEHUL SRIVASTAVA — JERUSALEM
NSO Group, the Israeli spyware manu-
facturer whose military-grade mal-
ware has been condemned by human
rights groups, is considering a sale of
the company or a shutdown of its
Pegasus unit, said two people familiar
with the discussions.
The company has edged closer to a
default on $500m in loans after being
blacklisted by the US Department of
Commerce in November. The agency
accused NSO of selling its smartphone-
hacking product to countries that used
it for “transnational repression”.
The Herzliya-based group, valued at
$1bn in a 2019 private equity transac-
tion, is thinking about either selling the
entire company or closing its Pegasus
unit to focus instead on its nascent
drone defence system, the people said.
Bloomberg News first reported the
private discussions, which are being led
by New York-based investment bank
Moelis & Co.
NSO Group is also considering turning
Pegasus into a “defensive” product, a
move the company estimates could
raise as much as $200m from US-based
investors, the people said. However, it is
unclear how NSO or the Israeli govern-
ment could ensure the spyware is only
used defensively.
Pegasus works by surreptitiously
infiltrating a target’s smartphone and
mirroring its encrypted contents so that
a customer can view them.
The technology is already licensed by
the Israeli government to be sold to its
allies on the condition that it be used
only to defend against terrorism and
serious criminal actions. However, it has
regularly been traced to the phones of
journalists, academics, dissidents and
private citizens.
The company has faced mounting
legal woes as Apple and Facebook,
which owns the WhatsApp messaging
service, have sued it in US courts over
claims that NSO abused their platforms
to deliver Pegasus to users’ phones since
early 2019.
Meanwhile, lenders have found few
takers for the company’s debt — quotes
were at about 70 cents on the dollar for a
$350m term loan maturing in 2025.
The company attracted the ire of the
US government after American diplo-
mats in east Africa were informed by
Apple in November that their smart-
phones had been recently targeted
using Pegasus.
NSO declined to comment. Shalev
Hulio, the company’s co-founder,
retook the reins as chief executive after
Itzik Benbenisti stepped down days
after the blacklisting.
On several occasions, the Israeli gov-
ernment has been forced to hold diplo-
matic talks with countries affected by
Pegasus malware attacks, including
with France in October after it found the
technology on government phones.
Chanel picks Unilever’s Nair as chief executive
LEKE OSO ALABI
Chanel has appointed Leena Nair, a 30-
year veteran of consumer-goods group
Unilever, as global chief executive,
turning to an outsider to the luxury
sector as it looks to bounce back from
the coronavirus-induced hit to profits.
The privately held company controlled
by France’s billionaire Wertheimer fam-
ily said yesterday that Nair, Unilever’s
chief human resources officer of five
years and a member of its executive
committee, would assume her new role
at the end of January.
She replaces Alain Wertheimer, who
owns Chanel alongside his brother Ger-
ard and took over the role from Mau-
reen Chiquet when she left after “differ-
ences of opinion about strategic direc-
tion” in 2016. Wertheimer will now take
the role of global executive chair.
Nair and Wertheimer “will further
ensure [Chanel’s] long-term success as a
private company”, the luxury brand
said. Nair, who joined Unilever in 1992,
was responsible for more than 150,000
employees across more than 100 coun-
tries as global head of HR. But she has
little experience in luxury fashion.
Alan Jope, chief executive at Unilever,
said that Nair had been a “pioneer” and
a driving force on its equity, diversity
and inclusion agenda.
“Nair has built a global reputation for
progressive and human-centred leader-
ship, delivering significant business
Leena Nair joins the fashion house
Chanel after 30 years at Unilever
impact,” Chanel said. Chanel releases
few financial figures, but in June its chief
financial officer said it was on track to
track to lift revenues by “double digits”
this year compared with pre-pandemic
levels of $12.3bn, with sales propelled by
consumers in China and the US. Like
other big luxury groups, it has largely
shrugged off the impact of the pandemic
as affluent people continue to spend.
Its ready-to-wear sales have continued
to rise under Virginie Viard who became
creative director in 2019 after the retire-
ment and death of Karl Lagerfeld.
“Chanel has made the most of high
desirability and has materially
increased prices to beef up margins dur-
ing the pandemic,” said Luca Solca, ana-
lyst at Bernstein.
Nair’s appointment follows an indus-
try trend of attracting top talent from
consumer goods into the luxury mar-
ket. Toni Belloni, managing director of
LVMH, joined the company from
Procter & Gamble in 2001
Wednesday 15 December 2021 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES 9
10
Drahi builds BT stake but keeps intent hidden
Billionaire’s Altice raises holding to 18 per cent in a move that some see as an effort to exercise creeping control while others expect a bid
LEILA ABBOUD IN PARIS, NIC FILDES AND
ARASH MASSOUDI — LONDON
Telecoms tycoon Patrick Drahi is
renowned as an aggressive dealmaker.
But as he stalks BT, the Franco-Israeli
billionaire is treading softly as he circles
a strategic asset in a country where he
remains relatively unknown.
Drahi’s telecoms group Altice
announced yesterday it had increased
its stake in BT from 12 to 18 per cent,
worth roughly £3bn.
Under the UK’s strict takeover rules,
Altice, which is BT’s biggest share-
holder, was forced to declare its inten-
tions and said it would not make a take-
over bid in the next six months unless
there was an agreement with the board
or a rival bid.
Meanwhile, Altice can continue to
The government would
‘not hesitate to act if
required to protect our
critical . . . infrastructure’
buy shares, either directly as long as it
discloses each additional 0.5 per cent, or
indirectly through derivatives to avoid
disclosure requirements.
“This is a long-run mission for Drahi,”
said a person familiar with the entrepre-
neur’s thinking. “He has a lot of ideas
but is not in a rush, so will keep his
options open. But if he has invested this
much in BT, it is because he finds the UK
market and the company’s project in
fibre interesting from an industrial
point of view.”
Whether Drahi’s move on BT is an
effort to exercise creeping control as
some at BT fear or if it leads to a bid for
the group, one thing is clear: the UK gov-
ernment will have to decide to what
extent it wants the entrepreneur to
influence the former telecoms monop-
oly, which runs the country’s economi-
cally important broadband network.
While Drahi is well known in the tele-
coms industry and in financial markets
after years of debt-fuelled acquisitions
in the US, France, Israel and Portugal, he
★ FINANCIAL TIMES
COMPANIES & MARKETS
Drahi circles BT BT’s outlook is expected to improve
Share price (pence) Ebitda ($bn)
400
300
Altice raises stake to 18%
200
100
Patrick Drahi’s Altice buys a 12% stake
0 0
2017 18 19 20 21 2012 13 14 15 16 17 18
Sources: company; Refinitiv
is a relative stranger to Westminster.
He and his advisers have met several
government officials, including busi-
ness secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, and
hired the former head of regulator
Ofcom, Ed Richards, as an adviser on
regulatory and political issues, said peo-
ple familiar with the matter.
But the government put the billion-
aire on notice with its statement it
would “not hesitate to act if required to
protect our critical national telecoms
infrastructure”. It also noted the
National Security & Investment Act that
takes effect in January could be used to
block a takeover of BT.
Drahi began his charm offensive with
BT’s top executives around two months
ago at a dinner in London at Goldman
Sachs, one of the UK company’s
advisers. The heads of BT’s
main divisions gave presenta-
tions of non-confidential
information and met the bil-
lionaire’s team including
Dennis Okhuijsen, a long
term lieutenant, and son
Nathan Drahi, who holds a sen-
ior position at Sotheby’s, the
auction house his
father bought in
2019. Born in
Morocco and
Energy
Galp joins Northvolt in lithium venture
PETER WISE AND NEIL HUME
Portuguese oil and gas company Galp is
joining forces with Swedish battery
start-up Northvolt to develop Europe’s
largest lithium processing plant as part
of a shift away from fossil fuels.
Aurora, the 50-50 joint venture, will tar-
get annual production of 35,000 tonnes
of battery-grade lithium hydroxide,
enough for 50 GWh of battery capacity,
which could power about 700,000 elec-
tric vehicles.
The plant will be in Portugal, the site
of western Europe’s largest lithium
deposit, with total investment of up to
€700m creating as many 1,500 jobs, the
companies said.
The venture hopes to source the lith-
ium for the project from the Iberian
peninsula and use renewable energy to
power the refinery, where commercial
operations could start in 2026 once a
final investment decision is taken.
“This is a once in a generation oppor-
tunity to reposition Europe as a leader
in an industry that will be vital to bring-
ing down global CO2 emissions,” said
Andy Brown, Galp’s chief executive.
Galp, one of the biggest solar power
Forecast
19 20 21 22 23 24
educated at France’s top engineering
school École Polytechnique, Drahi sen-
ior built his fortune largely on bets on
cable: his first success was with an oper-
ator he founded in the south of France,
going door to door to sell subscriptions
and lobbying mayors to convince them
to let him dig up their streets to install
lines.
Eventually Drahi sold his company to
UPC, a US group owned by his idol, the
billionaire “Cable Cowboy” John
Malone. His most active period was
from 2012-16 when he splashed out
more than €50bn to buy SFR, France’s
then second-biggest telecoms operator,
the former monopoly Portugal Telecom,
and two US cable operators, Cablevision
and Suddenlink.
Benefiting from historically
low interest rates and easy
access to debt, Drahi has
used a similar playbook
to acquire what he sees as
Patrick Drahi is
attracted by
BT’s valuation
Hollie Adams/Bloomberg
generators in Spain and Portugal, is
seeking to cut investment in fossil fuels
in favour of cleaner energy, partly in
response to pressure from investors.
Demand for lithium, a vital material
for electric vehicle batteries, is forecast
to rise as much as 4,000 per cent by
2040, according to the International
Energy Agency. A typical electric vehi-
Aurora will target annual
production of 35,000
tonnes of battery-grade
lithium hydroxide
cle battery pack contains about 8kg of
lithium.
Europe and the US have little domes-
tic processing capacity. In a report this
year, the US Department of Energy said
China refined 60 per cent of the world’s
lithium and its dominance presented a
“critical vulnerability to the future of
the US domestic auto industry”.
The price of lithium has soared as sup-
ply struggles to keep pace with rising
demand. An index of lithium carbonate
and hydroxide prices compiled by
Wednesday 15 December 2021
undervalued telecoms assets and then
slashing costs to repay debt and boost
profits. In some countries, he has also
sold off or spun out infrastructure such
as towers or fibre networks to raise
funds. Some analysts criticise this as
asset stripping but others celebrate it as
savvy financial engineering.
At BT he is taking a different tack by
building the stake gradually and pre-
senting himself as a friendly long-term
backer. “We have engaged construc-
tively with the board and management
of BT and . . . continue to hold them in
high regard and remain fully supportive
of their strategy,” especially on the roll-
out of a nationwide fibre broadband net-
work, Drahi said in a statement.
He is attracted by BT’s low valuation
compared with the implicit worth of
Openreach, the network division. Open-
reach was slow to begin the upgrade to
fibre as its parent company invested
instead in sports broadcasting rights
and mobile; it is well placed to dominate
the UK fibre market but the benefits of
that investment have yet to be reaped, a
‘He could take a more
activist route by pushing
to break the company up
and then buying pieces’
point not lost on Drahi, according to
people familiar with the situation.
BT appears to be Drahi’s next target
after the delisting of Altice Europe last
8 year and the failure to land more acqui-
sitions in the US. An offer to acquire
Canada’s Cogeco was rejected in 2020,
6 and more recently Altice was also
rebuffed after bidding for Eutelsat, the
French satellite operator.
4
Drahi has little choice but to play a
long game, given the complexity of the
situation and size of the target which is
2 valued at around £17bn, not including
debt and its huge pension liabilities, said
one telecoms investor.
“I don’t think buying the whole thing
would really work since BT would be a
big ticket for him and the government
would not likely allow it,” said the inves-
tor. “He could take a more activist route
by pushing to break the company up
and then buying pieces of it.”
Analysts have long speculated that BT
could unlock value by hiving off Open-
reach, or splitting off its consumer-
facing business instead. Private equity
firms such as KKR have also studied
such scenarios, although splitting those
businesses would be complex from a
regulatory and operational perspective.
Deutsche Telekom retains a 12 per
cent stake in BT and, having written
down its value by more than €3bn and
abandoning plans to buy the business
itself, now sees itself as a kingmaker.
Tim Höttges, chief executive of Deut-
sche Telekom, said in November that it
would keep “all options open”.
With BT already committed to a rapid
£15bn upgrade of its network so that
fibre reaches 25m homes and busi-
nesses by 2026, Altice would probably
need to convince ministers that it could
improve on that already aggressive plan
to get their blessing for a takeover.
One senior telecoms executive noted
that convincing BT was less important
than winning over the government. “He
has to swing sentiment in his favour or
partner with someone who can,” the
person said.
Additional reporting by Dan Thomas
See Lex
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence has
risen 240 per cent this year.
Northvolt, which is backed by inves-
tors including Goldman Sachs, BMW
and Ikea, is the most advanced of a
series of battery start-ups in Europe. It
will open its first factory in northern
Sweden this month and has an extensive
partnership with Volkswagen, the Ger-
man carmaker, which has agreed to buy
half the joint venture’s production for
use in its battery manufacturing.
Portugal hopes to use its mineral
deposits to build an “end-to-end lithium
chain” to supply the electric vehicle
industry in Europe, which at present
imports almost all its battery-grade lith-
ium. However, a rush for lithium mining
rights in Portugal in recent years has
triggered demonstrations and petitions
by local communities and other groups
concerned about their environmental
impact.
The Galp-Northvolt joint venture is
the second announcement this week
about lithium refineries in Portugal. On
Monday, Portugal’s Bondalti Chemicals
and Reed Advanced Materials unveiled
a plan to build a plant to process 25,000
tonnes a year.
Wednesday 15 December 2021 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES 11

COMPANIES & MARKETS

Equities. Listing venues Commodities

European gas
Gleam of Hong Kong’s lights prices soar on
fears of conflict
poses threat to US bank fees in Ukraine
TOM WILSON AND NEIL HUME

European and UK gas prices hit another

Didi’s retreat from New York
points to lucrative tectonic
shift for Chinese lenders
HUDSON LOCKETT — HONG KONG
STEPHEN MORRIS — LONDON
JOSHUA FRANKLIN — NEW YORK
It took just five months from going
public in New York for Didi Chuxing, the
Chinese ride-hailing platform, to beat a
humiliating retreat.
Didi, which listed overseas despite
warnings from Beijing to delay because
of data security concerns, confirmed
last week that it would delist from the
New York Stock Exchange and prepare
to go public in Hong Kong.
The move has prompted talk of the
end of Wall Street’s long and lucrative
trade of taking fast-growing Chinese
companies public in New York — and of
whether US investment banks might
lose out if Hong Kong becomes the only
destination for offshore listings by
China’s hottest start-ups.
“Hong Kong is a natural place to list
for returnee companies or companies
with primary business operations in
China”, said Jason Elder, a partner at law
firm Mayer Brown in Hong Kong.
“When some of these Chinese
companies listed in New York, they
didn’t have the same options in Hong
Kong that they do now — the valuations,
analyst coverage and liquidity have all
improved,” he added.
The tectonic shifts for China’s
offshore IPO market could eat into Wall
Street bankers’ fees and put American
investment banks at a disadvantage,
analysts and bankers said, as local
bookrunners capitalise on their home
advantage and European banks take
advantage of openings afforded by
Hong Kong dominates China offshore IPOs but only draws
even on fees
Fee revenues from China IPOs ($m)
Hong Kong US
2017 18 19
Source: Dealogic
worsening US-China ties. One senior
banker at a Wall Street group said
there was a pressing need to have more
bankers based in Hong Kong, predicting
that US lenders would face greater
competition for deals in China from the
biggest local banks.
Chinese banks have taken the top
spots of the city’s initial public offering
league tables since 2019, according to
Dealogic data.
China International Capital Corp has
ranked first for three straight years
when excluding so-called homecoming
deals by New York listed companies that
start selling shares in Hong Kong.
CICC oversaw $2.6bn worth of
primary listings in Hong Kong this year
compared with $2bn by its nearest rival
Haitong Securities and $1.6bn by
third-placed Goldman Sachs.
Wall Street banks have long pitched
New York to Chinese issuers as a deeper,
more liquid market with better analyst
coverage.
But another key draw was higher fees:
average returns from deals in Hong
Kong, where competition from Chinese
lenders pushes down margins, are much
800
600
400
200
0
20 21
lower than in the US. Over the past two
years, investment banks have earned
roughly $1.1bn in fees on Chinese
companies’ IPOs in each city, despite
New York accounting for just $26bn of
shares sold in the offerings — less than
half of Hong Kong’s $57bn.
Analysts and IPO lawyers said that,
while a location change would dent fee
revenues, Wall Street lenders were
likely to remain big players in Hong
Kong, especially on larger deals that
rely more heavily on international
institutional investors — many of which
are based in the US.
Homecoming listings have raised
more than $33bn over the past two
years.
About 70 US-listed Chinese
companies without a secondary
presence in Hong Kong are eligible for
them, according to investment bank
China Renaissance — accounting for 90
per cent of the grouping’s collective
market value.
“Those firms already have solid
relations with Wall Street banks,” said
Bruce Pang, head of research at China
Renaissance. “But considering the
Visitors view tensions between the two countries, the
smart move may be to choose at least
Hong Kong’s
Victoria one European bank when they list in
Harbour. Hong Kong.”
Homecoming The head of one large European
listings have lender described the Didi delisting as a
raised more “stunning reversal of fortunes” but
than $33bn added that a shift away from New York
represented a “substantial local
over two years
Paul Yeung/Bloomberg
business opportunity for us, so I think
this trend is more good news than bad”.
However, executives at other
financial institutions in Asia said they
doubted that any western banks could
capture much new business beyond the
wave of homecomings.
“The homecomings might see a lot of
Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and
Goldman,” said the head of equities at
one Asian stock exchange. “But it’s
going to be Bank of China, CICC and Citic
winning more IPO business from China”
in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, overseas banks remain
virtual non-entities in China’s onshore
IPOs, which are dominated by mainland
lenders.
Chief among these is Citic, the state-
owned financial services group that
oversaw 17 per cent of a record $65bn in
fundraising this year from new listings
in Shanghai and Shenzhen, according to
Dealogic data.
But China’s repeated overtures
‘It’s going towards financial liberalisation may
tempt foreign banks to establish a larger
to be Bank presence in Shanghai to prepare for the
of China, day when investors finally have full
access to mainland IPOs.
CICC “You’re seeing JPMorgan, Goldman
and Citic and Morgan Stanley saying ‘our pivot is
to go directly onshore to China, interact
winning directly with those exchanges and offer
more IPO customers direct access’,” the equities
head said. “It may be that [global]
business’ access to China gets reconfigured.”
record high yesterday over concerns
that a potential Russian invasion of
Ukraine could disrupt already stretched
energy supplies over the winter.
Benchmark prices for natural gas for
delivery in January jumped to as much
as €120.25 per megawatt-hour, up from
a record high closing price of €116/MWh
on Monday. The UK equivalent rose to
as much as £3.04 a therm, extending its
gains over a high of £2.94 on October 5.
European prices have surged almost
30 per cent this month, beating record
highs set in October when the rebound-
ing global economy lifted demand and
European calls for additional gas deliv-
eries from Russia went unanswered.
President Vladimir Putin’s promises
to boost supply eased prices last month
but European storage facilities are yet to
be replenished and cold weather has led
to more drawdowns.
“Cold temperatures and soft wind
conditions raised the call on fossil-
fuelled power plants more recently and
thus temporarily boosted natural gas
demand”, said Norbert Rücker, a strate-
gist at Julius Baer. “More importantly,
the escalation of tensions between Rus-
sia and Ukraine seems to nourish supply
fears and add a risk premium on prices.”
An estimated 100,000 Russian troops
‘The surge in Covid cases is
expected to temporarily
slow, but not upend, the
recovery in oil demand’
have been positioned on Ukraine’s
border despite calls from world leaders
for Moscow to de-escalate and pursue a
diplomatic solution. US officials have
warned that Russia could be planning to
invade Ukraine early next year in a
move that would further delay the con-
troversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline
but also risk disrupting other supplies.
Continental Europe gets more than a
third of its gas supplies from Russian
state-backed Gazprom, at present via
two pipelines: one through Belarus and
Poland and the other through Ukraine.
It is possible that rising cases of the
Omicron coronavirus variant could
force governments to impose more
restrictions, reducing energy demand.
The International Energy Agency said
yesterday that it expected a surge in
Covid-19 cases to slow the recovery in oil
consumption, with air travel and jet fuel
hardest hit.
It estimates global demand will rise by
3.3m barrels per day in 2020, down
100,000 bpd from an earlier estimate.
“The surge in new Covid-19 cases is
expected to temporarily slow, but not
upend, the recovery in oil demand that
is under way,” the IEA said.
But analysts said there was no obvious
Our global reprieve for Europe’s gas market outside
team gives you of a mild winter. Across Europe, gas
market-moving storage facilities are just 62.8 per cent
news and views, full, more than 10 per cent below
24 hours a day seasonal norms. If the drawdowns
ft.com/markets continue at current rates, levels will be
critically low by March or April.

Equities Derivatives

China Mobile will list in Shanghai
after Trump forced Wall Street exit
WILLIAM LANGLEY — HONG KONG
China Mobile will hold a share offering
in Shanghai a year after sanctions
imposed by Donald Trump, the former
US president, forced the world’s largest
telecoms company by subscribers to
delist in New York.
China Mobile will offer up to 845.7m
A-class shares representing a 3.97 per
cent stake in the company, according to
a filing on the Hong Kong stock
exchange, where it retains a listing.
The company added that it would
conduct price consultations for its
offering in China tomorrow and Friday.
The Shanghai listing, which is
expected to raise about $5bn based on
the stock’s closing price yesterday
in Hong Kong, comes as the Biden
administration takes an increasingly
firm stance towards China.
Washington blacklisted Chinese artifi-
cial intelligence company SenseTime
last week as part of broader human rights
sanctions on people and entities linked
to China, Myanmar, North Korea and
Bangladesh.
Stephen Leung, head of research at
Crosby Securities in Hong Kong, said
that China Mobile’s decision to list in
mainland China was mainly “symbolic”.
He added: “I think it’s more about a
return to the homeland stock market
more than anything else,” noting that a
similar move by China Telecom, a
Chinese state-run telecoms group, in
August had done little to improve its
valuation in Hong Kong or China.
China Mobile was delisted from the
New York Stock Exchange in January to
comply with sanctions initially issued
in the US last year against investing
in Chinese companies with alleged
China Mobile was delisted in New
York to comply with sanctions
links to the country’s military. China
Mobile and two other Chinese telecoms
companies that were also delisted
appealed against the measure to the
NYSE, which was responsible for
complying with the order. However, the
appeal was rejected in May.
In June, the Biden administration
issued an order prohibiting investment
in 59 Chinese companies, including
China Mobile, which US officials said
had a stronger legal footing than the
earlier measure.
With 957m monthly mobile
customers in October, China Mobile is
the world’s largest telecoms company
by subscribers.
Dan Baker, senior equity analyst at
Morningstar, said listing in China was an
“obvious choice”, given the controversy
over the stock’s forced exit from New
York.
“There may be a little bit of
nationalistic buying,” he added.
The listing will be sponsored by China
International Capital Corporation and
Citic Securities, it will be underwritten
by China Securities, Huatai United
Securities, Bank of China and China
Merchants Securities.
Standards group Isda develops rules to
cover ‘disruption’ from crypto contracts
PHILIP STAFFORD
Disruptions unique to cryptocurrency
markets will be incorporated into
contracts for the global derivatives
industry for the first time, in a move
intended to broaden digital assets’
appeal to institutional investors.
Isda, the derivatives trade association,
said yesterday that it was developing
common legal standards and templates
for derivatives linked to the $3tn crypto
market to cover “potential disruption
events”.
The potential issues the London-
based body singled out in a white paper
included cyber attacks; forks, when a
blockchain in effect splits into two
branches and airdrops, which is when
the market is flooded with tokens, usu-
ally for free. Isda’s master agreements
are widely used as the legal template for
most of the world’s derivatives trades in
bonds, equities, currencies and other
mainstream assets.
Market participants generally follow
its guidance on how to adjust contract
terms if an unexpected event disrupts a
derivative’s performance.
Scott O’Malia, chief executive of Isda,
said that the standards and definitions
for digital derivatives would align with
the underlying, or spot, market.
“We must respect crypto assets are a
unique product class and draft the
definitions and legal terms accordingly,”
he said.
The move comes as the crypto
derivatives market soars in value and
activity and products such as bitcoin
‘We must respect crypto
assets are a unique
product class and draft the
legal terms accordingly’
and ether futures on the Chicago Mer-
cantile Exchange draw in more users.
Last month, average open interest for
bitcoin and Ether futures hit $4.3bn and
$1.2bn, respectively — the first time the
exchange had seen monthly open
interest in ether average more than
$1bn, according to data from Crypto-
Compare.
The derivatives market represents 55
per cent of the total crypto market, it
added. As it grows, some of the biggest
crypto market participants are stepping
up their lobbying of regulators to try to
shape the rules.
Last week Coinbase, the crypto
exchange, and FTX.US, the derivatives
trading market, both joined Isda, which
is a long-established trade association
that consists mainly of the world’s larg-
est investment banks and asset manag-
ers.
“Institutional market participants
will be more willing and able to
invest and trade in crypto assets if the
mechanisms to do so reflect current
processes and standards,” said Kevin
McPartland, head of market structure
research at Coalition Greenwich.
Isda has begun a body of work to
adapt its standards as traders and IT
programmers explore the opportunities
to trade derivatives contracts that are
governed by computer code.
Earlier this year, it digitised its vast
booklet of legal documents, the biggest
overhaul to its rule book since 2006.
FTX has also pushed into the regu-
lated derivatives markets by buying
LedgerX, a cryptocurrency futures and
options exchange and clearinghouse, for
an undisclosed amount in October.
12 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES Wednesday 15 December 2021

COMPANIES & MARKETS

DoJ probe adds The day in the markets

to a rotten year What you need to know
for short sellers 3 Wall St retreats amid record rise in US
producer prices
Stocks on Wall Street retreat ahead of Fed announcement
Indices rebased
3 European shares fall for fifth

Laurence Fletcher consecutive session

3 Global oil benchmark follows stocks
lower, sliding more than 2 per cent
104

Markets Insight Stocks on Wall Street dropped yesterday

after data showed that US wholesale S&P 500
102

prices had risen at a record pace last

S
hort sellers have endured a
rotten 2021 and, to cap it all,
they face an investigation by
the US Department of Justice.
Despite an important role in
financial markets, the tactics of some
funds will once again be under scrutiny.
The criminal investigation will look at
research reports issued by short sellers
and whether they have used their rela-
tionships to depress stock prices,
according to reports of the probe. The
DoJ did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
Small investors on Reddit, where
much of the hostility towards hedge
funds during the GameStop frenzy this
year was voiced, reacted to the news
with a mixture of glee and scepticism
that any action would be taken as a
result of the probe. “Good! It’s long bout
time for some heads to roll!!!” wrote one
Redditor.
Short selling, hedge funds’ trademark
tool of betting that a share price will fall,
has long been a controversial tactic. It is
sometimes viewed by critics as a way of
feeding on the misery of companies and
workers and of driving down the share
price of good companies, despite
academic evidence to the contrary.
The timing of the DoJ probe is ironic
given that, rather than making huge
gains from their tactics, short sellers
have in many cases been going through
a miserable time in recent years.
Reddit-led buying of meme stocks
such as GameStop this year caught some
funds off guard, notably Melvin Capital
— down about 40 per cent this year.
In an environment of ultra-cheap
money, stocks with little in the way of
current revenues can soar to huge valu-
ations because of the greater weight
afforded to expected future cash flows.
That has made them dangerous targets
for hedge funds, some of which have
taken a while to realise their mistake.
“I was so often finding myself short
very expensive shares which was
endlessly costly,” wrote Crispin Odey,
founder of Odey Asset Management, in
a letter to investors seen by the Finan-
cial Times. “It dawned on me only
slowly that all equities are cheap. They
are cheap against bond yields.”
Money managers betting against
Tesla, including Michael Burry of The
Big Short fame, have largely thrown in
the towel, realising that, whether or not
their thesis is right in the long term,
‘It dawned on me only
slowly that all equities are
cheap. They are cheap
against bond yields’
betting against the stock is just too
costly in the short term.
Peter Sleep, senior investment man-
ager at Seven Investment Management,
said: “In the present environment of
Reddit-led investing, it is very
dangerous to short anything that has
momentum.”
Short sellers have also beaten a
retreat at Australian biotech Clinuvel
after the company took the unusual step
of taking them on head-on.
The company’s methods included
vocal attacks on the short sellers and
commissioning private investigators to
examine their alleged links to retail
shareholders posting on online forums.
But while the going has been tough,
short sellers’ impact on financial
markets and real-world investment can
100
month, adding to pressure on the US
still be large. Academics at the Wharton Federal Reserve to accelerate the end of
School, Bayes Business School and its bond-buying programme. 98
Warrington College of Business in The S&P 500 blue-chip equity gauge
Florida recently found that reports was down 1.3 per cent by lunchtime in Nasdaq Composite
issued by short sellers, many of which New York, on track for its worst day since 96
expose accounting fraud or other corpo- the market ructions early this month
rate misconduct, led to an average 4 per triggered by the emergence of the new
cent fall in the target company’s shares Omicron variant of coronavirus. 94
on the day a short report was published. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite
That drop increased to 24 per cent slid further, falling almost 2 per cent.
over a period of up to six months, the US producer prices rose 9.6 per cent 92
research found. year-on-year in November, the biggest Sep 2021 Dec
Short sellers tend to be ahead of rise on records going back to 2010 and a Source: Refinitiv
analysts at Wall Street banks, who react sharp uptick from 8.8 per cent in the
to the publication of the reports by previous month. Economists polled by
cutting price targets. Targeted compa- Reuters had expected a 9.2 per cent rise. taper to a sharp acceleration that reflects Investors will also be scrutinising the
nies also ended up reducing their corpo- “The rapid rise in producer prices acute inflation worries, signalling a fast European Central Bank meeting, also
rate investment by $118m on average serves as further confirmation that the pace of rate hikes,” said Steven Englander tomorrow, for clues to a response to the
and their stock issuances by $179m. US economy is experiencing a at Standard Chartered in New York. rise in inflation across the eurozone.
Hedge funds’ bets against scandal-hit generalised rise in prices that is broader, “Our client discussions suggest that However, the three central banks face
companies such as Wirecard, where more persistent and less clearly tied to market participants see a significant risk subtly different pressures, said Georgina
funds made €1bn in a week, and Stein- the pandemic than Fed officials had of a sharp taper acceleration,” he added. Taylor, fund manager at Invesco Emea.
hoff highlight the important role they assumed,” said Andrew Hollenhorst, an In the UK, investors were betting that “Going back to the financial crisis, it
play in identifying problem companies. economist at Citigroup. the rapid spread of Omicron has reduced was all about [the banks] being pretty co-
“The idea that short sellers don’t have The higher than expected PPI numbers the chances that the Bank of England ordinated,” she said. “Now everyone is
a role to play because they drive good triggered talk that the Fed would act would tighten monetary policy tomorrow. fighting their own domestic dilemmas
companies into bankruptcy is not a view more decisively to tame rising prices. London’s FTSE 100 benchmark fell 0.2 and they’re all doing their own thing.”
that I subscribe to,” said David Miller, “Possible outcomes at the 15 December per cent while the region-wide Stoxx Brent, the global oil benchmark,
executive director at Quilter Cheviot Federal Open Market Committee meeting Europe 600 index sank 0.8 per cent for its tracked stocks lower, sliding more than 2
Investment Management. range from a modest acceleration of the fifth consecutive session in the red. per cent to $72.86 a barrel. George Steer
“A well-functioning market needs
liquidity which means that traders
prepared to take different views and Markets update
positions are welcome,” he added.
Whatever the result of the DoJ investi-
gation, short selling can, provided it is
used legally, prove beneficial for mar- US Eurozone Japan UK China Brazil
kets. With tighter monetary policy from Stocks S&P 500 Eurofirst 300 Nikkei 225 FTSE100 Shanghai Comp Bovespa
central banks set to put the squeeze on Level 4613.54 1822.87 28432.64 7218.64 3661.53 107120.72
fraudulent companies and unsustaina- % change on day -1.19 -0.78 -0.73 -0.18 -0.53 -0.24
ble business models, short sellers could Currency $ index (DXY) $ per € Yen per $ $ per £ Rmb per $ Real per $
soon start to feel more of the benefits for Level 96.202 1.127 113.715 1.324 6.362 5.662
themselves. % change on day -0.119 -0.089 0.123 0.076 -0.021 -0.214
Govt. bonds 10-year Treasury 10-year Bund 10-year JGB 10-year Gilt 10-year bond 10-year bond
laurence.fletcher@ft.com Yield 1.435 -0.371 0.045 0.641 2.843 10.149
Basis point change on day 1.700 1.300 0.040 2.500 -1.300 1.600
World index, Commods FTSE All-World Oil - Brent Oil - WTI Gold Silver Metals (LMEX)
Level 482.42 73.00 70.02 1787.80 22.22 4331.20
% change on day -1.00 -1.84 -1.70 0.45 1.48 -0.12
Yesterday's close apart from: Currencies = 16:00 GMT; S&P, Bovespa, All World, Oil = 17:00 GMT; Gold, Silver = London pm fix. Bond data supplied by Tullett Prebon.

Main equity markets

S&P 500 index Eurofirst 300 index FTSE 100 index
4800 1920 7520

1880 7360
4640
1840
4480 7200
1800
| | | | | | | | |
4320 || | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1760 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 7040 | | | | | | | | | | |

Oct 2021 Dec Oct 2021 Dec Oct 2021 Dec

Biggest movers
% US Eurozone UK
Centene 3.65 Arcelormittal 8.05 Ocado 5.47
Mgm Resorts Int 3.21 Unicredit 4.58 Evraz 2.36
Ups

Charter Communications 2.75 Telefonica 4.41 British Land 2.31

Nucor 2.51 Tenaris 3.35 Rio Tinto 2.23
Phillips 66 2.47 Thyssenkrupp 2.87 Bhp 1.98
%
Adobe -7.24 Daimler -3.42 Rentokil Initial -12.30
Fortinet -6.59 Infineon Tech -3.27 Bt -4.29
Downs

Cadence Design Systems -6.40 Red Ele. -3.13 Darktrace -4.03

Intuit -5.59 Asml Holding -2.68 Spirax-sarco Eng -3.77
Servicenow -5.35 Schneider Electric -2.55 Ashtead -3.57
Prices taken at 17:00 GMT Based on the constituents of the FTSE Eurofirst 300 Eurozone
All data provided by Morningstar unless otherwise noted.

Wall Street Europe London

Pest controller Terminix Global jumped Switzerland’s Vifor Pharma built on A favourable legal ruling buoyed Ocado
on news that it was being bought by UK Monday’s rally after Australian biotech after the International Trade Commission
peer Rentokil. company CSL made a formal offer for the said three of the five patents that
Under the terms of the deal, Terminix healthcare group. AutoStore, a Norwegian specialist in
shareholders would receive 643.29m new The all-cash bid of $179.25 per share warehouse automation, claimed that the
Rentokil shares and about $1.3bn in cash. gave Vifor an equity value of SFr10.9bn online grocer had infringed were invalid.
AJ Bell cautioned that the deal could ($11.7bn) and represented a 19 per cent The ruling overshadowed a lacklustre
“draw the ire of antitrust regulators” but premium on Monday’s closing price. trading update in which fourth-quarter
said there was “clearly big savings to be Since speculation emerged this month revenue slipped 3.9 per cent year on year.
made around back-office functions”. that Vifor was a takeover target, its AJ Bell said investors were perhaps
In more dealmaking news, food safety shares have risen about 50 per cent. more focused on “Ocado’s grand plan” to
group Neogen rallied after announcing its Steelmaker ArcelorMittal jumped after “license out its automation technology,
merger with a division of 3M. announcing that it would be reducing which already has nine customers” across
The transaction would leave Neogen some of its debt. the globe.
shareholders owning 49.9 per cent of the The Luxembourg-registered group said “It could then look to shed the food
combined company, with 3M investors it would repurchase $395m of its 5.5 per delivery business altogether, which has
holding the remaining stake. cent convertible subordinated notes due ultimately made large losses over a long
“The combination will create an in 2023. This was a “further step in the period of time,” said the broker.
innovative leader in the food safety company’s ongoing capital return Marks and Spencer, which owns a
sector,” said Neogen. programme”, it said. 50 per cent stake in Ocado’s retail arm,
Biopharma group Adagio tumbled after A ratings upgrade helped lift France’s would be a logical buyer, said analysts.
revealing that ADG20, its experimental Orpea, the retirement homes operator. Transport group Stagecoach surged on
virus treatment, was significantly less Berenberg raised its recommendation news that it was being bought by rival
effective against Omicron, the new to “buy” from “hold”, saying investors had National Express.
variant of coronavirus. “turned overly bearish” on a stock that Under the deal terms, Stagecoach
Adagio said it would also pause patient was down a fifth this year. investors will receive 0.36 National
recruitment in its Covid-19 treatment trial “The group’s operational resilience Express shares for each Stagecoach
at sites in South Africa. since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak share, resulting in them owning a 25 per
Aluminum producer Alcoa rallied on has helped it maintain its reputation and cent stake in the combined group.
news that it would be joining the S&P pricing power, while the record pace of BT sank after the investment group of
MidCap 400 index, replacing medical new bed openings in 2021 and M&A billionaire Patrick Drahi increased its
tech provider Hill-Rom, which was being opportunities provide good visibility on stake in the telecoms operator to 18 per
bought by Baxter International. near-term growth,” said the broker. cent but said it did not “intend to make
Ray Douglas Ray Douglas an offer for BT”. Ray Douglas
Wednesday 15 December 2021 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES 13

MARKET DATA

WORLD MARKETS AT A GLANCE FT.COM/MARKETSDATA

Change during previous day’s trading (%)
S&P 500 Nasdaq Composite Dow Jones Ind FTSE 100 FTSE Eurofirst 300 Nikkei Hang Seng FTSE All World $ $ per € $ pe r £ ¥ per $ £ pe r € Oil Brent $ Sep Gold $

-1.19% -1.82% -0.44% -0.18% -0.78% -0.73% -1.33% -1.00% -0.089% -0.76%
No change
0.076% 0.123% 0.45%
Stock Market movements over last 30 days, with the FTSE All-World in the same currency as a comparison
AMERICAS EUROPE ASIA
Nov 15 - - Index All World Nov 15 - Dec 14 Index All World Nov 15 - Dec 14 Index All World Nov 15 - Dec 14 Index All World Nov 15 - Dec 14 Index All World Nov 15 - Dec 14 Index All World

S&P 500 New York S&P/TSX COMP Toronto FTSE 100 London Xetra Dax Frankfurt Nikkei 225 Tokyo Kospi Seoul
4,682.80 21,683.08 16,148.64 2,999.52
4,613.56 7,351.86 29,609.97 2,987.95
7,218.64
20,644.13 15,453.56 28,432.64

Day -1.19% Month -1.49% Year 26.47% Day -0.50% Month -5.20% Year 18.68% Day -0.18% Month -1.66% Year 10.63% Day -1.08% Month 0.47% Year NaN% Day -0.73% Month -3.98% Year 6.67% Day -0.46% Month 0.65% Year 7.87%

Nasdaq Composite New York IPC Mexico City FTSE Eurofirst 300 Europe Ibex 35 Madrid Hang Seng Hong Kong FTSE Straits Times Singapore
51,432.54 1,889.69 9,095.70 3,240.58
15,860.96 50,687.57 25,390.91
1,822.87 8,378.50 3,121.09
15,132.54 23,635.95
Day -1.82% Month -4.65% Year 21.57% Day 0.53% Month -1.41% Year 16.38% Day -0.78% Month -3.10% Year 20.61% Day 0.67% Month -7.73% Year 3.91% Day -1.33% Month -6.81% Year -10.95% Day 0.04% Month -3.28% Year 10.66%

Dow Jones Industrial New York Bovespa São Paulo CAC 40 Paris FTSE MIB Milan Shanghai Composite Shanghai BSE Sensex Mumbai
36,100.31 7,128.63 27,868.13 3,661.53 60,686.69
35,493.76 106,334.54 107,120.72
6,895.31 26,556.67 3,533.30 58,117.09

Day -0.44% Month -1.67% Year 18.87% Day -0.24% Month 0.74% Year -6.54% Day -0.69% Month -2.77% Year 25.20% Day 0.02% Month -4.10% Year 22.55% Day -0.53% Month 3.46% Year 9.39% Day -0.29% Month -4.26% Year 26.04%

Country Index Latest Previous Country Index Latest Previous Country Index Latest Previous Country Index Latest Previous Country Index Latest Previous Country Index Latest Previous
Argentina Merval 82256.56 81947.65 Cyprus CSE M&P Gen 68.46 68.68 Italy FTSE Italia All-Share 29118.43 29092.82 Philippines Manila Comp 7241.99 7197.61 Taiwan Weighted Pr 17599.37 17767.60 Cross-Border DJ Global Titans ($) 530.51 538.34
Australia All Ordinaries 7698.30 7697.50 Czech RepublicPX 1401.57 1403.50 FTSE Italia Mid Cap 48373.44 48659.62 Poland Wig 67976.95 68230.10 Thailand Bangkok SET 1630.64 1625.83 Euro Stoxx 50 (Eur) 4151.90 4183.04
S&P/ASX 200 7378.40 7379.30 Denmark OMXC Copenahgen 20 1806.19 1849.91 FTSE MIB 26556.67 26551.02 Portugal PSI 20 5443.95 5488.31 Turkey BIST 100 116840.94 116315.98 Euronext 100 ID 1311.69 1322.64
S&P/ASX 200 Res 5124.00 5101.70 Egypt EGX 30 11618.01 11700.40 Japan 2nd Section 7450.01 7498.17 PSI General 4082.27 4137.64 UAE Abu Dhabi General Index 8841.69 8935.16 FTSE 4Good Global ($) 11383.52 11548.00
Austria ATX 3738.38 3745.60 Estonia OMX Tallinn 2004.56 2021.91 Nikkei 225 28432.64 28640.49 Romania BET Index 12316.84 12410.65 UK FT 30 2721.20 2719.40 FTSE All World ($) 482.42 487.30
Belgium BEL 20 4121.78 4145.37 Finland OMX Helsinki General 12404.57 12519.56 S&P Topix 150 1695.65 1697.95 Russia Micex Index 3619.39 3618.31 FTSE 100 7218.64 7231.44 FTSE E300 1822.87 1837.20
BEL Mid 10355.03 10428.88 France CAC 40 6895.31 6942.91 Topix 1973.81 1978.13 RTX 1548.81 1548.09 FTSE 4Good UK 6709.88 6717.98 FTSE Eurotop 100 3440.51 3465.53
Brazil IBovespa 107120.72 107383.32 SBF 120 5345.73 5381.26 Jordan Amman SE 2087.59 2086.37 Saudi-Arabia TADAWUL All Share Index 11024.68 11019.86 FTSE All Share 4100.24 4109.33 FTSE Global 100 ($) 3018.96 3065.71
Canada S&P/TSX 60 1255.28 1259.00 Germany M-DAX 34190.93 34466.95 Kenya NSE 20 1856.45 1838.69 Singapore FTSE Straits Times 3121.09 3119.95 FTSE techMARK 100 6577.59 6660.57 FTSE Gold Min ($) 1920.49 1915.63
S&P/TSX Comp 20644.13 20748.45 TecDAX 3787.77 3862.96 Kuwait KSX Market Index 6633.44 6603.51 Slovakia SAX 397.34 397.34 USA DJ Composite 11957.07 12019.06 FTSE Latibex Top (Eur) 4440.00 4432.20
S&P/TSX Div Met & Min 1028.48 1031.16 XETRA Dax 15453.56 15621.72 Latvia OMX Riga 1276.44 1277.08 Slovenia SBI TOP - - DJ Industrial 35493.76 35650.95 FTSE Multinationals ($) 3250.43 3279.25
Chile S&P/CLX IGPA Gen 20906.13 21545.58 Greece Athens Gen 885.00 887.96 Lithuania OMX Vilnius 963.82 967.86 South Africa FTSE/JSE All Share 71544.82 71429.88 DJ Transport 16081.83 16210.82 FTSE World ($) 869.96 878.85
China FTSE A200 13450.26 13552.77 FTSE/ASE 20 2127.18 2131.91 Luxembourg LuxX 1614.94 1588.51 FTSE/JSE Res 20 68353.11 67884.57 DJ Utilities 944.98 947.26 FTSEurofirst 100 (Eur) 4631.63 4651.51
FTSE B35 9000.71 8988.96 Hong Kong Hang Seng 23635.95 23954.58 Malaysia FTSE Bursa KLCI 1480.92 1494.86 FTSE/JSE Top 40 65212.46 65177.02 Nasdaq 100 15784.59 16082.55 FTSEurofirst 80 (Eur) 5765.77 5817.09
Shanghai A 3837.90 3858.42 HS China Enterprise 8418.61 8551.14 Mexico IPC 50687.57 50419.17 South Korea Kospi 2987.95 3001.66 Nasdaq Cmp 15132.54 15413.28 MSCI ACWI Fr ($) 740.27 746.26
Shanghai B 282.16 286.48 HSCC Red Chip 3860.72 3906.70 Morocco MASI 13283.98 13339.81 Kospi 200 395.41 397.27 NYSE Comp 16644.40 16719.57 MSCI All World ($) 3162.00 3188.26
Shanghai Comp 3661.53 3681.08 Hungary Bux 50153.00 50581.29 Netherlands AEX 775.75 783.00 Spain IBEX 35 8378.50 8322.70 S&P 500 4613.54 4668.97 MSCI Europe (Eur) 1887.58 1896.43
Shenzhen A 2677.05 2680.87 India BSE Sensex 58117.09 58283.42 AEX All Share 1066.96 1077.43 Sri Lanka CSE All Share 11796.88 11662.38 Wilshire 5000 46945.71 47487.98 MSCI Pacific ($) 3104.63 3109.16
Shenzhen B 1198.21 1202.89 Nifty 500 15043.25 15064.25 New Zealand NZX 50 12929.59 12994.19 Sweden OMX Stockholm 30 2286.37 2310.35 Venezuela IBC 5824.88 5832.99 S&P Euro (Eur) 1926.91 1942.63
Colombia COLCAP 1261.61 1260.21 Indonesia Jakarta Comp 6615.64 6662.87 Nigeria SE All Share 42411.12 41882.97 OMX Stockholm AS 977.76 993.57 Vietnam VNI 1476.02 1476.21 S&P Europe 350 (Eur) 1874.00 1888.60
Croatia CROBEX 2013.05 2011.29 Ireland ISEQ Overall 8065.23 8048.13 Norway Oslo All Share 1017.37 1006.88 Switzerland SMI Index 12411.58 12551.28 S&P Global 1200 ($) 3435.45 3471.51
Israel Tel Aviv 125 1974.27 1989.45 Pakistan KSE 100 43246.71 42876.37 Stoxx 50 (Eur) 3689.78 3712.30
(c) Closed. (u) Unavaliable. † Correction. ♥ Subject to official recalculation. For more index coverage please see www.ft.com/worldindices. A fuller version of this table is available on the ft.com research data archive.

STOCK MARKET: BIGGEST MOVERS UK MARKET WINNERS AND LOSERS

AMERICA LONDON EURO MARKETS TOKYO Dec 14 %Chg %Chg Dec 14 %Chg %Chg Dec 14 %Chg %Chg Dec 14 %Chg %Chg
ACTIVE STOCKS stock close Day's ACTIVE STOCKS stock close Day's ACTIVE STOCKS stock close Day's ACTIVE STOCKS stock close Day's FTSE 100 price(p) week ytd FTSE 250 price(p) week ytd FTSE SmallCap price(p) week ytd Industry Sectors price(p) week ytd
traded m's price change traded m's price change traded m's price change traded m's price change Winners Winners Winners Winners
Tesla 109.5 940.00 -26.41 Bp 140.2 337.65 2.65 Asml Holding 493.3 661.00 -18.20 Softbank . 783.8 5522.00 -49.00 Ocado 1678.00 3.5 - Jupiter Fund Management 249.40 3.8 - Xaar 172.40 10.4 -2.3 Industrial Transportation 4634.71 31.8 25.7
Apple 106.3 173.23 -2.51 Rio Tinto 139.7 4854.00 106.00 Unicredit 467.9 13.38 0.59 Tokyo Electron 530.3 61540.00 -1150.00 National Grid 1055.40 2.7 21.1 Greencoat Uk Wind 135.40 2.7 1.3 Trifast 153.50 9.6 1.7 Beverages 30261.82 28.4 25.3
Nvidia 101.5 277.12 -4.49 Hsbc Holdings 119.0 434.70 3.40 Nestle N 452.6 119.07 -0.54 Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, 522.3 7140.00 -40.00 Vodafone 114.22 2.1 -6.6 Frasers 737.50 2.4 63.1 Stagecoach 82.85 8.1 5.2 Real Estate & Investment Servic 3100.36 26.8 21.6
Microsoft 60.7 325.89 -13.51 British American Tobacco 117.7 2702.50 -30.00 Roche Gs 448.6 350.85 -9.46 Recruit Hldgs Co Ltd 477.4 6559.00 -99.00 B&m Eur Value Retail S.a. 639.60 1.9 22.8 Hiscox Ltd 869.00 2.1 - Photo-me Int 61.50 7.9 21.4 Health Care Equip.& Services 7814.70 26.4 25.4
Amazon.com 40.0 3341.04 -50.31 Unilever 110.3 4021.50 0.00 Daimler Ag Na O.n. 304.9 71.47 -2.53 Toyota Motor 457.1 2045.00 43.00 British American Tobacco 2702.50 1.9 -2.6 Tp Icap 140.04 2.1 - Custodian Reit 104.00 5.1 19.0 Gas Water & Multiutilities index 5928.70 25.8 23.3
Advanced Micro Devices 37.8 133.90 0.10 Astrazeneca 108.8 8228.00 -20.00 Totalenergies 278.8 43.73 0.28 Sony 332.5 13750.00 -120.00 Admiral 3074.00 1.8 3.8 Indivior 230.40 1.8 - Pendragon 21.90 4.8 74.3 Support Services 12401.62 22.2 17.4
Meta Platforms 27.4 330.03 -4.47 Royal Dutch Shell 96.0 1619.40 4.60 Novartis N 237.0 71.73 0.16 Fast Retailing Co., 330.4 67860.00 -1900.00 Unilever 4021.50 1.7 -9.8 Vivo Energy 134.00 1.7 53.7 Raven Property 33.00 4.8 21.3 Pharmaceuticals & Biotech. 18095.74 21.2 17.6
Alphabet 23.5 2835.40 -81.14 Diageo 95.1 3927.50 -13.00 Ing Groep N.v. 218.0 12.13 0.01 Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha 300.1 8200.00 -90.00 Glaxosmithkline 1598.00 1.4 17.8 Vinacapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ld 502.00 1.6 18.1 Schroder Eur Real Estate Investment Trust 108.25 4.1 6.5 Real Estate Investment Trusts 3354.54 20.7 17.5
Adobe 15.2 610.62 -47.68 Bt 86.6 167.35 -7.50 Novo Nordisk B A/s 213.1 99.92 -2.57 Hitachi, 272.6 6287.00 -147.00 Ferguson 12415.00 1.3 39.7 Caledonia Investments 3730.00 1.4 27.3 Taylor Maritime Investments 96.50 3.8 - Electronic & Electrical Equip. 11685.41 18.9 11.8
Alphabet 15.0 2857.86 -76.23 Rentokil Initial 85.4 547.60 -76.80 Lvmh 202.2 701.60 -7.40 Mitsui O.s.k.lines, 234.6 7980.00 -20.00 Severn Trent 2909.00 1.0 25.7 Babcock Int 307.60 1.3 6.2 Foresight Holdings 450.00 3.3 - Electricity 9708.53 17.6 7.0
London Stock Exchange 6770.00 0.9 - Integrafin Holdings 595.00 1.2 7.4 Residential Secure ome 109.50 3.3 21.8 Media 9482.44 16.5 11.7
BIGGEST MOVERS Close Day's Day's BIGGEST MOVERS Close Day's Day's BIGGEST MOVERS Close Day's Day's BIGGEST MOVERS Close Day's Day's
Berkeley Holdings (the) 4675.00 0.9 -3.4 Vietnam Enterprise Investments 767.00 0.9 37.8 Esken 13.80 3.1 - Industrial Engineering 17831.94 14.8 13.5
price change chng% price change chng% price change chng% price change chng%
Ups Ups Ups Ups Losers Losers Losers Losers
Centene 81.00 2.85 3.65 Ocado 1678.00 87.00 5.47 Unicredit 13.38 0.59 4.58 Shinsei Bank, 1999.00 82.00 4.28 Rentokil Initial 547.60 -12.7 5.7 Capita 36.10 -23.5 -9.3 Tr Eur Growth Trust 173.00 -88.0 -86.5 Automobiles & Parts 3268.00 -31.5 -
Mgm Resorts Int 41.63 1.29 3.21 Cmc Markets 241.00 11.50 5.01 Telefonica 3.85 0.16 4.41 Tokio Marine Holdings,. 6344.00 193.00 3.14 Darktrace 376.00 -12.4 - Harbour Energy 351.40 -18.3 -9.0 Sthree 461.50 -17.1 53.8 Travel & Leisure 7101.44 -24.6 -
Charter Communications 622.19 16.64 2.75 Harbour Energy 351.40 14.80 4.40 Heineken 92.60 2.52 2.80 Toyota Motor 2045.00 43.00 2.15 Rolls-royce Holdings 117.14 -11.1 4.5 Oxford Biomedica 1060.00 -15.6 5.0 Go-ahead 616.00 -15.9 - Mining 18900.43 -22.9 -
Nucor 118.45 2.90 2.51 Ibstock 195.50 8.00 4.27 Inditex 28.94 0.70 2.48 Astellas Pharma . 1806.50 35.00 1.98 Entain 1588.50 -7.3 38.1 Restaurant 78.80 -15.4 19.6 Ted Baker 104.20 -11.9 - Food Producers 6553.51 -13.2 -
Phillips 66 71.36 1.72 2.47 Energean 882.00 34.50 4.07 Philips Kon 30.72 0.68 2.26 Nippon Telegraph And Telephone 3165.00 56.00 1.80 Jd Sports Fashion 211.00 -7.0 - Cineworld 45.38 -14.4 -29.1 Costain 47.00 -11.3 - Life Insurance 7531.26 -8.1 -9.5
Ashtead 6004.00 -6.8 72.1 Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings 1190.50 -14.0 - Senior 123.00 -10.2 37.4 General Financial 11229.70 -5.1 -5.6
Downs Downs Downs Downs
Int Consolidated Airlines S.a. 132.56 -6.7 - Homeserve 848.50 -11.0 - Lindsell Train Investment Trust 1187.50 -10.2 - Mobile Telecommunications 2886.13 -4.7 -7.3
Adobe 610.62 -47.68 -7.24 Rentokil Initial 547.60 -76.80 -12.30 Vestas Wind Systems A/s 26.03 -1.42 -5.17 Nissan Motor Co., 535.10 -15.50 -2.82
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust 1349.50 -6.3 12.2 Centamin 82.14 -10.8 - Kier 104.00 -10.0 56.3 Household Goods 17284.48 -2.0 -6.4
Fortinet 309.76 -21.84 -6.59 Oxford Biomedica 1060.00 -100.00 -8.62 Adyen 2305.00 -121.00 -4.99 Fast Retailing Co., 67860.00 -1900.00 -2.72
Intermediate Capital 2121.00 -6.2 21.5 Liontrust Asset Management 2060.00 -10.4 57.9 Luceco 313.00 -9.8 27.1 Nonlife Insurance 3168.43 0.0 -2.1
Cadence Design Systems 172.34 -11.79 -6.40 Reach 244.50 -22.00 -8.26 Sartorius Sted Bio 447.70 -20.80 -4.44 Ana Holdings 2302.00 -62.00 -2.62
Johnson Matthey 1981.00 -6.0 - Syncona 193.00 -9.8 - Fisher (james) & Sons 303.50 -9.7 - Personal Goods 34592.83 0.7 3.0
Intuit 631.35 -37.39 -5.59 Bt 167.35 -7.50 -4.29 Sartorius Ag Vzo O.n. 554.40 -23.80 -4.12 M3,. 5743.00 -150.00 -2.55
Itv 107.00 -5.8 -1.2 Hays 137.70 -9.3 -4.4 Hyve 85.90 -8.6 - General Retailers 2682.27 1.1 -3.0
Servicenow 620.88 -35.06 -5.35 Discoverie 939.00 -42.00 -4.28 Daimler Ag Na O.n. 71.47 -2.53 -3.42 Ebara 6420.00 -160.00 -2.43
Burberry 1749.50 -5.7 -3.8 Wetherspoon ( J.d.) 822.00 -9.3 - Metro Bank 87.65 -8.6 - Banks 2926.22 2.2 1.2
Based on the constituents of the S&P500 Based on the constituents of the FTSE 350 index Based on the constituents of the FTSEurofirst 300 Eurozone index Based on the constituents of the Nikkei 225 index
Based on last week's performance. †Price at suspension.

CURRENCIES
DOLLAR EURO POUND DOLLAR EURO POUND DOLLAR EURO POUND DOLLAR EURO POUND
Closing Day's Closing Day's Closing Day's Closing Day's Closing Day's Closing Day's Closing Day's Closing Day's Closing Day's Closing Day's Closing Day's Closing Day's
Dec 14 Currency Mid Change Mid Change Mid Change Dec 14 Currency Mid Change Mid Change Mid Change Dec 14 Currency Mid Change Mid Change Mid Change Dec 14 Currency Mid Change Mid Change Mid Change
Argentina Argentine Peso 101.7739 0.0609 114.7343 0.0480 134.6982 0.1377 Indonesia Indonesian Rupiah 14332.5000 -10.0000 16157.6730 -14.1886 18969.1410 -5.1829 Poland Polish Zloty 4.1036 -0.0037 4.6262 -0.0050 5.4311 -0.0026 ..Three Month 0.7556 -0.0003 0.8516 -0.0005 - -
Australia Australian Dollar 1.4050 -0.0006 1.5839 -0.0010 1.8595 0.0000 Israel Israeli Shekel 3.1390 0.0248 3.5387 0.0273 4.1545 0.0346 Romania Romanian Leu 4.3906 0.0008 4.9497 0.0000 5.8110 0.0035 ..One Year 0.7554 -0.0003 0.8508 -0.0005 - -
Bahrain Bahrainin Dinar 0.3771 0.0000 0.4251 0.0000 0.4990 0.0003 Japan Japanese Yen 113.7150 0.1400 128.1960 0.1347 150.5023 0.2489 Russia Russian Ruble 73.6675 -0.0338 83.0487 -0.0531 97.4992 -0.0034 United States United States Dollar - - 1.1273 -0.0002 1.3235 0.0006
Bolivia Bolivian Boliviano 6.9100 - 7.7900 -0.0014 9.1454 0.0039 ..One Month 113.7149 0.1399 128.1961 0.1349 150.5023 0.2489 Saudi Arabia Saudi Riyal 3.7515 0.0001 4.2292 -0.0007 4.9651 0.0022 ..One Month - - 1.1272 -0.1956 1.3236 0.0006
Brazil Brazilian Real 5.6618 -0.0122 6.3828 -0.0149 7.4934 -0.0129 ..Three Month 113.7149 0.1398 128.1962 0.1351 150.5022 0.2487 Singapore Singapore Dollar 1.3699 0.0012 1.5443 0.0011 1.8131 0.0024 ..Three Month - - 1.1271 -0.1956 1.3236 0.0006
Canada Canadian Dollar 1.2845 0.0035 1.4481 0.0037 1.7000 0.0054 ..One Year 113.7142 0.1385 128.1965 0.1357 150.5023 0.2477 South Africa South African Rand 16.1157 0.1006 18.1679 0.1102 21.3291 0.1422 ..One Year - - 1.1262 -0.1956 1.3233 0.0006
Chile Chilean Peso 850.5000 6.7350 958.8069 7.4211 1125.6403 9.3866 Kenya Kenyan Shilling 112.9000 - 127.2772 -0.0230 149.4236 0.0633 South Korea South Korean Won 1182.6500 2.0500 1333.2546 2.0710 1565.2424 3.3747 Vietnam Vietnamese Dong 23010.0000 30.0000 25940.2699 29.1709 30453.9156 52.5877
China Chinese Yuan 6.3625 -0.0013 7.1727 -0.0028 8.4208 0.0018 Kuwait Kuwaiti Dinar 0.3029 0.0001 0.3414 0.0001 0.4008 0.0003 Sweden Swedish Krona 9.1415 0.0361 10.3057 0.0388 12.0989 0.0528 European Union Euro 0.8870 0.0002 - - 1.1740 0.0007
Colombia Colombian Peso 3939.0000 53.2500 4440.6117 59.2395 5213.2832 72.6536 Malaysia Malaysian Ringgit 4.2320 0.0045 4.7709 0.0042 5.6011 0.0083 Switzerland Swiss Franc 0.9239 0.0007 1.0416 0.0006 1.2229 0.0014 ..One Month 0.8869 0.0002 - - 1.1739 0.0007
Costa Rica Costa Rican Colon 638.0000 -0.9500 719.2460 -1.2009 844.3957 -0.8993 Mexico Mexican Peso 21.2025 0.2675 23.9025 0.2973 28.0616 0.3658 Taiwan New Taiwan Dollar 27.8075 0.0225 31.3486 0.0197 36.8033 0.0453 ..Three Month 0.8868 0.0002 - - 1.1738 0.0007
Czech Republic Czech Koruna 22.4394 -0.1025 25.2969 -0.1201 29.6986 -0.1230 New Zealand New Zealand Dollar 1.4801 -0.0015 1.6685 -0.0020 1.9589 -0.0012 Thailand Thai Baht 33.3750 -0.0388 37.6251 -0.0505 44.1719 -0.0326 ..One Year 0.8859 0.0001 - - 1.1730 0.0007
Denmark Danish Krone 6.5961 0.0012 7.4361 0.0001 8.7300 0.0053 Nigeria Nigerian Naira 413.7500 - 466.4389 -0.0841 547.5998 0.2318 Tunisia Tunisian Dinar 2.8854 -0.0004 3.2528 -0.0011 3.8188 0.0010
Egypt Egyptian Pound 15.7353 0.0501 17.7391 0.0533 20.8257 0.0751 Norway Norwegian Krone 9.1029 0.0317 10.2621 0.0339 12.0477 0.0470 Turkey Turkish Lira 14.3895 0.6043 16.2219 0.6784 19.0446 0.8075
Hong Kong Hong Kong Dollar 7.8035 0.0004 8.7972 -0.0011 10.3280 0.0049 Pakistan Pakistani Rupee 177.9000 0.0500 200.5547 0.0202 235.4514 0.1658 United Arab Emirates UAE Dirham 3.6731 - 4.1409 -0.0007 4.8614 0.0021
Hungary Hungarian Forint 325.5157 -1.1794 366.9684 -1.3960 430.8213 -1.3779 Peru Peruvian Nuevo Sol 4.0602 -0.0056 4.5772 -0.0071 5.3736 -0.0051 United Kingdom Pound Sterling 0.7556 -0.0003 0.8518 -0.0005 - -
India Indian Rupee 75.8788 0.1125 85.5415 0.1114 100.4258 0.1913 Philippines Philippine Peso 50.3625 0.0275 56.7759 0.0208 66.6550 0.0646 ..One Month 0.7556 -0.0003 0.8517 -0.0005 - -
Rates are derived from WM Reuters Spot Rates and MorningStar (latest rates at time of production). Some values are rounded. Currency redenominated by 1000. The exchange rates printed in this table are also available at www.FT.com/marketsdata
UK SERIES
FTSE ACTUARIES SHARE INDICES www.ft.com/equities FT 30 INDEX FTSE SECTORS: LEADERS & LAGGARDS FTSE 100 SUMMARY
Produced in conjunction with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Dec 14 Dec 13 Dec 10 Dec 09 Dec 08 Yr Ago High Low
Year to date percentage changes Closing Day's Closing Day's
£ Strlg Day's Euro £ Strlg £ Strlg Year Div P/E X/D Total FT 30 2721.20 2719.40 2751.20 2764.70 2776.40 0.00
Beverages 2870.10 2450.90
33.27 FTSE SmallCap Index 16.40 Tech Hardware & Eq 8.25 FTSE 100 Price Change FTSE 100 Price Change
Dec 14 chge% Index Dec 13 Dec 10 ago yield% Cover ratio adj Return FT 30 Div Yield - - - - - 0.00 3.93
Support Services 2.74
28.60 Pharmace & Biotech 14.71 Consumer Services 7.74 3I Group PLC 1389.5 -6.50 Johnson Matthey PLC 1981 -18.50
FTSE 100 (101) 7218.64 -0.18 6609.29 7231.44 7291.78 6531.83 3.42 2.10 13.94 242.73 7143.01 P/E Ratio net - - - - - 0.00 19.44
Oil & Gas Producers 14.26
27.97 Food & Drug Retailer 14.43 Life Insurance 4.52 Abrdn PLC 235.80 0.80 Kingfisher PLC 338.90 4.40
FTSE 250 (251) 22550.69 -0.43 20647.11 22647.22 22927.71 19764.02 1.97 3.15 16.15 435.44 18248.64 FT 30 hourly changes Oil & Gas 26.79 Industrial Transport 14.25 Consumer Goods 3.77 Admiral Group PLC 3074 -7.00 Land Securities Group PLC 747.60 3.60
FTSE 250 ex Inv Co (184) 23271.17 -0.35 21306.77 23352.49 23665.46 20164.66 1.92 1.01 51.42 395.52 19197.96 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 High Low Fixed Line Telecomms 25.17 Software & Comp Serv 13.40 Telecommunications 3.57 Anglo American PLC 2898 29.50 Legal & General Group PLC 288.80 0.60
FTSE 350 (352) 4121.00 -0.22 3773.13 4130.09 4167.45 3707.60 3.17 2.21 14.28 128.19 8103.88 2719.4 2738.3 2732.7 2734.8 2734.2 2736.4 2733 2735 2721.4 2743.4 2719.4 Gas Water & Multi 24.45 Technology 12.91 Tobacco 0.35 Antofagasta PLC 1382.5 -4.00 Lloyds Banking Group PLC 45.19 0.84
FTSE 350 ex Investment Trusts (283) 4016.04 -0.18 3677.03 4023.32 4059.70 3613.40 3.25 1.91 16.14 98.54 4078.77 FT30 constituents and recent additions/deletions can be found at www.ft.com/ft30 Media 22.41 NON FINANCIALS Index 12.89 Beverages 31.66 Ashtead Group PLC 6004 -222.00 London Stock Exchange Group PLC 6770 84.00
FTSE 350 Higher Yield (113) 3271.53 0.05 2995.37 3269.87 3292.42 2926.45 4.70 1.59 13.42 144.17 7168.85 Industrial Metals & 22.01 Basic Materials 12.56 Household Goods & Ho -0.80 Associated British Foods PLC 1951 26.50 M&G PLC 193.05 1.85
FTSE 350 Lower Yield (239) 4716.75 -0.51 4318.59 4741.12 4795.02 4267.07 1.50 4.35 15.36 83.31 5684.25
FTSE SmallCap (251) 7235.04 -0.25 6624.31 7253.20 7340.55 5980.12 2.59 4.41 8.77 173.02 11786.23 FX: EFFECTIVE INDICES Real Est Invest & Tr
Real Est Invest & Se
21.68
20.74
Health Care
Aerospace & Defense
12.50
12.42
Financial Services
Nonlife Insurance
-1.61
-2.33
Astrazeneca PLC 8228 -20.00 Meggitt PLC 737.00 -0.60
Auto Trader Group PLC 712.80 -18.00 Melrose Industries PLC 144.75 -0.60
FTSE SmallCap ex Inv Co (131) 5982.40 -0.06 5477.41 5985.81 6080.61 4675.25 2.18 1.28 35.86 112.42 10155.23
Dec 13 Dec 10 Mnth Ago Dec 14 Dec 13 Mnth Ago Chemicals 20.64 FTSE 100 Index 11.73 Mobile Telecomms -3.92 Avast PLC 612.80 -1.80 Mondi PLC 1773 -35.00
FTSE All-Share (603) 4100.24 -0.22 3754.12 4109.33 4146.90 3678.41 3.15 2.27 14.00 126.56 8143.03 Utilities 20.51 FTSE All{HY-}Share Index 11.61 Travel & Leisure -5.28 Aveva Group PLC 3232 -101.00 National Grid PLC 1055.4 4.40
FTSE All-Share ex Inv Co (414) 3955.22 -0.18 3621.35 3962.31 3998.60 3549.27 3.23 1.90 16.29 96.66 4078.93 UK 81.21 81.04 81.00 Construct & Material 20.14 Mining 11.18 Food Producers -5.49 Aviva PLC 395.20 3.30 Natwest Group PLC 218.20 3.80
FTSE All-Share ex Multinationals (532) 1302.30 -0.18 988.65 1304.68 1320.40 1160.58 2.60 3.36 11.48 33.10 2676.98 Source: Bank of England. New Sterling ERI base Jan 2005 = 100. Other indices base average 1990 = 100. Industrials 19.70 FTSE 250 Index 10.07 Personal Goods -6.76 B&M European Value Retail S.A. 639.60 -1.20 Next PLC 8054 -80.00
FTSE Fledgling (84) 13069.98 -0.50 11966.69 13135.91 13184.62 10138.14 2.22 7.13 6.31 266.11 27480.52 Index rebased 1/2/95. for further information about ERIs see www.bankofengland.co.uk Electronic & Elec Eq 18.62 Electricity 9.59 Health Care Eq & Srv -10.29 Bae Systems PLC 539.20 -5.60 Ocado Group PLC 1678 87.00
FTSE Fledgling ex Inv Co (35) 17170.84 -0.50 15721.39 17256.82 17252.58 110.27 1.74 -3.03 -18.96 257.68 35111.06 Industrial Eng 18.42 Financials 9.49 Leisure Goods -13.86 Barclays PLC 180.08 1.94 Pearson PLC 583.20 -3.80
FTSE All-Small (335) 5037.27 -0.26 4612.05 5050.62 5109.10 4148.77 2.57 4.54 8.58 119.45 10526.00 Banks 17.10 General Retailers 9.07 Automobiles & Parts -29.12 Barratt Developments PLC 729.00 -1.80 Pershing Square Holdings LTD 3075 -15.00
FTSE All-Small ex Inv Co (166) 4492.57 -0.07 4113.34 4495.89 4564.34 105.12 2.16 1.15 40.28 83.88 9658.73 Equity Invest Instr 8.42 Oil Equipment & Serv -36.71 Berkeley Group Holdings (The) PLC 4675 -22.00 Persimmon PLC 2793 -15.00
FTSE AIM All-Share (742) 1164.67 -1.09 1066.35 1177.48 1190.95 1067.66 0.92 1.49 72.59 10.67 1349.18
Bhp Group PLC 2168 42.00 Phoenix Group Holdings PLC 640.00 4.20
FTSE All-Share Technology (22) 2286.02 -2.07 2084.93 2334.43 2335.43 2090.47 1.49 0.85 78.44 21.12 3245.28
FTSE All-Share Telecommunications (7) 1863.90 -0.20 1699.94 1867.58 1886.91 1914.05 4.47 0.31 71.21 81.53 2686.37 FTSE GLOBAL EQUITY INDEX SERIES BP PLC
British American Tobacco PLC
337.65
2702.5
2.65
-30.00
Polymetal International PLC
Prudential PLC
1265
1277.5
-25.50
3.50
FTSE All-Share Health Care (13) 12698.05 -0.45 11581.06 12754.82 12729.43 11685.40 3.18 0.48 65.05 237.40 11443.21 Dec 14 No of US $ Day Mth YTD Total
YTD Gr Div Dec 14 No of US $ Day Mth YTD Total YTD Gr Div British Land Company PLC 514.60 11.60 Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC 6195 12.00
FTSE All-Share Financials (253) 4774.62 0.18 4354.62 4766.10 4831.20 4356.76 2.76 5.31 6.82 101.15 5125.40 Regions & countries stocks indices % % % retn
% Yield Sectors stocks indices % % % retn % Yield Bt Group PLC 167.35 -7.50 Relx PLC 2357 -39.00
FTSE All-Share Real Estate (55) 1203.71 -0.50 1148.45 1209.76 1218.84 972.30 2.45 2.11 19.30 22.54 1227.08
FTSE Global All Cap 9310 829.67 -0.8 -2.7 14.0
16.0 1301.43
1.7 Oil Equipment & Services 26 231.00 -1.6 -1.6 22.0 410.48 27.8 4.8 Bunzl PLC 2889 -78.00 Rentokil Initial PLC 547.60 -76.80
FTSE All-Share Consumer Discretionary (91) 5267.92 -0.22 4804.53 5279.52 5358.85 4840.00 1.53 0.15 420.77 67.56 5456.97
FTSE Global All Cap 9310 829.67 -0.8 -2.7 14.0
16.0 1301.43
1.7 Basic Materials 368 654.25 -0.2 -0.2 7.2 1153.92 11.3 3.8 Burberry Group PLC 1749.5 -19.00 Rightmove PLC 745.80 -17.80
FTSE All-Share Consumer Staples (25)19547.00 -0.06 17827.54 19557.91 19604.61 18853.67 3.81 1.23 21.40 565.05 17233.68
FTSE Global Large Cap 1798 745.51 -0.8 -1.8 14.5
16.6 1205.09
1.8 Chemicals 172 952.61 -0.4 -0.4 9.5 1636.67 11.8 2.2 Coca-Cola Hbc AG 2459 40.00 Rio Tinto PLC 4854 106.00
FTSE All-Share Industrials (87) 7157.83 -1.89 6528.19 7295.40 7339.57 5897.03 1.68 2.55 23.38 102.23 8105.00
FTSE Global Mid Cap 2282 1046.19 -0.7 -4.0 14.1
16.1 1543.75
1.8 Forestry & Paper 21 295.71 -1.2 -1.2 -6.5 577.84 -4.0 2.8 Compass Group PLC 1529 19.00 Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC 117.14 0.20
FTSE All-Share Basic Materials (26) 8079.68 1.05 7368.95 7995.83 8059.27 7183.66 6.46 2.41 6.42 367.08 10346.71
FTSE Global Small Cap 5230 1109.51 -1.0 -6.6 10.2
11.8 1568.57
1.5 Industrial Metals & Mining 96 540.10 -0.1 -0.1 15.3 979.90 21.8 5.7 Crh PLC 3794 29.00 Royal Dutch Shell PLC 1619.4 4.60
FTSE All-Share Energy (14) 5962.11 0.52 5437.65 5931.47 6083.57 4917.86 3.74 1.66 16.10 174.61 6983.49
FTSE All-World 4080 487.30 -0.8 -2.2 14.4
16.5 809.31
1.8 Mining 79 884.71 0.2 0.2 0.5 1624.64 6.3 5.9 Croda International PLC 10115 -285.00 Royal Dutch Shell PLC 1619.4 4.40
FTSE All-Share Utilities (10) 8595.61 -0.46 7839.50 8635.26 8651.51 7080.86 4.17 1.65 14.58 314.67 12555.32
FTSE World 2662 878.85 -0.8 -1.9 16.2
18.3 1959.04
1.8 Industrials 754 587.76 -0.7 -0.7 12.2 918.99 13.8 1.5 Darktrace PLC 376.00 -15.80 Royal Mail PLC 489.10 3.60
FTSE All-Share Software and Computer Services (20) 2458.23 -2.04 2241.99 2509.30 2510.28 2259.70 1.49 0.85 78.89 22.29 3692.22
FTSE Global All Cap ex UNITED KINGDOM In 9017 879.37 -0.8 -2.6 14.2
16.2 1353.67
1.7 Construction & Materials 144 722.85 -0.5 -0.5 17.3 1190.68 19.5 1.8 Dcc PLC 5506 -94.00 Sage Group PLC 804.40 -23.20
FTSE All-Share Technology Hardware and Equipment (2) 6375.05 -3.20 5814.27 6586.13 6595.77 4585.98 1.61 0.93 67.13 88.39 8085.79
FTSE Global All Cap ex USA 7489 588.19 -0.6 -3.9 4.3
6.9 1013.72
2.5 Aerospace & Defense 35 774.71 -1.6 -1.6 5.6 1191.85 7.1 1.5 Diageo PLC 3927.5 -13.00 Sainsbury (J) PLC 275.30 3.20
FTSE All-Share Telecommunications Equipment (2) 611.24 -1.16 557.48 618.43 624.14 609.34 1.61 2.46 25.26 6.64 856.66
FTSE Global All Cap ex JAPAN 7918 864.60 -0.8 -2.7 15.1
17.1 1368.63
1.7 General Industrials 72 272.76 -1.0 -1.0 7.8 470.34 10.0 2.1 Entain PLC 1588.5 16.50 Schroders PLC 3416 -15.00
FTSE All-Share Telecommunications Service Providers (5) 2881.76 -0.16 2628.26 2886.36 2916.37 2961.02 4.58 0.29 76.60 130.01 3779.41
FTSE Global All Cap ex Eurozone 8649 877.51 -0.8 -2.4 14.5
16.5 1347.47
1.7 Electronic & Electrical Equipment 142 795.51 -0.2 -0.2 18.9 1125.26 20.3 1.1 Evraz PLC 606.60 14.00 Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC 1349.5 -32.00
FTSE All-Share Health Care Providers (3) 8127.09 0.87 7412.19 8056.68 8099.86 5794.71 0.13 53.19 14.75 6.62 7502.90
FTSE Developed 2209 807.71 -0.8 -1.9 16.7
18.7 1277.07
1.7 Industrial Engineering 147 1139.21 -0.5 -0.5 11.1 1774.64 12.9 1.6 Experian PLC 3507 -113.00 Segro PLC 1386 -24.50
FTSE All-Share Medical Equipment and Services (2) 5637.98 -0.20 5142.03 5649.39 5709.62 6943.96 2.25 1.07 41.41 126.98 5307.12
FTSE Developed All Cap 5823 842.27 -0.8 -2.4 16.0
18.0 1312.34
1.7 Industrial Transportation 125 1076.38 -1.0 -1.0 17.4 1695.81 19.3 1.6 Ferguson PLC 12415 -110.00 Severn Trent PLC 2909 -25.00
FTSE All-Share Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology (8)18031.70 -0.47 16445.54 18117.19 18065.85 16320.83 3.26 0.44 69.66 335.72 14626.54
FTSE Developed Large Cap 887 759.68 -0.8 -1.4 17.2
19.2 1222.61
1.7 Support Services 89 693.16 -0.5 -0.5 7.8 1017.68 8.9 1.0 Flutter Entertainment PLC 10690 30.00 Smith & Nephew PLC 1210.5 -4.50
FTSE All-Share Banks (11) 2890.29 1.08 2636.04 2859.27 2923.31 2520.64 2.75 5.91 6.14 46.22 2455.69
FTSE Developed Europe Large Cap 238 433.18 -0.7 -3.7 10.3
13.3 832.21
2.6 Consumer Goods 541 673.05 -0.8 -0.8 10.1 1107.42 12.1 1.9 Fresnillo PLC 866.40 -15.00 Smith (Ds) PLC 379.70 -6.20
FTSE All-Share Finance and Credit Services (7) 9718.38 1.11 8863.50 9611.83 9687.76 11708.56 1.47 1.68 40.35 128.18 12813.70
FTSE Developed Europe Mid Cap 350 740.99 -0.8 -5.5 6.1
8.5 1239.42
2.3 Automobiles & Parts 128 749.60 -2.8 -2.8 22.4 1192.37 23.7 1.0 Glaxosmithkline PLC 1598 -8.60 Smiths Group PLC 1480 -14.00
FTSE All-Share Investment Banking and Brokerage Services (33)10292.73 -0.32 9387.32 10326.08 10367.08 9266.81 3.84 2.77 9.39 326.84 13827.42
FTSE Dev Europe Small Cap 722 1048.09 -1.2 -6.8 8.7
10.8 1683.61
1.9 Beverages 68 784.32 0.7 0.7 6.1 1305.61 8.4 2.1 Glencore PLC 367.00 4.15 Smurfit Kappa Group PLC 3884 -106.00
FTSE All-Share Closed End Investments (189)13990.70 -0.79 12760.00 14101.59 14227.48 12502.38 2.06 9.99 4.85 219.47 8546.84
FTSE North America Large Cap 256 1022.89 -1.0 -0.7 23.2
24.8 1513.59
1.3 Food Producers 133 761.99 0.0 0.0 6.2 1284.01 8.6 2.3 Halma PLC 3081 -69.00 Spirax-Sarco Engineering PLC 15445 -605.00
FTSE All-Share Life Insurance (6) 7657.18 0.42 6983.61 7625.29 7739.72 7080.50 3.50 2.27 12.58 267.54 8988.12
FTSE North America Mid Cap 414 1271.81 -0.8 -3.8 19.9
21.6 1736.63
1.5 Household Goods & Home Construction 61 638.70 0.4 0.4 10.9 1049.21 13.5 2.3 Hargreaves Lansdown PLC 1317.5 -2.50 Sse PLC 1588 -31.50
FTSE All-Share Nonlife Insurance (7) 3596.47 -0.04 3280.11 3597.96 3652.85 3668.66 3.97 1.60 15.77 128.72 7376.79
FTSE North America Small Cap 1330 1277.99 -1.1 -7.7 11.7
12.9 1677.55
1.2 Leisure Goods 47 312.50 -0.1 -0.1 -5.3 436.04 -4.3 1.2 Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC 2204 -32.00 St. James's Place PLC 1579.5 -20.00
FTSE All-Share Real Estate Investment and Services (14) 3015.79 -1.10 2750.50 3049.47 3083.67 2476.40 1.64 3.10 19.63 35.75 8814.76
FTSE North America 670 663.55 -0.9 -1.3 22.6
24.2 1.3 Personal Goods
1003.43 89 1146.84 -0.6 -0.6 8.8 1735.33 10.3 1.4 HSBC Holdings PLC 434.70 3.40 Standard Chartered PLC 420.20 2.40
FTSE All-Share Real Estate Investment Trusts (41) 2989.68 -0.36 2726.70 3000.48 3020.37 2402.36 2.64 1.97 19.23 59.61 4383.62
FTSE Developed ex North America 1539 308.37 -0.5 -3.3 5.2
7.9 572.72
2.5 Tobacco 15 940.04 0.4 0.4 3.5 2503.08 8.4 6.4 Imperial Brands PLC 1577.5 -0.50 Taylor Wimpey PLC 166.70 -0.60
FTSE All-Share Automobiles and Parts (2) 3284.75 -2.54 2995.80 3370.46 3478.61 3875.23 1.44 -8.37 -8.29 10.66 3392.42
FTSE Japan Large Cap 172 457.73 0.0 -2.3 1.0
2.9 2.1 Health Care
655.58 336 763.73 0.5 0.5 11.3 1196.74 13.2 1.6 Informa PLC 492.50 1.00 Tesco PLC 284.75 -0.60
FTSE All-Share Consumer Services (3) 2537.00 1.24 2313.83 2505.86 2529.14 2455.49 0.01 110.73 66.08 0.13 3175.38
FTSE Japan Mid Cap 338 622.91 -0.1 -3.9 -3.4
-1.3 846.75
2.3 Health Care Equipment & Services 128 1610.66 0.1 0.1 15.8 1957.87 16.7 0.8 Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC 4479 -10.00 Unilever PLC 4021.5 -
FTSE All-Share Household Goods and Home Construction (13)14493.90 -0.36 13218.94 14546.26 14643.94 12825.29 5.13 1.68 11.62 458.95 12118.83
FTSE Global wi JAPAN Small Cap 882 703.62 -0.2 -2.7 -1.4
0.7 991.23
2.4 Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 208 480.39 0.9 0.9 8.0 804.84 10.5 2.2 Intermediate Capital Group PLC 2121 -39.00 United Utilities Group PLC 1113 -17.00
FTSE All-Share Leisure Goods (2) 24221.04 0.16 22090.43 24183.47 24265.90 25526.91 1.51 2.76 24.07 473.92 25917.72
FTSE Japan 510 187.12 0.0 -2.6 0.0
2.0 300.05
2.1 Consumer Services 449 695.17 -1.2 -1.2 0.8 982.05 1.6 0.9 International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A. 132.56 2.26 Vodafone Group PLC 114.22 1.76
FTSE All-Share Personal Goods (5) 29912.93 -1.57 27281.63 30389.02 30708.50 26055.37 1.36 2.18 33.71 419.78 22922.20
FTSE Asia Pacific Large Cap ex Japan 955 833.24 -0.5 -3.5 -4.7
-2.7 2.3 Food & Drug Retailers
1473.41 70 336.97 -0.1 -0.1 12.8 523.73 15.5 2.2 Intertek Group PLC 5584 -166.00 Whitbread PLC 2814 17.00
FTSE All-Share Media (11) 9761.52 -1.23 8902.84 9883.43 9946.17 7988.85 1.76 1.05 54.26 177.13 6709.10
FTSE Asia Pacific Mid Cap ex Japan 902 1125.54 -0.2 -1.7 9.6
12.1 1914.77
2.6 General Retailers 154 1277.41 -1.2 -1.2 0.9 1731.01 1.5 0.7 Itv PLC 107.00 -1.80 Wpp PLC 1092 -1.50
FTSE All-Share Retailers (22) 2750.77 -0.40 2508.80 2761.74 2790.72 2217.56 1.31 4.01 19.01 35.59 3488.53
FTSE Asia Pacific Small Cap ex Japan 2005 711.74 -0.2 -2.0 9.5
11.7 2.1 Media
1180.20 83 457.73 -1.3 -1.3 -2.5 650.43 -1.7 0.9 Jd Sports Fashion PLC 211.00 -4.40
FTSE All-Share Travel and Leisure (33) 7006.80 0.83 6390.45 6949.39 7197.84 7719.12 0.12 -90.62 -9.40 11.71 7200.68
FTSE Asia Pacific Ex Japan 1857 660.25 -0.5 -3.4 -3.3
-1.3 2.3 Travel & Leisure
1240.54 142 493.95 -1.9 -1.9 -0.8 713.40 0.0 0.9
FTSE All-Share Beverages (5) 30371.77 -0.16 27700.11 30421.58 30522.31 23555.91 1.87 1.52 35.17 353.51 23842.66
FTSE Emerging All Cap 3487 876.40 -0.6 -4.5 -1.5
0.9 2.5 Telecommunication
1477.24 89 144.57 -0.3 -0.3 -6.1 327.81 -2.3 4.4
FTSE All-Share Food Producers (10) 6733.87 0.62 6141.53 6692.08 6753.97 7030.68 1.75 2.97 19.26 112.37 6360.59
FTSE All-Share Tobacco (2) 28883.62 -0.89 26342.86 29143.79 29398.69 30411.77 8.10 1.46 8.43 1715.05 25301.93
FTSE Emerging Large Cap 911 820.93 -0.7 -5.0 -4.3
-2.0 2.5 Fixed Line Telecommuniations
1391.83 35 107.12 -1.2 -1.2 -7.9 276.61 -2.8 6.1 UK STOCK MARKET TRADING DATA
FTSE Emerging Mid Cap 960 1138.97 -0.4 -2.9 8.8
11.9 3.1 Mobile Telecommunications
1927.65 54 175.80 0.1 0.1 -4.5 345.10 -1.8 3.4
FTSE All-Share Construction and Materials (15) 8700.09 0.71 7934.78 8638.75 8747.87 6980.90 2.15 0.56 82.49 74.22 10285.18 Dec 14 Dec 13 Dec 10 Dec 09 Dec 08 Yr Ago
FTSE Emerging Small Cap 1616 951.33 -0.1 -2.0 11.6
14.3 2.3 Utilities
1536.40 196 332.50 0.5 0.5 3.7 754.30 7.1 3.2
FTSE All-Share Aerospace and Defense (9) 4290.24 -0.55 3912.85 4314.00 4394.75 3922.32 2.22 7.10 6.35 94.62 5123.68 Order Book Turnover (m) 297.12 107.44 107.44 107.44 79.61 71.30
FTSE Emerging Europe 87 404.25 -2.9 -10.0 9.1
14.7 5.1 Electricity
805.47 140 373.97 0.5 0.5 3.6 836.19 7.0 3.2
FTSE All-Share Electronic and Electrical Equipment (10)13795.24 -1.77 12581.73 14044.33 14056.69 11075.55 1.25 2.13 37.54 157.60 13421.78 Order Book Bargains 822280.00 670520.00 670520.00 670520.00 727251.00 940555.00
FTSE Latin America All Cap 249 696.69 -1.6 -4.8 -15.2
-10.2 5.8 Gas Water & Multiutilities
1264.38 56 333.27 0.5 0.5 3.9 780.88 7.5 3.3
FTSE All-Share General Industrials (9) 5484.56 -1.81 5002.11 5585.81 5608.19 5314.44 2.36 1.21 34.99 127.94 7031.39 Order Book Shares Traded (m) 1321.00 1086.00 1086.00 1086.00 1111.00 1413.00
FTSE Middle East and Africa All Cap 332 777.91 -0.2 -4.5 19.1
22.6 2.7 Financials
1383.45 864 293.57 -0.8 -0.8 16.3 547.57 19.4 2.7
FTSE All-Share Industrial Engineering (5)19398.23 -3.11 17691.86 20021.69 20086.65 16649.03 0.99 2.51 40.37 192.50 25631.31 Total Equity Turnover (£m) 4929.10 3680.62 3680.62 3680.62 5699.65 5791.99
FTSE Global wi UNITED KINGDOM All Cap In 293 342.98 -0.9 -3.1 8.2
11.8 3.2 Banks
677.21 267 221.25 -1.4 -1.4 20.0 456.05 24.0 3.3
FTSE All-Share Industrial Support Services (31)11871.08 -2.81 10826.83 12213.97 12268.86 9696.52 1.39 1.97 36.42 147.26 13398.02 Total Mkt Bargains 1064516.00 875732.00 875732.00 875732.00 931168.00 1208476.00
FTSE Global wi USA All Cap 1821 1141.00 -0.9 -1.8 21.5
23.0 1.3 Nonlife Insurance
1628.11 72 339.91 -0.5 -0.5 13.6 550.66 17.1 2.9
FTSE All-Share Industrial Transportation (8) 6882.38 -2.76 6276.97 7077.40 7062.99 4103.44 1.23 3.23 25.20 77.76 7075.55 Total Shares Traded (m) 5786.00 5094.00 5094.00 5094.00 4705.00 4474.00
FTSE Europe All Cap 1475 515.26 -0.8 -4.4 9.4
12.3 2.5 Life Insurance
950.79 54 238.68 -0.9 -0.9 2.7 442.74 6.1 3.5
FTSE All-Share Industrial Materials (1)21754.06 0.00 753.74 21754.06 22154.13 19976.09 1.46 2.64 25.90 318.56 26919.13 † Excluding intra-market and overseas turnover. *UK only total at 6pm. ‡ UK plus intra-market turnover. (u) Unavaliable.
FTSE Eurozone All Cap 661 501.13 -0.7 -5.4 8.1
10.7 2.2 Financial Services
918.13 213 490.45 -0.8 -0.8 16.8 732.46 18.4 1.5
FTSE All-Share Industrial Metals and Mining (11) 6728.00 1.56 6136.17 6624.80 6673.06 5904.14 7.12 2.43 5.78 326.68 9651.35 (c) Market closed.
FTSE EDHEC-Risk Efficient All-World 4080 532.96 -0.6 -3.3 12.9
15.1 2.1 Technology
819.14 348 672.13 -1.2 -1.2 29.2 868.77 30.1 0.7
FTSE All-Share Precious Metals and Mining (7)18095.40 -1.33 16503.64 18339.49 18711.91 24479.44 4.51 1.81 12.22 1039.94 12326.83
FTSE EDHEC-Risk Efficient Developed Europe 588 398.23 -0.8 -5.2 6.6
9.2 2.3 Software & Computer Services
680.18 187 1076.42 -0.6 -0.6 28.1 1294.77 28.7 0.4
FTSE All-Share Chemicals (7) 18191.20 -1.98 16591.01 18558.93 18694.57 14644.82 1.79 2.59 21.56 294.26 17815.47
Oil & Gas 135 323.71 -2.1 -4.8 25.4
31.1 4.2 Technology Hardware & Equipment
632.77 161 557.21 -2.0 -2.0 30.7 771.57 32.1 1.1
FTSE All-Share Oil. Gas and Coal (14) 5786.16 0.52 5277.18 5756.43 5904.04 4772.73 3.74 1.66 16.10 169.47 7028.71 All data provided by Morningstar unless otherwise noted. All elements listed are indicative and believed
Oil & Gas Producers 94 312.18 -2.3 -4.0 29.2
35.4 4.3 Alternative Energy
624.82 15 221.23 -0.7 -0.7 -17.7 316.13 -17.2 0.5
accurate at the time of publication. No offer is made by Morningstar or the FT. The FT does not warrant nor
FTSE Sector Indices Real Estate Investment & Services 157 331.13 -1.2 -1.2 -7.7 627.14 -5.2 2.9
Non Financials (350) 4947.24 -0.34 4529.62 4963.92 5002.87 91.43 3.26 1.53 20.09 121.50 8646.60 Real Estate Investment Trusts 101 574.23 0.8 0.8 26.3 1299.95 29.7 2.8 guarantee that the information is reliable or complete. The FT does not accept responsibility and will not be
FTSE Global Large Cap 1798 745.51 -0.8 -0.8 14.5 1205.09 16.6 1.8 liable for any loss arising from the reliance on or use of the listed information.
The FTSE Global Equity Series, launched in 2003, contains the FTSE Global Small Cap Indices and broader FTSE Global All Cap Indices (large/mid/small cap) as well as the enhanced FTSE All-World index Series (large/ For all queries e-mail ft.reader.enquiries@morningstar.com
Hourly movements 8.00 9.00 10.00 11.00 12.00 13.00 14.00 15.00 16.00 High/day Low/day
FTSE 100 7277.58 7268.54 7252.45 7263.39 7258.18 7259.03 7243.43 7251.41 7228.83 7284.14 7218.64 mid cap) - please see https://research.ftserussell.com/Products/indices/Home/indexfiltergeis?indexName=GEISAC&currency=USD&rtn=CAP&segment=global-developed–emerging. The trade names Fundamental Index®
FTSE 250 22713.07 22776.81 22707.76 22671.81 22690.69 22703.18 22647.53 22642.70 22578.02 22801.68 22550.69 and RAFI® are registered trademarks and the patented and patent-pending proprietary intellectual property of Research Affiliates, LLC (US Patent Nos. 7,620,577; 7,747,502; 7,778,905; 7,792,719; Patent Pending Publ. Data provided by Morningstar | www.morningstar.co.uk
FTSE SmallCap 7251.53 7271.63 7269.86 7262.46 7256.03 7254.30 7243.88 7246.30 7237.01 7276.32 7232.06 Nos. US-2006-0149645-A1, US-2007-0055598-A1, US-2008-0288416-A1, US-2010- 0063942-A1, WO 2005/076812, WO 2007/078399 A2, WO 2008/118372, EPN 1733352, and HK1099110). ”EDHEC™” is a trade mark
FTSE All-Share 4132.27 4130.47 4121.03 4124.77 4122.86 4123.59 4114.62 4118.13 4105.74 4136.06 4100.24 of EDHEC Business School As of January 2nd 2006, FTSE is basing its sector indices on the Industrial Classification Benchmark - please see www.ftse.com/icb. For constituent changes and other information about FTSE,
please see www.ftse.com. © FTSE International Limited. 2013. All Rights reserved. ”FTSE®” is a trade mark of the London Stock Exchange Group companies and is used by FTSE International Limited under licence.
Time of FTSE 100 Day's high:08:13:30 Day's Low16:35:30 FTSE 100 2010/11 High: 7384.18(11/11/2021) Low: 6407.46(29/01/2021)
Time of FTSE All-Share Day's high:08:44:00 Day's Low16:50:00 FTSE 100 2010/11 High: 4212.39(11/11/2021) Low: 3641.93(29/01/2021)
Further information is available on http://www.ftse.com © FTSE International Limited. 2013. All Rights reserved. ”FTSE®” is a trade mark of the
London Stock Exchange Group companies and is used by FTSE International Limited under licence. † Sector P/E ratios greater than 80 are not shown.
For changes to FTSE Fledgling Index constituents please refer to www.ftse.com/indexchanges. ‡ Values are negative.

UK RIGHTS OFFERS UK COMPANY RESULTS UK RECENT EQUITY ISSUES

Amount Latest Company Turnover Pre-tax EPS(p) Div(p) Pay day Total Issue Issue Stock Close Mkt
Issue paid renun. closing C4X Discovery Holdings Pre 5.642 0.000 5.907L 9.579L 1.960L 8.100L 0.00000 0.00000 - 0.000 0.000 date price(p) Sector code Stock price(p) +/- High Low Cap (£m)
price up date High Low Stock Price p +or- Downing Four VCT Int 6.592 0.711 0.00000 0.00000 - 0.000 2.486 12/07 91.00 AIM 4GBL 4Global PLC 88.50 -1.20 94.99 85.00 2331.5
There are currently no rights offers by any companies listed on the LSE. Hermes Pacific Investments Int 0.000 0.000 0.050L 0.052L 2.100L 2.200L 0.00000 0.00000 - 0.000 0.000 12/06 53.41 AIM OBI Ondine Biomedical Inc 58.50 -0.35 59.20 53.41 11383.2
JPMorgan Japan Small Cap Growth & Income Int 21.269 87.133 38.740 159.570 5.80000 5.50000 Nov 19 11.300 9.478 12/06 155.00 AIM WNWD Windward Ltd 203.00 1.00 210.00 168.00 16572.4
JPMorgan Japanese Investment Trust Pre 110.226 272.203 68.530 168.450 5.30000 5.10000 Jan 28 5.300 5.100 12/01 370.00 AIM SKL Skillcast Group PLC 38.50 -0.50 43.40 36.50 3444.2
MIGO Opportunities Trust Int 9.792 9.222 36.400 33.200 0.00000 0.00000 - 0.000 0.000 11/30 145.00 AIM GELN Gelion PLC 180.50 -7.00 312.00 147.00 19216.7
Securities Trust of Scotland Int 13.106 36.861 12.750 34.970 1.37500 1.37500 Jan 21 2.950 3.424 11/22 277.00 AIM ETP Eneraqua Technologies PLC 257.50 -2.50 289.60 253.00 8554.7
Sunrise Resources Pre 0.000 0.000 0.335L 0.303L 0.009L 0.009L 0.00000 0.00000 - 0.000 0.000 11/19 10.00 REDC Red Capital PLC 35.00 0.50 36.00 21.95 350.0
Tungsten Corp Int 18.286 18.013 0.639 30.487L 0.500 24.180L 0.00000 0.00000 - 0.000 0.000 11/17 2.25 TM1 Technology Minerals PLC 3.20 0.00 4.25 2.60 3879.4
11/12 13.00 AIM FRG Firering Strategic Minerals PLC 13.20 -0.25 15.28 12.42 1146.9
11/05 1.10 AIM MRK Marks Electrical Group PLC 121.50 -3.00 128.00 110.00 12751.3
11/04 157.00 AIM DEVO Devolver Digital Inc 182.50 -0.76 210.00 171.77 80711.9

Figures in £m. Earnings shown basic. Figures in light text are for corresponding period year earlier. §Placing price. *Intoduction. ‡When issued. Annual report/prospectus available at www.ft.com/ir
For more information on dividend payments visit www.ft.com/marketsdata For a full explanation of all the other symbols please refer to London Share Service notes.
14 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES Wednesday 15 December 2021

MARKET DATA

FT500: THE WORLD'S LARGEST COMPANIES

52 Week 52 Week 52 Week 52 Week 52 Week 52 Week
Stock Price Day Chg High Low Yld P/E MCap m Stock Price Day Chg High Low Yld P/E MCap m Stock Price Day Chg High Low Yld P/E MCap m Stock Price Day Chg High Low Yld P/E MCap m Stock Price Day Chg High Low Yld P/E MCap m Stock Price Day Chg High Low Yld P/E MCap m
Australia (A$) Finland (€) CntJpRwy 15735 -220.00 18455 13525 0.81 -20.04 28504.68 Nordea Bk 107.08 0.60 114.64 65.76 7.67 11.84 47439.31 BlackRock 894.57 -23.09 973.16 670.28 1.76 24.24 135900.43 MondelezInt 63.27 0.10 65.60 52.91 2.01 20.53 88252.91
ANZ 27.48 0.11 29.64 22.56 2.24 16.18 55137.31 Nokia 5.28 -0.04 5.39 3.07 - -16.88 33776.09 Denso 8650 -41.00 9053 5700 1.62 21.68 59936.89 SEB 127.10 -0.65 141.85 81.80 3.31 11.09 30170.97 Boeing 195.77 -1.63 278.57 188.00 - -13.20 115056.05 Monsanto 9.75 - 10.00 9.51 - - 243.75
BHPBilltn 41.28 0.24 54.55 35.56 5.10 13.75 86681.31 SampoA 43.15 -0.69 47.33 33.07 3.98 32.89 26956.68 EastJpRwy 7074 -103.00 8626 6464 1.39 -5.44 23510.48 SvnskaHn 93.12 - 108.15 80.06 4.51 10.72 19810.39 Booking Holdings 2137.12 -12.39 2687.29 1860.73 - 236.14 87757.6 MorganStly 98.49 1.32 105.95 61.86 1.74 12.76 176731.63
CmwBkAu 97.54 -0.49 110.19 81.56 2.57 20.51 118464.5 France (€) Fanuc 24000 -240.00 29700 21720 1.20 37.46 42613.78 Swedbank 179.08 -0.86 196.70 140.70 4.15 9.56 22175.63 BrisMySq 59.85 0.80 69.75 53.22 3.21 -25.62 132834.65 Netflix 590.63 -13.93 700.99 478.54 - 63.88 261620.85
CSL 297.27 -1.04 319.78 242.00 0.95 42.39 96411.69 Airbus Grpe 102.50 -0.58 121.00 81.84 - 19.06 90834.21 FastRetail 67860-1900.00 110500 65110 0.68 47.48 63299.99 Telia Co 35.12 0.26 39.97 33.45 5.54 -10.78 15709.3 CapOne 147.16 1.12 177.95 89.72 1.00 5.59 62634.54 NextEraE♦ 90.77 -0.97 92.12 68.33 1.63 77.71 178103.18
NatAusBk 28.46 -0.03 30.30 22.25 2.16 18.18 66185.99 AirLiquide 152.92 -2.06 157.40 124.25 1.81 27.74 81695.03 Fuji Hvy Ind 2038 -27.50 2413 1943 2.70 15.50 13785.17 Volvo 196.92 -2.42 240.80 182.00 3.13 11.48 34217.42 CardinalHlth 49.17 0.73 62.96 45.85 3.80 24.67 13854.67 Nike 164.74 -2.11 179.10 125.44 0.64 45.44 210499.45
Telstra 4.11 0.06 4.12 2.98 2.46 26.07 34634.18 AXA 25.44 0.12 26.35 18.21 5.67 10.88 69366.96 Hitachi 6287 -147.00 7460 3966 1.64 15.46 53531.13 Switzerland (SFr) Carnival 18.36 0.02 31.52 16.32 - -2.30 17879.42 NorfolkS 282.55 -1.94 296.06 226.09 1.39 24.77 68756.99
Wesfarmers 58.41 -1.38 67.20 49.01 2.85 27.50 47137.42 BNP Parib 56.09 0.09 62.55 39.71 1.99 9.01 79028.22 HondaMtr 3184 19.00 3677 2743 3.67 5.83 50719.67 ABB 33.39 -0.39 34.79 23.73 2.31 36.45 74197.33 Caterpillar 200.56 -0.69 246.69 175.11 1.97 26.30 108491.25 Northrop 377.72 0.39 408.03 282.88 1.57 13.49 59882.05
Westpc♦ 20.93 0.11 27.12 19.23 4.24 15.25 54650.65 ChristianDior 672.50 -10.50 731.50 420.60 0.90 30.95 136849.87 JapanTob 2355.5 17.50 2387.5 1898 6.03 10.69 41428.14 CredSuisse 8.73 0.07 13.50 8.66 2.62 113.42 24106.43 CharlesSch 79.72 0.34 84.49 49.82 0.87 35.11 144397.33 NXP 217.75 -4.04 239.91 152.93 0.93 39.12 57906.96
Woolworths 37.45 -3.11 42.66 32.46 2.73 30.36 32305.19 Cred Agr 12.23 0.11 13.49 9.23 6.59 8.89 42914.16 KDDI 3404 59.00 3899 2947 3.53 12.07 68974.44 Nestle 124.02 -0.56 125.66 95.00 2.12 29.70 377851.93 Charter Comms 622.19 16.64 825.62 585.45 - 29.04 111552.22 Occid Pet♦ 28.96 -0.27 35.75 16.88 0.14 -39.87 27048.09
Belgium (€) Danone 53.16 0.45 65.30 51.42 7.66 17.18 41212.57 Keyence 72750 -200.00 76210 47150 0.28 69.23 155593.89 Novartis 74.71 0.17 86.92 73.01 4.02 19.02 196845.69 Chevron Corp 116.35 0.47 119.26 83.53 4.44 22.88 224286.26 Oracle 100.25 -0.64 106.34 59.74 1.07 22.23 267712.31
AnBshInBv 51.55 0.69 65.86 46.66 1.00 21.28 100952.11 EDF 11.90 -0.18 13.58 9.63 1.78 7.43 43448.14 MitsbCp 3558 -2.00 3758 2507 3.70 16.59 46486.43 Richemont 136.30 -3.70 146.10 76.50 0.71 56.99 77004.82 Chubb 192.14 1.91 197.92 144.00 1.61 9.96 82762.63 Pepsico 168.69 -1.12 171.26 128.32 2.44 29.28 233239.72
KBC Grp 74.74 0.24 86.50 55.08 0.59 12.19 35109.75 Engie SA 12.88 -0.03 13.87 10.98 4.15 63.89 35355.35 MitsubEst 1561 -0.50 2047.5 1546 1.57 15.09 19101.25 Roche 365.45 -9.85 378.95 293.05 2.38 23.48 277884.67 Cigna♦ 215.01 -0.14 272.81 190.88 0.89 9.92 71260.32 Perrigo♦ 36.23 0.10 50.90 35.34 2.46 -15.01 4846.63
EssilorLuxottica 180.12 -2.88 195.00 116.40 1.25 58.41 89793.78 MitsubishiEle 1473.5 -6.50 1817 1408 2.40 13.58 27823.07 Swiss Re 87.64 0.34 94.96 77.26 6.56 22.76 30115.77 Cisco 57.52 -1.10 60.27 43.35 2.42 24.17 242575.64 Pfizer 55.47 0.27 55.85 33.36 2.66 26.56 311360.3
Brazil (R$)
Hermes Intl 1560 -22.50 1678 831.20 0.29 73.01 185660.49 MitsuiFud 2327.5 -38.00 2816.5 2014.5 1.86 15.22 19761.33 Swisscom 512.80 3.60 562.40 456.30 4.17 14.41 28750.51 Citigroup 60.55 0.37 80.29 57.40 3.23 6.48 122711.71 Phillips66 71.36 1.72 94.34 63.19 4.83 -19.15 31262.84
Ambev 16.26 0.25 19.86 13.35 3.26 16.38 45209.77
LOreal 415.20 -2.80 433.65 290.10 0.97 56.44 261031.7 MitUFJFin 630.00 2.00 688.90 443.50 3.92 10.59 73584.51 UBS 16.38 -0.04 17.04 11.96 4.07 8.52 65637.41 CME Grp♦ 226.02 -1.88 232.64 177.15 1.54 33.96 81230.72 PhilMorris 91.95 0.28 106.51 78.34 5.18 16.32 143142.52
Bradesco♦ 17.27 0.35 24.57 16.45 3.22 10.53 14856.58
LVMH 701.60 -7.40 741.60 484.40 0.86 37.09 399235.38 Mizuho Fin 1463 9.50 1732.5 1287 2.78 6.46 32668.72 Zurich Fin 384.00 -0.90 415.10 352.80 5.07 13.43 62532.29 Coca-Cola♦ 58.13 0.37 58.17 48.11 2.82 29.17 251066.3 PNCFin 198.74 2.53 217.60 141.03 2.32 15.48 83995.63
Cielo 2.28 -0.02 4.45 2.01 5.22 6.53 1094.06
Orange♦ 9.19 0.19 10.74 8.93 7.68 27.63 27558.98 Murata Mfg 9016 111.00 10835 7994 1.25 21.39 53580.7 Cognizant 81.80 -0.14 82.84 66.19 1.13 23.47 42962.97 PPG Inds 162.21 -0.60 182.97 132.10 1.28 26.54 38508.79
ItauHldFin♦ 19.59 0.07 30.15 19.49 3.87 6.38 17155.83 Taiwan (NT$)
PernodRic 208.20 -1.80 214.50 150.90 1.93 41.40 61465.89 Nippon T&T 3165 56.00 3313 2613 3.10 12.01 100810.54 ColgtPlm 82.06 0.92 86.21 74.01 2.13 26.62 69164.16 ProctGmbl 157.92 0.25 158.33 121.54 2.06 29.36 382158.16
Petrobras♦ 31.18 -0.28 32.34 20.60 8.18 2.85 40986.19 Chunghwa Telecom 114.00 - 118.50 108.00 3.70 25.57 31802.51
Renault 29.02 -0.37 41.42 27.48 - -21.98 9674.72 NipponTT 3165 56.00 3313 2613 3.10 12.01 100810.54 Comcast 48.81 1.10 61.80 46.29 1.97 15.99 222525.36 Prudntl 106.97 1.89 115.52 74.58 4.18 5.93 40434.66
Vale 77.74 -0.12 120.45 61.85 19.48 4.00 70471.84 Formosa PetChem 95.60 0.50 117.50 88.40 0.60 17.87 32749.49
Safran 100.56 -0.12 127.74 96.88 0.43 31.88 48434.36 Nissan Mt 535.10 -15.50 664.50 501.00 - -43.93 19861.08 ConocPhil 71.07 0.05 77.98 38.77 2.31 65.79 93737.55 PublStor♦ 349.88 -3.34 357.30 212.22 2.19 50.23 61352.18
Canada (C$) HonHaiPrc 104.50 - 134.50 86.50 3.84 11.35 52096.84
Sanofi 85.48 -0.96 91.14 74.92 3.77 18.43 121761.91 Nomura 500.90 -3.30 721.00 471.00 4.59-225.49 14243.42 Corning♦ 36.95 0.02 46.82 34.81 2.50 37.27 31533.44 Qualcomm♦ 179.75 -3.57 191.30 122.17 1.40 23.45 201320
Bausch Hlth 31.68 0.73 43.97 25.00 - -7.68 8839.22 MediaTek 1070 - 1185 689.00 3.31 21.90 61522.45
Sant Gbn 58.03 -0.55 64.93 36.22 2.31 14.08 34281.14 Nppn Stl 1852 6.50 2381 1185 0.53 10.11 15477.25 Costco 541.88 -15.34 561.27 307.00 0.53 50.00 240288.19 Raytheon♦ 83.27 -1.06 92.32 65.02 2.32 36.57 124636.68
BCE♦ 64.31 -1.48 67.08 54.18 5.35 21.19 45502.62 TaiwanSem 599.00 1.00 679.00 504.00 1.60 29.69 558565.03
Schneider 162.76 -4.26 169.74 113.35 1.61 31.04 104410.04 Panasonic 1206.5 -28.00 1541 1149 1.63 11.41 26035.18 CrownCstl♦ 194.40 -2.76 204.62 146.15 2.69 65.36 84020.31 Regen Pharm 669.95 9.80 686.62 441.00 - 10.93 70826.94
BkMontrl 138.54 0.12 141.00 94.76 2.97 17.41 69908.83 Seven & I 4964 25.00 5340 3480 1.99 20.65 38695.84 Thailand (THB) CSX♦ 35.92 -0.10 37.35 27.70 1.00 23.01 79658.87 S&P Global 466.01 -12.85 481.61 303.50 0.63 40.93 112308.41
SocGen 28.93 0.29 30.84 15.18 1.92 6.55 27831.93
BkNvaS 86.13 0.23 86.60 67.02 4.09 12.30 81492.43 ShnEtsuCh 19800 -5.00 21480 16860 1.24 26.20 72549.12 PTT Explor 37.75 0.25 45.00 34.00 2.64 12.78 32307.32 CVS 98.94 0.04 100.97 67.06 1.98 17.59 130606.6 Salesforce 256.04 -9.72 311.75 201.51 - 108.46 252199.4
Total 43.73 0.28 45.16 27.72 6.24 12.37 130169.97
Brookfield 73.77 -0.73 77.51 48.34 0.83 33.87 94216.26 Softbank 5522 -49.00 10695 5057 0.78 2.55 83666.63 United Arab Emirates (Dhs) Danaher 304.95 -13.56 333.96 211.22 0.26 39.98 217910.22 Schlmbrg♦ 29.96 0.13 36.87 21.08 1.64 26.09 42022.87
UnibailR 58.87 0.78 85.65 53.86 - -1.97 9198.07
CanadPcR 92.56 2.29 100.00 82.12 0.82 20.03 48061.76 Sony 13750 -120.00 14625 9691 0.44 18.23 152485.38 Emirtestele 36.30 0.30 36.50 17.02 2.16 34.56 85947.06 Deere 347.71 -3.71 400.34 252.51 0.91 21.18 107811.48 Sempra Energy 126.86 0.57 144.93 114.66 3.24 19.16 40509.99
Vinci 84.76 0.03 96.95 75.38 2.43 21.45 57175.77
CanImp 142.51 0.92 152.87 107.44 4.01 11.14 50018.22 SumitomoF 3893 15.00 4354 3067 4.79 8.63 47050.89 Delta 36.97 0.10 52.28 33.40 - -313.86 23661.31 Shrwin-Will 340.96 -5.04 348.55 218.06 0.56 44.60 89398.41
Vivendi 11.21 -0.05 11.75 5.16 5.39 10.59 14009.48 United Kingdom (p)
CanNatRs♦ 50.92 -0.22 55.59 28.67 3.59 10.34 46663.19 Takeda Ph 3116 35.00 4365 2993 5.78 10.37 43356.63 Devon Energy♦■ 40.53 -0.53 45.56 14.34 1.07 23.59 27438.81 SimonProp♦ 150.21 -0.90 171.12 82.02 4.44 24.88 49359.04
Germany (€) AscBrFd 1951 26.50 2528 1719 - 38.56 20442.27
CanNatRy♦ 161.48 0.60 168.66 125.00 1.49 24.47 88633.76 TokioMarine 6344 193.00 6347 4907 3.09 20.19 38912.54 DiscFinServ 114.15 1.30 135.69 81.27 1.48 7.62 33454.6 SouthCpr 59.20 -0.34 83.29 54.92 4.48 14.78 45766.41
Allianz 201.20 -0.60 223.50 182.52 4.81 9.60 92647.15 AstraZen 8228 -20.00 9523 6499.8 2.50 39.60 137913.64
Enbridge 48.18 0.05 54.00 40.63 6.79 16.16 75991.34 Toyota 2045 43.00 2188 1443.2 2.26 9.84 293401.56 Disney 149.72 -0.71 203.02 142.04 - 252.05 272139.45 Starbucks 114.54 -1.02 126.32 95.92 1.47 49.81 134378.33
BASF 59.57 - 72.88 57.06 5.59 10.09 61681.29 Aviva 395.20 3.30 429.60 247.40 6.83 13.17 20991.21
GtWesLif 37.91 0.20 39.73 28.79 4.60 10.81 27461.8 DominRes♦ 76.66 -0.09 81.08 67.85 3.23 24.64 61978.64 StateSt 91.32 0.06 100.69 68.80 2.29 13.70 31366.99
Bayer 46.41 -0.17 57.73 43.91 4.34 -5.98 51394.97 Mexico (Mex$) Barclays 180.08 1.94 217.63 111.83 1.67 4.93 40669.26
ImpOil♦ 42.93 0.15 45.49 23.31 2.27 57.51 22916.34 DukeEner♦ 103.13 0.09 108.38 85.56 3.69 27.22 79341.79 Stryker 256.03 -4.04 281.16 220.90 0.97 52.48 96547.96
BMW 88.40 -1.48 96.39 68.21 2.17 4.89 59993.21 AmerMvl 20.04 0.47 20.14 13.25 1.94 12.86 41363.13 BP 337.65 2.65 366.40 3.20 4.60 14.03 89066.32
Manulife♦■ 23.94 0.27 27.68 21.72 4.65 6.62 36206.1 DuPont♦ 77.71 0.08 87.27 65.75 1.52 29.54 40646.74 Sychrony Fin 46.42 0.08 52.49 31.64 1.86 6.69 25403.77
Continental 93.80 -1.50 132.68 89.73 3.22 372.29 21149.62 FEMSA UBD 150.90 4.36 180.66 136.21 3.48 54.18 15381.3 BrAmTob 2702.5 -30.00 2928.5 207.50 7.83 10.02 66687.1
Nutrien 88.84 -0.07 91.31 59.45 2.60 17.75 39328.52 Eaton 164.81 -4.89 175.72 113.79 1.79 32.60 65693.27 T-MobileUS 116.77 1.76 150.20 106.70 - 44.72 145847.23
Daimler 71.47 -2.53 91.63 54.82 1.91 6.55 86198.24 WalMrtMex 75.00 0.50 76.95 55.12 0.82 30.82 61766.57 BT 167.35 -7.50 206.70 120.45 - 11.46 21975.82
RylBkC 128.99 0.51 134.23 102.74 3.28 12.41 143127.1 eBay♦ 65.46 -1.24 81.19 49.23 1.05 23.32 42549.4 Target 233.61 -0.56 268.98 166.83 1.11 19.55 111928.14
Deut Bank 10.93 0.12 12.56 8.37 - 17.35 25466.53 Netherlands (€) Compass 1529 19.00 1721.63 18.06 - -66.19 33280.54
SHOP 1739 -53.15 2228.73 1248.55 - 51.39 153805.48 Ecolab 228.70 -2.75 238.93 201.15 0.82 59.44 65536.51 TE Connect 156.68 -1.40 166.44 115.18 1.19 32.26 51126.78
Deut Tlkm 16.15 0.16 18.92 14.53 3.74 14.31 90809.05 ASML Hld 661.00 -18.20 777.50 371.95 0.42 49.62 308002.56 Diageo 3927.5 -13.00 4364.1 2805.28 1.79 34.63 130858.37
Suncor En♦ 30.60 0.03 34.35 20.94 2.73 19.22 34669.31 Emerson 91.54 -0.79 105.99 77.76 2.11 24.44 54457.98 Tesla Mtrs 940.00 -26.41 1243.49 539.49 - 310.92 944008.96
DeutsPost 53.14 -0.37 61.38 39.03 4.74 14.41 74228.47 Heineken 92.60 2.52 103.80 80.84 0.76 46.88 60130.15 GlaxoSmh♦ 1598 -8.60 1618.8 1190.8 5.01 18.77 104010.68
ThmReut 150.86 -2.71 156.62 99.11 1.28 8.80 57212.79 EOG Res■ 85.26 -0.77 98.20 48.20 1.81 16.77 49884.77 TexasInstr 188.86 -4.38 202.26 159.56 2.01 27.49 174417.68
E.ON 11.41 -0.03 11.50 8.27 4.15 8.71 33987.2 ING 12.13 0.01 13.74 7.15 1.00 12.04 53369.28 Glencore 367.00 4.15 420.03 3.40 1.18 31.69 70064.72
TntoDom 95.00 -0.09 96.75 70.72 3.26 11.42 134895.76 EquityResTP 87.14 -0.83 88.36 56.08 2.71 32.49 32678.91 TheTrvelers♦ 156.63 3.45 163.29 133.12 2.17 11.18 38532.34
Fresenius Med 54.46 0.06 71.14 52.12 2.48 17.19 17981.22 Unilever 47.25 0.12 51.05 43.00 2.30 26.72 160483.01 HSBC 434.70 3.40 462.55 329.55 2.47 13.34 115353.83
TrnCan 58.66 - 68.20 51.26 5.69 28.51 44720.4 Exelon 53.91 -0.23 54.86 38.36 2.79 32.12 52714.96 ThrmoFshr♦ 625.47 -20.28 666.65 433.52 0.16 29.58 246465.26
Fresenius SE 33.98 0.08 47.60 32.94 2.61 10.90 17324.5 Imperial Brands 1577.5 -0.50 1686 1330 8.73 5.37 19912.39
China (HK$) Norway (Kr) ExxonMb 61.73 0.10 66.38 40.53 5.53 -45.24 261316.91 TJX Cos 72.94 -0.19 76.94 61.15 0.68 37.02 87008.55
HenkelKgaA 68.10 0.65 86.50 65.25 2.71 18.67 19945.1 LlydsBkg 45.19 0.84 51.58 0.59 1.26 6.95 43104.47
AgricBkCh 2.64 -0.01 3.30 2.54 8.39 3.48 10399.25 DNB 195.35 -2.20 217.90 134.85 4.40 14.39 33271.13 Facebook 330.03 -4.47 384.33 244.61 - 25.55 780930.85 Truist Financial Corp 58.87 0.87 65.42 45.44 3.05 14.15 78585.06
Linde 295.80 0.45 298.90 199.35 1.22 50.03 170920.91 Natl Grid 1055.4 4.40 1060.2 805.40 4.64 22.79 46885.42
Bk China 2.73 -0.02 3.17 2.54 8.47 3.39 29254.42 Equinor 233.35 0.35 242.25 122.85 1.53-111.49 83509.81 Fedex 241.37 0.47 319.90 216.34 1.12 13.34 64119.95 UnionPac 243.85 -1.89 249.94 193.14 1.64 26.60 156765.24
MuenchRkv 247.75 0.30 269.30 215.25 3.99 16.33 39129.59 Natwest Group 218.20 3.80 235.07 145.40 1.37 14.45 34556.46
BkofComm 4.68 0.06 5.26 4.00 8.03 3.46 20997.66 Telenor 134.70 -0.15 159.95 131.80 10.11 11.71 20708.45 FordMtr 19.47 -0.97 21.49 8.43 - 28.33 76407.71 UPS B 204.88 -1.43 220.24 154.76 1.95 28.55 149389.93
SAP 119.96 -2.54 129.74 98.69 1.56 24.61 166138.35 Prudential 1277.5 3.50 1598.5 1158 0.92 17.75 43745.18
BOE Tech 0.80 - 1.21 0.55 - -69.16 20.40 Qatar (QR) ReckittB 6195 12.00 7192 4905.16 2.82 -26.81 57738.52 Franklin 33.77 -0.36 38.27 23.72 3.92 14.56 16978.87 USBancorp 57.32 0.50 63.01 42.47 2.95 11.73 84986.55
Siemens 147.32 -3.24 156.98 111.64 2.39 23.46 141168.38
Ch Coms Cons 4.20 -0.11 4.73 3.21 5.03 2.93 2378.11 QatarNtBk 20.00 0.01 21.05 16.35 2.21 16.04 50735.7 RELX 2357 -39.00 2634.82 1484.9 1.99 34.06 60354.15 GenDyn 203.19 -0.30 210.21 144.50 2.79 17.78 56735.29 UtdHlthcre 479.34 1.20 483.04 320.35 1.11 30.29 451466.98
Volkswgn 272.00 -4.60 357.40 154.40 1.78 7.59 90485.7
Ch Evrbrght 2.75 0.01 3.54 2.63 9.05 3.57 4468.11 Russia (RUB) RioTinto 4854 106.00 6876.26 4354 6.93 5.82 86163.67 GenElectric 92.23 -0.90 116.17 82.88 0.34 71.18 101281.19 ValeroEngy 68.90 0.68 84.95 51.90 5.58 -64.99 28168.77
Ch Rail Cons 4.98 -0.15 5.99 4.07 5.47 2.56 1325.05 Hong Kong (HK$) GenMills 66.10 0.17 66.28 53.96 2.97 18.23 40036.27 Verizon 50.95 0.67 61.06 49.69 4.86 9.76 213876.58
Gzprm neft 317.16 -21.91 3649 74.00 - - 101920.15 RollsRoyce 117.14 0.20 161.91 86.69 - 2.56 2883.4
Ch Rail Gp 3.98 -0.08 4.70 3.33 5.37 3.34 2145.9 AIA 79.95 -1.25 109.30 79.00 1.63 18.76 123935.56 GenMotors 57.83 -1.30 65.18 40.04 - 7.88 83961.08 VertexPharm 208.14 -0.01 242.99 176.36 - 25.43 52921.17
Lukoil 6593.18 -67.81 7554.91 7.45 - - 62010.92 RylDShlA 1619.4 4.40 1795.2 16.51 2.99 31.51 98529.64
ChConstBk 5.29 -0.02 6.74 5.03 7.29 3.81 162978.9 BOC Hold 24.50 -0.15 29.55 22.20 4.88 11.28 33194.51 GileadSci♦ 70.60 -0.01 73.34 56.56 3.91 12.25 88559.48 VF Cp♦ 74.05 -0.74 90.79 65.34 2.60 29.35 29085.53
MmcNrlskNckl 20897.82 -152.18 28011.97 343.80 - - 43588.38 StandCh 420.20 2.40 533.20 406.20 1.55 15.00 18334.59
China Vanke 18.34 -0.48 35.00 16.84 8.07 4.67 4468.23 Ch OSLnd&Inv 18.42 -0.70 21.95 14.92 6.31 3.96 25835.02 GoldmSchs♦ 387.61 2.97 426.16 237.19 1.24 7.39 129769.11 ViacomCBS♦ 29.79 -0.54 101.97 28.90 3.16 6.22 18072.02
Novatek 1594.08 -15.92 13307.81 1193.57 - - 65702.23 Tesco 284.75 -0.60 317.55 2.74 3.51 21.74 30856.89
ChinaCitic 3.40 -0.05 4.29 3.15 8.86 3.05 6484.16 ChngKng 45.90 -0.20 56.05 38.25 3.78 9.63 21431.49 Halliburton 22.74 0.03 26.75 17.23 0.78 51.48 20249.96 Visa Inc 209.89 -1.13 252.67 190.10 0.58 44.26 349973.98
Rosneft 553.29 -12.32 39143.78 116.00 - - 79598.99 Vodafone 114.22 1.76 157.52 1.56 6.71 352.53 40323.06
ChinaLife 13.02 -0.28 18.46 12.22 5.69 5.23 12415.45 Citic Ltd 7.56 -0.06 10.24 5.20 6.21 3.09 28182.65 HCA Hold♦ 244.76 0.66 263.92 156.43 0.58 12.74 76125.94 Walgreen 49.76 0.62 57.05 39.03 3.63 22.50 43072.87
Sberbank 282.02 0.85 568.52 213.80 - - 82641.96 WPP 1092 -1.50 1121 11.00 2.20 27.74 18298.67
ChinaMBank 64.00 -1.80 72.45 45.95 2.32 12.30 37652.05 Citic Secs 20.80 -0.25 22.00 15.22 2.28 11.47 6072.81 Hew-Pack 35.38 0.10 38.49 23.12 2.04 11.54 38301.31 WalMartSto♦ 143.91 0.34 152.57 126.28 1.44 42.47 399188.85
Surgutneftegas 37.00 0.71 49.50 29.80 - - 17943.74 United States of America ($)
ChinaMob 46.10 -0.25 59.20 39.00 7.09 7.32 120961.17 CK Hutchison 49.80 -0.10 65.80 48.80 4.47 5.79 24479.86 HiltonWwde 142.78 0.37 154.40 98.57 - 1118.97 39795.88 WellsFargo 48.77 0.21 52.57 28.51 1.01 11.80 200269.64
CNOOC 7.68 -0.07 10.60 6.77 5.76 6.15 43940.69 Saudi Arabia (SR) 21stC Fox A 36.46 0.15 44.80 27.12 1.27 12.42 11679.84
ChinaPcIns 21.70 -1.15 42.75 20.85 6.50 6.38 7717.55 HomeDep 399.93 -5.31 420.61 246.59 1.50 29.57 417622.57 Williams Cos♦ 26.21 -0.03 29.89 19.85 5.92 28.80 31845.93
HangSeng 142.60 -2.30 166.70 130.50 3.71 18.15 34936.73 AlRajhiBnk 136.80 0.60 151.00 71.40 1.72 25.15 91163.53 3M 175.79 1.21 208.95 163.38 3.30 17.71 101718.82
ChMinsheng 2.98 -0.05 5.01 2.56 8.37 3.90 3177.35 Honywell 207.38 -1.85 236.86 194.55 1.76 27.19 142765.16 Yum!Brnds 131.99 -0.15 135.77 101.18 1.47 25.96 38690.64
HK Exc&Clr 462.80 -10.00 587.00 379.40 1.70 47.32 75191.25 Natnlcombnk 60.70 -0.90 70.00 42.00 2.35 18.57 48540.57 AbbottLb 132.71 -3.25 137.00 105.36 1.17 39.02 234669.36
ChMrchSecs 17.84 -0.24 28.18 16.01 4.18 16.19 20810.78 HumanaInc 463.55 -0.83 475.44 370.22 0.58 22.80 59581.43 Venezuela (VEF)
MTR 40.90 -0.45 49.00 40.60 2.90-141.64 32461.43 SaudiBasic 112.20 1.00 136.60 97.60 2.84 16.86 89724.12 Abbvie 127.33 0.82 127.74 101.55 3.73 35.92 225014.46
Chna Utd Coms 3.93 -0.01 4.75 3.85 1.65 19.45 18997.15 IBM 123.59 1.01 152.84 114.56 5.06 22.17 110776.2 Bco de Vnzla 0.42 0.00 594.00 0.05 239.72 - 328.50
SandsCh 17.18 -1.28 40.55 14.64 - -15.65 17817.8 SaudiTelec 109.00 -0.60 139.80 103.20 3.60 19.65 58110.08 Accenture 369.44 -8.28 381.15 241.73 0.92 41.94 243214.46
ChShenEgy 18.00 -0.34 19.36 13.64 11.83 6.51 7790.7 IllinoisTool 241.15 -2.29 244.74 192.89 1.89 28.57 75690.77 Bco Provncl 2.00 - 798000 2.00 - -15.27 161.90
SHK Props 94.60 -0.85 126.00 93.20 5.04 10.67 35129.12 Singapore (S$) Adobe 610.62 -47.68 699.54 420.78 - 52.56 290899.37
ChShpbldng 4.27 0.03 5.08 3.78 - -283.28 14820.88 Illumina 384.13 4.59 555.77 341.03 - 64.05 60039.52 Mrcntl Srvcs 6.60 -0.40 601.00 1.00 0.03 2.63 86.79
Tencent 459.80 -6.80 775.50 412.20 0.33 20.50 565878.03 DBS 31.84 - 32.70 24.71 2.21 14.10 59694.87 AEP 85.23 0.25 91.49 74.80 3.41 18.24 42926.23
ChStConEng 4.81 -0.10 5.48 4.38 4.31 3.98 30726.9 Intcntl Exch 132.24 -3.35 139.79 107.66 0.96 24.86 74501.77
JardnMt US$ 55.76 0.36 68.88 49.13 2.96 86.87 40006.96 Aetna - - - - - - -
ChUncHK 3.85 -0.02 5.50 3.82 4.43 7.80 15096.2 India (Rs) Intel 49.43 -0.58 68.49 45.24 2.73 9.78 201011.48 Closing prices and highs & lows are in traded currency (with variations for that
OCBC 11.32 0.02 12.77 9.91 2.74 10.84 37140.1 Aflac 57.25 0.23 58.04 42.73 2.04 7.23 37872.49
CNNC Intl 7.20 -0.01 8.31 4.59 1.60 18.57 19315.81 Bhartiartl 691.60 -11.50 781.80 471.30 0.28 -40.94 53632.82 Intuit 631.35 -37.39 716.86 357.69 0.36 87.73 178777.42 country indicated by stock), market capitalisation is in USD. Highs & lows are
SingTel 2.42 - 2.63 2.21 4.26 73.22 29165.35 AirProd 296.55 -1.01 316.39 245.75 1.84 35.17 65674.08
CSR 3.44 -0.09 4.22 2.53 6.25 7.64 1926.9 HDFC Bk 1502.45 -8.70 1725 1342 0.42 25.30 109714.74 John&John 169.11 0.66 179.92 148.99 2.32 26.54 445185.31 based on intraday trading over a rolling 52 week period.
UOB 26.64 0.09 28.17 22.24 2.86 14.02 32528.68 Alexion 182.50 3.05 187.45 99.91 - 59.43 40336.01
Daqin 6.31 -0.05 7.11 5.80 7.35 9.33 14744.25 Hind Unilevr 2318.3 13.95 2859.3 2120 1.34 64.64 71786.33 JohnsonCn 77.98 -0.92 81.15 44.91 1.30 35.24 54923.84 ♦ ex-dividend
Allstate 110.45 2.25 140.00 102.55 2.64 5.42 31663.37
GuosenSec 11.18 -0.11 14.06 10.32 1.94 14.11 15510.75 HsngDevFin 2751.95 -19.90 3021.1 2282.7 0.84 24.00 65646.3 South Africa (R) JPMrgnCh 159.18 1.26 172.96 118.11 2.17 11.08 470404.48
Alphabet 2835.4 -81.14 3019.33 1694 - 27.84 852914.25 ■ ex-capital redistribution
HaitongSecs 6.89 0.02 7.93 6.36 9.15 5.38 3010.44 ICICI Bk 758.65 4.65 867.00 488.20 - 26.94 69400 Firstrand 57.06 0.35 65.24 46.00 2.08 11.07 19861.29 Kimb-Clark 138.35 -0.93 143.37 125.27 3.06 24.60 46584.76
Altria 45.42 0.06 52.59 40.00 7.26 19.35 83434.01 # price at time of suspension
Hngzh HikVDT 53.98 0.55 70.48 43.61 1.43 32.61 69085.26 Infosys 1752.15 7.50 1848 1152 1.57 35.64 97111.99 MTN Grp 169.56 9.06 174.99 58.69 - 38.15 19825.25 KinderM 15.96 0.03 19.29 13.47 6.55 21.11 36176.77
Amazon 3341.04 -50.31 3773.08 2881 - 60.721694400.48
Hunng Pwr 4.60 0.11 4.91 2.44 4.51 -56.81 2770.78 ITC 228.60 -6.00 265.30 196.90 4.72 19.64 37123.63 Naspers N 2504.62 -9.07 3888 1262.66 0.23 13.46 67685.12 Kraft Heinz♦ 35.03 0.55 44.95 31.60 4.48 19.08 42872.09
AmerAir 17.13 0.01 26.09 14.71 - -1.75 11088.69
IM Baotou Stl 2.94 -0.05 4.14 1.12 - 34.74 14637.41 L&T 1865.7 4.20 1981.75 1154 0.97 30.15 34539.61 South Korea (KRW) Kroger 45.64 0.01 47.99 30.35 1.50 31.75 33557.06
AmerExpr 162.86 -0.44 189.03 112.10 1.30 17.32 126144.15
In&CmBkCh 4.30 -0.03 5.75 4.08 7.34 3.99 47826.12 OilNatGas 146.90 0.95 172.75 86.60 1.16 8.54 24355.17 HyundMobis 244000-3000.00 405000 220000 2.06 10.15 19511.97 L Brands 79.92 -0.15 - - - - -
AmerIntGrp 54.49 0.65 62.54 36.77 2.31 8.71 45238.77
IndstrlBk 19.21 -0.38 28.07 17.08 4.03 5.43 59223.35 RelianceIn 2380.15 -29.50 2751.35 1830 0.30 29.87 212233.66 KoreaElePwr 21600 -150.00 30050 20650 5.66 11.56 11724.88 LasVegasSd 36.44 -0.49 66.77 33.75 - -20.40 27839.79
AmerTower 271.74 -4.29 303.72 197.50 1.82 50.33 123751.84
Kweichow 2150 31.80 2627.88 1525.5 0.87 55.74 424491.28 SBI NewA 488.55 0.75 542.30 248.25 0.80 17.82 57461.65 SK Hynix 121000 -500.00 150500 90500 0.97 14.13 74483.81 LibertyGbl 28.46 0.55 30.58 23.19 - 1.41 5034.02
Amgen 214.20 2.81 276.69 198.64 3.15 22.50 120651.56
Midea 0.50 0.01 0.85 0.48 - 47.00 19.29 SunPhrmInds 756.05 -6.55 851.00 539.70 1.00 29.09 23906.79 SmsungEl 77000 200.00 96800 68300 3.93 16.12 388680.72 Lilly (E) 248.63 0.10 275.87 157.83 1.30 38.67 237832.78
Anthem♦ 432.52 2.48 439.90 286.04 0.98 19.74 104977.74
New Ch Life Ins 20.95 -0.30 34.20 20.55 7.86 3.64 2776.26 Tata Cons 3623.8 14.15 3989.9 2755 1.11 36.67 176658.44 Spain (€) Linde♦ 333.19 -1.00 340.16 240.80 1.22 49.99 170778.11
Aon Cp 291.25 -2.57 326.25 200.65 0.65 74.36 64170.71
PetroChina 3.50 -0.05 4.20 2.32 5.77 5.46 9463.28 Israel (ILS) BBVA 5.12 0.01 6.29 3.74 1.16 10.16 38487.11 Lockheed♦ 344.96 -0.59 396.99 319.81 2.96 16.20 95135.29
Apple 173.23 -2.51 182.13 116.21 0.46 35.322842080.15
PingAnIns 57.00 -0.75 103.60 48.80 4.72 7.03 54400.16 TevaPha 25.22 -0.85 43.90 25.22 - -2.37 8932.58 BcoSantdr 2.69 0.03 3.51 2.38 - -5.74 52518.04 Lowes 252.25 -5.00 263.31 150.84 0.98 27.29 169949.36
Aptiv 159.89 -3.08 180.81 119.75 - 55.78 43251.15
PngAnBnk 17.58 -0.69 25.31 17.01 0.99 10.76 53619.27 CaixaBnk 2.33 0.05 2.90 1.93 1.16 3.02 21200.31 Lyondell 88.70 1.05 118.02 84.06 4.82 5.27 29517.94
Italy (€) ArcherDan 65.32 0.68 69.30 48.63 2.14 16.63 36542.7
Pwr Cons Corp 7.59 -0.16 9.96 3.57 1.18 15.65 13294.49 Iberdrola 9.75 -0.05 12.57 8.59 4.13 19.35 69973.56 Marathon Ptl 62.63 0.82 68.78 38.30 3.55 -28.93 38554.26
Enel 6.63 0.02 9.05 6.47 5.22 27.39 75942.96 AT&T 22.67 0.23 33.88 22.22 8.79 -76.31 161828.1
SaicMtr 21.27 -0.46 27.32 18.03 2.82 10.56 39058.16 Inditex 28.94 0.70 32.85 24.34 1.97 35.03 101681.89 Marsh&M 167.71 -2.94 174.90 106.95 1.06 36.09 84676
ENI 12.15 0.13 12.83 8.06 4.76 -4.78 49378.59 AutomData 229.43 -5.59 241.18 159.31 1.55 39.45 96678.14
ShenwanHong 0.06 0.00 0.11 0.05 - -11.51 70.68 Repsol 9.99 0.11 11.78 7.50 5.93 38.14 17208.68 MasterCard 342.22 -3.09 401.50 306.00 0.47 49.61 333564.95
Generali 18.45 -0.04 19.35 13.74 5.52 11.66 32885.47 Avago Tech 607.99 -13.68 644.75 406.00 2.20 47.31 250256.53
ShgPdgBk 8.57 -0.08 11.24 8.44 5.41 5.44 39535.9 Telefonica 3.86 0.16 4.32 3.12 10.25 2.35 24502.47 McDonald's♦ 262.16 -0.93 265.86 202.73 1.93 27.53 195897.86
IntSPaolo 2.22 0.02 2.59 1.78 1.62 11.52 48727.33 BakerHu 24.32 -0.25 27.66 18.75 2.91 38.70 21153.27
Sinopec Corp 3.68 -0.04 4.69 3.33 4.11 4.08 12031.63 McKesson♦ 232.01 1.21 235.45 169.09 0.73 -7.96 35423.79
Unicred 13.38 0.59 13.39 7.30 0.90 23.26 33741.53 Sweden (SKr) BankAm♦ 44.10 0.52 48.69 28.14 1.67 13.45 360918.11
Sinopec Oil 2.03 -0.02 2.90 1.79 - 309.06 4329.45 Medtronic 112.41 -0.45 135.89 105.02 2.01 41.29 151141.74
Japan (¥) AtlasCpcoB 490.70 -11.50 518.00 364.40 1.49 33.48 20946.17 Baxter 82.91 -0.29 88.32 73.12 1.24 35.49 41512.49
Denmark (kr) Merck 73.78 1.05 91.40 68.38 3.46 22.57 186364.14
AstellasPh 1806.5 35.00 2025 1495 2.55 28.07 29576.74 Ericsson 95.04 0.61 121.80 91.00 2.16 15.32 31942.13 BectonDick♦ 249.16 -3.65 267.37 235.13 1.26 41.08 70767.32
DanskeBk 110.40 0.25 125.60 95.52 1.83 9.19 14430.52 Metlife 60.80 0.93 67.68 44.62 2.93 12.77 51138.33
Bridgestne 4977 11.00 5467 3307 2.86 27.39 31236.65 H&M 168.00 3.50 229.50 157.90 - 30.80 26843.69 BerkshHat 441262.75 3532.75 445000 333150 - 6.85 273555.55
MollerMrsk 21010 -390.00 21770 11885 1.56 7.44 28373.27 Microsoft 325.89 -13.51 349.67 211.94 0.64 42.262446775.75
Canon 2655 4.50 2938 1876 3.14 16.11 31140.5 Investor 215.20 -2.80 223.25 143.45 1.19 2.63 42889.98 Biogen 235.11 0.61 468.55 221.72 - 19.07 34535.95
NovoB 743.00 -19.10 762.90 417.55 1.27 36.83 199665.72 Mnstr Bvrg 90.35 0.57 99.89 80.92 - 32.18 47807.72
BkNYMeln 56.60 0.47 60.52 39.46 2.20 14.67 46741.47

FT 500: TOP 20 FT 500: BOTTOM 20 BONDS: HIGH YIELD & EMERGING MARKET BONDS: GLOBAL INVESTMENT GRADE
Close Prev Day Week Month Close Prev Day Week Month Day's Mth's Spread Day's Mth's Spread
price price change change % change change % change % price price change change % change change % change % Red Ratings Bid Bid chge chge vs Red Ratings Bid Bid chge chge vs
Hunng Pwr 4.60 4.49 0.11 2.45 0.88 23.7 33.62 Daimler 71.47 74.00 -2.53 -3.42 -15.34 -17.7 -16.38 Dec 14 date Coupon S* M* F* price yield yield yield US Dec 14 date Coupon S* M* F* price yield yield yield US
Unicred 13.38 12.79 0.59 4.58 1.67 14.3 16.07 RollsRoyce 117.14 116.94 0.20 0.17 -14.66 -11.1 -18.24 High Yield US$ US$
Oracle 100.25 100.89 -0.64 -0.63 10.20 11.3 7.12 Tesla Mtrs 940.00 966.41 -26.41 -2.73 -111.75 -10.6 -9.15 HCA Inc. 04/24 8.36 BB- Ba2 BB 113.75 4.24 0.00 0.12 - FleetBoston Financial Corp. 01/28 6.88 BBB+ Baa1 A- 129.00 2.54 -0.01 -0.05 -
Hngzh HikVDT 53.98 53.43 0.55 1.03 4.69 9.5 2.58 Devon Energy 40.53 41.06 -0.53 -1.29 -4.59 -10.2 -4.56 High Yield Euro The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. 02/28 5.00 BBB+ A3 A 117.21 2.47 0.00 0.32 -
Kweichow 2150.00 2118.20 31.80 1.50 182.70 9.3 21.21 SHOP 1739.00 1792.15 -53.15 -2.97 -185.47 -9.6 -17.05 Aldesa Financial Services S.A. 04/21 7.25 - - B 71.10 28.23 0.00 0.64 25.98 NationsBank Corp. 03/28 6.80 BBB+ Baa1 A- 127.69 2.72 -0.01 0.06 -
TokioMarine 6344.00 6151.00 193.00 3.14 492.00 8.4 4.97 NXP 217.75 221.79 -4.04 -1.82 -21.15 -8.9 -0.06 GTE LLC 04/28 6.94 BBB+ Baa2 A- 128.27 2.80 0.00 -0.11 -
Softbank 5522.00 5571.00 -49.00 -0.88 419.00 8.2 -19.26 Sberbank 282.02 281.17 0.85 0.30 -24.99 -8.1 -19.43 Emerging US$ United Utilities PLC 08/28 6.88 BBB Baa1 A- 130.43 2.62 -0.07 -0.22 -
Murata Mfg 9016.00 8905.00 111.00 1.25 631.00 7.5 5.05 EDF 11.90 12.08 -0.18 -1.45 -1.05 -8.1 -4.07 Peru 03/19 7.13 BBB+ A3 BBB+ 104.40 2.60 - - 0.34 Barclays Bank plc 01/29 4.50 A A1 A+ 96.46 5.02 0.00 0.02 -
Pfizer 55.47 55.20 0.27 0.49 3.75 7.3 11.56 ASML Hld 661.00 679.20 -18.20 -2.68 -56.40 -7.9 -10.54 Colombia 01/26 4.50 - Baa2 BBB- 109.50 2.33 0.16 0.52 1.28
Brazil 04/26 6.00 - Ba2 BB- 115.15 2.78 -0.01 0.65 1.73 Euro
HumanaInc 463.55 464.37 -0.83 -0.18 30.54 7.1 4.13 Woolworths 37.45 40.56 -3.11 -7.67 -3.16 -7.8 -5.12 Electricite de France (EDF) 04/30 4.63 A- A3 A- 137.45 0.82 -0.01 0.10 -
WalMrtMex 75.00 74.50 0.50 0.67 4.94 7.1 2.16 CanNatRs 50.92 51.14 -0.22 -0.43 -4.06 -7.4 -2.10 Poland 04/26 3.25 - A2 A- 111.22 0.98 0.03 0.16 -0.07
Mexico 05/26 11.50 - Baa1 BBB- 149.00 1.61 0.00 -0.12 0.56 The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. 02/31 3.00 BBB+ A3 A 124.42 0.68 0.00 -0.11 -
ICICI Bk 758.65 754.00 4.65 0.62 49.10 6.9 -2.31 Occid Pet 28.96 29.23 -0.27 -0.92 -2.16 -6.9 -9.55 The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. 02/31 3.00 BBB+ A3 A 121.70 0.93 0.00 0.02 -
Volkswgn 272.00 276.60 -4.60 -1.66 17.00 6.7 7.85 UnibailR 58.87 58.09 0.78 1.34 -4.32 -6.8 -11.81 Turkey 03/27 6.00 - Ba2 BB+ 101.26 5.82 0.00 0.17 3.07
Turkey 03/27 6.00 - B2 BB- 102.88 5.43 0.14 0.83 4.38 Finland 04/31 0.75 AA+ Aa1 AA+ 111.08 -0.27 0.00 -0.05 -0.87
CVS 98.94 98.90 0.04 0.04 6.01 6.5 5.26 Boeing 195.77 197.40 -1.63 -0.82 -13.06 -6.3 -11.36
Peru 08/27 4.13 BBB+ A3 BBB+ 103.50 3.66 0.01 -0.02 0.80 Yen
Regen Pharm 669.95 660.15 9.80 1.48 34.86 5.5 6.14 Intuit 631.35 668.74 -37.39 -5.59 -41.95 -6.2 0.64
Russia 06/28 12.75 - Baa3 BBB 168.12 2.48 0.07 0.05 - Mexico 06/26 1.09 - Baa1 BBB- 98.73 1.34 -0.02 -0.14 0.27
ColgtPlm 82.06 81.14 0.92 1.13 4.25 5.5 5.10 Hitachi 6287.00 6434.00 -147.00 -2.28 -409.00 -6.1 -13.82
Coca-Cola 58.13 57.76 0.37 0.63 2.92 5.3 2.68 Adobe 610.62 658.30 -47.68 -7.24 -39.34 -6.1 -7.22 Brazil 02/47 5.63 - Ba2 BB- 101.48 5.52 0.08 0.80 - £ Sterling
Anthem 432.52 430.04 2.48 0.58 21.28 5.2 -1.09 GenMotors 57.83 59.13 -1.30 -2.20 -3.70 -6.0 -8.79 Emerging Euro innogy Fin B.V. 06/30 6.25 BBB Baa2 A- 137.45 2.19 -0.03 0.02 -
SaicMtr 21.27 21.73 -0.46 -2.12 1.02 5.0 -0.51 SEB 127.10 127.75 -0.65 -0.51 -8.10 -6.0 -10.05 Brazil 04/21 2.88 BB- Ba2 BB- 103.09 0.05 0.01 -0.09 -1.19 innogy Fin B.V. 06/30 6.25 BBB Baa2 A- 128.68 3.20 0.00 -0.01 0.40
SBI NewA 488.55 487.80 0.75 0.15 23.25 5.0 -4.46 Intel 49.43 50.00 -0.58 -1.15 -3.15 -6.0 -1.62 Mexico 04/23 2.75 BBB+ A3 BBB+ 107.76 0.76 0.00 -0.07 -1.56 Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data LLC, an ICE Data Services company. US $ denominated bonds NY close; all other London
Mexico 04/23 2.75 - Baa1 BBB- 106.48 -0.26 - - -0.36 close. *S - Standard & Poor’s, M - Moody’s, F - Fitch.
Based on the FT Global 500 companies in local currency Based on the FT Global 500 companies in local currency
Bulgaria 03/28 3.00 BBB- Baa2 BBB 117.04 1.00 0.02 -0.15 -1.42
Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data LLC, an ICE Data Services company. US $ denominated bonds NY close; all
other London close. *S - Standard & Poor’s, M - Moody’s, F - Fitch.

INTEREST RATES: OFFICIAL BOND INDICES VOLATILITY INDICES GILTS: UK CASH MARKET
Dec 14 Rate Current Since Last Mnth Ago Year Ago Day's Month's Year Return Return Dec 14 Day Chng Prev 52 wk high 52 wk low Red Change in Yield 52 Week Amnt
US Fed Funds 0.00-0.25 15-03-2020 1.00-1.25 1.50-1.75 1.25-1.50 Index change change change 1 month 1 year VIX 22.74 2.43 20.31 37.51 14.10 Dec 14 Price £ Yield Day Week Month Year High Low £m
US Prime 4.75 30-10-2019 5.25 5.25 4.25 Markit IBoxx VXD 20.41 1.70 18.71 45.68 2.67 - - - - - - - - -
US Discount 2.65 30-09-2019 2.75 2.75 1.75 ABF Pan-Asia unhedged 218.03 0.45 0.05 -4.11 -1.54 0.07 VXN 26.66 2.62 24.04 40.53 18.01 Tr 1.75pc '22 101.25 0.03 0.00 -80.00 -88.46 -250.00 104.44 101.06 29.68
Euro Repo 0.00 16-03-2016 0.00 0.00 0.00 Corporates( £) 393.84 0.27 -0.15 -3.67 -2.48 -0.38 VDAX 21.60 1.01 20.59 93.30 - Tr 0.75pc '23 100.76 0.27 12.50 -15.63 -38.64 575.00 101.08 99.96 33.73
UK Repo 0.10 19-03-2020 0.25 0.75 0.25 Corporates($) 337.72 0.30 -0.12 -1.12 -0.12 -1.12 † CBOE. VIX: S&P 500 index Options Volatility, VXD: DJIA Index Options Volatility, VXN: NASDAQ Index Options Volatility. Tr 0.125pc '24 99.36 0.43 10.26 -4.44 -15.69 616.67 100.37 98.67 34.12
Japan O'night Call 0.00-0.10 01-02-2016 0.00 0.00--0.10 0.00--0.10 Corporates(€) 242.53 0.22 -0.27 -0.67 -0.79 0.52 ‡ Deutsche Borse. VDAX: DAX Index Options Volatility. Tr 2pc '25 105.74 0.45 9.76 -4.26 -15.09 2150.00 120.52 99.56 38.33
Switzerland Libor Target -1.25-0.25 15-01-2015 -0.75--0.25 -1.25--0.25 -1.25--0.25 Eurozone Sov(€) 256.19 0.37 0.17 -2.77 -0.98 -2.45 Tr 0.125pc '26 98.65 0.46 6.98 -4.17 -20.69 318.18 100.31 97.21 33.89
Gilts( £) 353.31 0.25 0.75 -6.83 -3.27 -6.36 BONDS: BENCHMARK GOVERNMENT Tr 1.25pc '27 104.17 0.50 6.38 -3.85 -21.88 212.50 107.14 102.14 39.34
INTEREST RATES: MARKET Global Inflation-Lkd 321.80 0.95 1.88 2.32 -2.02 6.61 Red Bid Bid Day chg Wk chg Month Year Tr 0.875pc '29 102.19 0.59 3.51 -3.28 -24.36 90.32 104.87 98.61 41.87
Over Change One Three Six One Markit iBoxx £ Non-Gilts 381.09 0.24 -0.08 -3.50 -2.29 -0.88 Date Coupon Price Yield yield yield chg yld chg yld Tr 4.25pc '32 135.39 0.73 1.39 -1.35 -22.34 55.32 141.66 130.03 38.71
Dec 14 (Libor: Dec 13) night Day Week Month month month month year Overall ($) 278.94 0.26 -0.08 -2.01 -0.08 -2.01 Australia 04/24 2.75 104.82 0.69 0.00 0.02 0.06 0.58 Tr 4.25pc '36 145.24 0.86 2.38 3.61 -17.31 28.36 151.25 137.65 30.41
US$ Libor 0.07713 0.005 0.001 0.001 0.10975 0.20275 0.29513 0.50500 Overall( £) 357.04 0.25 0.52 -5.93 -3.01 -4.89 05/32 1.25 96.16 1.65 -0.03 -0.11 -0.07 0.51 Tr 4.5pc '42 168.31 0.91 2.25 7.06 -18.02 7.06 172.18 154.49 27.21
Euro Libor -0.58443 0.001 0.002 0.003 -0.67271 -0.61100 -0.56143 -0.49657 Overall(€) 248.14 0.33 0.02 -2.29 -0.94 -1.81 Austria 05/34 2.40 128.88 0.07 0.06 0.01 0.02 0.35 Tr 3.75pc '52 177.11 0.87 3.57 10.13 -17.92 -2.25 180.27 155.15 24.10
£ Libor 0.03863 0.000 0.002 -0.003 0.06175 0.09463 0.26600 0.62088 Treasuries ($) 255.43 0.24 -0.01 -2.64 -0.01 -2.64 02/47 1.50 127.97 0.34 0.06 0.00 0.00 0.34 Tr 4pc '60 207.32 0.75 4.17 15.38 -23.47 -12.79 213.01 175.55 24.12
Swiss Fr Libor -0.002 -0.79380 -0.77660 -0.72820 -0.57860 FTSE Belgium 10/23 0.20 101.67 -0.69 0.02 0.02 0.05 0.06 Gilts benchmarks & non-rump undated stocks. Closing mid-price in pounds per £100 nominal of stock.
Yen Libor -0.001 -0.05917 -0.07583 -0.05583 0.04983 Sterling Corporate (£) - - - - - - Canada - - - - - - -
Euro Euribor
Sterling CDs
-0.017
0.000
-0.59300
0.50000
-0.60300
0.63000
-0.54700
0.78500
-0.50400 Euro Corporate (€) 104.47 -0.05 - - 0.54 -1.73 03/24 2.25 102.41 1.15 -0.06 0.12 0.09 0.82 GILTS: UK FTSE ACTUARIES INDICES
Euro Emerging Mkts (€) 774.34 -12.42 - - -2.77 22.75 Denmark - - - - - - -
US$ CDs -0.040 0.13000 0.17000 0.22000 Eurozone Govt Bond 110.04 -0.19 - - -0.34 -0.64 11/23 1.50 104.05 -0.58 0.02 0.00 0.03 0.09 Price Indices Day's Total Return Return
Euro CDs -0.200 -0.75000 -0.61000 -0.53000 Fixed Coupon Dec 14 chg % Return 1 month 1 year Yield
CREDIT INDICES Day's Week's Month's Series Series Finland 04/23 1.50 103.05 -0.75 0.01 -0.01 0.02 0.00
04/31 0.75 108.13 -0.11 0.06 0.01 0.03 0.30 1 Up to 5 Years 87.02 -0.08 2467.24 0.40 -0.93 0.41
Short 7 Days One Three Six One Index change change change high low 2 5 - 10 Years 179.18 -0.14 3734.54 1.57 -2.45 0.60
Dec 14 term notice month month month year Markit iTraxx France 05/23 1.75 103.58 -0.69 0.02 0.02 0.05 0.07
3 10 - 15 Years 213.99 -0.22 4781.26 2.50 -3.11 0.83
Euro -0.65 -0.35 -0.67 -0.37 -0.90 -0.60 -0.76 -0.46 -0.68 -0.38 -0.66 -0.36 Crossover 5Y 261.41 -2.39 -19.98 16.50 291.37 239.25 05/27 1.00 107.57 -0.37 0.05 0.01 0.05 0.22
4 5 - 15 Years 187.18 -0.17 3996.91 1.89 -2.46 0.70
Sterling 0.45 0.55 0.58 0.68 0.71 0.86 0.90 1.05 Europe 5Y 52.85 -0.50 -4.46 4.35 58.00 47.48 Germany - - - - - - -
5 Over 15 Years 387.26 -0.65 6498.51 5.29 -1.77 0.84
US Dollar 0.11 0.31 0.01 0.21 0.03 0.23 0.07 0.27 0.12 0.32 0.28 0.48 Japan 5Y 50.75 0.00 -0.83 4.13 52.84 46.14 08/23 2.00 104.66 -0.75 0.02 0.03 0.07 0.06
7 All stocks 186.89 -0.36 4086.38 2.94 -1.87 0.79
Japanese Yen -0.10 0.00 -0.10 0.00 -0.10 0.10 -0.10 0.10 -0.15 0.15 -0.15 0.15 Senior Financials 5Y 61.49 -0.89 -4.77 5.80 67.80 54.31 08/27 0.50 105.93 -0.53 0.05 0.03 0.07 0.23
Libor rates come from ICE (see www.theice.com) and are fixed at 11am UK time. Other data sources: US $, Euro & CDs: 08/50 0.00 101.57 -0.05 0.06 0.02 0.02 0.14 Day's Month Year's Total Return Return
Markit CDX Greece 02/27 4.30 117.47 0.85 0.08 0.10 0.09 0.15
Tullett Prebon; SDR, US Discount: IMF; EONIA: ECB; Swiss Libor: SNB; EURONIA, RONIA & SONIA: WMBA. Index Linked Dec 14 chg % chg % chg % Return 1 month 1 year
Emerging Markets 5Y 188.10 -6.46 -24.97 8.17 221.97 168.20
Ireland - - - - - - - 1 Up to 5 Years 319.41 -0.27 1.71 4.52 2670.12 1.71 5.76
Nth Amer High Yld 5Y 305.09 1.20 -27.37 8.98 332.46 287.43
- - - - - - - 2 Over 5 years 905.38 -2.61 -0.50 6.81 6869.89 -0.50 7.18
Nth Amer Inv Grade 5Y 53.58 -0.02 -4.96 2.26 58.54 49.43
03/24 3.40 109.15 -0.59 0.02 0.01 0.07 0.07 3 5-15 years 549.47 -1.08 1.84 4.97 4410.46 1.84 5.77
Websites: markit.com, ftse.com. All indices shown are unhedged. Currencies are shown in brackets after the index names.
Italy 05/24 1.85 104.88 -0.15 0.07 0.01 0.08 0.08 4 Over 15 years 1200.19 -3.21 -1.41 7.19 8854.15 -1.41 7.41
08/27 2.05 109.10 0.42 0.09 0.01 0.07 0.21 5 All stocks 800.95 -2.38 -0.28 6.42 6194.73 -0.28 6.89
05/31 6.00 146.16 0.87 0.11 0.01 0.07 0.27
COMMODITIES www.ft.com/commodities BONDS: INDEX-LINKED 03/48 3.45 134.87 1.78 0.09 0.03 0.06 0.38 Yield Indices Dec 14 Dec 13 Yr ago Dec 14 Dec 13 Yr ago
Japan 04/23 0.05 99.95 0.08 0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 5 Yrs 0.45 0.43 -0.07 20 Yrs 0.96 0.94 0.73
Energy Price* Change Agricultural & Cattle Futures Price* Change Price Yield Month Value No of
12/27 0.10 101.19 -0.10 0.00 -0.01 -0.01 0.00 10 Yrs 0.73 0.71 0.27 45 Yrs 0.64 0.60 0.63
Crude Oil† Dec 70.68 -0.54 Corn♦ Mar 583.25 -1.25 Dec 03 Dec 03 Prev return stock Market stocks
12/34 1.20 112.87 0.20 0.00 -0.01 0.00 0.02 15 Yrs 0.91 0.89 0.58
Brent Crude Oil‡ 73.00 -1.37 Wheat♦ Mar 782.50 -5.75 Can 4.25%' 26 126.32 -0.898 - -0.03 5.25 - -
12/49 0.40 93.35 0.66 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.04
RBOB Gasoline† Dec 2.11 -0.02 Soybeans♦ Jan 1243.25 -1.50 Fr 2.10%' 23 107.09 -2.107 - -0.02 18.05 - -
Netherlands 07/23 1.75 104.04 -0.76 0.02 0.01 0.06 0.01 inflation 0% inflation 5%
Heating Oil† - - Soybeans Meal♦ Jan 365.50 3.20 Swe 1.00%' 25 122.66 -2.124 - -0.09 35.88 - -
07/27 0.75 106.90 -0.46 0.05 0.02 0.05 0.21 Real yield Dec 14 Dur yrs Previous Yr ago Dec 14 Dur yrs Previous Yr ago
Natural Gas† Dec 3.71 -0.12 Cocoa (ICE Liffe)X Mar 1709.00 5.00 UK 0.125%' 24 111.36 -4.510 - 0.31 15.24 - -
Ethanol♦ - - Cocoa (ICE US)♥ Mar 2515.00 -14.00 New Zealand 04/27 4.50 111.06 2.29 0.03 0.08 0.07 1.76 Up to 5 yrs -4.10 2.39 -4.21 -2.98 -4.44 2.39 -4.55 -3.33
UK 2.50%' 24 370.56 -3.900 - 0.26 6.82 - -
Uranium† - - Coffee(Robusta)X Jan 2401.00 29.00 05/31 1.50 92.57 2.38 0.02 -0.02 -0.04 1.44 Over 5 yrs -2.48 23.95 -2.59 -2.35 -2.50 23.99 -2.61 -2.36
UK 2.00%' 35 323.46 -3.075 - 0.85 9.08 - -
Carbon Emissions‡ - - Coffee (Arabica)♥ Mar 237.65 0.00 05/31 1.50 92.57 2.38 0.02 -0.02 -0.04 1.44 5-15 yrs -3.14 9.72 -3.25 -2.93 -3.21 9.72 -3.33 -3.01
US 0.625%' 23 105.32 -3.163 - -0.05 47.03 - -
White SugarX 509.10 -1.30 Norway - - - - - - - Over 15 yrs -2.40 29.08 -2.51 -2.28 -2.41 29.09 -2.52 -2.29
Diesel† - - US 3.625%' 28 133.54 -1.397 - -0.23 16.78 - -
Sugar 11♥ 19.73 0.09 - - - - - - - All stocks -2.50 21.84 -2.61 -2.36 -2.52 21.90 -2.63 -2.38
Base Metals (♠ LME 3 Months) Representative stocks from each major market Source: Merill Lynch Global Bond Indices † Local currencies. ‡ Total market
Aluminium 2622.50 -35.50 Cotton♥ Mar 106.86 0.18 Portugal 10/23 4.95 110.74 -0.72 0.03 0.01 0.05 -0.12 See FTSE website for more details www.ftse.com/products/indices/gilts
value. In line with market convention, for UK Gilts inflation factor is applied to price, for other markets it is applied to par
Aluminium Alloy 2500.00 80.00 Orange Juice♥ Jan 126.00 1.55 04/27 4.13 123.45 -0.23 0.07 0.00 0.06 0.09 ©2018 Tradeweb Markets LLC. All rights reserved. The Tradeweb FTSE
amount.
Copper 9391.50 -73.50 Palm Oil♣ - - Spain - - - - - - - Gilt Closing Prices information contained herein is proprietary to
Lead 2286.50 -4.00 Live Cattle♣ Dec 136.75 -0.40 BONDS: TEN YEAR GOVT SPREADS 10/23 4.40 109.50 -0.58 0.02 0.01 0.04 -0.03 Tradeweb; may not be copied or re-distributed; is not warranted to be
Nickel 19540.00 -210.00 Feeder Cattle♣ May 134.88 - Sweden 11/23 1.50 103.36 -0.24 0.01 0.02 0.05 0.14 accurate, complete or timely; and does not constitute investment advice.
Tin 38795.00 -305.00 Lean Hogs♣ Feb 80.98 0.23 Spread Spread Spread Spread 12/27 0.13 124.96 -2.18 -0.02 -0.11 -0.10 -0.69 Tradeweb is not responsible for any loss or damage that might result from the use of this information.
Zinc 3289.50 -46.50 Bid vs vs Bid vs vs 06/30 0.13 125.08 -2.17 -0.02 -0.13 -0.12 -0.73
% Chg % Chg Yield Bund T-Bonds Yield Bund T-Bonds Switzerland - - - - - - - All data provided by Morningstar unless otherwise noted. All elements listed are indicative and believed accurate
Precious Metals (PM London Fix)
Gold 1787.80 8.05 Dec 13 Month Year 06/24 1.25 104.82 -0.65 0.01 -0.01 0.00 0.12 at the time of publication. No offer is made by Morningstar, its suppliers, or the FT. Neither the FT, nor
Australia 1.65 - - Netherlands -0.46 - -
Silver (US cents) 2222.00 32.50 S&P GSCI Spt 534.84 -7.66 35.41 United Kingdom - - - - - - - Morningstar’s suppliers, warrant or guarantee that the information is reliable or complete. Neither the FT nor
Austria 0.07 - - New Zealand 2.38 - -
Platinum 935.00 -10.00 DJ UBS Spot 95.70 -6.89 27.30 Canada - - - Norway - - - 07/23 0.75 100.71 0.31 -0.03 -0.11 -0.08 0.39 Morningstar’s suppliers accept responsibility and will not be liable for any loss arising from the reliance on the
Palladium 1762.00 -8.00 TR/CC CRB TR 239.55 -4.95 39.82 Denmark - - - Portugal -0.23 - - 07/27 1.25 104.06 0.52 -0.01 -0.10 -0.06 0.45 use of the listed information. For all queries e-mail ft.reader.enquiries@morningstar.com
Bulk Commodities LEBA EUA Carbon 58.91 -1.98 129.94 Finland -0.11 - - Spain - - - 07/47 1.50 114.18 0.88 0.01 -0.09 -0.06 0.09
Iron Ore 128.50 -8.45 LEBA UK Power 1048.00 -37.43 -39.60 Germany - - - Sweden -2.17 - - United States 03/23 0.50 100.06 0.45 -0.02 0.10 0.14 0.28 Data provided by Morningstar | www.morningstar.co.uk
GlobalCOAL RB Index 232.50 6.00 Ireland - - - Switzerland - - - 03/27 0.63 96.60 1.29 0.01 0.11 0.12 0.73
Baltic Dry Index 2932.00 -284.00 Italy 0.87 - - United Kingdom - - - 04/32 3.38 147.95 - - - - -
Sources: † NYMEX, ‡ ECX/ICE, ♦ CBOT, X ICE Liffe, ♥ ICE Futures, ♣ CME, ♠ LME/London Metal Exchange.* Latest prices, $ Japan 0.20 - - United States - - - 02/50 0.25 120.25 - - - - -
unless otherwise stated. Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data LLC, an ICE Data Services company. Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data LLC, an ICE Data Services company.
Wednesday 15 December 2021 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES 15

MANAGED FUNDS SERVICE

Fund Bid Offer D+/- Yield Fund Bid Offer D+/- Yield Fund Bid Offer D+/- Yield Fund Bid Offer D+/- Yield Fund Bid Offer D+/- Yield Fund Bid Offer D+/- Yield Fund Bid Offer D+/- Yield Data Provided by
USD Accumulating Class $ 13.07 - 0.00 0.00 Foord Global Equity Fund (Lux) | R $ 18.10 - -0.22 0.00
Dodge & Cox Worldwide Funds plc-Global Stock Fund Regulated
USD Accumulating Share Class $ 29.08 - -0.40 - Foord Global Equity Fund (Sing) | B $ 21.59 - -0.26 0.00
GBP Accumulating Share Class £ 36.22 - -0.33 0.00 Foord International Trust (Gsy) $ 46.75 - -0.22 0.00
GBP Distributing Share class £ 24.76 - -0.22 -
EUR Accumulating Share Class € 38.70 - -0.41 -
GBP Distributing Class (H) £ 13.96 - -0.19 0.70
abrdn Capital (CI) Limited
PO Box 189, St Helier, Jersey, JE4 9RU 01534 709130
(JER) Dodge & Cox Worldwide Funds plc-U.S. Stock Fund Mirabaud Asset Management
www.mirabaud.com, marketing@mirabaud-am.com
(LUX) Rubrics Global UCITS Funds Plc
www.rubricsam.com
(IRL)
www.morningstar.co.uk
USD Accumulating Share Class $ 39.52 - -0.52 0.00
FCA Recognised Conviction based investment vehicles details available here www.mirabaud-am.com Regulated Data as shown is for information purposes only. No offer
GBP Accumulating Share Class £ 46.54 - -0.40 0.00
Aberdeen Standard Capital Offshore Strategy Fund Limited Regulated Rubrics Emerging Markets Fixed Income UCITS Fund $ 138.15 - 0.11 0.00 is made by Morningstar or this publication.
GBP Distributing Share Class £ 28.15 - -0.23 0.83 Mir. - Glb Strat. Bd I USD $ 124.45 - 0.07 0.00
Bridge Fund £ 2.4881 - -0.0114 1.28 Rubrics Global Credit UCITS Fund $ 18.16 - 0.01 0.00
EUR Accumulating Share Class € 45.42 - -0.45 0.00 Franklin Templeton International Services Sarl (IRL)
Global Equity Fund £ 3.7321 - -0.0256 0.74 Mir. - DiscEur D Cap GBP £ 213.55 - -1.67 0.00 Rubrics Global Fixed Income UCITS Fund $ 179.70 - 0.06 0.00
JPMorgan House - International Financial Services Centre,Dublin 1, Ireland
GBP Distributing Class (H) £ 16.16 - -0.21 0.63 Mirabaud - UK Equity High Alpha £ 163.70 - -1.79 0.00
Global Fixed Interest Fund £ 0.9469 - 0.0010 4.64 Other International Funds
Income Fund £ 0.7052 - -0.0017 2.63 Franklin Emerging Market Debt Opportunities Fund Plc
Sterling Fixed Interest Fund
UK Equity Fund
£ 0.8962
£ 2.1433
-
-
0.0001 2.73
-0.0128 2.47
Franklin Emg Mkts Debt Opp CHFSFr 14.25
Franklin Emg Mkts Debt Opp GBP £ 9.34
-
-
-0.02 3.01
0.00 2.90 Guide to Data
Ashmore Investment Management Limited (LUX) Franklin Emg Mkts Debt Opp USD $ 16.26 - -0.04 2.98 Polar Capital Funds Plc (IRL)
The fund prices quoted on these pages are
2 rue Albert Borschette L-1246 Luxembourg
FCA Recognised
Ashmore SICAV Emerging Market Debt Fund $ 82.95 - -0.15 5.58
Regulated
Automation & Artificial Intelligence CL I USD Acc $ 20.39 20.39 -0.17 0.00 Slater supplied by the operator of the relevant fund.
Details of funds published on these pages,
Ashmore SICAV Emerging Market Frontier Equity Fund $ 204.51
Ashmore SICAV Emerging Market Total Return Fund $ 72.17
-
-
-0.69 0.41
-0.18 4.84
Asian Starts I USD Acc $
Biotechnology I USD
China Stars I USD Acc $
$ 18.80 - -0.03 0.00
$ 39.08 39.08 0.42 0.00
$ 14.09 14.09 -0.06 0.00
Investments including prices, are for the purpose of
information only and should only be used as a
Ashmore SICAV Global Small Cap Equity Fund $ 234.86 - -4.08 0.00 Emerging Market Stars I USD Acc $ 15.05 - -0.04 0.00 guide. The Financial Times Limited makes no
Aegon Asset Management UK ICVC (UK) EM Active Equity Fund Acc USD $ 153.54 - -1.67 0.00 European Ex UK Inc EUR Acc € 13.25 13.25 -0.04 0.00 representation as to their accuracy or
3 Lochside Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9SA EM Equity Fund Acc USD $ 157.32 - -2.50 0.00 GAM Financial Opps I USD $ 15.89 - -0.22 1.52 completeness and they should not be relied
0800 358 3009 www.aegonam.com EM Mkts Corp.Debt USD F $ 84.33 - 0.09 - funds@gam.com, www.funds.gam.com Global Convertible I USD $ 15.94 15.94 -0.08 0.00 upon when making an investment decision.
Authorised Funds Regulated
EM Mkts Loc.Ccy Bd USD F $ 69.71 - -0.22 4.79 Global Insurance I GBP £ 8.21 - -0.04 0.00
Global Equity GBP B Acc £ 3.45 - -0.03 - LAPIS GBL TOP 50 DIV.YLD-Na-D £ 115.14 - -0.26 2.89 The sale of interests in the funds listed on
EM Short Duration Fund Acc USD $ 104.09 - 0.28 0.00 Global Technology I USD $ 95.09 - -1.44 0.00
LAPIS GBL F OWD 50 DIV.YLD-Na-D £ 114.40 - -0.46 0.45 Healthcare Blue Chip Fund I USD Acc $ 18.72 18.72 0.07 0.00
these pages may, in certain jurisdictions, be
Healthcare Dis I Acc USD $ $ 14.60 - 0.19 0.00 Slater Investments Ltd (UK) restricted by law and the funds will not
Dragon Capital New Capital UCITS Fund PLC (IRL) www.slaterinvestments.com; Tel: 0207 220 9460 necessarily be available to persons in all
www.dragoncapital.com Healthcare Opps I USD $ 65.37 - -0.04 0.00
Leconfield House, Curzon Street, London, W1J 5JB FCA Recognised jurisdictions in which the publication
Fund information:info@dragoncapital.com Income Opportunities B2 I GBP Acc £ 2.84 2.84 -0.01 0.00
www.newcapitalfunds.com Slater Growth A Acc 844.49 844.49 -5.10 0.00 circulates. Persons in any doubt should take
Other International Funds Japan Value I JPY ¥ 128.90 128.90 -0.05 0.00
FCA Recognised Slater Income A Inc 151.88 151.88 -0.68 5.22 appropriate professional advice. Data collated
Vietnam Equity (UCITS) Fund A USD $ 38.96 - -0.07 0.00 North American I USD $ 37.80 37.80 -0.39 0.00
New Capital UCITS Funds Slater Recovery A Acc 403.00 403.00 -1.70 0.00 by Morningstar. For other queries contact
Smart Energy I USD Acc $ $ 10.51 10.51 -0.15 -
Atlantas Sicav (LUX)
New Capital China Equity Fund $ 272.22 - 1.08 0.00 Slater Artorius 387.20 387.20 10.99 0.00 reader.enquiries@ft.com +44 (0)207 873
Smart Mobility I USD Acc $ $ 10.42 10.42 -0.18 -
Regulated Genesis Investment Management LLP New Capital Dynamic European Equity Fund € 155.78 - -0.71 0.00 4211.
UK Val Opp I GBP Acc £ 14.07 14.07 -0.11 0.00
American Dynamic $ 7861.70 7861.70 40.20 0.00 Other International Funds New Capital Dynamic UK Equity Fund £ 130.47 - -1.00 0.00
American One $ 7977.45 7977.45 140.29 0.00 Emerging Mkts NAV £ 7.21 - -0.16 1.47 New Capital Global Alpha Fund £ 122.32 - -0.27 0.00 The fund prices published in this edition along
Bond Global € 1572.14 1572.14 3.29 0.00 New Capital Global Equity Conviction Fund $ 242.61 - -1.84 - with additional information are also available
Eurocroissance € 1595.55 - 35.99 0.00 New Capital Global Value Credit Fund $ 161.87 - 0.01 0.00 on the Financial Times website, www.ft.com/
Far East $ 1284.12 - 1.86 0.00 New Capital Japan Equity Fund ¥ 1810.74 - 7.57 0.00 funds. The funds published on these pages
New Capital US Growth Fund $ 546.83 - -10.25 - are grouped together by fund management
New Capital US Small Cap Growth Fund $ 232.03 - -2.60 0.00 company.
New Capital Wealthy Nations Bond Fund $ 155.53 - 0.14 -
Polar Capital LLP (CYM) Prices are in pence unless otherwise
Aegon Asset Management Investment Company (Ireland) (IRL) Regulated
1 North Wall Quay Dublin 1, Ireland +35 3162 24493 indicated. The change, if shown, is the change
HPB Assurance Ltd European Forager A EUR € 226.22 - 0.69 0.00
FCA Recognised Anglo Intl House, Bank Hill, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 4LN 01638 563490
on the previously quoted figure (not all funds
Absolute Return Bond B GBP Acc 1163.43 - -0.03 1.61 update prices daily). Those designated $ with
International Insurances
High Yield Global Bond A GBP Inc 508.70 - 0.07 4.49 no prefix refer to US dollars. Yield percentage
Holiday Property Bond Ser 1 £ 0.48 - 0.01 0.00
High Yield Global Bond B GBP Inc 1097.31 - 0.19 5.23 figures (in Tuesday to Saturday papers) allow
Holiday Property Bond Ser 2 £ 0.63 - 0.01 0.00
Global Equity Income B GBP Acc 2534.73 - -2.41 0.00 for buying expenses. Prices of certain older
Global Equity Income B GBP Inc 1455.44 - -8.32 3.19 EdenTree Investment Management Ltd (UK) insurance linked plans might be subject to
lobal Equity Market Neutral Fund - B Acc GBP £ 12.93 - -0.03 - PO Box 3733, Swindon, SN4 4BG, 0800 358 3010 capital gains tax on sales.
Stonehage Fleming Investment Management Ltd (IRL)
Global Sustainable Equity B Acc GBP £ 30.55 - -0.23 0.00 Authorised Inv Funds
www.stonehagefleming.com/gbi
Global Sustainable Equity C Acc GBP £ 31.09 - -0.24 0.00 EdenTree Short Dated Bond Cls B 99.53 - -0.01 0.86 Private Fund Mgrs (Guernsey) Ltd (GSY) Guide to pricing of Authorised
enquiries@stonehagefleming.com
Regulated
Regulated
Investment Funds: (compiled with the
Inv Grd Gbl Bond A Inc GBH 614.18 - 1.29 1.81
Monument Growth 16/11/2021 £ 569.03 574.76 13.53 0.79
SF Global Best Ideas Eq B USD ACC $ 292.06 - -1.26 -
assistance of the IMA. The Investment
Short Dated High Yld Bd B Acc GBP £ 11.38 - 0.00 0.00
Association, Camomile Court 23 Camomile
Short Dated High Yld Bd C Acc GBP (Hdg) £ 11.51 - 0.00 0.00 SF Global Best Ideas Eq D GBP INC £ 334.93 - -1.46 -
Janus Henderson Investors (UK) Street, London EC3A 7LL. Tel: +44 (0)20 7831
Strategic Global Bond A GBP Inc 1336.68 - 1.60 2.70 PO Box 9023, Chelmsford, CM99 2WB Enquiries: 0800 832 832
Blue Whale Investment Funds ICAV (IRE) 0898.)
Strategic Global Bond B GBP Inc 758.22 - 0.92 3.45 www.bluewhale.co.uk, info@bluewhale.co.uk www.janushenderson.com
Authorised Inv Funds
FCA Recognised - Ireland UCITS OEIC: Open-Ended Investment Company.
Janus Henderson Instl UK Idx Opps A Acc £ 1.09 - -0.01 2.48
Blue Whale Growth USD T $ 12.80 - -0.24 0.00 Oasis Crescent Global Investment Funds (UK) ICVC (UK) Similar to a unit trust but using a company
Ennismore Smaller Cos Plc (IRL)
Regulated rather than a trust structure.
5 Kensington Church St, London W8 4LD 020 7368 4220
Oasis Crescent Global Equity Fund USD A (Dist) $ 38.94 - -0.13 0.23 Prusik Investment Management LLP (IRL)
FCA Recognised
Ennismore European Smlr Cos NAV £ 155.76 - -0.11 0.00 Oasis Crescent Global Income Fund USD A (Dist) $ 10.99 - 0.01 2.51 Enquiries - 0207 493 1331 Different share classes are issued to reflect a
Oasis Crescent Global Low Equity Fund USD D (Dist) $ 13.65 - -0.01 0.30 Regulated Superfund Asset Management GmbH different currency, charging structure or type
Ennismore European Smlr Cos NAV € 182.75 - 0.35 0.00
www.superfund.com, +43 (1) 247 00
Oasis Crescent Global Medium Equity Fund USD A (Dist) $ 15.00 - -0.04 0.05 Prusik Asian Equity Income B Dist $ 182.04 - -0.96 - of holder.
Prusik Asia Emerging Opportunities Fund A Acc $ 217.50 - -2.82 0.00 Other International Funds
Oasis Crescent Global Property Equity Fund USD A (Dist) $ 10.32 - 0.03 0.41
Oasis Crescent Global Short Term Income Fund USD A (Dist) $ 0.98 - 0.00 1.64 Prusik Asia Fund U Dist. £ 268.70 - -1.06 - Superfund Green Gold $ 1458.19 - 1.68 0.00 Selling price: Also called bid price. The price
M & G Securities (1200)F (UK) Oasis Crescent Variable Fund GBP A (Dist) £ 10.46 - -0.03 0.01 Superfund Green Silver $ 1277.61 - 6.56 0.00 at which units in a unit trust are sold by
PO Box 9038, Chelmsford, CM99 2XF Regulated investors.
www.mandg.co.uk/charities Enq./Dealing: 0800 917 4472
Superfund Green US$ $ 1125.86 - -0.90 0.00
Authorised Inv Funds
Buying price: Also called offer price. The
M&G Charibond Charities Fixed Interest Fund (Charibond) Inc £ 1.22 - 0.00 2.05
Ennismore European Smlr Cos Hedge Fd
price at which units in a unit trust are bought
M&G Charibond Charities Fixed Interest Fund (Charibond) Acc £ 42.64 - 0.00 1.52
Other International Funds
by investors. Includes manager’s initial
M&G Charity Multi Asset Fund Inc £ 0.90 - -0.01 3.74
charge.
NAV € 648.06 - -3.04 0.00 M&G Charity Multi Asset Fund Acc £ 103.75 - -0.23 3.00
Purisima Investment Fds (CI) Ltd (JER)
Algebris Investments (IRL) Omnia Fund Ltd Regulated Single price: Based on a mid-market
Regulated Other International Funds PCG B 361.96 - 0.66 0.00 valuation of the underlying investments. The
Algebris Financial Credit I EUR € 192.95 - -0.02 0.00 Estimated NAV $ 681.26 - -32.14 0.00 PCG C 352.88 - 0.65 0.00 buying and selling price for shares of an OEIC
Brooks Macdonald International Fund Managers Limited (JER) and units of a single priced unit trust are the
Algebris Financial Credit R EUR € 167.13 - -0.03 0.00
5 Anley Street, St Helier, Jersey, JE2 3QE
Algebris Financial Credit Rd EUR € 107.87 - -0.02 4.41 same.
+44 (0) 1534 700 104 (Int.) +44 (0) 800 735 8000 (UK)
Algebris Financial Income I EUR € 180.61 - -1.46 0.00 Brooks Macdonald International Investment Funds Limited
Algebris Financial Income R EUR € 165.80 - -1.36 0.00 Treatment of manager’s periodic capital
Euro High Income € 1.4965 - 0.0016 2.50 Euronova Asset Management UK LLP (CYM) MMIP Investment Management Limited (GSY) charge: The letter C denotes that the trust
Algebris Financial Income Rd EUR € 105.98 - -0.87 3.23 High Income £ 0.8373 - -0.0002 3.77 Regulated Regulated deducts all or part of the manager’s/
Algebris Financial Equity B EUR € 143.06 - -1.66 0.00 Sterling Bond £ 1.5663 - -0.0004 2.06 Smaller Cos Cls One Shares € 63.48 - -2.06 0.00 Multi-Manager Investment Programmes PCC Limited operator’s periodic charge from capital,
Algebris Financial Equity R EUR € 121.49 - -1.42 0.00 Smaller Cos Cls Two Shares € 40.69 - -1.17 0.00
Brooks Macdonald International Multi Strategy Fund Limited UK Equity Fd Cl A Series 01 £ 3144.53 3178.93 -146.27 0.00 contact the manager/operator for full details
Algebris IG Financial Credit I EUR € 111.44 - 0.16 0.00 Smaller Cos Cls Three Shares € 20.47 - -0.61 0.00 Oryx International Growth Fund Ltd
Balanced Strategy A £ 1.0092 - -0.0031 - Diversified Absolute Rtn Fd USD Cl AF2 $ 1760.35 - 16.99 0.00 of the effect of this course of action.
Algebris IG Financial Credit R EUR € 110.26 - 0.15 0.00 Smaller Cos Cls Four Shares € 26.38 - -0.77 0.00 Other International Funds
Balanced Strategy £ 1.0000 - 0.0000 - Diversified Absolute Return Stlg Cell AF2 £ 1647.64 - 15.62 0.00
Algebris Global Credit Opportunities I EUR € 128.75 - -0.25 0.00 NAV (Fully Diluted) £ 9.10 - -0.52 0.00 Toscafund Asset Management LLP (UK)
Cautious Balanced Strategy A £ 1.0112 - -0.0025 - Global Equity Fund A Lead Series £ 1843.01 1849.22 -20.31 0.00
www.toscafund.com
Exit Charges: The letter E denotes that an
Algebris Global Credit Opportunities R EUR € 126.42 - -0.25 0.00
Growth Strategy A £ 1.0324 - -0.0034 -
Authorised Funds exit charge may be made when you sell units,
Algebris Global Credit Opportunities Rd EUR € 126.42 - -0.25 0.00
High Growth Strategy A £ 1.0351 - -0.0041 - Aptus Global Financials B Acc £ 4.64 - -0.09 4.32 contact the manager/operator for full details.
Algebris Core Italy I EUR € 166.35 - -1.04 0.00
Cautious Balanced Strategy £ 1.4168 - -0.0036 0.00 Aptus Global Financials B Inc £ 3.14 - -0.05 6.40
Algebris Core Italy R EUR € 159.05 - -1.00 0.00
Growth Strategy £ 2.1598 - -0.0073 0.00 Time: Some funds give information about the
High Growth Strategy £ 3.0467 - -0.0121 0.00 timing of price quotes. The time shown
US$ Growth Strategy $ 2.1273 - -0.0116 0.00 alongside the fund manager’s/operator’s
Dealing Daily. Initial charge up to 2% FIL Investment Services (UK) Limited (1200)F (UK) name is the valuation point for their unit
Beech Gate, Millfield Lane, Lower Kingswood, Tadworth, KT20 6RP Orbis Investments (U.K.) Limited (GBR) Ram Active Investments SA trusts/OEICs, unless another time is indicated
Marwyn Asset Management Limited (CYM)
www.ram-ai.com
Callfree: Private Clients 0800 414161 Regulated 28 Dorset Square, London, NW1 6QG by the symbol alongside the individual unit
Broker Dealings: 0800 414 181 www.orbis.com 0800 358 2030 Other International Funds
Marwyn Value Investors £ 329.72 - -6.14 0.00 trust/OEIC name.
OEIC Funds Regulated RAM Systematic Emerg Markets Eq $ 238.61 238.61 -1.83 -

The Antares European Fund Limited Fidelity American Fund W-ACC-GBP £ 65.18 - -0.66 - Orbis OEIC Global Cautious Standard £ 10.95 - -0.03 0.02 RAM Systematic European Eq € 597.87 597.87 -1.29 - Toscafund Asset Management LLP
Other International Fidelity Cash Fund Y-ACC-GBP £ 1.02 - 0.00 0.09 Orbis OEIC Global Balanced Standard £ 16.88 - -0.12 - RAM Systematic Funds Global Sustainable Income Eq $ 160.50 160.50 -1.19 0.00 www.toscafund.com The symbols are as follows: ✠ 0001 to
Tosca A USD $ 402.33 - -22.33 0.00
AEF Ltd Usd $ 587.70 - 13.86 0.00 FID Emerg Europe, Middle East and Africa Fund W-ACC-GBP £ 2.96 - -0.05 1.56 Orbis OEIC Global Equity Standard £ 21.38 - -0.12 1.94 RAM Systematic Global Eq Sustainable Alpha $ 114.45 114.45 0.26 - 1100 hours; ♦ 1101 to 1400 hours; ▲ 1401
Orbis OEIC UK Equity Standard £ 10.59 - -0.15 2.31 RAM Systematic Long/Short European Eq € 154.94 154.94 1.08 - Tosca Mid Cap GBP £ 259.32 - 1.39 0.00
AEF Ltd Eur € 548.26 - 12.88 0.00 CG Asset Management Limited (IRL)
Fidelity Global Enhanced Income Fund W-ACC-GBP £ 2.26 - 0.01 3.58 to 1700 hours; # 1701 to midnight. Daily
RAM Systematic US Sustainable Eq $ 435.76 435.76 -0.41 - Tosca Opportunity B USD $ 394.80 - 2.77 0.00
25 Moorgate, London, EC2R 6AY Fidelity Global Focus Fund W-ACC-GBP £ 35.78 - -0.31 - dealing prices are set on the basis of the
RAM Tactical Global Bond Total Return € 152.78 152.78 0.05 - Pegasus Fund Ltd A-1 GBP £ 55.98 - -5.54 0.00
Dealing: Tel. +353 1434 5098 Fax. +353 1542 2859 Fidelity Global High Yield Fund Y-ACC-GBP £ 15.83 - 0.00 4.97 valuation point, a short period of time may
FCA Recognised Fidelity Japan Fund W-ACC-GBP £ 5.65 - 0.00 0.82 RAM Tactical II Asia Bond Total Return $ 156.04 156.04 0.13 - elapse before prices become available.
CG Portfolio Fund Plc Fidelity Japan Smaller Companies Fund W-ACC-GBP £ 4.28 - -0.01 0.26 Historic pricing: The letter H denotes that the
Absolute Return Cls M Inc £ 141.91 141.91 -0.36 1.32 Fidelity Select 50 Balanced Fund PI-ACC-GBP £ 1.24 - 0.00 0.93 managers/operators will normally deal on the
Capital Gearing Portfolio GBP P £ 39595.78 39595.78 -105.09 1.01 Fidelity Special Situations Fund W-ACC-GBP £ 41.54 - -0.27 1.48 price set at the most recent valuation. The
Capital Gearing Portfolio GBP V £ 192.57 192.57 -0.52 1.00 Short Dated Corporate Bond Fund Y ACC GBP £ 11.21 - 0.00 4.02 prices shown are the latest available before
Arisaig Partners Dollar Fund Cls D Inc £ 177.66 177.66 0.33 1.36 Fidelity Sustainable Water & Waste W Acc £ 1.36 - -0.01 0.52 publication and may not be the current
Other International Funds Dollar Hedged GBP Inc £ 110.15 110.15 0.21 1.43 Fidelity Sustainable Water & Waste W Inc £ 1.35 - -0.01 0.52 dealing levels because of an intervening
Troy Asset Mgt (1200) (UK) portfolio revaluation or a switch to a forward
Arisaig Asia Consumer Fund Class A (Ex-Alcohol) shares $ 122.02 - -0.92 0.00 Real Return Cls A Inc £ 214.09 214.09 0.21 1.41 Fidelity UK Growth Fund W-ACC-GBP £ 3.34 - -0.05 1.14
Ruffer LLP (1000)F (UK) 65 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7NQ pricing basis. The managers/operators must
Arisaig Asia Consumer Fund Limited $ 119.72 - -0.95 0.00 Fidelity UK Select Fund W-ACC-GBP £ 3.79 - -0.03 0.75 Order Desk and Enquiries: 0345 608 0950
65 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7NQ deal at a forward price on request, and may
Arisaig Global Emerging Markets Consumer Fund $ 15.25 - -0.13 0.00 Institutional OEIC Funds Authorised Inv Funds
Order Desk and Enquiries: 0345 601 9610 move to forward pricing at any time. Forward
Arisaig Global Emerging Markets Consumer UCITS € 12.85 - -0.01 - Europe (ex-UK) Fund ACC-GBP £ 7.93 - -0.07 0.57 Milltrust International Managed Investments ICAV (IRL) Authorised Inv Funds Authorised Corporate Director - Link Fund Solutions
pricing: The letter F denotes that that
Arisaig Global Emerging Markets Consumer UCITS STG £ 14.50 - -0.10 - mimi@milltrust.com, +44(0)20 8123 8316 www.milltrust.com Authorised Corporate Director - Link Fund Solutions Trojan Investment Funds managers/operators deal at the price to be
Arisaig Latin America Consumer Fund $ 27.11 - -0.02 - Regulated
LF Ruffer Diversified Rtrn C Acc 101.20 - -0.78 0.00 Trojan Ethical O Acc 131.32 - -0.27 0.00 set at the next valuation.
British Innovation Fund £ 121.92 - 2.89 0.00
LF Ruffer Diversified Rtrn C Inc 101.34 - -0.79 0.00 Trojan Ethical Global Inc O Acc 103.98 - 0.25 -
MAI - Buy & Lease (Australia) A$ 103.45 - 0.50 0.00
Platinum Capital Management Ltd
LF Ruffer European C Acc 907.03 - 12.37 0.85 Trojan Ethical Global Inc O Inc 104.01 - 0.24 - Investors can be given no definite price in
Chartered Asset Management Pte Ltd MAI - Buy & Lease (New Zealand)NZ$ 91.20 - -6.06 0.00
LF Ruffer European C Inc 164.16 - 2.24 - advance of the purchase or sale being carried
Other International Funds Trojan Ethical O Inc 131.07 - -0.27 0.00
Other International Funds Milltrust Global Emerging Markets Fund - Class A $ 116.17 - -0.94 0.00
LF Ruffer European O Acc 881.96 - 11.98 0.56 out. The prices appearing in the newspaper
CAM-GTF Limited $ 325136.67 325136.67 2644.33 - Platinum All Star Fund - A $ 164.68 - - -
LF Ruffer Equity & General C Acc 557.80 - 6.08 0.43 are the most recent provided by the managers/
CAM GTi VCC $ 780.49 - -32.39 - Findlay Park Funds Plc (IRL) Platinum Global Growth UCITS Fund $ 13.16 - -0.10 -
LF Ruffer Equity & General C Inc 507.99 - 5.54 0.43 operators. Scheme particulars, prospectus,
RAIC VCC $ 1.64 1.64 0.03 2.06 30 Herbert Street, Dublin 2, Ireland Tel: 020 7968 4900 Platinum Essential Resources UCITS Fund SICAV USD Class E $ 9.33 - 0.07 0.00
LF Ruffer Equity & General O Acc 542.43 - 5.88 0.15 key features and reports: The most recent
Artemis Fund Managers Ltd (1200)F (UK) FCA Recognised Platinum Global Dividend UCITS Fund $ 58.87 - 0.25 0.00
LF Ruffer Equity & General O Inc 501.52 - 5.44 0.14 particulars and documents may be obtained
57 St. James's Street, London SW1A 1LD 0800 092 2051 American EUR Unhedged Class € 175.57 - -0.63 0.00
LF Ruffer Gold C Acc 262.03 - -5.19 0.00 free of charge from fund managers/operators.
Authorised Inv Funds American Fund USD Class $ 197.97 - -1.22 0.00
LF Ruffer Gold C Inc 158.59 - -3.14 0.00 * Indicates funds which do not price on
Artemis Corporate Bond I Acc 115.99 - 0.39 2.30 American Fund GBP Hedged £ 99.41 - -0.61 0.00
LF Ruffer Gold O Acc 254.71 - -5.06 0.00 Zadig Gestion (Memnon Fund) (LUX)
Fridays.
Artemis Positive Future Fund 96.30 - -2.78 - American Fund GBP Unhedged £ 149.62 - -0.93 0.00 Milltrust International Managed Investments SPC
LF Ruffer Japanese C Inc 189.56 - 3.69 0.00 FCA Recognised
Artemis Target Return Bond I Acc 110.28 - 0.34 2.21 em@milltrust.com, +44(0)20 8123 8316, www.milltrust.com
LF Ruffer Japanese C Acc 407.36 - 7.92 0.00 Memnon European Fund - Class U2 GBP £ 217.29 - -1.30 0.00 Charges for this advertising service are based
Regulated on the number of lines published and the
Milltrust Alaska Brazil SP A $ 70.52 - -1.50 0.00 LF Ruffer Total Return C Acc 558.08 - 4.18 1.15
Dodge & Cox Worldwide Funds (IRL) classification of the fund. Please contact
Milltrust Laurium Africa SP A $ 98.41 - -1.05 0.00 LF Ruffer Total Return C Inc 356.88 - 2.68 1.17
48-49 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5JG. data@ft.com or call +44 (0)20 7873 3132
Milltrust Marcellus India Fund $ 144.54 - -0.98 0.00 LF Ruffer Total Return O Acc 542.63 - 4.04 1.16
www.dodgeandcox.worldwide.com 020 3713 7664 for further information.
FCA Recognised Milltrust Singular ASEAN SP Founders $ 155.79 - -0.58 0.00 LF Ruffer Total Return O Inc 346.80 - 2.58 1.17
Dodge & Cox Worldwide Funds plc - Global Bond Fund Milltrust SPARX Korea Equity SP A $ 153.51 - -1.72 0.00
EUR Accumulating Class € 16.05 - 0.04 0.00 Foord Asset Management Milltrust VTB Russia Fund SP $ 140.80 - -7.37 0.00
EUR Accumulating Class (H) € 11.52 - 0.00 0.00 Website: www.foord.com - Email: info@foord.com Milltrust Xingtai China SP A $ 143.48 - 0.18 0.00
EUR Distributing Class € 12.23 - 0.03 2.95 FCA Recognised - Luxembourg UCITS The Climate Impact Asia Fund SP (Class A) $ 100.86 - -0.68 -
EUR Distributing Class (H) € 8.73 - 0.00 3.21 Foord International Fund | R $ 47.98 - -0.23 0.00 The Climate Impact Asia Fund (Class B) $ 100.63 - -0.69 -
GBP Distributing Class £ 12.79 - 0.06 2.70
GBP Distributing Class (H) £ 9.26 - 0.00 3.14
16
Broader horizons
for Aldeburgh
The music festival on England’s east coast has grand plans for
2022. Chief executive Roger Wright talks to Richard Fairman
S
et current trials and tribula-
tions aside. Some music festi-
vals are not just trying to keep
going but making plans for a
bigger, better future. Having
proved one of the most determined to
stay active in the past 18 months, the
Aldeburgh Festival, co-founded by
composer Benjamin Britten and tenor
Peter Pears, his partner, is today
announcing a 2022 festival that sets its
sights high.
It promises to be a busy year. Queen
Elizabeth will celebrate 70 years on the
throne with a Platinum Jubilee festival
on June 2-5, which coincides with the
opening weekend of the festival. It is
also the 50th anniversary of the Britten
Pears Young Artist Programme, now
expanded into year-round projects and
events, and a day of concerts will mark
what would have been the 70th birthday
of composer and former Aldeburgh
artistic director Oliver Knussen.
“With these anniversaries and every-
thing else, we felt the programme could
become very congested,” says Roger
Wright, chief executive of Britten Pears
Arts, which runs the festival. “So next
year’s festival will be three weeks rather
than two, as it was for a short period in
the late 1960s.”
There is no other festival quite like
Aldeburgh. Situated on the windswept
east coast of England, it looks out over
the grey expanse of the North Sea and
the flat Suffolk fens. In the stillness of
this never-ending landscape, Britten
found his ideal place to live and work,
and on a misty night one can imagine
the anti-hero fisherman of his opera
Peter Grimes stalking the shore. Britten’s
spirit and the ambitions he had for
music here continue to cast a spell.
No festival, though, can afford to
stand still. In 2022, Aldeburgh will
present the highest number of pre-
mieres of new music in its history,
including 19 commissions from com-
posers such as Laura Bowler, Francisco
Coll, Bushra El-Turk, Colin Matthews,
Mark-Anthony Turnage and Tom Coult,
whose opera Violet gets its delayed
first performance.
Featured artists include violinist
Nicola Benedetti, playing baroque
music and Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin
du temps, cellist Laura van der
Heijden and Mark Simpson, clarinettist
and composer of the moment, following
his heaven-storming Violin Concerto
earlier this year.
In the stillness of this
never-ending landscape,
Britten found his ideal
place to live and work
It will also be a pleasure, and probably
a relief, to get back to the festival’s ven-
ues across the region, such as the
churches at Orford and Blythburgh. The
main venue, Snape Maltings, makes an
impressive, multi-hall centre these
days, but the festival was never meant to
be rooted in one spot.
So much of what it represents now was
foreseen by Britten and Pears when they
founded the festival with librettist Eric
Crozier in 1948. Britten’s music will play
a significant part, as always, but is never
dominant, not least because very little of
his output is awaiting rediscovery.
Expansion has been driven by the
acquisition of the whole site at Snape
Maltings, which has raised the profile of
the year-round work. This includes
high-profile masterclasses and Alde-
burgh Young Musicians, but much else
★ FINANCIAL TIMES
ARTS
besides — community work in creative
health, such as for patients with demen-
tia and Parkinson’s disease, and in crim-
inal justice in local prisons.
“This is all true to the vision Britten
and Pears had,” says Wright. “They
would not have known that our society
would have such a challenge with
dementia, or have expected the socio-
economic deprivation in our area. But
what they did know, and worked with,
was music’s unique power to connect
people. The vision they had for a site for
Clockwise, from
above: Roger
Wright in Snape
Maltings concert
hall; Nicola
Benedetti, who
will perform
next year;
co-founders
Benjamin
Britten, left,
and Peter
Pears c1965
Matt Jolly; Popperfoto via
Getty Images
music that is rooted locally, but makes a
national and international impact, is
absolutely where we are now.”
That is equally true for the develop-
ment of the campus. “These days a
young artists programme is not such an
unusual thing, but 50 years ago it was
very innovative,” he says. “I wonder if
seeing Tanglewood [the Boston Sym-
phony Orchestra’s summer home] in
the 1940s made a lasting impression on
Britten. There are pictures of him and
Pears looking at a model of a redevel-
oped Snape Maltings even before
they had acquired some of the addi-
tional buildings. A 1970 master plan is
uncannily like the way the site has
developed since.”
The result is that Britten Pears Arts
has become an important force in the
local economy. About 150-200 people
work on site, mostly in retail, catering
and the charitable organisation, and a
Is it game over for Arab stereotypes?
GAMING
Tom
Faber
D
own a dark staircase in the
Basateen neighbourhood of
Cairo is a gaming café called
7. Inside, the lights are low,
so I can only make out
smoky silhouettes of young men playing
billiards, darts and ping pong. A waiter
ushers my friends and me into a dark
booth with squashy sofas in front of a
widescreen TV, where we order food
and shisha and play all the video games
we can handle, paying by the hour.
Cairo, like everywhere else in the
world, is full of gamers. But as I watch
groups in the café playing Fifa, WWE
and Mortal Kombat, I consider how
rarely Arab people are portrayed in
these games with anything other than
reductive, offensive stereotypes. Once
the stock villains of war games were
Nazis, but today, following 9/11 and the
war on terror, they are jihadis, faceless
terrorists with robes and beards that
exist only to hate the west and soak
up bullets.
In series such as Call of Duty, Medal of
Honor and Battlefield, the Arab world is
reduced to a playground of war — waste-
lands of rubble and sand. “We’re being
used as a media shortcut for evil,” says
Dutch-Egyptian game developer and
advocate Rami Ismail. “[Developers]
are not trying to represent our culture,
they’re trying to use it as a backdrop
for violence.”
The traditions and culture of the Arab
world are routinely confused in games.
Locals are used to seeing Iraqi charac-
ters speaking the wildly different
Moroccan dialect or Saudi characters
wearing traditional Egyptian clothing.
Ismail contributes to a blog called
“Nope, Not Arabic”, which highlights the
ways the Arabic language is misrepre-
sented, often erroneously written left to
right. “It shows people don’t think of the
Arab world as important,” he says. “If
you wrote something backwards in Eng-
lish or French, somebody would notice.”
much wider impact comes through
tourism. The target is to raise £2m a
year from fundraising, more than is
received from the Arts Council, and that
is a challenge with the demographic on
the Suffolk coast.
Wright says that he saw the impor-
tance of engaging with the community
when he was artistic administrator of
the Cleveland Orchestra. “It is as
unlikely to have an orchestra of such
quality in a place like Cleveland as it is to
have a festival like Aldeburgh on the
Suffolk coast,” he says.
“What they share is an audience and a
set of supporters who have [a powerful]
sense of ownership,” he continues, “and
that will pay back in all sorts of ways. If
the alternative is indifference, you are
dead in the water.”
Following from that could be closer
co-operation with the US. The Ojai
One game in particular has caused
controversy like no other. Six Days in Fal-
lujah, which depicts the experience of
US marines in the bloody battle for the
Iraqi city in the second Gulf war, was
conceived more than a decade ago,
before a public outcry led to its cancella-
tion. It was recently revived, with devel-
opers boasting of how the game ran-
domises the layout of Fallujah to boost
replayability, turning it into a military
amusement park devoid of authenticity,
specificity and meaning. Amid heavy
criticism, its release was recently
delayed by a year in order to add more
In ‘Call of Duty’ and
‘Battlefield’, the Arab
world is reduced to a
playground of war
people to the development team and
refine the game.
Ismail doesn’t believe that there is
generally malicious intent behind the
depictions. The bases of game produc-
tion are still Japan, Europe and the US,
and, as Edward Said argued in Oriental-
ism, their depictions of the Arab world
say more about their own cultures than
about it.
Solving the problem requires two dis-
crete approaches. One is to fix the lack of
representation in the industry by hiring
Positive
representation:
Farah in ‘Call of
Duty: Modern
Warfare’ (2019)
Wednesday 15 December 2021
Music Festival in California closely par-
allels Aldeburgh and the two have
shared projects in the past. Wright is in
favour of such working together “if festi-
vals generally can be less precious about
who gets what first”.
One cloud on the horizon is Britten’s
music coming out of copyright in 2047.
A foretaste came during lockdown,
when £1m of royalty income from per-
formances was lost overnight.
Wright says Aldeburgh knows it can-
not put off thinking about it until 2045.
One possible answer is to develop the
last third of the Snape Maltings site that
is derelict, probably for accommodation
for students and tutors.
“That would be back to the vision of
Britten and Pears for a creative campus.
It is in our sights, but represents a huge
capital project.”
In the meantime, all eyes are on the
2022 festival. The Queen’s jubilee will be
marked with music from her coronation
year, such as the suite from Britten’s
opera Gloriana. A highlight of the tribute
to Knussen will be the premiere of his
unfinished orchestral work Cleveland
Pictures. A clutch of climate-change
works includes Gregor A Mayrhofer’s
intriguing Recycling Concerto, featuring
hundreds of pieces of rubbish refash-
ioned as percussion. As Wright says:
“No standing still.”
Aldeburgh Festival 2022, June 3-26
brittenpearsarts.org
Vivi Vassileva
will play Gregor
A Mayrhofer’s
‘Recycling
Concerto’ on
instruments
made from
repurposed
rubbish
Arab developers who can question ster-
eotypes and by funding games made in
the Arab world, which is slowly starting
to happen. The other is trickier because
it involves a wider cultural shift. “We
need people to understand the Arab
world is a place that has beautiful stories
of love, laughter, happiness and sad-
ness,” says Ismail, “stories that aren’t in
service to a hero from the outside com-
ing to rescue us.”
There have been signs of improve-
ment in recent years. There are repre-
sentations of Arabs in games such as
Tekken, Street Fighter and Overwatch that
are somewhat nuanced. The playable
character of Farah in 2019’s Call of Duty:
Modern Warfare (a series which was a
prime offender in previous iterations) is
an example of positive representation.
Others, such as Layla in Assassin’s Creed
and Faridah in Deus Ex, are solid heroes,
yet as Arab characters who are clearly
westernised, they fit another reductive
stereotype: the “good Muslim”.
The conversation around Arab repre-
sentation has been gaining traction in
the media, which is a positive start. Ear-
lier this year, gamers and developers
raised $900,000 to support Palestine as
part of a charity game drive by platform
Itch.io. “There is slowly a push for bet-
ter,” says Ismail, “because the games
industry has started to realise that what
we do matters. We are the cultural
medium that defines how youth and
teenagers see the world.”
Wednesday 15 December 2021
The European Central Bank has sounded more dovish than most about withdrawing pandemic stimulus
measures. But the jump in inflation and the resurgence of Covid are putting it under growing pressure.
A
s Christine Lagarde
unveiled plans last week to
redesign euro banknotes
for the first time since their
launch two decades ago, the
European Central Bank president said
they were “a tangible and visible symbol
that we stand together in Europe, par-
ticularly in times of crisis”.
Lagarde’s comment underlines her
pride in the united approach taken by
European nations and policymakers to
tackle the economic fallout from the
coronavirus pandemic and — so far at
least — prevent it from spiralling into a
repeat of the region’s 2012 debt crisis,
which threatened to tear the currency
union apart.
However, the hardest challenge for
the ECB still lies ahead. Having overseen
the biggest injection of monetary stimu-
lus in the history of Europe’s single cur-
rency, including the €2.2tn purchase of
mostly government bonds and a similar
amount of heavily subsidised loans to
banks, the central bank is now prepar-
ing to start scaling back its support.
Most central banks have already
started to withdraw the generous stimu-
lus policies they introduced to lower
borrowing costs and shield economies
from the fallout of the pandemic. But
the ECB — still scarred by criticism of
having raised interest rates too soon in
the last crisis — is more reluctant than
most to wind back its support, having
struggled until recently with years of
sluggish growth.
The eurozone has the added compli-
cation that unlike the US Federal
Reserve or the Bank of England, the ECB
has to make policies for 19 different
countries, each with its own economy
and — crucially — bond market. So any
shift by the ECB to a less accommoda-
tive policy risks reawakening the
region’s old financial tensions by push-
ing up financing costs for weaker gov-
ernments — in particular Italy — and
stifling its nascent economic rebound.
Managing the recovery phase
requires a delicate balancing act by
Lagarde and her fellow policymakers as
they try to avoid the mistakes the ECB
made when it prematurely raised inter-
est rates in 2011 just as the region’s debt
crisis was erupting.
However, if the ECB waits too long to
reverse its stimulus it risks losing credi-
bility and being forced into an even
more painful policy correction later on.
This could happen if inflation does not
fall back below the bank’s main objec-
tive of 2 per cent as fast as it expects,
having already hit a new eurozone
record high of 4.9 per cent in November.
Most analysts expect the ECB to con-
tinue buying bonds and keep interest
rates deep in negative territory at least
until 2023, especially after it accepted in
a strategy review that inflation could
exceed its target for a period.
“This is crunch time for the ECB,
because if they lose patience when infla-
tion is about to peak, they risk under-
mining the conclusions of their strategy
review and with that, the stability of the
bond market,” says Frederik Ducrozet,
strategist at Pictet Wealth Management.
Vítor Constâncio, a former vice-presi-
dent of the ECB who is now finance pro-
fessor at the University of Navarra in
Madrid, says “the situation is becoming
more difficult for the ECB”.
He adds: “The big question is how
smoothly the ECB will prepare the after-
math of the pandemic and the gradual
winding down of asset purchases.”
Covid complications
When the ECB meets tomorrow,
Lagarde is expected to announce the
first step in the process of slowly with-
drawing its stimulus by outlining plans
to end net bond purchases in March
under the €1.85tn pandemic emergency
purchase programme (PEPP), which it
launched when the virus hit last year.
Complicating its decision is the arrival
of the more infectious Omicron corona-
virus variant at a time when the Covid
infection rate had already risen to new
highs in many parts of Europe.
The return to varying levels of lock-
down is expected to hit eurozone
growth, which had been on track to
recover from last year’s record postwar
recession by the end of this year. At the
same time, the latest wave of the virus is
also likely to accentuate the supply
chain bottlenecks that have already
caused vast backlogs of containers at
ports and steep increases in the prices of
many goods — all of which could keep
inflation higher for longer.
After eurozone economic output
shrank by a record 6.5 per cent last year,
the EU has forecast it will increase 5 per
cent this year and 4.3 per cent next year
— by far the highest levels of growth
since the single currency was launched
over 20 years ago. Brussels also predicts
inflation in the bloc will stay above the
ECB’s 2 per cent target for a second con-
secutive year in 2022 — the first time
that will have happened for a decade.
The ECB is set to raise its own inflation
★ FINANCIAL TIMES
FT BIG READ. EU ECONOMY
By Martin Arnold and Tommy Stubbington
Crunch time for the ECB
ECB president forecasts this week, but it seems deter-
Christine mined to avoid any sudden policy
Lagarde is reversal. When the central bank slowed
expected to its bond purchases in September,
announce the Lagarde denied it was starting to “taper”
first step in the them down to zero, echoing the late UK
process of prime minister Margaret Thatcher by
withdrawing the saying “the lady isn’t tapering”. This
pandemic month she pledged to “ensure condi-
stimulus this tions remain favourable” for financing
week, although
analysts believe
governments, households and firms and
described the recent surge in inflation as
the bank will a “hump” that would decline next year.
move slowly to All this means the ECB looks increas-
avoid financial ingly like a “dovish” outlier compared
fragmentation with many central banks. In response to
FT montage; Bloomberg a stronger surge in inflation than they
expected, the Fed and BoE are this week
expected to signal they will stop asset
purchases and prepare to raise interest
rates in the next few months. In con-
trast, the ECB has indicated it expects to
keep buying bonds for all of next year
and Lagarde said it was “highly
unlikely” to start raising interest rates
before 2023 at the earliest.
Analysts expect the ECB to reduce the
“cliff edge” in its bond-buying after the
PEPP ends in March by ramping up an
older quantitative easing scheme, which
is still hoovering up €20bn of assets a
month. It could do this by increasing
monthly purchases under the older
scheme to about €40bn or by adding an
extra “envelope” of several hundred bil-
lion euros to spend over the rest of 2022.
“Given the ECB has made the mistake
in the past of tightening too fast it is
going to err on the side of caution this
time,” says Maria Demertzis, deputy
director of the think-tank Bruegel. “If
they increase interest rates too fast that
will create a direct threat of financial
fragmentation while we are still in quite
a vulnerable stage of recovery — the US
and UK don’t have that concern.”
Many share Demertzis’s concern
about financial fragmentation, whereby
the borrowing costs of weaker eurozone
countries could rise much higher than
those of safer ones, which stems from
the fundamental weakness at the heart
of the single currency: it is a monetary
union without a fiscal union or a fully
unified banking system.
Bond markets are already jittery about the end of PEPP
Gap between Italian and German 10-year bond yields (percentage points)
Mario Draghi pledges to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro
Pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) is launched
ECB begins
quantitative easing
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Source: Refinitiv
The same faultline was exposed in the
region’s sovereign debt crisis, when
investor fears about high government
debt levels and toxic bank loans pushed
up borrowing costs for countries in
Europe’s periphery and forced several of
them to turn to the EU for bailouts,
including Greece, Spain, Ireland and
Portugal.
“What is different for the ECB com-
pared to the Fed and the Bank of Eng-
land is that there is a risk of financial
fragmentation in the eurozone,” says
Spyros Andreopoulos, senior European
economist at BNP Paribas who used to
work on monetary policy at the ECB. “It
is not democratically legitimised to
share large-scale financial risks by using
its balance sheet.”
However, even though debt levels
have again shot up to new highs across
the eurozone, economists believe a sim-
ECB board member
Isabel Schnabel
says the bank’s
actions encourage
‘excessive risk
taking’
ilar crisis is less likely to happen this
time. This is mainly because the EU now
has a much more supportive fiscal posi-
tion after launching a €800bn recovery
fund. This innovative scheme enables
Brussels to issue debt centrally and send
the money to member states to boost
their post-pandemic economic pros-
pects by investing in new green energy
and digital projects.
“Europe has more instruments now
to address a situation like the one we
faced a decade ago, so it will take a much
bigger asymmetric shock to cause a sim-
ilar crisis,” says Lorenzo Bini Smaghi,
chair of French bank Société Générale
who was on the ECB executive board.
When the pandemic first hit last year,
Lagarde got off to a stuttering start.
Asked what the central bank could do to
support governments as their econo-
mies shut down in March 2020, she said
it was not the ECB’s job to “close
spreads” — referring to the extra inter-
est that weaker eurozone members
Eurozone countries will have to grapple with sovereign
debt accumulated during the pandemic
Government net debt as a % of GDP
5
Italy
150
140
4 130
120
3
110
100
90
80
2 70
60
50
1 40
30
20
0 10
2021 2010 15 20 24 2010 15
Source: IMF
have to pay relative to Germany when
they sell new debt.
Her comment sent euro area bond
markets into a tailspin. Investors sud-
denly doubted the ECB’s commitment
to holding the eurozone together at a
moment of crisis. Italy, by far the most
indebted of the bloc’s big economies,
bore the brunt of the bond sell-off.
The episode prompted a swift
rethink. Lagarde quickly rowed back
from the remarks and later that month
the ECB unveiled the much larger PEPP.
The rearguard action calmed the mar-
kets after a few weeks of volatility, and
Italy’s bond yields sank for the rest of
the year.
“Governments had to do massive fis-
cal stimulus,” says Salman Ahmed, head
of strategic asset allocation at Fidelity
International. “The role of the ECB was
to make sure they could borrow at a rate
that makes it affordable.”
But this role for asset purchases, even
if it was never made explicit by the ECB,
raises awkward questions as it plots an
exit from pandemic stimulus, which has
led the ECB to buy more than the total
net debt issued by eurozone govern-
ments for the past two years.
Despite investors’ positive perception
of the Italian government — led by
former ECB president Mario Draghi —
Italy’s €2.3tn bond market remains the
favoured playground for investors look-
ing to speculate on renewed fragilities.
The biggest worry for some ECB-
watchers is that Italy could be plunged
back into political instability if Draghi
steps up early next year to become pres-
ident of Italy, which could trigger new
elections that Eurosceptic rightwing
parties, including Matteo Salvini’s
League and the far-right Brothers of
Italy, are favourites to win.
“There is the possibility of a Salvini
government in coalition with the Broth-
ers of Italy next year and that could be a
big problem,” warned Constâncio, who
was Draghi’s deputy at the ECB until
2018. “A mild increase in government
bond yields is in general acceptable,” he
said. “But if peripheral spreads move a
lot higher the threat of financial frag-
mentation will require national and
GDP Eurozone
Spain France
20 24 2010 15 20 24 2010 15
17
‘Given the European policymakers to respond.”
The sheer size of Rome’s borrowing —
ECB has amounting to more than 155 per cent of
made the GDP — means a move above 2 percent-
age points on Italian spreads would
mistake in reawaken concerns about debt sustain-
the past of ability, according to Ahmed.
The other problem for Lagarde is that
tightening extra bond-buying is increasingly diffi-
too fast, it is cult to justify with inflation running well
going to err above target. Any sign that the more
conservative “hawks” are gaining the
on the side upper hand could see investors again
of caution question the ECB president’s commit-
ment to controlling sovereign spreads.
this time’ “The market’s got into its head that
it’s going to see additional purchases to
replace PEPP,” says Mark Dowding,
‘Europe has chief investment officer at BlueBay
Asset Management. “If they don’t
more deliver that there’s a chance the spread
instruments in Italy will blow out again.”
The recent surge in inflation to levels
to address a not seen for more than 20 years has also
situation like fuelled rising criticism of the ECB, par-
ticularly in richer countries such as Ger-
the one a many, where its ultra-loose monetary
decade ago, policy has been subject to several legal
so it will take challenges and suspicions it is support-
ing profligate southern governments at
a bigger the expense of prudent northern savers.
shock to Christian Lindner, the new German
finance minister, said last week the gov-
cause a ernment was “sensitive to avoid a situa-
similar crisis’ tion of fiscal dominance in the future”,
referring to the fear that the ECB could
be unwilling to withdraw its stimulus
due to a fear of pushing up borrowing
costs for heavily indebted governments.
“The central bank must also be able to
respond to monetary developments
with its instruments,” he added.
Bild Zeitung, the top-selling German
tabloid newspaper, warned recently
that “prices are skyrocketing, our pur-
chasing power is melting away”, and put
the blame squarely on “Madame Infla-
tion” — a reference to Lagarde.
Sentiment at the ECB also seems to be
shifting against further large-scale bond
buying, with Isabel Schnabel, the Ger-
man board member responsible for
market operations, last week arguing
that it has pumped up the price of many
assets, including residential housing, to
dangerous levels and encouraged
“excessive risk taking”.
But some investors think the central
bank can still keep bond yields in check
Germany without having to commit upfront to
buy hundreds of billions more in assets.
Forecast
Christian Kopf, head of fixed income at
German asset manager Union Invest-
ment, says the ECB should announce a
new programme that will intervene in
markets only if there is a “dislocation”.
Europe’s response to the pandemic
has so far been more unified and potent
than in previous crises, but the true test
will be how it manages the recovery. On
Thursday, the ECB will take the first ten-
tative steps towards that objective and
20 24 Lagarde will be hoping to bring inves-
tors along for the ride.
18
WEDNESDAY 15 DECEMBER 2021
Beijing turns inward as
US decoupling gains pace
SenseTime and Evergrande cases lead to a ‘Fortress China’ approach
Corporate developments in the US and
China this month tell a clear story of
superpower separation. The US black-
listing of SenseTime, a leading Chinese
artificial intelligence company, and a
decision by Didi, China’s answer to
Uber, to delist from the New York Stock
Exchange share the same antecedents.
As strategic mistrust intensifies at state
level, corporate China’s fundraising
bonanza on Wall Street is being
brought to a close. This is no small
thing: according to the US-China Eco-
nomic and Security Review Commis-
sion, there were 248 Chinese compa-
nies listed in the US as of May this year,
worth a total of $2.1tn.
Such listings, to varying degrees,
appear vulnerable — thanks to the
deep-rooted nature of the suspicion
that is throwing superpower ties into
the freezer. Both Beijing and Washing-
ton are seized by a desire to decouple,
especially where strategic interests and
sensitive data are in play. Didi, which in
June launched the biggest listing by a
Chinese company in the US since Ali-
baba in 2014, incurred the wrath of
Chinese regulators who worried that
the ride-hailing company’s vast trove
of mapping and other sensitive data
might fall into foreigners’ hands.
The US decision to blacklist Sense-
Time this month was also driven by
security concerns. Washington added
SenseTime to a list of 59 Chinese
defence and surveillance technology
companies that President Joe Biden in
June banned Americans from investing
in. The impact of SenseTime’s inclu-
sion was swift. Within days, the Chi-
nese company said it would postpone
the $767m initial public offering in
Hong Kong and issue a revised prospec-
tus before reviving the offering “soon”.
At the heart of Washington’s move is
an understandable antipathy towards
US investors supporting a company
that is enmeshed in China’s “military
The Bank of England
should wait for clarity
New virus variant means outlook is still too confused for first rate rise
If it were not for the Omicron variant of
the coronavirus, the Bank of England’s
monetary policy committee should
vote to raise rates at its meeting this
week. Labour market data, published
since the Bank held off on a rate rise in
November, has been strong. The fig-
ures cover the period since the end of
furlough, and demonstrate that termi-
nating the job support scheme had
little impact on what, so far, has been
a jobs-rich recovery. In October the
number of unemployed workers for
each vacancy, a traditional measure
of labour market tightness, fell to a
record low.
In normal times that would deci-
sively tilt the argument about the
appropriate stance of monetary policy
towards gradually reducing the pace of
stimulus, with the first rate rise being
small but an indication of the direction
of travel.
Omicron, however, has injected a
further dose of uncertainty and pro-
vided a compelling argument that the
central bank should wait for more
information about its epidemiological
characteristics and the effectiveness of
existing vaccines. Indeed Michael
Saunders, among the more hawkish
members of the MPC, has already indi-
cated that the new variant has changed
his calculations about the balance of
risks facing the central bank. He is
right, and there is not much for the BoE
to lose by waiting until its February
meeting to press ahead with rate rises.
The effect of Omicron on inflation is
unclear. Closures overseas may inten-
sify bottlenecks — as well as extending
the switch from purchases of services
to goods, which has helped fuel some
shortages. But it could also reduce
some forms of spending. Cancelled
Christmas parties and office workers
staying at home will, no doubt, reduce
job vacancies in inner-city hospitality
and retail. There will be bargains for
industrial complex”, and which the US
accuses of enabling human rights
abuses against Muslim Uyghurs in
northwestern Xinjiang province.
Much more difficult is to know where
such concerns should end. China is
deploying a “whole-of-society” effort
to attain leadership in AI. It has
launched a “civil-military fusion” strat-
egy under which even private compa-
nies can be ordered to hand over key
technology and data to serve the aims
of the People’s Liberation Army. The
effect of such broad and opaque Chi-
nese policies is to enable US suspicion
towards all but the most low-tech com-
panies, widening the cleavage between
America Inc and corporate China.
All this is feeding the conservative
urges already evident in Beijing’s treat-
ment of the debt-laden property devel-
oper Evergrande. It is notable that the
slow unravelling of one of China’s big-
gest privately owned enterprises is
being orchestrated by state actors.
Four out of seven seats on a committee
set up to manage Evergrande’s risks are
held by representatives of state-owned
companies controlled by central gov-
ernment or regional governments in
southern Guangdong province.
Thus, a vision of China’s future is tak-
ing shape. A mutual decoupling is
emphasising China’s turn inward and
its elevation of state actors to form a
bulwark against both domestic vulner-
abilities and mistrusted foreign forces.
A Fortress China is under construction.
The momentum behind this regret-
table metamorphosis is strong. But Bei-
jing should remember the extraordi-
nary success of the last four decades
was built, to a large degree, on an “open
door” policy with the outside world.
The influx of investment, technology
and knowledge from overseas helped
mightily in its ascent. With a rebound
from recent protectionist tendencies, it
could continue to do so in future.
last-minute plane tickets. On the other
hand, job applicants could be put off by
the risk of infection or the possibility
that the reimposition of restrictions in
response to subsequent variants could
see the sector struggle once again. The
overall effect on prices will depend on
the relative strength of these effects,
internationally as well as domestically.
The new variant is likely to soften
growth. Britain’s recovery from the
pandemic was already slowing before
the variant was first sequenced in
South Africa. Data published on Friday
showed that economic growth slowed
to a crawl in October. Much of this was
due to supply bottlenecks, with con-
struction and manufacturing slowing
down in particular. Omicron will
spread the slowdown to the services
sector, especially after the government
changed its guidance to encourage
working from home. Voluntary social
distancing, too, will hurt hospitality.
Monetary easing, at this point, can
do little to help. Fiscal policy — govern-
ment spending — is the right way to
support the economy. There is unlikely
to be a repeat of anything close to the
furlough scheme, with the Treasury
already concerned about the costs of
the original scheme. Loans or grants,
however, can be targeted more directly
at the businesses that will suffer the
most from further restrictions.
The MPC cannot wait too long for the
fog to clear. Bumps along the road to a
full recovery were always inevitable.
While the added disruption from the
Omicron variant will prove transitory,
there are signs that the public’s expec-
tations of inflation are becoming
“unmoored”. A survey of inflation
expectations by the central bank, also
published on Friday, found that the
public’s expectations for price rises
over the next year have jumped. For
now the BoE should wait, but it needs
to stand ready to act.
★ FINANCIAL TIMES
Letters
Bond markets are stuck in old ways for a reason
I read with interest the article “The
next quant revolution” (Big Read,
December 8). As an old bond market
hand, over 20 years ago I remember
patiently explaining to enthusiastic
Instinet executives why the corporate
bond market would be very slow to
adopt electronic trading. Still today
some of the market resists.
While I welcome all efforts to drag
the sector into the digital trading age,
the article did not really mention two
key reasons for the survival of the old
ways. First, most corporate bonds are
Trade deals have a role in
making planet habitable
I have long been a fan of Alan Beattie’s
contrarian take on trade policy, but I
fear his cynicism got the better of him
in his recent opinion column (“Biden’s
trade policy is crafted with political
rewards in mind”, Opinion, December
13).
He notes the climate rationale for the
latest EU-US green steel deal, but
delves no further, instead casting this
historic deal as a more traditional
instance of trade protection that might
change market shares by a fraction of a
percentage point.
Here’s a more salient number: the
steel industry is on track to consume
50 per cent of the world’s carbon
budget by 2050.
Decarbonising this and other heavy
industries could make the difference
between a habitable and inhabitable
world.
Policy (trade and otherwise) can and
should play a role in addressing this
enormous problem, and reams of social
science research have pointed to the
importance of sectoral, country-by-
country bargains (like the recent EU-
US deal) as a modality for doing so.
These are deeply serious challenges
that merit serious examination.
Todd N Tucker
Director of Governance Studies
Roosevelt Institute, New York, NY, US
Felixstowe outperforms
other parts of supply chain
Your article “Leading shipping lines
divert vessels away from UK’s
Felixstowe port” (Report, December
10) missed a couple of important
points. The increased time ships spend
in port is a direct consequence of
greater volumes of cargo being handled
on each ship. As ships get bigger so
does the volume each carries. Since
2019, the average amount of cargo
handled per ship has increased by over
30 per cent. Set against that, a 20 per
cent increase in port stay does not look
unreasonable. In fact, UK local cargo
volume through Felixstowe is up 7.5 per
cent over last year.
The Maersk and Mediterranean
Shipping Company AE7 service that
has moved to Wilhelmshaven has done
so as a result of the greater demand for
cargo in to Felixstowe and the UK. The
shipping lines have shifted these
volumes to a second smaller service to
create more space, and to minimise the
impact on their schedules and to meet
UK customers’ demands.
The containers from that second
smaller service are moved back to
Felixstowe on another vessel a few days
later. In addition, we are working with
the shipping lines to return this service
Nothing says
‘Christmas’
like the festive
buzz of a
holiday job
Notebook
by Laura Noonan
woefully illiquid. Second, this so-called
$40tn market is in fact a myriad of far
smaller, fragmented niches of highly
specialised bonds, each with their own
story and characteristics. One element
the article does correctly identify is the
lack of data, the life blood of quant
work. However, if bonds hardly trade,
data are missing.
The fixed income markets, as we
found in the crisis of 2008, are still
generally poorly understood. The value
of any bond is a combination of
intrinsic creditworthiness combined
with a direct call at Felixstowe as soon
as possible while other Asian services
of Maersk and MSC continue their
regular weekly calls.
Despite the challenges posed by
Covid and haulier shortages, by
working closely with customers we
have ensured that supply chains
remain open and delays attributable to
port performance are minimal
compared with other parts of the
supply chain.
Chris Lewis
Chief Executive, Hutchison Ports Port of
Felixstowe, Felixstowe, Suffolk, UK
A simple solution to
easing inflation woes
We are bombarded with news daily
about inflation in the US and what the
Federal Reserve may or may not do
(Report, December 14).
Consumers are suffering from higher
prices for consumer items (mostly
made in China) and higher petrol
prices. Demand is outstripping supply
due to logistics issues, and prices keep
increasing. It is never mentioned in the
multitude of articles about inflation
but there is one simple solution:
remove the tariffs on goods from
China.
These tariffs are being paid by the
consumer, not by the suppliers in
China. The US government knows this
but keeps quiet on the subject.
There is no way that the Chinese
manufacturers could absorb these
tariffs (up to 25 per cent) with their
very tight margins which have been
squeezed by their US customers. So
they are paid by the importers and
passed directly on to the consumer.
The solution to inflation is there, but
the US government refuses to
acknowledge it or act on it.
Gershon Dorfman
Hong Kong
There are certain Christmas songs
which will always take me back to the
clothes shop in Dublin where I worked
in my university holidays. The four
winters I spent running around the
floors of Next clothing, I discovered
that nothing rivals the pulse of a shop
as the festive season enters full swing.
Though I probably shouldn’t admit it
in the newspaper that now employs
me, these were probably the fondest
memories of my working life. Every
Christmas, I briefly wish I could trade
places with my teenage self.
I know my recollections of that time
are hued with nostalgia. The same can
be said for an FT colleague who so
loved his part-time job selling school
uniforms in London’s Peter Jones
department store that he seriously
considered signing up for their
management trainee scheme. But
witnessing the Polish uprising while
on holiday whetted his appetite for
global affairs, and the rest is history.
Still, the memory of £20 tips from
wealthy foreigners, the joy of the
store, and the camaraderie with
colleagues from all walks of life has
never left him. “Nothing quite
matched that, ever,” he says, more
than forty years and many career
accomplishments later.
A lot has changed since his day and
mine. His part-time job came with a
heavily-subsidised staff bar. Mine, in
the early 2000s, coincided with the
headiest years of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger
economic boom. Holiday work was
easy to come by, and customers had
plenty of money to spend. As our
If you are not satisfied with the FT’s response to your complaint, you can appeal
to the FT Editorial Complaints Commissioner: complaints.commissioner@ft.com
with its liquidity, liquidity itself a
function of the willingness and ability
of investors to trade an instrument.
In illiquid markets, human traders,
who can still take a bet on liquidity,
remain a feature of this large but
quirky market. For reference, the
International Capital Market
Association has done some good work
on this. Quants — good luck with your
revolution.
Tim Skeet
UK Regional Chair, ICMA
London SW19, UK
A UK diplomatic boycott
of Winter Olympics is futile
Robert Zoellick’s distinguished career
as US trade representative, deputy
secretary of state and then head of the
World Bank has given him a clear view
of the global geopolitical picture.
You published his article entitled
“Biden must build on his dialogue with
Xi” (Opinion, December 9) the day
before the UK government announced
that it would not be sending diplomatic
representatives to the Winter Olympics
in Beijing.
What does Britain’s action achieve? It
pleases the Americans, and British
China hawks like Sir Iain Duncan
Smith MP, and it upsets China, who
responded by promising retaliation.
What else? Nothing, except making
Britain’s long-term relationship with
the rising power of the 21st century
more difficult.
Britain’s long-term ally, the US, sees
China as an existential threat to its
global hegemony.
Should the British be following the
US in a stand-off with China, which can
only damage Britain’s standing and
economy? Or should Britain take some
advice from Zoellick, and try to find
constructive ways to engage with
China?
To paraphrase Zoellick, it is the
British government who “will have to
choose between indulging China hawks
or achieving results”. To me, and
doubtless to many others, the answer
seems obvious.
Giles Chance
London W1, UK
Xi has technologies the
emperors never had
To understand China without studying
its 3,000-plus year history and
dynasties is akin to deciphering the
west without understanding the
enlightenment period starting in the
1600s (“Xi faces the dilemma of
China’s imperial rulers”, Opinion,
December 10).
In that context, James Kynge’s
punchline that President Xi Jinping
“must strike an age-old balance”
between the need “to get things done”
and to keep his flock “disunited enough
to enfeeble their resistance” misses one
game-changing advantage Xi has that
the past emperors didn’t — technology
and artificial intelligence.
Both are being deployed at a massive
scale and complexity for good (Covid
test and trace) and bad (facial
recognition) reasons. Either way, it is
letting Xi and his party get “things
done” bypassing and purging
“unhelpful elites”.
Padmesh Shukla
London SM2, UK
crisis-time finance minister, the late
Brian Lenihan, so memorably put it,
“we all partied”.
Today’s students are not so lucky. A
walk around Dublin reveals homeless
people queueing for food a few doors
down from the Next store where I
worked. It is one of a handful of
homeless cafés which has erupted
over the city as the pandemic has
tipped many struggling residents into
poverty.
One student describes having
handing out 20 CVs in recent years
and only getting one response. That
was before Covid. Another describes
how the pandemic led to staff
shortages and uncertainty about
hours, amid ever-changing rules on
openings.
Recent supply chain woes, which
led to stripped shelves and frustrated
customers, has made the mood on
shop floors today very different to the
one I remember. I go to another Next
store across Dublin. Less than four
weeks before Christmas, there are
only a handful of people in the store.
The buzz of my retail past — when
finding sizes, ushering people into
fitting rooms, bagging up clothes, and
entertaining bored children, meant
being part of so many Christmases —
is notably absent. Now, Next plc tells
me, online shopping has led to a step
change in how the holiday season
works in retail. Next takes on
“dramatically” fewer seasonal staff in
high street stores than it did in my
day. What was a rite of passage for
many of us is becoming an
Wednesday 15 December 2021
Email: letters.editor@ft.com
Include daytime telephone number and full address
Corrections: corrections@ft.com
Qatar’s labour reforms will
outlast the World Cup
In your article “Qatar under fire over
conditions for migrant workers”
(Report, FT.com, December 13) there
is no real acknowledgment of the
context and speed with which Qatar
has been carrying out reforms.
The changes are structural — and
permanent — and will not end when
the football World Cup is over.
In playing host, we opened our doors
to the world and have taken on
constructive criticism with respect and
ambition. We have however to set the
record straight by adding the data that
are missing.
We are the first country in the region
with an International Labour
Organization office, whose mandate
will continue beyond 2022. Working
with the ILO, we introduced laws in
line with international best practice.
The next step has been to ensure that
changes are fully implemented by
shifting the deeply ingrained cultural
attitudes of employers.
While everyone was convinced it was
impossible to abolish “kafala” — the
system whereby employers acted as
“sponsor” and had the power to deport
workers and to give permission for
expatriates to leave the country — we
managed to do just that.
The concept of a minimum wage was
well received, and now it is monitored
through electronic payments and we
plan to increase it. A total of 338
businesses were suspended for not
respecting working hours this summer
during the hottest months.
We are committed to fulfilling lasting
reforms, and our record on the ground
shows exactly that.
Ali bin Samikh Al Marri
Qatari Minister of Labour, Doha, Qatar
English could do with
a neuter pronoun too
With reference to Michael Poyner’s
letter “Three-letter word strikes chord
for lovers of ‘la langue française’”
(December 4), English could do with a
neuter pronoun. “They” does not do it,
and “he/she” is awful. I propose “ho”.
Thus, ho (subject), hor (possessive),
home (direct and indirect object) and
homself (reflexive).
Also, Anglo-American language
standards should be unified. The FT
could lead the way with such spellings
as color, labor, traveler and skeptic —
the recommendation of Samuel (Dr)
Johnson, the 18th-century
lexicographer. Labelling spellings as
“American” or “British” is ridiculous.
Robert Craig
Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, UK
Extrapolating infection
rates produces odd results
It is estimated that there are already
200,000 cases of Omicron in the UK
and infections are doubling every two
days (Report, FT.com, December 13).
Should this be correct, in just over two
weeks everyone in the country will
have had Omicron and by New Year
many will have recovered.
This might mess up the vaccination
booster programme. However if
everyone has Omicron, no one can be
vaccinated for 28 days and by the time
the vaccination programme is
supposed to be completed, everyone
will have had Omicron anyway. Or
maybe the assumptions are wrong . . .
Barrie Bain
Wadhurst, East Sussex, UK
increasingly rare opportunity.
Some, whose memories of
Christmas counter service are less
favourable than mine, might say that’s
no bad thing. But I will forever
disagree. My favourite Christmas
memory is still bound up with the
camaraderie of a festive all-nighter. At
Next, all staff had to work some part
of Christmas Eve. The country
students who wanted to get home in
time for the celebratory build-up
usually took a shift that began the
evening of the 23rd and finished at
dawn. We’d work through the night,
ticketing shoes and tops and dresses
for the post-Christmas sales.
I remember the boxes of
Celebrations and Quality Street
sweets. I remember my beloved
Christmas tape blaring throughout the
store. I remember how we sang, and
laughed, and ate, and put red dots on
labels so we’d know what was in the
sale and what wasn’t. I remember one
year, using some of the money I’d
earned with all those holiday shifts to
buy a DVD player on the way to my
Christmas shift, and feeling like Santa
bringing it home to my mother, sister
and brother.
I remember making my way to
Dublin’s main train station on
Christmas Eve mornings when it was
still dark out, and embarking on the
two-hour journey to my hometown,
where I’d arrive in the late morning,
drunk tired, bleary eyed and never
happier the whole rest of the year.
laura.noonan@ft.com
Wednesday 15 December 2021
A MER ICA
Janan
Ganesh
Y
ou will have seen it play out
on the news so often as to
become cliché. A bereaved
person embarks on a cru-
sade against whichever dis-
ease, crime or public safety hazard
claimed their loved one. A campaign is
set up. Donations roll in. What moti-
vates their efforts is a sincere desire to
spare others from the same grief. But so
does a deep psychic need to claw back
control. Having been done to and acted
upon by a capricious world, the feeling
of agency, however brief, soothes them.
Nations too have losses to process.
Whether or not China ever surpasses it,
the US has been bereaved of its 1990s
unipolarity. It copes with the trauma by
dwelling on what could have been done
Global markets
are delivering
the goods
ECONOMY
Martin
Sandbu
I
f one word captures the main eco-
nomic takeaway from the pan-
demic, it is surely “shortages”.
From March 2020 on, our global
economic system seems to have
failed us over and over again: first una-
ble to supply the requisite amount of
personal protective equipment, then
vaccine manufacturing inputs, the vac-
cines themselves, commodities and raw
materials, semiconductors, and the host
of durable goods that depend on them,
and most recently energy.
The economic consequence — infla-
tion — has come harder and faster than
most people expected, but not as hard
and fast as the political conclusions
many observers and leaders saw fit to
deduce: that neither globalisation nor
capitalism is fit for purpose. Globalisa-
tion, because it eroded national control
over the supply of vital goods. Capital-
ism, because private companies
designed their production for “just in
time” rather than “just in case” consid-
erations, prioritising efficiency in nor-
mal times over resilience in extraordi-
nary ones.
These judgments were touted loudly
early in the pandemic, and have
inspired policy ever since. All the big
economic powers, and many smaller
Ofgem must go much further in regulating energy suppliers
Jonathan
Brearley
I
n less than half a year, the global
energy market has changed beyond
recognition, and it continues to
evolve. This is a huge shock, and is
by no means over, with energy bills
surging across the whole of Europe.
Just last month, amid a widening
global energy supply crisis, gas
prices were five times higher than a year
ago. This rise affects everyone, particu-
larly in a system like Britain’s, where
gas heats our homes and plays a large
role in electricity generation.
As Citizens Advice highlighted last
week, the energy retail market was not
resilient enough — certainly not to deal
with an economic shock of this magni-
tude. Ofgem needs to go much further in
its regulation of energy suppliers, and
fast.
We have already introduced higher
standards for new energy suppliers.
The US is not responsible for China’s rise
about it. If only China had not been
waved into the World Trade Organiza-
tion 20 Decembers ago. If only succes-
sive White Houses had not been so cred-
ulous in their dealings with Beijing. The
recriminations go back to 1949, when,
as some Republicans still fancy, the US
“lost” China to communism.
On the surface, this self-reproach
looks courageous and honest. In fact, it
is the easy way out. The alternative is to
admit that the much larger and older
country was bound for world eminence
(again) once it began to open up under
Deng Xiaoping in the 1970s. The west
might have postponed its arrival at the
top table, at some cost. Preventing it
outright was never in its power.
Impotence is more painful to own up
to than guilt. The rest of the democratic
world finds it no easier than America.
“How the west invited China to eats its
lunch”, has the luridness and fake-
Everyman patter of a Fox News head-
line. It is in fact a BBC one, from last
week. Consider its two implications.
First, the WTO, in 2001, could
have plausibly blackballed a fifth of
ones, have acted to bend globalised cap-
italist production patterns towards
forms more within the reach of national
authorities.
There may be a case for such a policy
turn, but the main factual premise of the
new resilience-cum-autonomy doctrine
is false. The pandemic put capitalist glo-
balisation to the test, with sudden and
enormous surges in demand, and it
passed with flying colours.
Take durable goods. Headlines about
shortages are the only thing that seem in
ample supply, and everyone is experi-
encing delays in obtaining items, such as
cars, that could previously be had with
instant gratification. But the actual sup-
ply of durable goods is at record highs.
Since the summer of last year, American
consumers have been obtaining them in
volumes much larger than the pre-pan-
demic trend. Many EU economies,
including Germany, Italy and the Neth-
erlands, have also matched or exceeded
2019 levels of durable goods consump-
tion.
What about semiconductors? In a
short paper published a month ago,
Daniel Rees and Phurichai Rungcha-
roenkitkul of the Bank for International
Settlements showed that semiconduc-
tor exports from Taiwan and Korea in
2020 exceeded the volumes recorded in
2019, and 2021 exceeded 2020. Exports
currently appear to be running at a good
30 per cent above two years ago. The
BIS’s Hyun Song Shin has added that
semiconductor sales in the US are much
higher than in the years before the pan-
demic.
The same point holds for the goods
But the scale of recent failures, precipi-
tated by the wholesale price rises,
has highlighted the vital importance
of energy suppliers being more resilient
and having more sustainable business
models to manage risk. If we do
nothing, this damaging pattern will
continue.
Increased competition in energy sup-
ply, as recommended by the Competi-
tion and Markets Authority in 2016,
opened up the market, but the regula-
tions were not ready to weather a global
shock on this scale.
It is clear that any regulatory regime
needs to be allowed to effectively man-
age market shocks — and Ofgem’s price
cap has not always been sufficiently
flexible. Having seen this latest crisis
play out, I want these lessons to
be applied in real time, to build the mar-
ket we need for the future in a system-
atic way that understands all these com-
plex drivers.
Put simply, we need an urgent step
change to bring in the rules and regula-
tion needed to create a stronger, more
innovative and resilient energy market,
fit for the future so we can change the
★ FINANCIAL TIMES
Opinion
humanity that had just undergone a
generation of market-friendly reforms.
Second, doing so would have somehow
only stymied China, and not the west,
even though American and other com-
panies gorged on low-wage labour there
ever after.
If this were just academically wrong,
it need not detain us. But there are polit-
ical consequences to this fantasy. One
For the west to deny that
the rest of the world has a
mind of its own is to live
in a self-flattering delirium
theme that Donald Trump rode to the
White House was that US elites were
derelict and even complicit in China’s
rise. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W
Bush and Barack Obama are still held to
have sold out industrial America (but
not credited for the cheap consumer
goods that flowed into many of the same
households from a trading China). The
most relevant to the pandemic itself.
Recall that the panic around personal
protective equipment supplies, real as it
was, dissipated within a month or so.
The EU’s imports of test kits and protec-
tive garments grew by 20 and 40 per
cent, respectively.
And vaccines? There is much to criti-
cise about rich countries’ hoarding of
Covid-19 vaccines when they were in
scarce supply. But that is yesterday’s
problem. Analysts estimate that vaccine
makers are already producing more
than 1bn doses a month.
In sum: shortages? What shortages?
Of course, even these remarkable
increases have not always been enough
to satisfy soaring demand. But far from
failing us, the globalised capitalist pro-
duction system has delivered, ramping
up supplies in record time in response to
The pandemic put
capitalist globalisation
to the test, and it passed
with flying colours
way we run energy businesses for good.
As the regulator, I want to support
suppliers to manage risks, and to stamp
out bad practice when we see it.
Every time I speak to energy consum-
ers I hear that this is a worrying time,
and that action is required. At Ofgem,
our core purpose is to protect consum-
ers by making sure the market works in
their interests.
And Ofgem’s safety net has worked. I
We need to lessen the cost
to consumers of companies
failing by making the
market more resilient
am proud that we have protected 4m
customers, that no customer has been
left without an energy supplier,
and that credit balances have been
preserved.
We’ve given consumers certainty and
control over their bills and made mil-
lions available to vulnerable bill-payers.
But just as the price cap has protected
premise that a mighty China is some
kind of aberration, and not just a regres-
sion to the historic mean, props up a lot
of US populism.
Progressives have their own version of
this solipsism. A vicious civil war in the
Arabian Peninsula? Blame western
arms sales. Poverty in Africa? The Wash-
ington Consensus. Meltdown in Afghan-
istan? How dared we abandon it. Even
people of a liberal or centre-ground bent
have persuaded themselves that Russia
is autocratic because Kremlin-friendly
magnates are allowed to buy up Mayfair.
According to this view of the world,
nothing bad happens anywhere that
does not trace back to a western root. It
is a stab at global consciousness that
could not be any more parochial. It is a
pretence of humility that is actually the
most fantastical claim of omnipotence.
The west is forever confronting a
harsh “truth” (how guilty we are) in
order to duck a harsher one (how
marginal we are). To deny that the rest
of the world has a mind and will of its
own was strange enough in 1949, when
the US accounted for a large enough
one unexpected demand surge after
another.
So when we complain about short-
ages, we are really complaining that the
ramp-up wasn’t faster and smoother
still. We are oblivious to how much we
take for granted that sudden, unpre-
dicted, demand is satisfied instantane-
ously with no noticeable disruption.
That goes to show how thoroughly we
have internalised the global market’s
ability to do just that. Capitalist globali-
sation is suffering the reputational con-
sequences of its own success.
There are obvious qualifications to
make. Producing enough for all to share
does not ensure that everyone does get a
share: fair distribution is not one of capi-
talism’s strength. Governments have
helped co-ordinate, not to mention pay
for, production capacity — well-regu-
lated markets work best. And there is no
doubt a role for policy to ensure that
even short-term disruptions — such as
to PPE supplies in a pandemic — do not
happen.
But with due regard to those caveats,
what other social organisation of eco-
nomic production does anyone think
them from month-to-month price vola-
tility, we need to lessen the cost to con-
sumers of companies failing, by making
the market more resilient.
We need to go further on the meas-
ures we have already started to intro-
duce, and we need to go faster.
That’s why today I will be setting
out clear action in these areas, so that we
have robust stress testing for suppli-
ers so they can’t pass inappropriate risk
to consumers. This is an approach I
talked about earlier this month in the
House of Lords.
I w a n t t o s e e m o re c h e c k s
on staff working in significant
roles and better use of data to help us
regulate. We need a regime that can ena-
ble a sustainable market in order to pro-
mote our transition to net zero.
Consumers need a competitive, inno-
vative retail market where they get
their energy at a fair price, supplied
by companies who are resilient to
external forces. Moreover, this shift
needs to occur in parallel with
the change I am spearheading within
Ofgem to ensure we are set up for
success and can better deliver
share of global output to at least aspire
to shape distant events. To keep it up in
this century is to live in a self-flattering
delirium.
It also gives rise to a jarring intellec-
tual contradiction in Washington. China
hawks scold a generation or two of US
leadership for enabling its rise. Mike
Pompeo, while secretary of state,
seemed to wonder if even Richard
Nixon’s recognition of the “red” state in
1972 was naive. The trouble with this
surface toughness is that it suggests
China doesn’t have enough going for it to
prosper under its own steam. If so, why
the hawkishness? Why the eternal vigi-
lance and military largesse? China can-
not be an awesome century-long rival
and an unwitting creation of soft-
headed free-trade liberals all at once.
The truth is that no one takes China
more seriously than those who recog-
nise that it is too vast and ambitious to
have been contained for long, with or
without WTO membership. The real
hawks are the fatalists.
janan.ganesh@ft.com
could respond as well to the seesawing
global demand patterns of the last year-
and-three-quarters?
There is no reason to think renation-
alised supply chains — rolling back glo-
balisation — could scale up production
any faster than our current system. And
why should we expect a significantly
more state-directed production system
— rolling back capitalism — to be either
fairer or more resilient, given states’
failure to ensure adequate stockpiles
“just in case” or distribute vaccines
fairly across the world?
At best we can hope to tweak glo-
balised capitalism at the margins to
make it do even better. By all means,
invest in stockpiles or require firms to
diversify, explaining to taxpayers the
insurance rationale for the added cost —
but minimise it by sourcing from global
markets in good times. Boost public and
private investment and consider repat-
riating where national security requires
domestic control. But on the whole, the
pandemic’s lesson for global supply
chain policy is to leave well alone.
martin.sandbu@ft.com
our goals with pace and agility.
As I said, our priority has been, and
will always be, to act in the best interests
of energy consumers. The months
ahead will be difficult for many, and
we are working with the UK govern-
ment and energy companies to mitigate
the impact as much as we can, particu-
larly for the most vulnerable house-
holds.
We will never be able to shield con-
sumers from the full impact of whole-
sale energy price rises, and we do expect
these to be passed through to bills in
April, which will be extremely worry-
ing for customers already under finan-
cial pressure. We will do everything in
our power to help manage this situa-
tion.
However, with tighter, tougher regu-
lation we can put the retail energy mar-
ket in a more resilient position and so
leave it better able to withstand price
volatility. A strengthened and more
robust infrastructure will help us on our
way towards a net zero future.
The writer is chief executive of Ofgem, Great
Britain’s independent energy regulator
19
India’s farmers
movement
is a lesson in
democracy
Mukulika
Banerjee
N
arendra Modi was at US
president Joe Biden’s
democracy summit last
week emphasising the need
for countries to deliver on
the values enshrined in their constitu-
tions. Sensitivity, accountability, partic-
ipation and reform, India’s prime minis-
ter said, were the four pillars of demo-
cratic governance in his country. Even
as he uttered these words, tens of thou-
sands of farmers were camped at Delhi’s
borders, awaiting the repeal of three
agricultural laws his government had
pushed through parliament last year
without scrutiny.
The government said the measures
would improve rural incomes, but farm-
ers feared they would open the door to
crony capitalists and damage their live-
lihoods. They pointed out that the Modi
government did not understand how
agriculture worked and had forced the
laws on them. Over 379 days they had to
face down the government’s authoritar-
ian attempts to block their free move-
ment and intimidate them, while bot
factories attempted to discredit them
online as separatists and anti-nationals.
The victory, achieved through mobili-
sation, solidarity and persistence, was
important for checking India’s demo-
cratic backsliding. The real story of
India’s democracy was to be found not
in empty speeches but in the victory of
the farmers who forced the government
into retreat after a year-long protest.
Indian farmers brought the values
learned from farming — hard work,
endurance, vigilance and hope — to
So fixed was their resolve
that tear gas, blockades and
police violence only made
them more determined
their politics. The result was a formida-
ble mass movement that could not be
stopped even when the government dug
up the highways to stop their tractors
rumbling in to New Delhi. In the largest
and most sustained occupation in mod-
ern India’s history, the farmers and their
families set up vast camps over several
miles on four different corners of the
capital, refusing to budge until the laws
were repealed. So fixed was their resolve
that tear gas, water cannons, blockades
and police violence only made them
more determined.
They fought back with civility and
generosity, running the protest with dis-
cipline and efficiency, and welcoming
anyone who wished to join in. They took
turns to return home to work the land
and help extended families, while
women in the villages took greater
charge of farming. This high-stakes
strategy forced a public discussion on
the merits of the laws and whether they
were the right instrument to bring in the
admittedly much needed reform in
agriculture. Regardless of where one
stood on the issue, the occupation gen-
erated the sort of detailed public delib-
erations that, in a properly functioning
democracy, should have preceded the
drafting of the laws.
The crisis facing democracies is the
cynical use of democratic institutions to
curb democratic culture. In India, the
Modi government has seriously dis-
torted his country’s exemplary record of
holding free and fair elections, jailed
journalists and self-confessedly seeks to
destroy civil society groups. Opinions
are deliberately polarised, echo cham-
bers are fostered and dissent punished.
In this climate, people are unable to cre-
ate widespread solidarities among those
who are unafraid to ask uncomfortable
questions of elected governments.
The farmers’ movement in India is
salutary as it showed the only bulwark
against democratic backsliding is for
more, not less, political participation
from ordinary citizens. The farmers in
India, drawing on their own cultural
resources of their cultivating experi-
ence, rural life and religious community
showed this was possible, and vital.
Farmers and peasants aren’t usually
considered agents of change. Karl Marx
likened them to a sack of potatoes that
are together but apart, to indicate their
unsuitability for collective action. But
this month, the farmers of India made
for better representatives of democracy
than their own prime minister.
The writer is author of ‘Cultivating
Democracy: Politics and Citizenship in
Agrarian India’
20 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES Wednesday 15 December 2021

Rentokil/Terminix: rat king redux

The British hygiene group’s $6.7bn US acquisition caps a long record of dealmaking. The move will increase
Rentokil’s exposure to the US pest-control market, the world’s biggest. The roll-up strategy has been good
for shareholders so far.

Twitter: @FTLex
BT/Patrick Drahi:
tactics lost in translation
Invasions of the UK by continental
forces have had a low success rate over
the past millennium. Patrick Drahi is
unlikely to beat those odds if he is
planning, despite his protestations to
the contrary, to take over BT. The same
would apply to a break-up attempt.
Altice, the French tycoon’s vehicle,
has raised its stake in the UK’s sluggish
telecoms champion to 18 per cent. The
government responded with a rattle of
its sabre, saying that it “would not
hesitate” to protect BT using a new
national security law. Drahi appears to
be waging a creeping control campaign,
a tactic favoured by continental
magnates. Altice purchased just over
12 per cent of BT back in June, making
it the largest shareholder, ahead of
Deutsche Telekom.
Drahi knows that much of the value
of BT lies in Openreach. BT owns the
broadband network business, but is
legally separate from it. Using an 8.5
times enterprise to ebitda value,
Bernstein values the unit at more than
£27bn, 70 per cent more than BT and
even more than Altice.
But it would be tricky for Drahi to
force a break-up. It would not suit the
government’s “levelling up” agenda.
Openreach plans to hook up 25m
households to superfast optical fibre
broadband, covering more than 4m
households per year. Many are in
isolated, disadvantaged areas.
To separate Openreach from BT,
Drahi would also need to persuade the
trustees of BT’s pension scheme. This
has an actuarial deficit of some £8bn to
cover. BT would have to get a steep
price for the unit, or to maintain the
covenant some other way in a
demerger.
Fast broadband rollout is far from
finished. Even the most bullish analyst
would admit that must proceed further
before a break-up can be mooted.
Competition from two serious rivals,
Virgin Media and CityFibre, has yet to
be fully felt. Under takeover rules,
Altice cannot buy more BT shares for
another six months. That, combined
with warning shots across Drahi’s bows,
explains why BT shares closed 4.3 per
cent lower yesterday.
Such short-term stock gyrations are
irrelevant to the waiting game that
Drahi is playing. But the stratagems
that have made him a powerful
entrepreneur in France translate
poorly into English.
In the UK, high-rolling tycoons lack
the entitlements accorded them in
clubbable France.
Shipbuilders/LNG:
oh happy Daewoo
Occasionally, antitrust action is good
news for investors in target companies.
Two of the world’s biggest shipbuilders,
which make two-thirds of the world’s
natural-gas tankers, face an EU
antitrust veto on a proposed tie-up. But
that could free the smaller partner to
pursue its own ambitions.
South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy plans
to take over local rival Daewoo
Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering for
$2bn. This could have a big impact on
the world’s stretched energy supply
chains. Regulators rightly fear that the
deal would create a single dominant
giant, raising costs for customers.
The defensive deal made sense in
2019, when Hyundai first announced it.
The shipbuilding sector was struggling
with overcapacity, even selling some
ships at a loss. A tie-up would have
meant big savings. But much has
changed. Freight rates for transporting
liquefied natural gas (LNG) are at a
record high of more than $300,000 per
day. Orders for carriers are at record
highs. Ship prices have risen steeply.
The dash for gas reflects stricter
environmental regulations in China,
India and Europe. Though unpopular
with green lobbyists and some
investors, LNG is seen as a stepping
stone in a long-term shift in energy
usage. Korean shipbuilders have full
order books to the end of 2024.
The long 20-year contracts China has
been signing for LNG supply means
demand will stay strong. Daewoo
Hyundai face little risk of competition
from newcomers. Barriers to entry are
high in LNG ships. The liquid needs to
be stored at minus 160C under rough
conditions. The risk of explosions is
ever present and the technology
preventing them is complex and
expensive.
Shares of the pair are down 30 per
cent over six months, reflecting fears
that the takeover will unravel. But this
is short-sighted.
A veto would spare Hyundai steep
Rentokil’s strong M&A record
Revenue acquired ($m)
200
150
100
50
0 0
2016 2017 2018
FT graphic Sources: Company; Refinitiv
Old-school exterminators impressed
gullible customers with “rat kings”:
captured rodents tied by their tails to
create a super organism. Rentokil,
the UK’s biggest pest terminator, is in
the same game. It is paying $6.7bn in
cash and shares for Terminix of the
US to become the world leader in the
$22bn pest-control industry.
Transatlantic deals usually feature
UK companies as targets, reflecting
their relatively low valuations. Yet
Rentokil is a natural buyer. Under
boss Andy Ransom, an alumnus of
defunct manufacturing stalwart ICI,
it has bought more than 220 groups.
Shareholders have been richly
rewarded. Shares have almost trebled
over the past five years. They are up a
fifth in the past year, double the
restructuring costs. And Daewoo would
have a shot at regaining its glory days
as a strong, independent shipbuilder.
Stagecoach: defensive
deals, omnibus edition
In pandemic-era Britain, struggling bus
companies are banding together for
safety. National Express wants to bring
rival Stagecoach under its cover with
an all-share takeover, valuing the
smaller operator at £470m yesterday.
That compares with a peak 10-year
worth of £2.4bn in 2015. After that, the
wheels came off. Founded by ex-bus
conductor Brian Souter and his sister
Ann Gloag, Stagecoach trailblazed into
rail networks and foreign markets. A
North America is largest pest-control market
Number of deals Share (%)
60
June
North America
2021
50
0 20
40
Rentokil outperforms
Share price and index rebased
30
20
10
2019 2020 2021 2016 2018
YTD
returns on the FTSE 100 of which
Rentokil is a constituent.
Now worth more than £10bn, the
group may surpass the valuation
achieved before the market crash of
2000. Not bad for a business founded a
century ago by a boffin bent on saving
beams in the Palace of Westminster
from deathwatch beetles.
The latest deal would bring in $1.9bn
more in revenues, nearly half
Rentokil’s sales. It would tilt it more
towards the US in a market forecast to
grow about 4.5-5 per cent annually.
The $55-a-share price, a premium of
32.5 per cent over the 90-day volume
weighted average, implies a forward
ratio of enterprise value to ebitda of 19
times, a whisker higher than Rentokil.
Synergies of $150m should cover a
slow retreat into the low-margin British
bus business was accompanied by a
declining share price.
The collapse in passenger traffic last
year and the need for green investment
is reflected in this defensive stock-
based combination. The terms give
Stagecoach shareholders just under a
quarter of the combined group.
Souter and Gloag, who have a
quarter of the equity, have agreed to
the deal. But Stagecoach shareholders
should think hard before throwing in
their shares at the offer price.
National Express is offering 0.36
shares per Stagecoach share, which is a
20 per cent premium to September’s
undisturbed share price. That values
Stagecoach at just under 8 times 2023
earnings. In the 15 years prior to the
start of the pandemic, they traded at an
South America
Oceania
Asia Europe
Africa
40 60 80 100
300
250
200
Rentokil
150
100
FTSE 100
50
2019 2020 2021
chunk of premium; coming to $1.2bn
taxed and capitalised.
Rentokil is a systematic acquirer
and should be able to lift Terminix’s
ebitda margins. At less than 19 per
cent, these are more than 3
percentage points lower than its own.
Pest killing and hygiene services
are highly cash generative. Rentokil
is paying four-fifths in shares with
the balance in cash. It is targeting
medium-term net debt to ebitda of 2-
2.5 times.
This deal brings equivalent
integration risk as a one-tenth share
price drop indicated. But the
transaction nevertheless has logic to
it. Like the Rat King in The
Nutcracker ballet, Rentokil is proving
light on its feet.
average of 10 times forward earnings.
National Express shares still trade at
that level.
The new group will generate cost
savings of £45m annually after two
years. Tax and capitalised, those are
worth £360m or about twice the value
of the premium on offer. This suggests
National Express can pay more. How
much more? On current ebitda
estimates for 2023, Stagecoach’s share
rises to 29 per cent of the combined
group total. An equivalent share of the
combined equity pushes the offer price
up by 16 per cent at current prices.
If you break down on the roadside, it
is tempting to hop aboard the first
serviceable vehicle that stops for you.
But when the bus doors close behind
them, Stagecoach investors will no
longer be able to ask for a better deal.
Activist investors:
PIPE down
PIPEs ostensibly raise capital for
companies that need it. But the votes
attached to shares in these US “private
investment in public equity” deals can
come in handy for management, too.
In October, Comtech sold $100m of
preferred stock convertible into
ordinary shares to White Hat and
Magnetar, two supportive investment
firms. The dollar amount was large for
a US telecoms company with a market
capitalisation of under $700m.
Convertible preferred stock is a form
of senior equity. The owner typically
swaps this into common shares when
the price of the latter is high enough.
The Comtech convertible holders
will collect a juicy 6.5 per cent dividend
in the meanwhile. However, the
unusual structure of the convertible
stock allows them to vote the
underlying equity in shareholder
matters on an “as-converted” basis.
Those votes may come in handy this
week. Comtech is in a proxy fight with
Outerbridge, an activist investor. There
will be a vote where those PIPE shares
could be decisive. The fight is a second
recent case of a company deploying a
convertible PIPE amid shareholder
unrest. Box sold $500m of convertible
preferred stock to KKR that similarly
allowed for “as-converted” voting.
Box justified the transaction by
utilising the cash for stock buybacks.
Comtech says it needs the capital for
growth and that traditional debt
financing is unavailable. Activists have
accused both Comtech and Box of not
just simple “vote-buying” but of an
expensive sleight of hand. Convertible
securities come with significant
dividend obligations and may dilute
existing shareholders in other ways.
Company boards have wide legal
latitude to implement such defensive
measures. But they run the risk of
antagonising a group of shareholders
wider than activists hunting quick
returns, and who can vote to boot.
Box prevailed in its showdown with
the dissident investor. Comtech will
have to hope that enough shareholders
will remain sympathetic, too.
Lex on the web
For notes on today’s stories
go to www.ft.com/lex

CROSSWORD
No 16,969 Set by IO
ä á Þ Ú Ö Ò Î Ë ACROSS
1 Re “V”, this may upset on horse? (6,5)
È 9 Bands regularly arranged throughout
very large moulding (5)
ä. 10 Reach grand number – party! (3-8)
11 Become very angry, not getting one’s
ää jam and cream cake (5)
12 Mortimer, his original name, inferior?
äá
(6,5)
13 Longing for a bit of old Tokyo? (3)
äÞ
14 This’ll rouse snoozers – and I don’t
play it down! (5,7)
18 An ovation, then, from Starmer & co,
äÚ äÖ
utterly outclassed? (4,8)
19 Having capacity of two pints, right out
äÒ äÎ of it! (3)
21 Dad facing troubles, one of his boys
äË adopted financial deterrents (6,5)
22 Wipe over the contents of one’s area
äÈ á. (5)
23 Something Trump’s created? Nice lad
áä involved in this provocative act (4,7)
24 Children’s character looking out of
áá place in the Big Apple (5)
25 Visionary women at intervals
áÞ receiving tips from hang-gliders near
steep cliffs? (11)
áÚ DOWN
1 Deacon and subdeacon would
áÖ typically celebrate this heavenly
body? (4,4)
2 Reluctant to communicate quote
about cutting revenue (8)
3 That was a standard release from duty
(9)
JOTTER PAD 4 Short of 12 special co-workers, stole
fabric – which means, . . . . (9,6)
5 . . . . likely this would end in short
supply (1,8,6)
6 A lot of people put in rush orders (5)
7, 8 Pistol, a form of protection, has
gone off (6,6)
15 Comparatively speaking, the right
Solution 16,968 change? (9)
16 Arrangement of Rossini with William
Ú ‚ Ô × N Ý 7 N Ú € æ Ú Ô 7 Tell’s most common cuts (8)
‚ × B ‚ × Ý ~ æ 17 Works like installing alternative to
€ ‚ × E Ú
æ N N
Ú ~ ‚ ã N H æ
~ Ý Ð 7
‚ ×
æ
electric oven (3,5)
× ‚ Ý ‚ 7 × N : : ‚ E N B Ý 19, 20 Palace gives us chance we
‚ E 7 N € B squander needing to net a second
~ æ 7 Ú æ Ý × × E B Ú × : N (6,6)
~ N
Ý Ð
æ Ò N Ý N ‚ ×
ã
H E ‚ Ú ×
×
: ª
21 Diarist’s entourage detected in the
B Ý N : Ý N auditorium (5)
Ú 7 ‚ H 8 ‚ H B Ú × Ý ‚ × N
Ú B Ð Ú × B × Ò
‚ € Ú × B 7 N 7 × Ú Ô N } N
7 : 7 Ý N ‚ × 7
× Ý N 7 } Ú × Ý B 7 H N 7 ×