12 The Sunday Times April 29, 2018

BUSINESS

TOP 200 COMPANIES

48 3i Group 943.0 +25.2 969.5 793.5 2.8 - 9166.6193 3i Infrastructure 219.6 +2.7 271.7 203.0 3.6 - 1783.084 Admiral 1995.5 –1.5 2178.0 1784.0 2.7 17.1 5682.8185 Aggreko 734.2 –5.2 983.0 695.4 3.7 17.7 1880.5162 Alliance 726.0 +9.0 769.0 683.0 1.9 - 2475.025 Anglo American 1699.2 –68.0 1843.6 959.4 2.1 9.4 23867.247 Antofagasta 954.0 +1.2 1061.0 751.0 1.5 37.9 9405.1143 Ashmore 410.0 –9.4 433.2 332.3 4.1 19.5 2922.243 Ashtead 2055.0 –16.0 2152.0 1542.0 1.4 10.4 10259.129 Associated British Foods 2700.0 +69.0 3371.0 2389.0 1.4 17.8 21375.26 Astra Zeneca 5083.0 +107.0 5508.0 4325.0 4.0 29.0 64373.6123 Auto Trader 350.6 +7.6 435.9 319.0 1.5 21.0 3345.4122 Aveva 2124.0 –12.0 3054.0 1803.0 1.9 64.4 3424.030 Aviva 525.0 +3.0 542.0 486.5 4.1 34.8 21069.5115 Babcock International 741.0 –3.6 969.5 626.2 3.8 11.6 3746.531 BAE Systems 613.4 +12.4 677.0 535.5 3.5 23.0 19547.9181 Balfour Beatty 289.9 –0.8 307.6 253.5 1.0 12.4 1999.615 Barclays 208.9 –6.6 217.0 178.9 1.4 61.5 35654.785 Barratt Developments 562.0 +2.4 700.0 519.8 4.3 9.1 5659.3126 BBA Aviation 320.8 +0.8 368.8 292.5 2.0 31.7 3309.9131 Beazley 603.0 +17.5 603.0 439.8 1.7 33.4 3170.0107 Bellway 3313.0 +6.0 3792.0 2727.0 3.7 8.4 4068.391 Berkeley 4065.0 +99.0 4240.0 3093.0 3.4 7.4 5498.517 BHP Billiton 1534.6 +0.2 1660.0 1117.0 4.0 23.6 32410.8108 B&M European 406.5 +7.1 434.8 335.1 1.4 26.6 4065.0200 Bodycote 896.5 –16.0 1006.0 739.5 1.8 17.6 1716.43 BP 537.4 +19.2 537.4 439.8 5.5 42.5 107107.44 British American Tobacco 4030.5 +330.5 5643.0 3650.0 5.4 2.2 92445.165 British Land 672.0 +6.0 691.5 590.5 4.4 11.6 6920.3184 Britvic 720.0 +11.0 820.0 661.5 3.4 17.1 1898.324 BT 248.0 +6.2 317.0 218.1 5.8 15.4 24606.3157 BTG 684.5 +21.0 779.0 592.5 - 36.0 2640.463 Bunzl 2098.0 –32.0 2465.0 1936.0 2.0 22.4 7047.955 Burberry 1822.0 +87.0 1985.0 1498.0 2.1 26.0 7987.3163 Capital & Counties Properties 285.8 –0.7 324.8 253.1 0.5 - 2426.644 Carnival 4732.0 +59.0 5380.0 4468.0 1.9 17.9 9835.2190 Centamin 156.8 +4.1 176.9 131.8 7.6 22.5 1805.954 Centrica 152.9 +6.7 209.0 124.1 7.8 25.5 8395.8119 Cineworld 256.0 –2.6 670.5 97.9 3.4 35.5 3506.3168 Close Brothers 1529.0 +12.0 1715.0 1316.0 3.9 11.6 2315.2147 Cobham 115.1 –0.9 148.0 113.4 - 32.9 2839.549 Coca Cola HBC 2479.0 –17.0 2707.0 2142.0 1.6 24.1 9117.921 Compass 1554.5 +51.5 1757.6 1425.0 2.2 21.8 25565.2194 Contour Global 264.0 +6.0 300.0 228.0 - 119.0 1770.7104 Convatec 215.0 –2.0 344.0 182.0 0.5 36.3 4195.728 CRH 2571.0 +46.0 2920.0 2338.0 2.3 13.6 21500.981 Croda 4500.0 –87.0 4673.0 3675.0 1.7 25.1 5923.9156 CYBG 300.0 +5.8 340.3 261.9 - 17.4 2653.876 DCC 7000.0 +175.0 7755.0 6475.0 1.6 30.9 6244.1148 Dechra Pharmaceuticals 2760.0 +14.0 2834.0 1647.0 0.8 60.0 2822.9118 Derwent London 3159.0 +48.0 3175.0 2580.0 1.7 33.0 3521.57 Diageo 2558.0 +93.0 2725.0 2246.5 2.4 20.1 63567.5

13 Lloyds Banking Group 64.8 –0.9 73.1 63.0 4.2 13.5 46694.335 London Stock Exchange 4318.0 +68.0 4318.0 3350.0 1.1 28.8 14940.3145 Man 178.6 –5.7 217.7 148.7 4.0 15.8 2898.997 Marks & Spencer 286.6 +6.0 395.5 264.5 6.5 25.1 4656.595 Mediclinic International 674.0 –16.6 887.0 507.5 1.2 72.5 4967.4117 Meggitt 476.0 +13.9 526.0 417.1 3.2 10.7 3695.8100 Melrose 227.6 –1.6 261.2 198.8 1.5 - 4418.2199 Mercantile Investment Trust 2140.0 +15.0 2210.0 1896.0 2.5 - 1718.2116 Merlin Entertainments 363.0 +16.8 537.0 318.4 2.0 17.7 3701.1155 Metro Bank 3302.0 –162.0 4040.0 3242.0 - 262.1 2654.690 Micro Focus International 1274.0 –24.5 2739.0 911.8 5.7 24.8 5542.9189 Millennium & Copthorne Hotels 564.0 –1.0 625.5 431.9 1.4 14.8 1831.560 Mondi 2030.0 +16.0 2130.0 1693.0 2.5 16.5 7455.088 Morrison Supermarkets 240.0 +5.7 252.9 204.1 2.3 15.9 5605.6179 National Express 396.4 –9.6 412.6 340.9 3.2 16.2 2028.520 National Grid 841.7 +28.8 1157.5 736.8 5.4 16.9 28298.1114 Nex Group 987.0 –3.0 1004.0 558.0 3.9 53.6 3748.059 Next 5230.0 +10.0 5320.0 3617.0 3.0 12.2 7691.161 NMC Health 3600.0 –88.0 3688.0 1987.0 0.3 58.5 7354.3125 Ocado 528.2 –9.0 597.6 238.7 - 3301.2 3335.240 Old Mutual 254.7 +12.1 257.8 188.0 2.7 32.2 12563.8197 Page Group 537.5 –6.0 560.0 440.6 2.2 21.2 1755.471 Pearson 822.2 +38.2 822.2 566.5 4.7 16.5 6442.8144 Pennon 700.0 +43.2 944.0 583.4 5.1 16.0 2915.1173 Pershing Square 941.0 +37.0 1250.0 856.0 - - 2208.152 Persimmon 2730.0 +13.0 2890.0 2231.0 4.9 11.2 8478.6177 Petrofac 606.2 +6.6 823.5 349.0 6.9 - 2096.9136 Phoenix Group Holdings 787.0 +12.5 815.0 725.5 6.2 - 3091.8160 Playtech 814.0 –17.4 1016.0 725.0 3.5 13.1 2583.2134 Polymetal International 724.6 +20.8 1069.0 591.0 3.2 12.1 3116.679 Paddy Power Betfair 7115.0 –190.0 8900.0 6665.0 2.5 27.9 6020.712 Prudential 1865.0 –10.0 1981.0 1716.0 2.4 20.0 48252.889 Randgold Resources 5914.0 +172.0 8190.0 5572.0 1.2 27.4 5558.914 Reckitt Benckiser 5658.0 +33.0 8108.0 5443.0 2.9 11.9 39843.9167 Redrow 626.5 –10.0 664.5 540.0 2.7 8.0 2316.818 Relx 1553.5 +9.5 1782.0 1429.5 2.4 19.1 32153.2121 Renishaw 4722.0 –208.0 5775.0 3387.0 1.1 25.0 3437.186 Rentokil Initial 306.5 +20.2 335.8 249.0 1.1 8.3 5631.4105 Rightmove 4567.0 +79.0 4573.0 3889.0 1.2 29.4 4155.59 Rio Tinto 3978.0 –9.0 4172.5 2910.0 4.3 11.1 53353.6135 RIT Capital Partners 1990.0 +36.0 2005.0 1815.0 - - 3107.033 Rolls-Royce 839.4 –26.8 981.0 812.0 0.6 3.7 15611.5146 Rotork 329.5 +30.6 331.6 223.5 1.6 51.5 2868.119 Royal Bank of Scotland 268.4 –5.8 302.4 241.2 - 42.6 32116.71 Royal Dutch Shell A 2531.5 +34.5 2573.5 2002.5 5.5 22.0 213609.3

Royal Dutch Shell B 2596.0 +48.0 2609.0 2052.5 5.4 22.583 Royal Mail 583.0 +23.0 583.0 369.9 4.0 16.3 5830.0127 RPC 803.0 +2.2 993.0 720.5 3.0 15.8 3275.566 RSA Insurance 657.6 +4.6 666.5 593.5 2.7 25.2 6724.664 Sage 641.0 +10.2 821.4 598.4 2.3 27.0 6928.482 Sainsbury, J 269.8 +5.9 281.7 224.8 3.8 28.1 5907.7

50 Schroders 3289.0 +6.0 3773.0 3079.0 3.0 15.6 8749.067 Scottish Mortgage 474.6 +11.4 477.8 373.5 0.6 - 6622.770 Segro 647.0 +18.8 647.0 480.1 2.5 6.6 6459.699 Severn Trent 1960.5 +79.0 2553.0 1703.0 4.2 15.9 4627.9137 Shaftesbury 1007.0 +12.0 1055.0 921.0 1.5 9.3 3090.416 Shire 3894.0 +72.5 4852.0 2953.5 0.6 11.3 35572.826 Sky 1372.5 +60.5 1373.5 900.0 - 29.0 23593.587 Smith (DS) 525.4 +17.6 558.5 421.7 2.9 25.9 5607.141 Smith & Nephew 1392.0 +40.0 1431.0 1215.0 1.6 21.5 12176.075 Smiths 1601.0 –17.5 1685.0 1444.0 2.7 17.3 6331.5176 Smith WH 1955.0 +23.0 2347.0 1664.0 2.5 19.0 2153.662 Smurfit Kappa 3098.0 –38.0 3220.0 2062.0 2.3 19.9 7347.8165 Sophos 503.5 –10.5 669.5 335.7 0.7 - 2320.5129 Spectris 2682.0 –5.0 2834.0 2229.0 2.0 13.7 3193.1103 Spirax-Sarco 5715.0 –90.0 6090.0 5150.0 1.4 26.8 4202.8174 Sports Direct International 405.8 +18.4 419.5 284.5 - 14.5 2192.638 SSE 1383.5 +56.0 1551.0 1182.0 6.6 10.3 14043.3139 SSP 639.8 –7.8 710.4 455.8 0.9 33.3 3040.522 Standard Chartered 761.7 –2.7 849.2 700.8 - 44.2 25111.680 St James's Place Capital 1131.0 +21.5 1270.5 1052.0 2.9 47.7 5978.442 Standard Life Aberdeen 364.8 –2.3 446.3 354.5 5.6 12.3 10861.5149 Tate & Lyle 582.4 +23.4 795.0 526.0 4.8 10.9 2712.274 Taylor Wimpey 194.0 nc 211.2 174.9 2.4 11.5 6356.0182 Templeton Emerging Markets 733.0 +7.0 825.0 656.5 - - 1994.227 Tesco 238.1 –1.3 239.8 166.5 - 42.5 23253.6187 Thomas Cook 120.0 –2.7 129.5 88.6 0.4 150.0 1843.0152 TP Icap 473.6 +2.6 553.6 439.9 3.6 30.0 2668.0128 Travis Perkins 1270.0 –45.0 1696.0 1216.0 3.6 13.8 3202.045 Tui 1639.5 +15.5 1647.5 1109.0 3.4 13.3 9624.5133 Tullow Oil 225.8 –5.2 238.7 145.6 - - 3134.1113 UBM 965.5 –0.5 978.5 645.0 2.3 27.7 3805.0170 UDG Healthcare 925.0 +8.0 959.0 740.0 1.0 43.0 2297.011 Unilever 4051.0 +178.5 4548.5 3695.0 3.1 21.2 49898.9175 Unite Group 825.5 +24.0 825.5 622.0 2.3 8.8 2171.594 United Utilities 748.8 +31.6 1056.0 656.0 5.2 11.9 5106.1180 Vedanta Resources 729.0 –13.0 954.0 575.0 5.7 - 2020.0169 Victrex 2678.0 –48.0 2732.0 1832.0 1.8 23.0 2297.98 Vodafone 210.6 +0.6 238.0 190.9 6.2 - 56161.796 Weir 2147.0 –54.0 2305.0 1727.0 2.0 29.4 4819.657 Whitbread 4254.0 +19.0 4298.0 3512.0 2.2 16.5 7801.6161 William Hill 290.9 –44.2 338.0 240.0 4.3 - 2498.5186 Witan Investment Trust 1048.0 +8.0 1108.0 976.0 2.2 - 1878.6188 Wizz Air 3191.0 –69.0 3716.0 1765.0 - 19.5 1834.1111 Wood 566.2 +14.8 779.0 521.4 4.5 - 3837.2196 Workspace 1078.0 +60.0 1078.0 840.5 2.0 8.7 1759.336 WPP 1148.5 +2.0 1754.0 1094.0 4.9 8.5 14576.0

93 Direct Line Insurance 373.8 +1.1 411.3 342.1 4.4 11.9 5139.8164 Dixons Carphone 204.1 –6.1 342.0 149.1 - 9.6 2353.9195 Domino's Pizza 357.8 +7.8 357.8 263.4 2.3 26.3 1760.473 EasyJet 1606.5 +3.5 1696.0 1151.0 3.3 20.9 6381.1150 Electrocomponents 613.8 –0.2 709.0 519.0 2.0 25.6 2710.269 Evraz 453.6 +46.3 455.1 173.2 4.8 12.8 6495.834 Experian 1668.0 +61.5 1705.0 1446.0 1.9 27.1 15336.337 Ferguson 5616.0 –14.0 5702.0 4460.0 1.8 16.7 14212.9120 Foreign & Colonial 654.0 +10.0 672.0 563.5 1.6 - 3502.546 Fresnillo 1281.5 –16.5 1725.0 1159.5 1.8 21.6 9443.3109 G4S 261.6 +3.1 341.1 238.4 3.6 16.8 4059.05 Glaxo Smith Kline 1465.2 +35.2 1722.0 1242.8 5.5 47.3 72056.410 Glencore 369.0 –11.6 415.0 276.6 1.4 12.5 53227.3192 Grafton Group Units 752.0 –9.0 841.5 685.0 1.9 14.0 1785.2172 Great Portland Estates 685.6 –9.2 850.5 665.0 1.7 - 2240.1151 GVC Holdings 900.0 –61.5 982.0 737.5 - - 2706.098 Halma 1222.0 –8.0 1330.0 1053.0 1.1 33.3 4633.6102 Hammerson 546.0 +6.0 609.5 434.4 4.5 11.2 4336.553 Hargreaves Lansdown 1775.5 +39.5 1928.0 1266.0 1.6 37.6 8421.5191 Hastings 274.2 –7.0 325.0 260.6 3.6 19.3 1803.4158 Hays 180.4 +0.8 205.0 161.5 1.8 17.4 2616.9159 HICL Infrastructure 144.4 +1.5 174.6 133.5 5.4 - 2596.6130 Hikma Pharmaceuticals 1324.5 +116.5 1989.0 855.6 1.9 24.8 3187.8101 Hiscox 1523.0 +56.0 1525.0 1132.0 1.9 169.2 4370.7166 Homeserve 746.0 +9.5 867.0 669.0 2.0 32.0 2317.9141 Howden Joinery 476.5 –9.7 501.2 399.5 2.3 16.0 2999.12 HSBC 719.6 +18.4 796.0 636.5 5.2 20.3 143890.1138 IG Group 828.5 +38.5 841.0 543.5 3.9 15.8 3048.0142 IMI 1098.0 +30.0 1443.0 1013.0 3.5 20.5 2987.023 Imperial Brands 2614.5 +212.0 3782.0 2325.0 6.1 17.8 24935.4140 Inchcape 720.0 –3.5 880.5 670.0 3.4 11.3 3002.9124 Indivior 460.7 +24.3 460.7 267.6 - 77.9 3342.177 Informa 736.8 +6.2 761.0 641.5 2.6 29.5 6071.3198 Inmarsat 379.6 +3.8 844.5 336.4 10.8 12.8 1731.151 Intercontinental Hotels 4577.0 +207.0 4928.0 3668.0 - 20.3 8695.8132 Intermediate Capital 1086.0 +10.0 1178.0 781.0 2.3 14.6 3152.756 Intertek 4898.0 –28.0 5425.0 4066.0 1.4 27.8 7904.939 International Airlines Group 630.2 +19.2 670.0 555.5 3.5 7.7 12906.8183 International Public Partnerships 144.2 –1.8 166.6 138.2 4.7 17.2 1946.4154 Intu Properties 196.8 –5.6 279.9 194.4 7.1 13.1 2666.0110 Investec 578.0 –5.6 648.6 461.4 4.0 12.0 3853.178 ITV 149.6 +4.7 211.5 142.4 4.9 14.7 6022.0171 IWG 249.5 –13.1 365.2 190.9 2.1 20.3 2271.6153 Jardine Lloyd Thompson 1218.0 nc 1448.0 1097.0 2.7 22.3 2667.9112 JD Sports 392.5 +1.0 456.0 303.3 0.4 19.1 3819.972 Johnson Matthey 3301.0 +36.0 3503.0 2727.0 2.3 16.8 6388.5178 Jupiter Fund Management 456.7 +2.4 631.4 445.0 3.7 13.6 2090.392 Just Eat 766.0 +24.4 890.0 556.5 - - 5209.1106 Kaz Minerals 914.6 –9.4 965.8 430.5 - 12.4 4086.968 Kingfisher 302.0 –7.0 368.1 288.0 3.4 11.5 6510.658 Land Securities 986.4 +14.6 1208.5 906.8 4.3 42.8 7800.032 Legal & General 268.4 –6.8 278.4 246.1 5.5 8.8 15993.0

Market cap rankingV

Price Changeon week

52-weekhigh low Yield P/E Mkt Cap

(£m)Market cap rankingV

Price Changeon week

52-weekhigh low Yield P/E Mkt Cap

(£m)Market cap rankingV

Price Changeon week

52-weekhigh low Yield P/E Mkt Cap

(£m)Market cap rankingV

Price Changeon week

52-weekhigh low Yield P/E Mkt Cap

(£m)

Price/earnings ratios are based on historic data, with yield and p/e values calculated from the most recent reported dividends and earnings per share, using trailing 12-month figures. 52-week highs and lows are end of day. nc = no change Data provided by Morningstar.Any enquiries please contact: dataquestions.uk@morningstar.com

RISERSInterserve: 106.9p, U 25% on optimism over restructuring Carpetright: 42.7p, U 23.7% on store closures approval Motorpoint: 264p, U 13.8% on strong profits Evraz: 453.6p, U 11.6% on production growth Nanoco: 45.1p, U 11.5% on supply agreement

FALLERSWilliam Hill: 290.9p, V 13.5% on FOBT fears Sportech: 60p, V 7.7% on monopoly sale GVC Holdings: 900p, V 7.3% on government crackdown Morgan Sindall: £12.66, V 6.8% on sector worries Vectura: 81.2p, V 6.7% on absence of Japanese offer

10-YEAR BOND YIELDS %

THE ECONOMYINSIDE THE CITY JOHN COLLINGRIDGEDATABANK

valuing Smiths at £6.3bn. Last month they fell 10% on the day it reported falling first-half profits and missed City expectations.

Almost three years into Reynolds Smith’s tenure, and investors are growing impatient. “The time is coming when he will be judged by the measurable impact of his actions — including the purchase of Morpho — rather than presentations,” wrote Investec analysts recently.

He has pinned his hopes on the full-year results, promising a strong surge in revenues.

This is not a done deal. First-half revenues fell 1%, and were 4% lower when currency impacts were included. Medical sales, which were flat in the first half, are dependent on the success of new product launches. Sales of scanners and other detection equipment, which tumbled 11% in the first half, hinge on a surge in orders later this year.

Reynolds Smith may havekilled off the idea of a break-up for now, but he needs to start delivering on his promises. Until then, hold.@jcollingridgeST

a reversal of his predecessor Philip Bowman’s strategy.

ARS, as he is uncharitablyknown in some quarters, promptly set about buying businesses, acquiring Morpho, a maker of airport scanners, for $710m in 2016.

The engineer, who got fed-up waiting for the top job at GKN to become vacant, has put his stamp on Smiths. Its shares surged on this new-found optimism, and Reynolds Smith scythed through senior management with gusto. Pensions have been de-risked, insuring big chunks of its liabilities through bulk annuity deals. The idea of breaking up Smiths was put firmly to bed.

Lately, though, things havestalled. The shares have oscillated for the past year but not really gone anywhere. They ended Friday at £16.01,

Conglomerates are once again an endangered species. General Electric faces a break-up under new boss John Flannery; GKN has just succumbed to a takeover by Melrose that will ultimately see the 259-year-old business dismembered.

Smiths Group is an outlier.While everyone else is busy breaking up, the FTSE 100 engineer is still trying to grow its collection of disparate businesses.

Founded in 1851 as a watchmaker, it now spans five divisions — from John Crane, which makes parts for the oil and gas industry, to Smiths Medical, with products including catheters and syringe pumps.

Its chief executive, Andy Reynolds Smith, 51, was hired from GKN in 2015 by chairman Sir George Buckley with a remit to grow Smiths —

Smiths yet to detecta surge in sales

Smiths Group

£16

8

12

Source: Thomson Reuters

2016 2017

THE WEEK IN THE MARKETSFTSE 100

Source: Thomson Reuters

7,800

7,600

7,400

7,200

7,000

6,800MFJDNOSAJJM A

FTSE 100

7,502.21

variation 12 monthshigh low

UK 1.45 V 0.04 1.79 0.72

US 2.96 W 0.00 3.04 2.02

JAPAN 0.05 V 0.01 0.11 -0.01

GERMANY 0.57 V 0.02 0.80 0.23

FTSE EUROFIRST1,508.88

11.510.77%

H:1,588.0L:1,415.8

SENSEX34,969.70

554.121.61%

H:36,444.0L:29,804.1

ALL ORDS6,042.90

78.501.32%

H:6,256.5L:5,670.7

S&P TSX15,668.93

184.611.19%

H:16,421.4L:14,785.8

HANG SENG30,280.67

137.660.45%

H:33,484.1L:24,358.7

SHANGHAI 3,082.23

10.690.35%

H:3,587.0L:3,016.5

CAC 405,483.19

70.361.30%

H:5,567.0L:4,995.1

DAX12,580.87

40.370.32%

H:13,596.9L:11,726.6

FTSE 250

20,271.63DOW JONES24,311.19

151.750.62%

H:26,616.7L:20,553.4

NASDAQ7,119.80

26.330.37%

H:7,637.3L:5,996.8

S&P 5002,669.91

0.230.01%

H:2,872.9L:2,352.7

NIKKEI22,467.87

305.631.38%

H:24,129.3L:19,144.6

134.041.82%

H:7,792.6L:6,866.9

50.860.25%

H:20,984.8L:19,091.6

Consumer prices index current rate prev. month

2.5% 2.7%CPI including housing current rate prev. month

2.3% 2.5%Retail prices index current rate prev. month

3.3% 3.6%Average weekly earnings on prev. month on last year

£513 V0.2% U2.8%Unemployment current rate prev. month

1.42m 4.2% 4.3%Manufacturing output on the year on last month

U2.5% V0.2%Retail sales on the year on last month

U1.1% V1.2%

UK tradebalance (£bn)

latest 3 mths prev. 3 mths latest 12 mths

-6.4 -5.9 -27.5Gross domesticproduct

latest quarter prev. quarter annual change

U0.1% U0.4% U1.2%Budget deficit(PSNB) in £bn

latest month prev. month full year

1.3 1.3 42.6

DOLLAR USD > GBP

$1.38 V 0.0212-month high: $1.44low: $1.26

EURO EUR > GBP

€1.14 W 0.0012-month high: €1.19 low: €1.07

YEN YEN > USD

¥109.07 U 1.4212-month high: ¥114.72 low: ¥104.55

OIL DOLLARS/BARREL

$74.64U 0.5812-month high: $75.47low: $44.35

GOLD DOLLARS/TROY OZ

$1,322.49V 16.0912-month high: $1,359.26 low: $1,210.29

BITCOIN DOLLARS

$9,326.97U 507.65 12-month high: $19,497.4 low: $919.5Price at 5pm Saturday

Luke Johnson was spot on with Sorrell observationI write very few letters in support of newspaper columns, but I could not resist this one. Being of similar age to Sir Martin Sorrell and brought up not to bite the hand that feeds, I have had first-hand experience of the rise of many such people in my career engineering career, including one who has been “mentioned in despatches” in the Sorrell saga.

I completely agree with theobservations of Luke Johnson last week (“Sorrell & Co are poor adverts for captains of industry”). Now we have engineers such as GKN, government (local and national), banks, charities and the NHS, all awash with such chancers. Watch this space as the country continues to subside.Gordon Pickering, Storrington, West Sussex

It’s the shareholders who’ll pay any Barclays damagesSo, Amanda Staveley is seeking £1.5bn damages from Barclays (“Staveley ups the ante”, last week).

It is always shareholders who pay. They are primarily

LETTERS

people who receive pensions or are paying a contribution for their future pensions.

These people have done nothing wrong, but they are the ones penalised for the actions of the directors, who invariably get off scot-free, avoiding any penalties. They usually even get to keep their bonuses. Victor H Parness, London

You can call me a cockeyed economic optimist . . .It was so nice to read David Smith’s optimistic Economic Outlook column last week (“Reasons to be cheerful as rest of the world blooms”).

It is almost diametrically opposite to articles I have seen elsewhere. I read one article discussing the world debt of $300 trillion. It started with China and its huge bubble economy, and the actions being taken by the Bank of China. A rock and a hard place were mentioned.

Europe did not get a pass.The German economy and a range of factors causing a German slowdown were the main focus in Europe.

The perilous state of the southern European economies does not require amplification — not to mention the problems of the European Central Bank, which has not yet stopped quantitative easing.

America is in a mess. Sincethe crash of 2008, growth has barely beaten inflation. Weird government figures on the economy skew inflation

numbers. Employment data does not include the 64m Americans who, once they do not sign on, are not counted.

I am no economist, havingstudied the subject only since 2008. But if I believe half of what I read, I hope your optimism comes true. Alan McRae, Alvdalen, Sweden

Don’t let penny-pinching employers get away with it Charles Dickens is long gone, but Scrooge is obviously still with us. Iain Dey reported last week in his Agenda column that some employers claim they are being unfairly punished by HM Revenue & Customs for paying employees who are paid by the month less than the legal minimum in the longer months of theyear, even though the annualised average pay per hour is “well in excess of the [£7.83 an hour minimum] national living wage”.

A moment’s thought blowssuch niggardly claims out of the water. There are seven months of 31 days, meaning such penny-pinching employers are actually cheating their workers for most of the year.

With four months of 30 days, only in February can the hourly rate paid in such cases be claimed to be anything like “well in excess” of the minimum. No, I’m not a Jeremy Corbyn supporter — I vote Conservative. More power to HMRC’s elbow.Clive Hall, Tadworth, Surrey

Send your letters, including full name and address,to: The Sunday Times,1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF. Or email letters@sunday-times.co.uk Letters may be edited

woods. In 2013, as Standard Chartered’s chief executive, he had to announce a $1bn write-down following the emerging bank’s dire performance in South Korea.

Buongiorno,campeggiatori! Jon Hendry-Pickup must have had his parachute well packed when he wielded the axe last month at almost 100 Prezzo Italian restaurants.

The former Tesco and Travelodge executive announced a company voluntary arrangement — a way to stave off the creditors — on March 23.

Three days later, DermotKing stepped down from

Butlins after seeing the sun shine on almost eight glorious years of growth, and with a successor reportedly waiting in the wings.

Last Monday, Hendry-Pickup, 45 tomorrow, relinquished control to Café Rouge co-founder Karen Jones. By Thursday he was being measured up for his red coat as new chief executive of Butlins. Hi-de-hi!

Digital minister’s tech bumbleTricky business doing those selfies, I know from experience. Hard lines then for MP Margot James, who took three attempts to get her and Sir David Attenborough into the Twittersphere last week.

It would be churlish to mention that James is digital minister in Her Majesty’s rickety government.

Que? TSB? One spin-off from the TSB technology meltdown: branch staff reported that the operating system’s error messages — with which they are now well-acquainted — are mostly in Spanish.

Spare a thought for new TSB chairman Richard Meddings, who had only just pulled himself from the wreckage of Deutsche Bank’s board. Life isn’t fair.

SIGNALSAND NOISE . . .

TWITTER POLL

A group of bank bosses has called for Facebook, Google and Twitter to be responsible for censoring “bad actors” on their systems. Should big tech be regulated like banks? @ST_Business

JUST SAYING . . .

Is Johnston Press boss Ashley Highfield feeling the sting of the Norwegian raider laying siege to the beleaguered newspaper publisher?

In October, colourful financier Christen Ager-Hanssen dubbed Highfield as “Cashley” over the £556,000 he trousered in 2016.

His “pay” has increased substantially since then, according to Johnston Press’s annual report. After hitting some targets, Highfield landed a £249,000 bonus last year. However, the 52-year-old has agreed not to collect

the payout until a “sound financial base [is] achieved”.

For the owner of the i newspaper, The Scotsman and The Yorkshire Post, locked in talks with creditors over a £196m debt pile, that could be some time. Or never at all. What a gent!

Harry Potter battles the tyrant Peter Sands, the erstwhile Harry Potter lookalike who led Standard Chartered to the top of the hill and all the way down again, has run out patience with North Korea’s despot, Kim Jong-un.

Fashioned like Paul Pesterfrom the McKinsey mould, Sands is now executive director of the snappily titled Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The North Koreans are upin arms that Sands’s fund has pulled its grants. The vice-minister of public health accused the fund of not even informing partners Unicef and the World Health Organisation.

The fund responded that a“unique operating environment” prevented it from providing “the required level of assurance and risk management around the deployment of resources”.

Sands, 56, has had his moments in that neck of the

Andrew Lynch

A personal motivation that goes beyond simply amassing a fortune

Euan Stirling, the global head of stewardship at Standard Aberdeen Investments, on what Persimmon’s bonus-controversy bosses need

The restoration of Battersea Power Station in south London will require 1.7m bricks — can we make enough, asks Cherry Maslen

FUNNY BUSINESSYes

82%No

18%

Andrew Lynch

HOME, PAGE 6

‘Cashley’ does the decent thing