Tuesday 11 April 2023

LONDON’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER

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LONDON IPO MARKET IN SLOWDOWN

‘CHALLENGING’ CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE INTO LATE 2023 CHRISTOPHER DORRELL LONDON’s flagship capital markets enjoyed only five floats in the first quarter of 2023, raising just £81m, as concerns over the City’s public markets continue to mount.

The main market saw only two IPOs, from Dar Global and Streaks Gaming.

The two IPOs raised a combined £63m, with £60m of that coming from the former, a luxury real estate firm.

The Alternative Investment Market (AIM) saw three IPOs, raising a combined £18m of which £13m came from investment fund Onward Opportunities.

This was an 80 per cent fall compared to the same period last year when there were 19 IPOs which raised £400m. In the first quarter of 2021, £5.7bn was raised in UK markets.

EY’s Scott McCubbin commented: “The London IPO market continues to experience the extremely challenging conditions witnessed in 2022.”

McCubbin pointed to a series of macroeconomic challenges, such as the war in Ukraine, high commodity price and wider inflationary pressures for the poor performance.

He suggested little would improve in the coming months.

“We expect the market to remain challenging for the next few months, albeit with some green shoots in the form of an expected reduction in inflation by the year-end. This should help see a return to a stronger equity market later in the year. However, this remains at risk given the continued uncertain geopolitical landscape,” McCubbin said.

The data adds to an already bleak picture for the City which has seen a series of companies including Arm and building supplier CRH choose to list in other markets around the world.

LAST ORDERS Pubs closing at a faster rate than during Covid-19 NOAH EASTWOOD PUBS are vanishing from communities across England and Wales amid soaring energy and food prices.

Analysis of government data conducted by real estate advisor Altus Group shows that the number of public houses shutting up shop leapt to 51 a month in the first financial quarter of 2023.

In 2022, after the UK emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic, 32 pubs were lost on average each month, with 386

disappearing in total.

But 153 pubs have already closed their doors in the first three months of this year, up nearly 60 per cent on last year’s figures.

These local watering holes reportedly face being demolished or converted into offices, homes and even day nurseries.

The British Beer and Pub Association called for government to demand energy suppliers renegotiate bills where landlords have locked into unmanageably high terms at the top of the market.

Bruised MJ Hudson part ways with suspended finance boss as firm plots Apex deal CITY A.M. REPORTERS ASSET management consultancy MJ Hudson, which has been embroiled in controversy for months after telling markets it no longer had confidence in its own accounts, has sold some of its divisions to the Bermuda-headquartered financial

services giant Apex, City A.M. understands.

The deal was communicated to staff at the backend of last week, with a fractious all-hands call taking place on Saturday afternoon.

The deal is expected to be announced to markets this morning.

Sky News’ Mark Kleinman has previously reported that Apex was interested in a number of MJ Hudson divisions, excluding the legal services arm.

The deal is likely to put around 50 per cent of jobs in the ‘central services’ function of the business – ranging from

IT to HR – at risk.

MJ Hudson has been in the headlines since the turn of the year, when it abruptly suspended its chief financial officer Peter Connell was suspended as CFO in December

Connell and told markets it had discovered irregularities in its accounts.

Staff were told over the weekend that Connell had now left the business.

Shares remain suspended. Last month it also offloaded its UK fund management business.

INSIDE NORTH SEA WALKOUTS P4 VENTURE CAPITALISTS FLOCK TO DEFENCE TECH P5 RESULTS ARE IN FOR UK’S TARDIEST AIRLINES P9 MARKETS P13 OPINION P14 SPORT P19

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STANDING UP FOR THE CITY

Public markets are only one part of the City – but they do matter

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ONDON’s markets are something of a hot topic in the City at the moment, and the smattering of rather unspectacular floats so far this year will do little to calm concerns that our capital markets are not the global hotspot they once were. The question is whether it matters to anything other than our collective ego.

After all, even the London Stock Exchange itself is far more of a data and information company

THE CITY VIEW than an exchange these days; witness the company’s tie-up with Microsoft for Exhibit A on that front. The Square Mile’s vitality too will not be derived from whether or not there are bucketloads of firms queuing up to list here – one could make a

compelling case that professional services and the engineering of global finance, from clearing and derivative trading to legal services, are more likely to keep us at the top table.

But it does matter. Listed markets are powerful vehicles – yes, a fantastic capital raiser, but a vital tool for the wider cause of a shareholding democracy. Since joining the Quoted Companies Alliance, the former journalist James Ashton has done a fine job

banging the drum for the benefits of the public markets and the extraordinary ability they have to not just improve company performance but give ordinary folk the ability to interact with a financial services sector which can at times appear aloof from the rest of the country.

What a wonderful thing it would be if, as in the 1980s, we embarked on a ‘Tell Sid’ revolution that gave people a genuine stake in the success and

HOPPING ACROSS THE POND Joe Biden hosted the annual White House easter egg roll on Sunday, before flying to Belfast to mark the Good Friday Agreement’s 25th anniversary

failure of the City of London, allowing a rising tide to lift all boats. The hoo-ha over our underpriced markets will not go away, and it shouldn’t be blown out of proportion. But allowing our capital markets to wither and decline would be a terrible shame and a missed opportunity. The government and regulators have spoken at length about revitalising public markets – it is now time to turn words into concrete action.

WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING THE FINANCIAL TIMES

US COMPANIES FACE BIGGEST DECLINE IN PROFITS SINCE PANDEMIC

Corporate America is facing its sharpest drop in profits since the early stages of the Covid pandemic, according to Wall Street forecasts, as high inflation squeezes margins.

BLOOMBERG

STALEY FAILS TO SEVER JP MORGAN LAWSUIT FROM OTHER EPSTEIN CASES

Jes Staley lost his bid to separate JP Morgan Chase & Co’s lawsuit against him from two other cases alleging the bank knowingly benefitted from Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking.

THE GUARDIAN

UK SPENT ALMOST £500,000 ON UNUSED SUPPORT SCHEME FOR ENERGY FIRMS

The Treasury spent almost half a million pounds on an unused emergency scheme for energy traders launched by Liz Truss that was quietly closed earlier this year.

Soft landing? Job figures suggest rate rises could come without hard slowdown CHRISTOPHER DORRELL ANALYSTS are divided about whether the US Federal Reserve should hike rates again as they digest last week’s figures on the labour market.

On Friday last week, a closely watched survey of the US labour market showed the economy added 236,000 new jobs in March.

While more jobs are still being added, the report suggests that the labour market is gradually weakening as the Fed continues its tightening campaign.

Chief economist at Pantheon Macro-

economics Ian Sheperdson said the 236,000 figure was “old news”, reflecting the state of the economy before the banking crisis and before the “full impact” of the Fed’s 475 basis points in hikes worked through.

“This is all set to change over the next few months, likely starting as soon as this month; our tentative initial forecast for April payrolls is 150,000, and we look for just 50,000 in May,” he continued.

Sheperdson pointed out that wage pressures are fading as well. “Wage growth has slowed sharply and is no threat to inflation,” Sheperdson wrote,

concluding “the Fed should ease, not hike again”.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs took a more optimistic view, suggesting the labour market appears to be heading towards “a somewhat more intense version of its pre-pandemic state”, with low unemployment and fairly low wage growth.

They highlighted that wage growth has fallen slightly even as the unemployment rate has fallen too, arguing wage growth was driven by temporary factors which “faded naturally”.

The figures raised the possibility of a ‘soft landing’.

Jerome Powell will be met with pressure from both camps at the next US rate decision

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Green shoots as price pressures begin to ease up NOAH EASTWOOD THE WORST of the UK’s economic downturn could soon be over, after firms reported supply chain inflation had begun to slow.

Figures published by BDO found that business confidence rose in March in reaction to a 2.19 per cent ease in the advisory firm’s own ‘inflation index rate’ from 113.18 in February to 110.99 in March.

Tumbling inflation is likely due to cheaper wholesale energy prices that have finally allowed pressure on supply chains to ease, though this has yet to be seen in official Bank figures.

As a result, BDO’s business optimism index has remained in a positive reading for the third consecutive month, at 97.09, indicating businesses are confident of growth and believe the worst of the UK’s economic slump has now passed. The rating is indexed at 95 points, where growth and retraction are balanced.

The business output index posted similarly strong figures, maintaining a seven month-high at 99.48. The sustained rise suggests the UK economy grew in March, led by expansion of the services sector for two months in a row.

The employment index likewise posted a second monthly net positive reading of 110.35, up 0.17 since February. The rise was driven by improved hiring intentions among services firms in response to surging business output.

Kaley Crossthwaite, a partner at BDO, said “It’s encouraging to see business optimism leading to renewed hiring intentions once more as businesses see input price and supply chain pressures ease slightly.

“However, with the less generous Energy Bills Discount Scheme now in place and expectations of a recession remaining, the economy is likely to face further headwinds despite recent resilience.”

Laing O’Rourke pioneering in net zero construction NOAH EASTWOOD EXECUTIVES at Laing O’Rourke are racing to meet net zero targets by mandating the use of low carbon concrete on all its UK projects from this month.

The change, effective from 1 April, comes after research co-funded by the construction giant and Innovate UK found that using the

environmental concrete will cut overall carbon emissions by 28 per cent, compared with the company’s output in 2022.

Traditional concrete production involves using coal to burn limestone in kilns at 1,260°C to 1,650°C, emitting a large amount of carbon into the atmosphere. Low-carbon concrete utilises alternative greener materials and fuels that burn at a

lower temperature.

Cathal O’Rourke, Laing O’Rourke chief executive officer, said “We’ve committed to being a net zero company before 2050 and we are looking at every possible measure to accelerate our progress.”

“In construction, the greatest challenge is reducing scope three emissions – the embodied carbon in purchased materials.

Flutter set to appoint new chair as FTSE 100 gambling giant tempted stateside ABBY WALLACE FLUTTER, the world’s largest listed online gambling company, is expected to appoint a US-based businessman to the role of chair, in the latest signal that the FTSE 100 firm plans to strengthen its profile in the US. Sky News first reported that the firm is in “advanced” talks to appoint former Kellogg’s boss John Bryant to

the role, but the deal had not yet crossed the line. Flutter did not comment on or dispute the report when approached by City A.M. Bryant holds dual US-Australian citizenship and is currently a senior director on the board of FTSE 100-listed caterer Compass Group and a nonexecutive director of US packaging firm Ball Corporation and Macy’s.

The news comes after the group —

which owns Paddypower, Betfair and Fanduel — announced in February that it would consider an additional US listing, which would “yield a number of long-term strategic and capital market benefits”.

Flutter said the move would take precedence over any separate listing of Fanduel and would be put to shareholders. Its AGM is set to take place later this month.

Former Kellogg’s boss John Bryant is expected to nab the top job at Flutter

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Walkout to add to North Sea woes Oil find its level as windfall tax continues to be felt CITY A.M. REPORTERS A WALKOUT by North Sea oil and gas workers will go ahead as planned at the end of this month.

Staff at five different firms will take part in what union leaders called “an unprecedented tsunami of industrial action over 48 hours” from 24 April.

The five firms affected are

Bilfinger UK, Petrofac Facilities Management, Stork Technical Services, Sparrows Offshore Services and Worley Services UK. The industrial action relates to pay and conditions as well as rotas and holiday allowances.

The walkouts come a week after the UK’s biggest North Sea oil and gas producer Harbour Energy announced plans to let go around 350 onshore

staff after seeing margins eaten into by the government’s windfall tax.

The firm said that “an effective tax rate of 75 per cent in the UK regardless of the level of oil and gas prices in the market or realised, [means] we have had to reassess our future activity level in the UK.” A number of energy firms are pushing for a ‘floor’ to the windfall tax, with prices returning to normal.

with opinion split on OPEC+ cuts NICHOLAS EARL OIL prices stabilised yesterday after three straight weeks of gains, with further supply cuts from OPEC+ propping up both major benchmarks amid concerns of weakening global growth which could hamper fuel demand.

Brent Crude was down 0.4 per cent, trading at $84.78 per barrel on Monday evening, with WTI Crude sliding 0.37 per cent to $80.40 per barrel.

Both benchmarks leapt more than six per cent last week after oil cartel OPEC and its allies including Russia, known as OPEC+, surprised investors with further cuts to oil output.

It announced plans to slash production by 1.16m barrels per day from next month, on top of the swingeing 2m barrels per day cuts it has already announced for this year.

This followed weeks of decline and stagnation amid fears over contagion after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the forced, last-ditch merger of UBS

and Credit Suisse.

There were also concerns over sustained hawkishness in Federal Reserve policy, with chair Jerome Powell persisting with interest rate hikes.

This saw Brent Crude prices tumble from $86.18 per barrel to $72.77 per barrel over an 11 day decline last month.

Nevertheless, OPEC and the International Energy Agency (IEA) have maintained bullish demand forecasts this Oil prices have shot up amid concerns over supply reductions year – based on strong fundamentals and expectations of rebounding consumption in Asia later this year.

Craig Erlam, senior markets analyst at Oanda, said: “The reduction was substantial but pre-emptive which has left traders questioning whether this was just a price issue or a belief that the global economy is heading for a difficult period.”

“Tighter credit conditions mean a slower economy,” he added.

ENFIELD’S CLAIM TO FAME A Barclays branch in north London is now Grade II listed

A BARCLAYS branch in Enfield is now a listed building – not just for its architecture but as home to the world’s first ATM. The branch was fitted with the new technology in 1967 and ‘opened’ by the actor and comedian Reg Varney. According to Historic England, the event drew “crowds of spectators”. The building will enjoy Grade II status.

Taps to flow in Asia despite OPEC+ decision as Saudis give green light MUYU XU AND FLORENCE TAN STATE oil giant Saudi Aramco will supply full crude contract volumes loading in May to several North Asian buyers despite its pledge to cut output by 500,000 barrels per day, several sources with knowledge of the matter told news agency Reuters.

Saudi Aramco’s monthly allocation was being keenly watched by investors as an indicator of whether planned output cuts could tighten supplies

in Asia, the world’s biggest crude import market.

People are wondering whether the additional voluntary cut will actually affect supply, or whether it is designed just to shore up oil prices, said a source at an Asian refiner who declined to be named.

Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, a state-owned oil giant from the United Arab Emirates, has also informed at least three buyers in Asia that it will supply full volumes. Reuters

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STRINGING THIS OUT Macron protests get a musical accompaniment but anger remains

THE SUPER rich in the capital are forking out an extra 1.4 per cent to rent in prime London areas, signalling a continued demand for luxury spaces in the capital.

According to data by estate agent Savills, over the past three months, London’s wealthiest tenants are also on the hunt for smaller spaces

Defence tech in vogue as venture capital doubles CHARLIE CONCHIE RUSSIA’s invasion of Ukraine brought a sharp close to a decade-long venture capital funding frenzy last year, as soaring inflation, rapid rate hikes and tumbling valuations caused investors to hurriedly tuck away their cheque books.

Total venture capital investment globally plummeted some 32 per cent to $483bn (£392bn) in 2022 after reaching record levels the previous year, according to Dealroom data.

But while the global picture may have been bleak, one sector has proved a hit with investors.

The amount of venture capital pumped into defence technology, broadly defined as software or hardware that has some form of national defence purpose, has rocketed.

New data from research firm Beahurst and venture investor MD One shows that investment into defence tech firms in the UK nearly doubled from £149m in 2021 to £295m last year – up from just £15.4m in 2013.

Among the most rapidly expanding defence tech companies are Oxfordshire firm Luffy AI, which uses artificial intel-

ligence to develop “autonomous software for robotics”, automated drone firms Flare Bright and Herotech8, and sustainable aviation firm Greenjets.

Henry Whorwood, head of research at Beahurst, told City A.M. the reasons for the uptick are two-fold: national defence budgets are rising and analysts have reshaped the boundaries of ethical investments.

“Part of this is related to how these things were seen as too hot to handle for a while, and completely outside the scope of ESG. And then the war in Ukraine happened and everyone’s recalibrated a bit,” he told City A.M. “National security and defence are not necessarily now classified as ESG, but they have become a lot [more] palatable.”

Rising national defence budgets have also helped make the industry a far larger commercial opportunity, with the UK’s defence spending increasing from £34.3bn in 2012 to £45.9bn last year.

“That’s the thing that underpins the broader national security innovation cohort – it has the government as a customer, which even in a recession will continue to spend quite well,” Whorwood said.

Ukraine battles rage on as Russia accused of ‘scorched earth tactics’ PAVEL POLITYUK RUSSIAN forces pressed attacks on frontline cities in eastern Ukraine yesterday, while Ukrainian officials played down a report that Kyiv was amending plans for a counter-offensive due to a leak of classified US documents.

The Russians were pounding Ukrainian positions around besieged Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region and other cities and towns with air strikes and artillery barrages, Kyiv said.

“The enemy switched to so-called scorched earth tactics from Syria. It is destroying buildings and positions with air strikes and artillery fire,” Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said of Bakhmut, which has for months been the biggest battleground of the war.

Meanwhile, in a rare coordination between the warring parties, Russia and Ukraine carried out another prisoner swap, with 106 Russian captives freed in Reuters exchange for 100 Ukrainians.

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Prime London property rent soars as super rich snap up luxury pads LAURA MCGUIRE

Protests against Emmanuel Macron’s pensions and retirement changes in France continued over the Easter weekend, with industrial action continuing to play havoc with the country’s economy. The French President, meanwhile, was in China with Xi Jinping.

NEWS

to rent with growth for one-two bed properties up 1.6 per cent.

However, the property agent said a “lack” of stock has pushed the prices of homes in affluent regions of London hot spots in South West London up 1.8 per cent and in East and North London up 2.8 per cent.

Demand in the middle class regions of London’s inner commuter belt has also risen, with demand for

homes in Tunbridge Wells and Harpenden up 3.3 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively in the first leg of the year.

“Here too, smaller properties are continuing to outperform larger homes, a sign that the market is now dominated by needs based, rather than discretionary tenants who tend to spend more,” Jessica Tomlinson, research analyst at Savills, said.

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What are the chances? Water firms in the clear over waste water leaks NICHOLAS EARL YOU ARE more likely to be struck by lightning or take home Olympic gold than a water firm being fined for a sewage leak, according to City A.M. number-crunching.

A freedom of information request from campaign group Wild Fish revealed that regulator Ofwat has issued just one single fine to suppliers for sewage spills since the current rules were introduced in 1994 – nearly 30 years ago.

Southern Water was hit with a £126m fine by the watchdog in 2019 for breaching regulations.

The government’s official data has revealed there were 301,091 sewage spills into rivers and the sea last year, on top of the 372,533 recorded in 2021 – with the decline in the vast totals attributed to drier weather.

If current rates were averaged over the past 29 years since current rules were set up, this would mean there were 10.8m sewage spills, resulting in just one fine.

Back to the desk means fewer PC sales for Apple ABBY WALLACE GLOBAL shipments of PCs have fallen in the first quarter of 2023 as a result of weak demand, high inventory and tough economic conditions, with Apple reporting the largest slump, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).

Shipments of Apple PCs fell by 40.5 per cent to 4.1m units in the quarter compared to a drop of 29 per cent for global shipments to 56.9m, according to the report released by the market research company over the Easter weekend.

Other leading brands also saw a drop in PC shipments as demand, which surged during the pandemic as people shifted to home-working, started to fall away and stock piled up.

Lenovo saw shipments drop by 30.3 per cent, while HP computers fell by 24.4 per cent and Dell by 31 per cent.

The IDC added that shipment volume was still “noticeably lower” than prepandemic levels.

“Even with heavy dis-

counting, channels and PC makers can expect elevated inventory to persist into the middle of the year and potentially into the third quarter,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s mobility and consumer device trackers.

Demand for personal computers, smartphones and other devices have fallen as people have returned to the office and economic uncertainty weighs on spending.

Global smartphone shipments fell by 18 per cent to 296.9m in the final quarter of 2022, another market research firm, Canalys, reported in January.

In February, Apple reported a drop in quarterly revenue of five per cent on the same period last year, citing a “challenging environment”.

Sales of iPhones and Macs were both down as production was hit by outbreaks of Covid-19 in China where Apple’s largest supplier is located.

A number of firms have begun to look at relocating their supply chains.

YOU’RE MORE LIKELY TO....

1:1,000 See a shooting star

1:1.2m Be struck by lightning

1:662,000 Win an Olympic gold medal

1:10,000 Find a four leaf clover

This would make being fined less likely than being attacked by a shark (one in 7m) and almost as unlikely as dying in a plane crash (one in 11m).

Being stuck by lightning comes in at around a one in 1.1m chance.

Ofwat has teamed up with the Environment Agency to launch a sector-wide investigation into sewage dumping, having triggered enforcement action against six companies including Thames Water for potential illegal discharges.

LOGAN’S WORTH IT Brits ditch the groceries for streaming subs

LOGAN Roy’s return to screens in Succession – and a host of other late spring additions to the wealth of streaming options – has seen Brits up their subscription spending by four per cent over the past year. New data from Barclays suggests that by contrast spending on groceries is falling, with more than half saying they were cutting down on discretionary ‘treats’ to help with the cost of living.

Pension gap set to get worse as bills drive women away from saving up NOAH EASTWOOD

Skyrocketing energy bills risk widening the pension gap between men and women

WOMEN’s pensions are on average £17,014 smaller than their male counterparts, according to a study published by pension provider TPT. Women workers also fear that they will not have enough saved up when they retire, with 60 per cent of women aged 50 to 59 saying they worry they

do not have enough for later life.

Four in ten women said that they plan to work an additional five years to pay for retirement as inflation causes the cost of living to soar.

TPT surveyed 2,009 people in their fifties and found a widespread lack of awareness about retirement plans, with 66 per cent of women and 51 per cent of men unable to say how much

they had saved.

For women planning their retirement, 71 per cent said expensive energy bills were stopping them saving for a pension, while 66 per cent blamed increasing food bills for limiting their ability to save.

The government has recently announced plans to drive more over50s back into work for longer.

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Banking fears to dominate DC finance powwow CHRISTOPHER DORRELL THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank are meeting in Washington this week for their Spring meeting with the stability of the banking sector high up the agenda.

Finance ministers and central bankers from around the world will come together with much to discuss, particularly after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank sent shockwaves through the financial sector.

The world’s economic watchdog is set to release its financial stability report this afternoon, having already signalled that issues in the non-bank financial sector may pose a risk to financial stability.

In a blog post last week, authors at the IMF said recent turmoil in the banking sector was “a powerful reminder” that there were still “pockets of elevated financial vulnerabilities built over years of low rates, compressed volatility and ample liquidity”.

The non-bank financial sector, also called the shadow banking sector, has been in the spotlight after a series of highprofile financial blow-ups.

This includes the near implosion of the UK’s pension funds after extreme volatility in the gilt market and the collapse of hedge funds such as Archegos Capital.

The authors suggested that continued monetary tightening could pose a risk to the financial system.

“Such risks could intensify in coming months amid the continued tightening of monetary policy globally, making it especially important to understand and safeguard this broad swathe of the financial sector, which comprises an array of institutions beyond banks.”

Increased supervision of the sector is likely to be a key topic of discussion for the world’s economic decision makers.

The IMF will also highlight the challenges that growing geopolitical instability will pose to the financial sector.

According to chapters already released by the IMF, growing fragmentation from geopolitical tensions could impact the flow of funds around the world.

This may cause banks’ funding costs to increase, reducing their profitability and potentially lowering the provision of credit.

Despite the banking turmoil, the IMF’s forecasts for global growth this year are expected to be little changed from its forecasts in January this year.

Back in January, the IMF projected that global growth will fall to 2.9 per cent in 2023 but rise to 3.1 per cent in 2024. The January forecast was 0.2 percentage points higher than its previous forecast in October.

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WIZZ AIR 46 minutes and 6 seconds

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TUI 40 minutes and 18 seconds

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QATAR AIRWAYS 31 minutes and 48 seconds

delay of 13 minutes and 42 seconds.

“With a regulator still lacking the appropriate powers to punish airlines who break the law, including withholding refunds, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that some carriers are simply getting away with leaving passengers high and dry,” Rory Boland, editor of magazine Which? Travel, said.

Government proposals to give the regulator the CAA more powers were consulted on in early 2022, but no PA changes have been made.

TURKISH AIRLINES 29 minutes and 30 seconds

WIZZ AIR was the worst major airline for flight delays from UK airports for the second year in a row, an investigation has found.

The Hungarian carrier’s UK departures were an average of 46 minutes and six seconds behind schedule in 2022, according to analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data by the PA news agency.

That was more than three times

longer than the previous year, when it was also ranked last for punctuality.

Consumer group Which? described the figures as “worrying” and claimed they demonstrate the need for the CAA to be given tougher powers such as the ability to hand out hefty fines.

Tui recorded the second worst punctuality last year, with an average delay of 40 minutes and 18 seconds.

This was followed by Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines.

Norwegian Air Shuttle recorded the best performance with an average

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PEGASUS AIRLINES 27 minutes and 18 seconds

NEIL LANCEFIELD AN IAN JONES

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TARDIEST AIRLINES Average length of delay (minutes)

Wizz Air crowned worst airline for flight delays for second year running

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Investors brace as Tesco profits expected to dip HENRY SAKER-CLARK TESCO is expected to reveal a dip in profits for the past year as the supermarket group grappled with rampant food and drink inflation.

The UK’s largest retailer will update investors and analysts over its financial performance for the year to February in an update on Thursday.

A consensus of analysts has said Tesco is due to reveal a strong rise in sales but lower profits due to the challenging backdrop for costs.

It is predicted to unveil a group adjusted operating profit of £2.6bn for the year, down from £2.8bn a year earlier.

Profitability has been dented by rocketing energy prices and higher labour costs over the past year.

UK Consumer Price Index inflation saw a shock increase to 10.4 per cent in February due to increased pressure on food prices, which worsened as a result of recent fruit and vegetable shortages.

Food and non-alcoholic drinks prices rose by 18 per cent year on year in

February, according to the ONS. Tesco’s buying power will have shielded the group from inflation quite this high but chief executive officer Ken Murphy said at the firm’s previous update in January that it expected more inflation to hit the retailer.

Shareholders will be eager for the company to outline whether its cost inflation is starting to ease yet or if profits are likely to remain constricted for longer.

Profitability has also been dented by the retailer’s investment in prices to keep customers coming through the door in the face of the continued growth of German discounter rivals Aldi and Lidl.

The efforts on value have helped support significant sales growth, with revenues expected to have risen to £65.7bn over the past year from £54.8bn.

“We don’t expect the league tables to be upended. But it will be important to assess if Tesco’s share has been nibbled away at, which would suggest consumer pressure is higher than previously thought,” Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said. PA

India has not suspended trade talks with UK, New Delhi officials say RUPAM JAIN AND SAKSHI DAYAL

Britain and India have a trading relationship worth around £29bn

TRADE talks between India and Britain have not been suspended and will continue this year, three officials said yesterday, responding to a report in The Times that said India had “disengaged” from talks after London failed to condemn Sikh separatists.

An official in India’s foreign ministry said progress in the trade talks and New Delhi's concerns around Sikh separatist activities in Britain should not be interlinked.

A diplomatic official in the British High Commission in New Delhi said trade talks will continue in a scheduled manner and security officials in London were addressing

India’s concerns about Sikh separatist activities in Britain.

“Both the UK and India are committed to delivering an ambitious and mutually beneficial FTA and concluded the latest round of trade talks last month,” a spokesperson for Britain’s Department for Business and Reuters Trade said.

Tuesday 12 September 2023 Sunninngdale Golf Club, Ascot Sunningdale is the quintessential English club and as close to the Augusta National as any club in the British Isles.

The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow is celebrating 40 years of care to our patients and their families.

If you are a Scot based in London, or you just love a fantastic round of golf, then we invite you and your friends to join us for this very special day of golf on the exclusive Willie Park Old Course at Sunningdale Golf Club with special guest player and speaker, footballing legend Harry Redknapp.

Four Ball £3000 Included in your four ball: 7.30am 9.00am 2.30pm

4.30pm

Arrival Breakfast Shotgun Start Prize giving 3 course lunch, goodie bag & guest speaker, Harry Redknapp Depart

For more information or bookings please contact Jackie Malloy on 07968 146605 or email Jackie.malloy@ppwh.org.uk

ppwh.org.uk The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice, Scottish Registered Charity, SC012372

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TUESDAY 11 APRIL 2023

ENERGY

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City A.M.’s energy editor Nicholas Earl delves into the sector’s challenges in his weekly column

THERE’S NO EXCUSE FOR THE UK BEING SURPRISED AGAIN

INTER is over, with the government managing to stave off blackouts over the coldest months of the year – a real fear that could be seen in National Grid’s own energy forecasts.

Despite the looming risk of a supply crunch, the UK got away with just two national sessions of power saving measures and an evening of coal generation to meet people’s energy needs.

This was courtesy of a remarkable European scramble to save energy, surprisingly warm winter weather, and vast inflows of US liquefied natural gas (LNG).

It is this very energy source that the UK will depend on again next winter to keep the country’s lights on and boilers warm.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and throttling of Europe’s gas supplies, the

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government is in a challenging position, which it seems intent on worsening.

It has ruled out the prospect of fracking, and is taxing a declining North Sea basin for oil and gas to the hilt – despite the continental shelf meeting nearly half its supply needs.

There is also little short-term prospect of a ramp up in renewables and heat pumps after the underwhelming budget and damp squib ‘Green Day’.

Meanwhile, the UK’s housing stock is 85 per cent heated by gas, and is among the least energy efficient in Europe – yet most of the funding pledges to boost insulation don’t kick in until next parliament.

To cap it all, the much touted Rough storage facility, which can store up to 100bn cubic meters of gas, is still operating at 20 per cent capacity as an impasse between British

Gas owner Centrica and the government over funding persists nearly six months after its reopening.

GETTING LUCKY

Much like last winter, the UK will be dependent on overseas supplies

This means that much like last winter, the UK will be dependent on overseas supplies to meet its energy needs, alongside the luck of warmer weather and the hard work of its allies.

Norway is the largest importer of natural gas into the UK, while National Grid also haggles with European operators for electricity via interconnectors which connect the country with the continent.

However, the real development last year was the growing reliance on LNG, chiefly from across the Atlantic.

LNG is natural gas that has been reduced

to a liquid state, through a process of cooling before it is later converted back into a gas for use.

According to the Office for National Statistics, LNG imports to the UK reached a record high of 25.6bn cubic meters last year, rising 74 per cent on the previous year.

Overall, LNG imports accounted for 45 per cent of natural gas imports across the year and 35 per cent of demand.

During this period, the US replaced Qatar as the largest trading partner to the UK, supplying half of the country’s LNG imports and helping to power the record profits of Stateside energy giants.

This in turn helped power Europe, with the UK acting as a bridge to the continent as it pivoted away from Russian gas, storing and shifting it across the channel.

While it might be practically viable, such a plan undermines the UK’s net zero ambitions and maintains the country’s reliance on costly overseas vendors to meet its energy needs.

Not only are there severe financial implications with the UK coughing up tens of billions to ship LNG supplies in 2022, but the carbon intensity of LNG is staggering.

Gas is as much a part of the environmental conversation as renewables, in that if we must depend on it for potentially decades to come, the UK should source supplies with the lowest emissions possible.

However, Rystad Energy has calculated that LNG deliveries into Europe from the US typically have an upstream imported emissions intensity greater than 70kg of CO2 per barrel of oil (boe) equivalent.

In comparison, piped gas flows into Europe and the UK from Norway have a CO2 intensity of just over 10 kg CO2 per boe, fracked shale gas has a carbon intensity of 13.8kg per boe and Russian piped gas flows have intensities of around 30 kg CO2 per boe.

These concerns fell on deaf ears last year, when the UK signed a long-term LNG deal with the US – much of which is fuelled by fracked resources, a method banned in its own country.

It is already too late to change matters next winter but this sustained reliance on LNG has to be a warning sign for the UK and provide fresh impetus to both push for a renewables ramp-up and to treat domestic gas generation more seriously.

Otherwise, issues as basic as whether we can keep the lights on, heat our homes or meet our climate goals will be beyond our control and at the mercy of luck and the goodwill of our allies.

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NEWS

CITYAM.COM

TUESDAY 11 APRIL 2023

THE NOTE BOOK Business groups will still have a role to play for years yet

C

AN the CBI survive – and should it? That’s been the question asked across a raft of business pages here and elsewhere in the past week, ever since The Guardian published a raft of allegations of sexual misconduct at the organisation. So far, the CBI has done the right thing – expanding the remit of an already-existing independent investigation – but it may not be enough to persuade corporates that membership is worth the money, or indeed, whether membership of the body ticks the right boxes in their diversity and inclusion strategies.

There have, it must be said, been some in the City who have flagged with me over the past week a degree of unease at the speed with which (in particular) the government turned against the organisation, pausing all engagement with the country’s biggest business body. It is correct that none of the accusations have been found to be true yet; it is also the case that some simply don’t

recognise the characterisation of the organisation in the media.

But it is a sign of progress, not concern, that allegations such as these are treated with the seriousness they deserve.

We, nor anybody else, can prejudge the inquiry into the culture and standards at the CBI, an independent examination which will not just decide the future of the organisation itself, but also of the former director general Carolyn Fairbairn, who now sits on a host of boards including HSBC. But what we can be sure of is that the scandal has kicked off a muchneeded discussion of the role of business groups in today’s world.

For my money, there is still great value in the united voice – especially amongst Britain’s biggest businesses, with many CEOs vocal in private but seemingly petrified of speaking out publicly.

Whether the CBI is the body to unite those voices will depend on this inquiry being seen to be transparent – and unsparing.

Today, City A.M. editor Andy Silvester takes the notebook pen as we return from the Easter break

GOOD FRIDAY ANNIVERSARY A GOOD TIME TO TAKE STOCK

THAMES TITANS

Pop quiz: which do you think is the nation’s busiest lifeboat station?

It’s right here in the capital.

That’s why earlier this month the RNLI floated a new station for the Tower crew down the Thames, where it will provide a base for life-saving work on the river. The RNLI is one of our greatest national institutions and remains funded entirely by donations – you could do worse with your charity giving.

£ Senior bods at the BBC are reportedly unhappy that Twitter’s new boss Elon Musk has labelled the organisation ‘government-funded media’. To be fair to Elon, ‘funded by the risk of going to prison if you don’t pay the licence fee’ is much less catchy. What’s irritating is that the Beeb should lean into the definition – the BBC World Service, for instance, is a key part of our soft power. The real tragedy is that those same BBC bosses have presided over the gutting of the service.

£ Anybody trying to get in contact with our news desk on Thursday afternoon of last week will have needed to call our mobiles. The team of reporters here embarked on a specially curated treasure hunt across the City – chasing down clues and answering all sorts of historical trivia questions in various parts of the Square Mile. It was a helpful reminder of the remarkable heritage of this place -and anybody that wants to run their own need only drop me an email for the details.

CAN I QUOTE YOU ON THAT?

It’s coming, mate I saw a good friend of mine over the weekend, who runs a south London pub. I asked him about energy bills – and he, like the rest of the industry, is deeply concerned. The great British pub is not out of the woods yet.

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Those who grow up on this side of the Irish Sea do not always, it is fair to say, understand the complex history of the island of Ireland, and I count myself among that number.

Two recent deep-dives have helped, though, especially with regards to understanding the Troubles.

Patrick Radden Keefe’s extraordinary book Say Nothing details the vicious effect fear can have on a community.

And the BBC’s Spotlight documentary, available on iPlayer, is one of the finest pieces of historical documentary making I’ve been lucky enough to witness.

Both are well worth your time, especially as we mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

CITYAM.COM

TUESDAY 11 APRIL 2023

MARKETS

CITY DASHBOARD

YOUR ONE-STOP SHOP FOR BROKER VIEWS AND MARKET REPORTS

LONDON REPORT

BEST OF THE BROKERS

Will the UK avoid a recession? It won’t be long until we find out

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HE EASTER bunny has retired for another year, the eggs sit uneaten on the family mantlepiece and the City is back to work again today.

After a slowish start today, corporate and economic announcements will leave us all in need of a rest by Friday.

Wednesday will see Everyman Media, the cinema firm, deliver its fullyears with analysts keen to ascertain just how badly better-off consumers have been hit by the cost of living crisis – with any struggles at the boutique cinema outfit likely to be read across to a whole host of other sectors relying on discretionary spend.

Thursday will see Tesco post its fullyear results and analysts will be keen as ever to pore over every detail.

And Friday morning appears to be unusually busy, with gambling giant

888 Holdings delivering its own final results alongside AO World. Look out for a trading update from Hays, too, a useful indicator of the state of the jobs market.

Otherwise, much of the focus will be on Thursday morning’s UK economic data, not least of all GDP. Expect an outpouring of political posturing, as per usual, but it’ll be interesting to see whether the UK economy remains slightly more resilient than many (including the Bank of England, lest we forget) predicted. The balance of trade will also drop that morning, as will the RICS housing market survey.

In the US, Wednesday will see inflation figures and mortgage applications, whilst much of the world’s attention will also be held by the meetings of the World Bank and the IMF in Washington DC today and tomorrow.

To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com

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Wetherspoons said its pretax profit will return to around £100m over the next three to four years taking it back to its 2019 level. Analysts at Peel Hunt noted that prices at the pub operator rose by 7.5 per cent in February, suggesting these increases were a “game changer”. Although “the quality of disclosure and guidance has worsened”, the analysts raised the target price to 700p and rated it a ‘hold’.

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SINK OR FLOAT

“The excuse last autumn for the dearth of IPOs was political uncertainty and volatile market conditions. The big question, however, is whether companies will want to list in London or try their hand at getting a higher valuation elsewhere in the world if they have operations beyond the UK.”

225 220

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CEO Jo Hallas announced he was leaving Tyman last Friday in a “surprise announcement”. Current CFO Jason Ashton will take his place. Peel Hunt analysts were not “immediately concerned” by her departure, citing strong current trading.

They also said Tyman is a “good choice” as interim CEO. The analysts maintained a ‘buy’ rating with a target price of 350p.

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14

OPINION

TUESDAY 11 APRIL 2023

CITYAM.COM

OPINION EDITED BY SASCHA O’SULLIVAN

Michael Gove faces an uphill battle to turf out the medieval long leaseholds Elena Siniscalco

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HEN Michael Gove described long leaseholds as an “outdated feudal system”, he wasn’t wrong.

The history of leasehold is as old as mediaeval songs. The caveat is that over the last century, it has been modernised and reformed extensively with new rules pushed by Gove along the way.

Leasehold, the model through which you own a property but not the land on which the property is built, goes back to the times when “serfs” would be allowed to work and live on a plot of land, providing food and other services to the owner of the land - the freeholder or landlord - in exchange. Over time, the powers of the freeholders were limited; already in the 1920s there were more protections from evictions for leaseholders. Then came long leases, usually around a hundred years long: freeholders started selling them to bring in more money. Today, the aristocratic landlords have been replaced by pension funds and offshore investors.

According to Gove, leaseholds are an “unfair form of property ownership” because the leaseholder never fully owns their flat, despite having bought it. Very few countries still retain this model of ownership. The Levelling Up Secretary plans to introduce reforms in the next King’s Speech - delayed

Michael Gove has called long leaseholds as a form of ownership an ‘outdated feudal system’

until the autumn - to make it much easier for leaseholders to buy the freehold for their home. Some important systemic changes have already been made: through the Leasehold Reform Act introduced last year, people buying new leases won’t have to pay ground rent - a sum paid annually by owners of long leases to their landlords.

The government approach to leasehold is not only ideological - bringing “true ownership” to voters - it also spurs from years of complaints from leaseholders. They were at the centre of the building safety crisis, when many of them woke up one day to discover their flat’s value had plummeted because

their building was covered in inflammable cladding. They would have had to pay for all repairs themselves - until the government intervened to shift the onus onto developers. Another contentious issue is the amount leaseholders have to pay for insurance on the building and service charges. They have no power in choosing which provider to use, and campaigners reckon there are hundreds of millions of pounds in excessive insurance costs all over the country.

“There is no escaping the fact that leaseholds in England and Wales remain a mess”, said John Perry, senior policy officer at the Chartered Institute

for Housing in the Housing Review of 2022. But precisely because the system is so bygone, getting rid of it is tough.

Unsurprisingly, freeholders defend the current system - despite acknowledging stronger regulation is needed to ensure abuse doesn’t happen. According to Jack Spearman of the Residential Freeholders Association, leaseholds work well because it mediates between people who are really invested in the building and how it’s maintained, and people who don’t want to manage it and are happy for an external third party to shoulder that responsibility. “Freeholders can act as an arbiter”, he says. Spearman

Even before the cost of living crisis, Brits struggled to understand their own finances

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T WAS just over a year ago that we started to see the phrase ‘cost-of-living crisis’ being used to describe the rise in inflation. It’s a fitting phrase, because as almost everyone in the UK acutely feels the knock-on effects of the war in Ukraine and rising interest rates, it becomes more difficult for many to make ends meet.

The reality, however, is that hundreds of thousands of people were facing a more widespread cost-of-living crisis long before the war and long before the pandemic.

People in precarious or no employment, struggling with debt, and making the choice between heating and eating and facing the “poverty premium”.

With energy bills, council tax, broadband and almost every single household expense expected to rise, it is vital that we think about how we can support those who are most at risk of falling into a financial quagmire.

I believe that financial literacy and fi-

Nicholas Lyons

nancial inclusion are two issues we need to address urgently; they are two sides of the same coin, one missing from so many people’s pockets.

By financial literacy, I don’t mean expertise in stock trading or commodities. I mean basic understanding of financial concepts – like budgeting and the compounding of interest – that can help people to manage their money and avoid financial abuse.

And by financial inclusion, I mean making more financial support available to people in precarious financial circumstances.

Right now, our financial sector is fo-

cused on supporting people with predictable lives and incomes.

But with inflation at a high level, many people have become more vulnerable, particularly those who are self-employed or on zero-hour contracts. At the moment, many people don’t understand the financial products they’re being excluded from, and ignorance is far from bliss.

Improving financial inclusion and literacy requires co-ordinated efforts from business, government, charities, and researchers.

Tomorrow I will be hosting a Financial Inclusion and Literacy Summit at the Mansion House, bringing together some of the experts on these issues to create a plan on how to help more people during this.

We will hear from government ministers, journalists, and academics about the complex picture of increasing financial literacy. And financial sector leaders will discuss how to ensure more people are financially in-

cluded to help stimulate economic growth.

It will be a unique opportunity to get every expert in one room and work out a strategy of support. As much as we need to act thoughtfully, we also need to act quickly.

A recent survey found that one in four people now feel locked out of the UK’s financial services market – saying they believed they would be turned down for a loan or credit card almost immediately – up from one in five when the inaugural research was done last year.

The cost-of-living crisis is a complex issue, but we cannot afford to ignore the role that low financial literacy and exclusion from financial support play in people’s financial welfare.

We need a thorough and thoughtout approach if we want to have any hope of addressing them. £ Nicholas Lyons is the Lord Mayor of the City of London Corporation

also says that by changing leasehold to commonhold - where everyone living in the building is a freeholder and the responsibility for common services is shared - the problems around service charges don’t go away, they just change form.

“To expect unskilled leaseholders to take the role of a commercial landlord is fraught with even more problems than the system that we’ve got”, said Mary-Anne Bowring of property consultant Ringley Group.

Yet in every other country, people own their flats and manage their buildings. The condominium system exists in Italy, the US, Israel, and many other places. I’ve seen a couple of owners’ assemblies turn sour myself, but most of the time adult neighbours are able to sit down together and talk about what provider they want for the maintenance of communal stairs. It’s not that hard, really.

“A lot of people think they would actually spend less time dealing with things in commonhold rather than in leasehold”, says Harry Scoffin of Commonhold Now. For him, the problems with the freeholder are always so many that in the end it’s like managing the building yourself without having any actual benefit or decisionmaking power.

The government can’t abolish leasehold in a day - one in four homes in England and Wales are owned through a lease, and the whole system would come crashing down. Whatever path the government takes - heavily incentivising commonhold, or implementing gradual reforms to give more powers to leaseholders - it’s still a long way ahead. One that any future prime minister should look at closely.

CROWNING GLORY As the country prepares for a very modern coronation of King Charles III, even our phones will get a reboot. Buckingham Palace has released the ‘official’ emoji to mark the day, showing the crown the new King will wear as he takes the throne

TUESDAY 11 APRIL 2023

CITYAM.COM

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR VIEWS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR aren’t willing to compromise on the latter despite challenging times.

The long tail of people Recent research conducted by Ideagen the ongoing importance Mad Cow disease underscores of quality and safety for consumers [Re: Today is the start of a new tax year, here’s what you need to know, April 4] The impending increase in corporation tax is but one of many challenges that businesses are facing as we head into the new financial year ahead.

Naturally, when times get tough, companies might find themselves walking the fine line between cost and quality. Most will face some tough decisions as they set out their cost margins for the coming months. But in the midst of all this uncertainty and the race for profit in trying times, they can’t afford to cut corners - even in poor economic climates. After all, consumer trust becomes arguably more important in such times.

While cost continues to be important, it goes hand in hand with quality, and

and the need for companies to prioritise it. The data found that the majority of people (58 per cent) are more focused on the price of goods than they were 12-months ago, but nearly a third (31 per cent) said that the quality of products and services are more important now than before the cost-of-living crisis. For Gen Z and Millennials, this demand for quality is even greater.

A quality or safety failure can have a lasting reputational impact. Highprofile incidents such as the horse meat scandal, salmonella and Mad Cow Disease linger in the minds of consumers even decades after they hit the headlines, with a quarter saying such events still impact their purchasing behaviour.

Ben Dorks Ideagen

MACRON’S CHINA French President warns EU not to follow the EU

Emmanuel Macron has told European leaders they should not be lead blindly

by America into further tensions with China. He said there was a risk the EU is ‘caught up in crises which aren’t ours’ after a visit to Beijing.

EXPLAINER-IN-BRIEF: A POST-BREXIT ALTERNATIVE TO JOINING HORIZON After the UK left the European Union, it also forfeited its membership to Horizon, the program which funds research projects across the trade bloc.

Michelle Donelan, the Secretary for Science and Technology, proposed an alternative just days after meeting with counterparts in Brussels. It is a Plan B in case the Europeans don’t give the government what they want - or force to stringent measures on them. It would make the same amount of funding the UK would

St Magnus House, 3 Lower Thames Street, London, EC3R 6HD Tel: 020 3201 8900 Email: news@cityam.com

have paid into Horizon over the next five years - £14.6bn available to new projects.

But no alternative has been made to a different funding programme, known as the European Structural and Investment Fund. The cash from this program currently enables 166 different projects across Britain.

If these projects hit a cliff edge, it would also put hundreds of jobs at risk, many of them in the very science sector Donelan is trying to nurture.

Certified Distribution from 09/01/2023 till 26/01/2023 is 67,090

OPINION

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› E: opinion@cityam.com COMMENT AT: cityam.com/opinion

We’re about to pour billions into childcare, but is preschool really good for kids?

Phoebe Arslanagic Wakefield

O

VER the space of ten years, between 2010 and 2021, the cost of a part-time nursery place for a child under two has increased by 60 per cent in cash terms, twice as fast as average earnings.

For many, these costs have intolerably transformed early years childcare from a necessary service that supports family life to a deciding factor in deeply personal decisions. A 2022 survey from campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed found that 17.4 per cent of women who have had an abortion in the past five years say that childcare costs were the main reason they chose to end a pregnancy.

At the same time, many new mothers are hit by the realisation that it makes more financial sense for them to leave the workforce rather than maintain a career and pay for pre-school care. Last year, of 26,962 parents of young children surveyed, 43 per cent of mothers considered leaving their job because of childcare costs.

Now, a convincing case has been made that an affordable early years childcare system will not only be a boon to parents but to our mutual prosperity, and politicians are listening. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has expanded and extended free childcare hours for the under-fives and Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has pledged to make reforming the childcare system her “first priority in government”.

In the midst of this cross-party consensus, we can imagine a parent raising their hand and asking a serious question: is pre-school care good for my child?

The evidence is mixed. In 2022, a randomised control study – the gold standard in experimental research – followed nearly 3,000 children who entered Tennessee’s state-run pre-Kindergarten programme in 2009 and 2010 all the way into sixth grade, our equivalent of Year 7. Students who attended pre-school had lower academic attainment in sixth grade than those who did not.

The bad news for pre-school doesn’t stop there. Much is made of the intuitive socialisation benefits of pre-school: we can imagine that a two-year-old in nursery, spending lots of time with other children, might get a head start on developing crucial pro-social skills such as sharing. Yet the Tennessee study

Working families will have access to 30 hours free childcare found worse behavioural outcomes for children who had attended pre-Kindergarten: they were more likely than their peers to incur disciplinary infractions.

Other studies have also found that children who attend pre-school display more aggressive behaviour later in school, though the effect appears to quickly fade out.

Homegrown evidence on pre-schools in the UK also casts the benefits of it into dappled light. Department for Education-backed longitudinal research published in 2020 revealed an association between attending formal pre-school childcare and poorer socio-emotional outcomes in Year 1, including in terms of aggression and anxiety.

Yet there are also numerous studies that do show benefits of pre-school attendance for children, on a range of metrics including better verbal ability, better behaviour and even maths scores.

In many cases, the reason for this contradictory evidence is the vast variations in the quality of early years settings.

It is easy to support a commitment to high-quality pre-school care, but unfor-

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tunately there is also a lack of clarity as to what exactly characterises high-quality provision and how that quality can be measured. For example in Tennessee, the very state featured in the randomised control study that revealed links between pre-school attendance and worse academic and behavioural outcomes, has actually been lauded for the high quality of its pre-Kindergarten programme.

Our answer to parents is an ambiguous one: evidence for the benefits of pre-school for children is mixed and the debate over what constitutes good quality care is far from settled.

Don’t get me wrong, the investment into early years education from the government is a good thing. And will be a welcome policy for parents up and down the country, when they finally benefit. But we must be clear-eyed about the benefits of pre-school, and find a consensus on what is actually good for our kids.

Otherwise, in ten years time, we may find ourselves counting the cost. £ Phoebe Arslanagic-Wakefield is Chair of Women in Think Tanks

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16

LIFE&STYLE

TRAVEL The El Cortez hotel’s recent renovation shows how Las Vegas is finally celebrating its history, says Adam Bloodworth

I

CITYAM.COM

TUESDAY 11 APRIL 2023

f you thought the Las Vegas Strip was nuts, try Downtown Las Vegas, which one local tells me has recently adopted the nickname of ‘Drowntown.’ “Growing up here, everything is crazy,” he says, glancing across a parking lot, his facial expression suggesting he’s still processing the city he’s spent his whole life in.

“I used to think all cities were like this…”

On the horizon, the rollercoaster curls, stately pyramids and Eiffel Tower punctuate the skyline. Imagine thinking all cities were like this. But it’s the other direction that has me enthralled: ‘Drowntown,’ where the locals go when they want to get on it.

Away from the Strip, Las Vegas is a relatively affordable, surprisingly ordinary city. It has 650,000 residents, who visit the Strip as often as Brits who live in the suburbs visit London. Drowntown is the exception. It has shades of the Strip’s energy, with flashing lights and all-night-long casinos but with a massive dollop of authenticity.

Drowntown is where the locals go for fun.

It’s a contradictory splurge of modernity and classic Las Vegas history that’s a hundred times more appealing than the classic Vegas highlights and, dare I say it, more addictive than a slot machine. (I spent 10 days in Las Vegas and never spent a penny.)

On Freemont Street, the Downtown thoroughfare, snakes curl around the shoulders of their human owners, looking nervously at the LED ceiling enveloping the road, where a zipline runs. A student with a cardboard sign reading “do what you want to me” has his legs akimbo and is doing his best to look unfettered as tourists play with his limbs; performing a one-man version of Twister for money.

It’s not all weird: a free-to-view stage hosts loud rock concerts and nightly DJs. Taylor Momsen and The Pretty Reckless played a show when I visited. Freemont Street is a precision-tooled creation of social space, where lucky locals go to lap up the Las Vegas that mainstream tourists don’t know about. Californian and Arizonan tourists might be in on the secret, privy to ‘Drowntown’ because they have a friend living in Vegas who takes them here. Drowntown’s visitors are too savvy to end up trawling around the overpriced casinos of the Strip when the entry bets are lower here, and there are still free drinks if you’re playing.

You can still smoke indoors in all Las Vegas casinos, but if the hotels on the Strip have revolutionary new machines to suck of smoke out of the air, there’s still the occasional whiff of cigarette smoke in Drowntown as you walk the casino floors.

On nearby East Freemont Street, a cabaret club called Cheapshot and the Discopussy nightclub are utopian visions of what a Downtown area should feel like: an appealing mix of hedonism, sleaze and creativity.

Here lies the El Cortez hotel, one of the last remaining motel-style hotels in Las Vegas, which dates back to the 1940s. It is the last standing hotel that was once owned by notorious mobster Bugsy Seigel, who murdered at least 30 men and was one of America's most notorious criminals.

Las Vegas is a city of constant, ferocious change. The family-friendly hotels of the 1990s are currently being torn down because – surprise surprise – families don’t spend money gambling. They’re being replaced by hotels offering more straightfor-

FOR AN ALTERNATIVE LAS VEGAS, HEAD TO DROWNTOWN

THE TRAVEL HACK

Book a visit to the Neon Museum where old neon signs, some over 100 years old, are displayed. A 45minute tour gives you a load of fascinating information on the design history behind these wonderful signs

ward but top-draw luxury, like the Aria on the Strip.

Amid this change, the El Cortez has remained a constant. There is no swimming pool and the service can be blunt, but this is ‘real’ Las Vegas. The gorgeous monogrammed lobby floor has ‘1941’ written in black stone, the year the floor was laid, and some staff have been here a decent portion of that. The hotel has just opened its ‘Original 47’ rooms in the part of the hotel that was first built and occupied by Seigel and his cronies.

“We spent a lot of money on those rooms,” says Kenny Epstein, the El Cortez owner, now well into his eighties. “A lot of money...”

In my room, I open the curtain to enjoy the view of the hotel’s handsome original neon sign, which is within touching distance from my window. Neon signs are made individually and are treated as

works of art in Las Vegas, but they’re increasingly rare in a new Vegas insistent on reinventing its image.

It’s staggering to think of the crooked deals that went on in this room, or the murderous plans, and there’s something humbling about the intimacy of the space.

There have been no extensions, just modernisations, which means up-to-date amenities in very historic hotel rooms. I go to sleep feeling partially thrilled, partially nervous about the ghosts of mobsters past, who must surely stalk these corridors.

The next night I check into the Jackie Gaughan Suite at the El Cortez, the most special place I have ever stayed, and I’ve stayed in some amazing hotel rooms. Comprising the lion’s share of the top floor of the hotel, it has seven balconies, and retains its original fixtures and fittings, like ostentatious metal swan bath taps, from when it was fitted in 1980. Jackie

Gaughan, the hotel’s former owner and a Las Vegas legend who owned a hotel empire worth $82m, lived here from 1980 until his death in 2014.

“We almost ripped it out and turned it into three luxury suites,” says Epstein.

What makes the El Cortez special is they don’t have any idea how amazing their hotel is. Consultants came in and suggested they keep the suite as it is – and thank goodness they did. The Jackie Gaughan Suite costs $1,500 per night, but with three double beds and enough room to throw a party for 50 (and boy, back in the day, were they thrown) it’s the biggest steal in the city. You’d get a forgettable room somewhere modern for the same price.

Everything’s been faithfully kept as it was in the 1980s. The original manual for the washing machine is in its drawer, the fridge is fabulously OTT, like things were

TUESDAY 11 APRIL 2023

CITYAM.COM

THE LONG WEEKEND

LIFE&STYLE

17

COGNAC HOTEL CHAIS MONNET

The distillery town of Cognac lies off the tourist route, making it ideal for a weekend break that genuinely feels like a getaway.

Steve Dinneen stayed at the wonderful Hotel Chais Monnet WHERE IS IT? Cognac, population 18,000, is one of those places whose produce is far more famous than the town itself. Located a couple of hour’s drive north of Bordeaux, across the Gironde Estuary, it’s aggressively French, its cobbled mediaeval streets drawn directly from the Platonic ideal of a charming little French town. It’s surrounded by the vineyards from which the titular spirit is produced. Cognac is still the major industry here, with the big four producers – Hennessy, Remy Martin, Courvoisier and Martell – all having operations in the town and employing thousands between them.

in the disco era, and on the mantelpieces, mugs etched with Jackie’s name are presented like he’s about to walk back in.

There’s a powder pink theme throughout the furnishings, and did I mention the jacuzzi with gold duck taps that has a Strip view? Trust me, this is the best money you’ll spend on any holiday this year. Look out for Epstein, by the way, who wanders the foyer and speaks to guests in the hotel’s restaurant every day, like his predecessor Mr Gaughan did.

Circa, a short walk away, is the first new hotel to open Downtown in 40 years and a sign of the spike in interest in this area of the city. Downtown’s other hotels take the architectural shape of mini high rises, El Cortez being one, as well as the Golden Nugget – another old gem – though none of its 1940s interiors remain.

Circa is something different, taking the form of a handsome ship’s sail; it’s every bit

as ‘Strip’ as you’d imagine. A live DJ plays all day at the pool, which has a set of gigantic screens displaying international sport.

Laying in my cabana and sipping a fancy cocktail, I watched all manner of sports teams I’d never heard of play sports I never knew existed.

Rather than signalling the end of an era, Circa signals to Downtown’s future: as the secret of the ‘other’ Las Vegas spreads, the investors, and with them, their cool new hotels, are bound to follow. Get there before they do.

NEED TO KNOW ‘Original 47’ rooms at the El Cortez start from £52 and the Jackie Gaughan Suite is bookable via the website at elcortezhotelcasino.com/hotel/jackiegaughan-suite Circa rooms start from £110 at circalasvegas.com For more information go to visitlasvegas.com.

THE STAY: Unlike Champagne, Bordeaux, the Loire Valley and countless other grapegrowing regions, Cognac doesn’t feel like a particularly touristy destination, which is great if you’re looking for a weekend that genuinely feels like getting away from it all.

That doesn’t mean it’s not set up as a perfect tourist retreat, however.

The Hotel Chais Monnet is one of the most stunningly converted hotels I’ve stayed in, a brilliant melding of traditional and modern architecture. Entering through the 19thcentury frontage of the former cognac trading house, you’re greeted by a stylish and contemporary lobby complete with circular glass lifts and outre chandeliers, cut through by original timber beams.

Continue through a glass atrium covering the passage between two former warehouses and you will eventually reach the spa, whose opulence really defines what the Hotel Chais Monnet is all about, with its indoor/outdoor pool and general air of low-key luxury.

This vibe is continued throughout the rooms and suites, which also work the original beams into the elegant beige-andgrey design aesthetic. The junior suite in which I stayed came with walk-in

wardrobes, a social area, and a cosy terrace that’s ideal for enjoying a morning coffee while you read the papers.

Outside the hotel you can find a small fleet of classic VW Beetles, which can be hired during your stay, should you wish to add a certain European je ne sais quoi to your weekend away.

TOP TIP Make sure you book into the fine dining restaurant Les Foudres – it’s the best place to eat in the area and a real culinary experience

WHAT’S THERE TO DO? The first thing on any list should be simply meandering through the ancient streets. The lack of tourist architecture allows you to really immerse yourself in this working town, which has changed little in the last 200 years. There are manicured gardens and rugged cognac estates, not to mention plenty of picturesque walks through the vineyards and by the Charente river.

You should also take in a tour of one of the cognac distilleries. While the “big four” all offer tours, I went for the fifth largest distiller, Camus, which offers an excellent afternoon steeped in the history of the area, the intricacies of spirit production, and offers a comprehensive tasting that will leave you pleasantly sozzled after your generous afternoon is up.

THE FOOD: Most of the bars and restaurants are clustered round the centre of town. The food is good and the service is extremely French. For something special, though, book a table at Les Foudres, the fine dining restaurant in the depths of the hotel. I was blown away by the inventive and refined creations of chef Paolo Boscaro.

NEED TO KNOW: Nightly rates at Hotel Chais Monnet & Spa start from €260 per room, room only. Flights from London to Bordeaux or La Rochelle. For more information please visit chaismonnethotel.com

18

MARKETS

FTSE 100 7741.56 78.62

TUESDAY 11 APRIL 2023

Ã

FTSE 250 18797.03 195.61

Price Chg High Low

Ã

Price Chg High Low

GILTS

DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIALS

Tsy 2.500 24 ................374.63 -0.73 389.8 359.2 Tsy 5.000 25 ................102.42 -0.08 110.2 100.5 Tsy 4.250 27 ................ 104.11 -0.07 115.3 98.0 Tsy 6.000 28 .................113.74 -0.11 128.6 106.8 Tsy 4.125 30 ................348.45 -1.23 387.6 301.5 Tsy 4.250 32..................107.41 -0.02 123.6 98.2 Tsy 4.250 36 .................107.11 0.04 128.4 94.8 Tsy 4.750 38.................112.53 0.03 140.4 98.5 Tsy 4.250 46 ............... 106.94 0.01 144.7 89.5

Smith (DS) ...................... 314.2 6.7 368.5 241.8 Smiths Gp......................1645.5 -21.0 1797.5 1364.0 Smurfit Kappa Gp......2952.0 46.0 3596.0 2452.0 Vesuvius..........................390.0 4.4 435.0 284.6

AEROSPACE & DEFENCE

Halma .............................2177.0 22.0 2532.0 1876.5 Morgan Advanced ........275.0 4.5 325.0 217.0 Oxford Instruments ..2430.0 10.0 2625.0 1720.0 Renishaw ......................3734.0 42.0 4338.0 3342.0 Spectris ........................3678.0 57.0 3684.0 2474.0

BAE Systems ................1012.0 17.0 1027.2 714.0 Chemring Gp .................286.0 1.5 367.5 271.5 QinetiQ ............................340.0 6.2 394.2 317.0 Rolls-Royce ......................147.9 4.2 158.0 66.2

AUTOMOBILES & PARTS Aston Martin................. 220.2 TI Fluid Systems ...........104.4

7.2 902.6 1.2 188.0

89.6 92.7

BANKS Barclays ........................... 151.6 3.9 189.7 133.9 HSBC Hldgs.....................562.9 8.7 647.5 442.2 Lloyds Banking ................49.0 0.6 54.0 39.1 NatWest Group............. 266.5 4.2 309.9 203.6 Standard Chartered.....618.0 3.0 790.8 479.7 TBC Bank Group.........2275.0 40.0 2590.0 1148.0 Virgin Money UK ............147.4 2.3 197.9 118.4

BEVERAGES Britvic..............................896.0 3.0 898.5 707.5 Coca-Cola HBC AG.....2293.0 6.0 2300.0 1548.0 Diageo ...........................3684.5 15.5 4020.5 3410.5

CHEMICALS Croda International ..6554.0 198.0 7910.0 5908.0 Elementis..........................118.2 1.8 129.0 87.7 Johnson Matt.............. 1920.0 17.0 2373.0 1784.0 Synthomer .......................119.0 3.0 332.8 88.0 Victrex ...........................1539.0 2.0 1931.0 1508.0

CONSTRUCTION & MATERIALS Balfour Beatty ...............358.2 0.4 377.2 233.0 Barratt Devel .................453.0 1.1 526.0 323.4 Bellway .........................2168.0 26.0 2576.0 1586.5 CRH .................................3813.0 13.0 4353.0 2756.5 Genuit Group ..................263.0 0.5 480.0 252.5 Grafton Group................841.1 11.4 1030.6 630.6 Ibstock.............................168.3 1.4 208.2 148.3 Marshalls........................300.8 1.2 672.5 225.4 Morgan Sindall Gp.....1686.0 22.0 2400.0 1392.0 Persimmon ....................1233.0 29.0 2254.0 1138.5 Taylor Wimpey ...............115.0 1.6 134.5 85.1 Vistry Group...................764.0 18.0 938.5 519.5 Volution ........................... 411.0 0.0 431.5 275.5

ELECTRICITY Drax Gp ............................616.2 5.8 827.0 473.4 SSE ................................. 1845.0 31.5 1920.0 1428.0

ELECTRONIC & ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT

EQUITY INVESTMENT INSTRUMENTS 3i Infrastructure........... 319.0 4.0 366.5 288.5 Aberforth Smlr Cos ..1220.0 2.0 1422.0 1068.0 Alliance Trust.................974.0 5.0 1044.0 887.0 Allianz Tech ....................224.5 2.0 267.0 200.0 AVI Global Trust............184.2 -0.8 205.5 174.6 Baillie Gifford Japan... 728.0 -10.0 827.0 662.0 Bankers InvTst ..............100.6 0.6 108.2 93.0 Bellevue Healthcare..... 151.0 0.0 188.8 132.4 BlackRock Smaller ....1294.0 8.0 1672.0 1170.0 BlackRock Wld Mining 653.0 3.0 792.0 533.0 Bluefield Solar ...............138.8 0.4 146.5 120.0 BR Throgmorton ..........566.0 9.0 743.0 487.0 Caledonia Inv ..............3490.0 125.0 4055.0 3055.0 City of London IT..........418.0 5.5 431.5 372.0 Digital 9 .............................70.5 2.7 118.0 61.1 Edin Inv Trust ................661.0 6.0 690.0 543.0 Edin Wwide .................... 152.4 2.4 218.0 150.0 European Opp ................753.0 3.0 778.0 629.0 F&C Investment ...........890.0 1.0 992.0 770.0 Fidelity China SPE ....... 246.0 3.0 302.0 178.6 Fidelity Emg .................. 585.2 -1.3 686.0 555.1 Fidelity Eur .....................336.0 1.0 347.5 267.0 Fidelity Spec Val ...........273.0 4.0 296.0 233.5 Finsbury G&I Tst..........894.0 -3.0 900.0 734.0 GCP Infra Inv....................87.7 1.2 118.6 84.1 Global Smaller ............... 143.0 0.0 162.2 122.4 Greencoat UK..................161.3 1.6 167.2 135.6 Harbourvest Glb.........2020.0 -20.0 2610.0 1930.0 Henderson Sml Co ........791.0 12.0 1004.0 680.0 Herald Inv Trust ..........1722.0 -8.0 1950.0 1560.0 HICL Infr .........................156.0 0.4 183.0 144.4 Hipgnosis Songs Fund ...84.9 2.2 122.0 79.7 ICG Enterprise ............1008.0 6.0 1202.0 954.0 IMPAX ENVIRO MKTS422.0 6.5 481.0 381.5 JPM American.............. 702.0 3.0 795.0 655.0 JPM Emerg Mkt .............107.6 0.4 119.8 92.2 JPM Euro Disc. ..............412.0 -3.5 448.0 345.0 JPM Glbl Gth ..................453.5 5.5 476.5 386.0 JPM Japan IT ................453.5 -8.0 503.0 412.5

FTSE ALL SHARE 4203.91 42.35

Ã

Price Chg High Low Jupiter Fund Mngt ........131.7 2.4 212.6 83.8 Law Debenture ..............801.0 13.0 860.0 656.0 Mercantile IT ..................191.6 -1.6 222.0 160.0 Monks Inv Tst ............... 952.0 4.0 1100.0 888.0 Murray Inc Tst.............. 859.0 16.0 901.0 715.0 Murray Intl Tst ............1332.0 -10.0 1368.0 1152.0 Next Energy Solar ........105.0 0.0 122.6 100.2 Ninety One ......................186.6 2.3 265.8 172.6 Pantheon Intl Partn .....232.0 1.0 321.0 229.2 Pershing Square.........2750.0 -20.0 3055.0 2330.0 Personal Assets Tr........479.5 5.0 503.0 467.0 Polar Cap Tech Tst .....1950.0 -4.0 2265.0 1708.0 Renewables Infra Gp ...129.0 0.8 147.4 118.2 RIT Cap Partners.......1854.0 -12.0 2580.0 1822.0 Schroder Asia ...............509.0 -1.0 551.0 446.0 Schroder Oriental ........ 256.0 0.0 281.0 231.5 Scot American Inv .......510.0 7.0 532.0 440.0 Scottish Mortgage ...... 652.0 9.4 973.0 642.6 Sequoia Econ Infra ........ 82.1 0.7 103.4 77.3 Smithson Inv................1359.0 5.0 1611.0 1140.0 Syncona ........................... 149.6 -1.0 211.5 137.4 Temple Bar......................233.0 2.5 249.0 197.6 Templeton Em Mkts ..... 149.0 0.8 164.6 130.6 Twentyfour .....................102.0 0.4 108.5 91.2 Vietnam Enterprise ......563.0 -18.0 771.0 500.0 VinaCapital Vietna .......435.5 -1.5 522.0 392.0 Witan Invest .................220.0 2.0 236.5 202.0 Wwide Healthcare .... 3120.0 0.0 3475.0 2825.0

RISERS

Ã

TUI AG ......................................... 624.00 Ferrexpo .........................................117.10 Hammerson ...................................26.92 Price Chg High Low Coats Group......................72.8 1.1 79.0 50.9 Hargreaves Lans............785.2 18.6 1030.5 740.8 IG Gp................................ 702.0 13.5 847.5 648.0 Integrafin Holdings..... 266.2 3.8 431.0 207.2 Intermediate Cap .......1224.5 14.5 1691.5 953.2 Intl Public Prtnshps .....145.0 -3.4 171.2 136.0 Investec ...........................439.7 -2.4 546.4 351.6 IP Group ............................55.8 0.9 90.2 52.9 JTC .....................................711.5 5.0 844.0 571.0 Liontrust......................... 965.0 19.5 1290.0 704.0 London Stock Exch ....8022.0 134.0 8582.0 6738.0 Man Group ......................210.6 -5.3 286.8 204.3 OSB Group ..................... 470.8 4.8 599.0 375.4 Paragon...........................504.5 9.1 608.0 366.0 Petershill Partners ........161.2 -0.8 285.5 146.6 Plus500 .........................1715.0 27.0 1951.0 1471.0 Provident Financial ......216.0 2.0 290.0 136.3 Quilter ................................83.3 1.8 172.1 80.4 Rathbone Grp.............. 1920.0 14.0 2220.0 1570.0 Ruffer Investment.......308.0 -1.0 325.0 283.0 Schroders........................455.6 9.1 644.8 358.8 SDCL Energy .....................87.8 2.0 125.4 82.4 TP ICAP ...........................180.5 6.0 204.4 102.5

% 12.7 5.9 5.7

Price Chg High Low Rotork ..............................307.6 3.8 336.4 229.6 Spirax-Sarco.............. 11485.0 85.012720.0 9130.0 Weir Gp..........................1792.5 10.5 2021.0 1328.5

INDUSTRIAL METALS Evraz ...................................81.0 Ferrexpo ............................117.1

0.0 81.0 6.5 193.2

80.9 97.6

INDUSTRIAL TRANSPORTATION Clarkson....................... 2990.0 Intl Dist Serv .................225.1 Redde Northgate ..........342.0

5.0 3700.0 2500.0 6.5 354.7 183.2 5.5 437.5 283.5

Games Workshp .........9345.0 -65.0 9640.0 5690.0

LIFE INSURANCE abrdn ................................201.7 2.5 236.1 133.0 Aviva .................................. 417.1 8.1 584.6 373.8 Just Group ........................90.1 1.9 95.3 56.0 Legal & General.............242.0 7.2 284.3 204.1 Phoenix Gp..................... 554.6 10.6 684.2 506.8 Prudential ......................1127.0 24.0 1371.5 797.6 St James Place ............1185.5 13.5 1417.0 920.0

GENERAL RETAILERS

MEDIA

Greggs ...........................2758.0 46.0 2820.0 1673.0 Ocado Gp ..........................517.0 10.8 1244.0 393.1 Sainsbury(J)....................273.1 0.4 278.7 169.9 SSP Group...................... 255.0 7.8 277.9 184.8 Tesco.................................264.1 0.2 286.7 199.2

4imprint........................4610.0 -20.0 5090.0 2240.0 Ascential ........................ 238.6 2.8 338.0 176.2 Auto Trader Gp.............598.8 4.2 675.0 486.2 Future ............................ 1070.0 21.0 2458.0 1049.0 Informa............................672.8 1.8 697.0 501.8 ITV .......................................81.1 1.3 90.1 55.2 Moneysupermkt.com .. 254.2 5.8 257.9 167.0 Pearson ........................... 842.6 9.0 995.2 734.6 RELX ..............................2628.0 3.0 2632.0 2081.0 Rightmove Group .........546.8 3.8 663.0 445.4 WPP ..................................933.4 6.6 1051.5 725.8

FOOD PRODUCERS

HEALTH CARE EQUIPMENT & SERVICES

Assoc British Foods....1961.5 16.5 2067.0 1237.0 Cranswick ....................3034.0 70.0 3748.0 2586.0 Hilton Food Gp ...............678.0 18.0 1220.0 500.0 Premier Foods................120.8 1.0 127.0 92.8 Tate & Lyle ...................... 787.0 10.0 906.5 657.2 Unilever..........................4307.5 19.0 4331.2 3421.5

Convatec..........................221.8 -5.2 248.6 199.0 Mediclinic Intl ...............498.4 0.8 501.5 347.6 Smith & Neph................1141.0 13.0 1321.5 984.6 Spire Health ................... 213.5 2.0 250.0 203.0

BT Gp .................................149.4 3.6 196.6 112.0 Telecom Plus ...............1904.0 44.0 2500.0 1500.0

FOOD & DRUG RETAILERS

FORESTRY & PAPER Mondi ............................ 1289.0 21.0 1705.0 1264.0

GENERAL FINANCIAL 3i Group .........................1676.5 12.0 1708.8 1059.0 Ashmore Gp....................239.6 4.2 286.4 180.9 Bridgepoint Group....... 222.6 6.4 337.0 173.9 Capital Gearing ..........4725.0 -35.0 5180.0 4675.0 Close Brothers ...............876.0 17.5 1193.0 858.5 CMC Markets .................169.6 2.6 317.0 167.0

HOUSEHOLD GOODS Berkeley Grp Hldgs ... 4146.0 66.0 4457.0 3165.0 Crest Nicholson .............220.4 4.2 283.6 172.1 Reckitt Benckiser ......6230.0 -106.0 6808.0 5556.0 Redrow............................ 462.2 6.4 585.0 372.6

MINING Anglo American .........2600.5 -10.0 4170.5 2479.0 Antofagasta ................1480.0 -9.0 1805.0 991.6 BHP Group ....................2415.0 2.5 3001.0 2034.0 Centamin .........................109.2 2.1 125.5 74.4 Endeavour Mining......2120.0 36.0 2120.0 1461.0 Fresnillo ........................... 787.8 15.0 968.0 644.0 Glencore ...........................457.4 0.6 578.1 400.0 Hochschild Mining ..........88.9 1.1 147.2 51.5 Rio Tinto .......................5295.0 12.0 6377.0 4486.0

MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS Vodafone Gp ......................91.5

% -3.1 -2.8 -2.5

Price Chg High Low

OIL & GAS PRODUCERS BP ...................................... 531.9 -1.8 567.6 363.9 Capricorn Energy.......... 237.8 0.8 261.8 194.4 Energean .......................1335.0 -1.0 1569.0 932.0 Harbour Energy ............288.0 5.9 530.0 245.2 Ithaca Energy ................156.4 2.0 210.0 146.4 Shell ................................ 2417.0 54.0 2604.5 1936.4 Tullow Oil...........................32.8 0.0 61.0 27.6

OIL EQUIPMENT & SERVICES Wood Gp(J) ....................212.4 -2.0 251.7 104.5

LEISURE GOODS

ASOS.................................754.6 -5.4 1612.0 490.0 B&M..................................475.7 5.8 550.0 295.5 Currys..................................55.1 -0.6 96.9 53.6 Dunelm Gp.....................1081.0 -6.0 1275.0 670.5 Frasers Group ................ 761.0 1.5 949.5 600.0 Howden Joinery Gp......652.6 -12.0 786.6 480.9 Inchcape..........................748.5 18.0 941.0 647.5 JD Sports Fashion ........ 166.1 -1.0 186.7 89.2 Kingfisher........................245.7 -0.7 291.5 203.0 Marks & Spencer ..........162.6 -1.1 167.0 93.2 Next ...............................6378.0 28.0 7076.0 4383.0 Pets at Home Gp .......... 366.8 -3.8 393.0 257.8 Watches of Switz ......... 761.5 -4.5 1168.0 654.0 WH Smith..................... 1485.0 45.0 1735.0 1132.5

FIXED LINE TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Ä

FALLERS

Vietnam Enterprise ................... 563.00 IMI..............................................1425.00 Man Group ...................................210.60

2.0 132.1

83.7

INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

NONLIFE INSURANCE

Bodycote ........................644.5 4.5 692.5 460.4 Hill & Smith ..................1316.0 14.0 1448.0 893.0 IMI ..................................1425.0 -41.0 1625.0 1071.0 Melrose Ind ....................160.5 -3.4 168.9 95.5 RHI Magnesita ............2178.0 -2.0 2750.0 1584.0

Admiral Gp...................2228.0 96.0 2573.0 1729.0 Beazley............................602.5 9.5 687.5 393.6 Direct Line Ins ...............156.7 3.6 268.4 135.0 Hiscox .............................1136.0 18.0 1147.0 842.0 Lancashire Hldgs........... 557.5 5.5 664.0 368.6

PERSONAL GOODS Burberry Gp................. 2475.0 -10.0 2592.0 1482.0 PZ Cussons......................186.4 -0.4 221.0 170.4

PHARMACEUTICALS & BIOTECHNOLOGY AstraZeneca ..............11700.0 106.011802.0 9656.0 Dechra Pharma...........2668.0 74.0 4136.0 2520.0 Genus.............................2836.0 90.0 3272.0 2234.0 GSK .................................1523.0 35.8 1810.4 1296.0 Hikma Pharma .............1751.0 64.5 2081.0 1190.5 Indivior ..........................1451.0 20.0 1998.0 1365.0 Puretech ..........................219.0 3.5 294.5 147.6

REAL ESTATE Assura .................................51.1 2.1 71.8 47.7 Big Yellow Gp ...............1194.0 42.0 1547.0 987.0 British Land .....................393.1 10.8 536.0 324.8 CLS Hldgs ........................134.6 4.2 231.0 129.4 Derwent London ........2342.0 56.0 3254.0 1876.0 Grainger...........................249.0 7.6 312.8 205.4 Grt Portland Est .............737.0 0.0 737.0 737.0 Hammerson ......................26.9 1.5 33.6 17.2 Land Securities..............638.2 21.2 785.6 485.3 LondonMetric Prop ......180.2 6.5 278.0 161.8 Primary Hlth Prop ........104.6 3.9 151.7 98.7 Safestore Hldgs ............. 967.5 28.5 1395.0 794.0 Savills .............................. 944.5 -12.0 1190.0 763.5 SEGRO ............................. 778.0 21.6 1377.0 694.0 Shaftesbury.....................114.3 3.9 172.2 95.5 Supermarket Income .....87.6 3.0 133.0 84.4 Target Healthcare........... 75.4 2.7 119.2 66.7 TR Property IT ..............283.0 8.5 467.0 263.5 Tritax Big Box ................ 145.5 6.1 248.4 125.7 Tritax Eurobox ..................63.4 2.3 107.6 57.0 UK Commercial Prop ......51.4 1.0 93.4 50.0 Unite Group ....................979.0 35.5 1207.0 791.5 Urban Logistics .............134.8 2.6 199.0 117.5 Workspace Gp ..............450.8 13.4 722.0 343.4

£

CITYAM.COM /€ 1.1398 /$ 1.2455 /¥ 163.96

Ä 0.0024 €/$ 1.0926 Ã 0.0012 Ä 0.0012 €/£ 0.8773 Ã 0.0018 Ã 0.6040 €/¥ 143.84 Ã 0.8400

Price Chg High Low

Price Chg High Low

SOFTWARE & COMPUTER SERVICES

AIM 50

Auction Tech .................580.0 9.0 1070.0 571.0 Baltic Classifieds............151.4 -1.0 166.4 120.4 Computacenter............2192.0 26.0 2898.0 1810.0 FDM Group......................683.0 -9.0 1080.0 599.0 Kainos Gp ......................1343.0 19.0 1740.0 954.5 Micro Focus Intl ............532.0 0.0 532.0 256.3 NCC Grp .............................90.6 0.8 240.0 89.8 Playtech ...........................533.0 11.5 603.0 390.8 Sage Group .....................774.8 5.0 817.2 595.6 Softcat ..........................1302.0 -5.0 1554.0 1071.0

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TECHNOLOGY HARDWARE & EQUIPMENT Spirent Comms...............179.7

4.5 286.2 168.1

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TUESDAY 11 APRIL 2023

CITYAM.COM

SPORT

19

RUGBY UNION

Chiefs rewriting final lines of dramatic script

I

T WASN’T supposed to be like this; the final lines in the script of the fall of Exeter Chiefs as their era of dominance comes to an end. But they’re the one remaining English team across the two European club rugby competitions, the Champions and Challenge Cups, and it’s a feat few expected.

Of the matchday 23 who won the Champions Cup in 2020, 11 are confirmed to be leaving or have left while three more are rumoured to be departing the Devonshire side.

But in the performance against Montpellier a week prior – where an extra-time try secured the win – and the victory against the Stormers on Saturday, Exeter

semi-final against Toulouse and a Rugby’s most recent serial winners Exeter are hoping to perform afinal against Racing 92.

“If that [the break up] is part of the one last act before the curtain falls, writes Matt Hardy motivation for all of them, great, but are almost living up to the storyline of this season being their swansong.

Promoted in 2010, the Chiefs worked hard to develop talent from the huge catchment area they laid claim to in Devon and Cornwall, and formed a squad of players that had more than rugby on their mind. It was clearly a brotherhood of players Sam Simmonds is off to Montpellier

playing for one another as well the team, fans and ownership.

That togetherness led them to two English Premiership titles and six consecutive domestic finals, three domestic cup wins and, in 2020, a Champions Cup title.

The Chiefs built a dynasty, but these things always come to an end.

It has been widely reported that the club’s chairman, Tony Rowe, paid his players their full salaries during the pandemic. Following Covid-19 lockdowns, Premiership salary caps were reduced and this has had a huge impact on the Chiefs, who have had to significantly cut their budget.

Much of the exodus is to France but

a couple of the players are heading to Ireland and South Africa, too. The squad is fracturing.

So how fitting, then, that this band of brothers under long-term mentor Rob Baxter are on course for their concluding act, the dramatic final scene to end their production.

To win in the most prestigious club competition in the world, however, they’ll need to overcome the defending champions La Rochelle in Bordeaux before beating either favourites Leinster or five-time winners Toulouse in Dublin in the final.

Their route to the final is not easy, but then it wasn’t simple when they won the competition in 2020, winning

it has to be motivation for all of them.

Just being a motivation for three or four of them is not what wins you games like that,” Baxter said on Saturday.

“Yes, they want to send their mates off, but those senior players should also want to win games for those young guys who are just starting out on their journeys.”

The sun is setting on a truly inspirational chapter in the professional era of English rugby, but that happens year after year.

Often these memorable periods of dominance end a low, so what’s fascinating about this one is seeing whether the era will end on the ultimate high.

OPINION

GOLF COMMENT Sam Torrance

F

ROM four-putting on the first green to ending the day with a 65, Jon Rahm began Masters week in astonishing style and never let up on his way to a commanding win.

I have never seen him drive the ball better, his iron play was sublime and his putting was, the first hole excepted, excellent. The Spaniard looked totally in control.

Sunday turned into a two-horse race between him and Koepka, and Rahm benefited from a vital two-shot swing when they resumed their weather-delayed third round on Sunday.

That gave him unbelievable momentum and he didn't look back, plotting his way to a four-shot victory and a second major title with a caution that can be harder to execute for aggressive players like him.

The wind and rain that arrived on Friday almost made the Masters like an Open Championship, with drastically different conditions for those who went out in the morning and afternoon. Rahm was on the wrong side of that draw, which made his second round of 69 even more impressive, but Koepka got the rub of the green with an early tee time and took advantage by shooting a 67.

Spurred on by his hero Seve Ballesteros and other Spanish former winners at Augusta, however, the man from the Basque Country was just too strong in the end. That it was the 40th anniversary of Seve’s second Green Jacket and would have been his 66th birthday was a lovely touch and clearly meant a lot to Rahm.

FUTURE STAR

A few other players gave themselves a chance of threatening the top two, not least Phil Mickelson, who put in a fantastic performance at the age of 52 to share second with Koepka.

Jordan Spieth made 10 bogeys and two double-bogeys across the four days yet still finished one shot behind Koepka and Mickelson in a tie for fourth. Had the 2015 champion cut out a few of those errors, he might have put himself in position to properly challenge for a second Green Jacket.

It was a shame that Tiger Woods had

WHAM, RAHM...

NOW FOR THE CAREER GRAND SLAM Rahm was always in total control. His driving was key: he put himself in the mayor’s office on every hole to retire, having done incredibly well to make the cut despite having to battle the worst of the weather.

Tiger’s history of injuries means that he gets to the clubhouse early in the

morning to undergo several hours of physiotherapy just to go out and play. Understandably, he was shattered.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler played really well but missed more putts than I’ve ever seen him miss and had to settle for a share of 10th place.

Amateur Sam Bennett marked himself out as a real star of the future by shooting two rounds of 68 when playing alongside Scheffler on Thursday and Friday. He was so disappointed with a

closing 74 that left him in a share of 16th. That was great to see because it showed how much it meant to him.

But it was to be Rahm’s week in the end. Three ahead with two holes to play, he left his first putt at the 17th seven or eight feet short. If Koepka birdies, suddenly there is a possibility of drama.

He was always in total control, though, and his driving was the key. He put Koepka fell away on Sunday

himself in the mayor’s office on just about every hole, hardly missing any fairways at all.

The win took Rahm back to world No1, which is well deserved based on his performances over the last two years. Hopefully this time it will take a long while to dislodge him.

Having won the US Open in 2021, he is already halfway to the career grand slam and I think he will do it.

The Open suits him down to the ground, which just leaves the US PGA Championship.

On this form, you wouldn’t even bet against Rahm doing it this year.

Sam Torrance OBE is a former Ryder Cupwinning captain and one of Europe’s most successful golfers. Follow him @torrancesam

20

SPORT

TUESDAY 11 APRIL 2023

CITYAM.COM

RAHM SLAM Sam Torrance tips Spaniard to sweep the board after Masters win PAGE 19

SPORT FOOTBALL

Jordan didn’t always win so why should City, asks Guardiola FRANK DALLERES MANCHESTER City manager Pep Guardiola has played down the club’s wait for Champions League glory, comparing them with Jack Nicklaus and Michael Jordan.

City have thus far been unable to replicate their domestic dominance on the European stage – a charge also levelled at Guardiola since leaving Barcelona more than a decade ago.

They can take another step towards rectifying that when they face another of the Spaniard’s former clubs, Bayern Munich, in a Champions League quarterfinal first leg on Tuesday night.

But Guardiola insists that the failures that littered the careers of even the greatest sportspeople show that success is far less common.

“How many Masters has Jack Nicklaus played or majors has he played in his career?

How many wins out of 164 tries?” he said. “Eighteen wins. Wow. He loses more than he wins. That is sport. In football, in golf, in basketball.

“Michael Jordan, the best athlete for me in basketball, won six NBA titles out of 14 years. He loses more than he wins. What is important is to be here, compete well, do our best. No more than that. I live my profession that way.

“After that if I lose, I lose. I’m not perfect. What is important is we are still

there after winning what we won last season. That is my biggest compliment that I can give our team.”

Guardiola won two Champions Leagues in a glittering four seasons in charge of Barcelona but has struggled to replicate that European success since.

At Bayern he won three Bundesliga titles but never made it past the Champions League semi-finals, while at City he has won four Premier League crowns in six years yet only reached one Champions League final.

That came in 2021, when his side lost to a Chelsea team coached by Thomas Tuchel, who last month took charge at Bayern.

The City boss compared his team to some of sport’s greats Guardiola played down the scars from that defeat.

“I was sad but I congratulated him and Chelsea for the victory. It happened,” he said.

“I reviewed the game a month later.

It was not as bad as I thought but at the same time it was not at all a good enough performance to win it.

“It was a tight, tight game like they always have been against Chelsea in that period. Forget it and try again.”

City have hit top form ahead of the first leg with Bayern in Manchester, having won eight games in a row in all competitions and scored 21 in their last four matches alone.

TENNIS

FOOTBALL

Assistant sidelined amid elbow probe FRANK DALLERES THE ASSISTANT referee accused of elbowing Liverpool defender Andy Robertson was stood down yesterday while the incident is investigated by the Football Association.

Constantine Hatzidakis was involved in a confrontation with Robertson at half-time of Sunday’s Premier League match between Liverpool and Arsenal.

Premier League referees’ body PGMOL said it would “not be appointing Constantine Hatzidakis to fixtures in any of the competitions it serves whilst the FA investigates the incident involving the assistant referee and Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson.”

Hatzidakis appeared to make contact with Robertson while fending off his complaints shortly after the half-time whistle.

The Scotland defender reacted angrily and received a yellow card but the assistant referee continued to officiate for the rest of the 2-2 draw.

“Ultimately, if he is found guilty of this, his career is in jeopardy,” said former referees’ chief Keith Hackett.

“I was trying to find an excuse as to why he did it and I came up with ‘was he in fear’? He shouldn’t be, because he’s in a protected environment with plenty of security.

“But he reacted in a way that he shouldn’t have reacted at the end of the day and here we are talking

about a match official and not a decision, but an action by a match official – and he’s clearly lost his composure.”

Robertson was branded “a big baby” by former Manchester United captain Roy Keane for his reaction to the flashpoint, and former ref Mark Halsey also put the blame on the Liverpool man.

“To me, it looks like Robertson goes to grab Hatzidakis, who brushes him off with his arm and catches him accidentally,” he wrote in The Sun. “I cannot think why an assistant would throw his arms into a player’s face. Sure, from one camera angle it does not look good. But you have to ask why has Robertson gone to approach the assistant referee?”

FOOTBALL

Norrie and Murray crash out in Monte Carlo but Draper wins

Smith agrees Leicester deal as Foxes face relegation

MATT HARDY

MATT HARDY

BRITISH No1 Cameron Norrie and former Wimbledon winner Andy Murray were first-round victims at the Monte Carlo 1000 yesterday.

Norrie (pictured) was beaten 6-3 6-4 in straight sets by Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo in the principality.

Norrie struggled across the Sunshine Double – a pair of events in Indian Wells and Miami – and continued his poor form in the first big tournament of the clay court season, which culminates at the French Open next month.

Three-time Monte Carlo semi-

finalist Andy Murray also fell in straight sets. In a heated match which involved a spat with the umpire after his cap fell off, Murray was beaten 6-1 6-3 by Australian Alex de Minaur.

Having reached the last 32 in California last month, it represented consecutive firstround exits for Murray.

There was some hope for British tennis fans, however, with Jack Draper’s 6-3 7-5 win over Argentinian Sebastian Baez.

Draper is set to face Polish star Hubert Hurkacz today in the second round as he seeks a first ATP title ahead of the French Open.

STRUGGLING Leicester City have agreed a deal with former Aston Villa and Norwich boss Dean Smith to become their manager until the end of the season.

The Foxes have been in the market for a manager since they sacked Brendan Rodgers last month.

Smith will be joined at the King Power Stadium by Craig Shakespeare and John Terry, according to Sky Sports.

Smith would make Leicester the sixth Premier League club to be under the watch of an interim manager after Chelsea, Tottenham, Leeds, Southamp-

ton and Crystal Palace.

The Foxes are 19th in the Premier League table and two points from safety – the side are next in action against Manchester City on Saturday before matches against fellow strugglers Wolves, Leeds and Everton.

Former Leeds boss Jesse Marsch as well as Rafael Benitez were previously linked with the job.

Leicester have suffered two defeats since the sacking of Rodgers and the club will be desperate to see a change in fortunes.

At the conclusion of their 1-0 loss to Bournemouth, some fans could be heard chanting “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” towards players.