John Lewis halts click and collect to contain virus

That's all from me - as I leave you, Wall Street's indicies are mixed, floating around the neutral line, as traders weigh monetary stimulus hopes with fears over surging infections.

Here are some of our top stories today:

• Economy faces 'darkest hour' warns Bailey as negative rates split emerges
• New blockbuster drugs to make billions for GlaxoSmithKline
• More woe for cinemas as Netflix plans record 70 movies this year 
• Care homes reject new residents over soaring insurance costs
• Kwasi Kwarteng takes aim at Big Four auditors

Thank you for following along - Louis will be back with you in the morning!

London & Regional Properties is in talks to buy five hotels from billionaire Robert Rowling's Omni Hotels & Resorts including those in the US' Austin and Dallas, according to Bloomberg.

The private property firm is paying roughly $150m (£110m), the news agency said, to expand its US holdings. 

London & Regional was founded by British billionaire brothers Richard and Ian Livingstone, and owns the Mayfair Townhouse in London, the Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido Resort and Atlas Hotels.

Omni- owned by Mr Rowling's TRT Holdings - said in August that it hired real estate advisor Hodges Ward Elliott to offload suburban properties and focus on resorts and convention centre hotels that have become central to the brand.

Cinemas have already hit by a lack of customers due to lockdowns, combined with delayed film releases and a surge in digital streaming.

More pressure is coming for the industry, after Netflix increased its original movie releases by nearly a fifth this year to 70.

My colleague Ben Woods reports: 

This year's line-up will span movies with Oscar winners Leonardo Di Caprio and Meryl Streep and action stars Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds.

Netflix will hand Monster's Ball star Halle Berry her directing debut with the release of Bruised. 

Meanwhile, Hollywood mainstays Chris Hemsworth and Jennifer Garner will respectively star in Escape from Spiderhead and YES DAY. 

• Read more: More woe for cinemas as Netflix plans record 70 movies this year 

Back to the FTSE - interestingly the benchmark's top riser today was British Airways' owner IAG. It gained 3.3pc to 157.90p.

This came despite British Airways being the target of what is said to be the largest privacy class action lawsuit in the UK, over its 2018 customer data breach, reported Bloomberg.

The news agency has more:

More than 16,000 victims have now joined a case seeking compensation from the airline. They could claim £2,000 ($2,724) each, according to PGMBM, the law firm representing the claimants.

BA revealed in September 2018 that a violation of its security systems compromised the personal and financial details of more than 400,000 customers. The carrier was fined £20m by the UK data protection watchdog last year, a fraction of a much heftier fine initially planned by the regulator.

The suit was filed in 2018, with a March 2021 deadline for more victims to join. The claimants’ lawyers say that if every victim of the cyberattack joined the claim, BA’s overall potential liability would be around £800m.

Moonpig, which sells greeting cards and gifts online, has confirmed it is planning a £1bn listing on the London stock exchange.

My colleague Laura Onita reports:

The firm, a self-described technology company, is 41pc owned by Exponent, a private equity house, which is selling down its stake.

It is expected to target a free float of at least 25pc and has lined up a string of investment banks to handle its share offering, including Citi, JP Morgan, HSBC, Numis and Jefferies.

It made sales of £173m in the year to April and £156m in the half-year to October in 2020, the company said.

Chief executive Nickyl Raithatha has had free rein from its private equity owners to burnish its technology credentials and dominate the UK market.

Shoppers can choose to receive reminders for family and friends' birthdays and pick from an increasingly wide selection of gifts including flowers, which encourages repeat transactions.

• Our chief City commentator Ben Marlow thinks the company will struggle to justify such a price tag. Read his take here:  Moonpig may struggle to bring home the bacon

Financial services firm Visa has announced it also temporarily suspend all donations from its political action committee - as of last week - as it reviews its candidate contribution guidelines.

A host of other businesses have also said they would cut off campaign contributions to those who voted to challenge president-elect Joe Biden's victory last week.

"Visa does not tolerate the use of our network and products for illegal activity. We are vigilant in our efforts to deter illegal activity on our network, and we require our affiliate banks to review their merchants' compliance with our standards," Visa said in an email to Reuters.

The boss of e-commerce firm The Hut Group - now worth more than £7bn after it listed on the stock market last year - is determined to prove doubters wrong after another forecast upgrade.

My colleague Laura Onita reports:

Co-founder Matthew Moulding said he was aware the firm did “just turn up [in front of investors] and didn’t do a big education process so people could understand it”, but that it was going from strength to strength.

It expects revenue this year to be up to 35pc higher than 2020, when it made £1.6bn in sales, thanks to its acquisition of Dermstore.com and a surge in online orders for its beauty products amid coronavirus lockdowns in the UK. It has also been selling its white-label tech platforms to other businesses around the world.

Sales in the fourth quarter jumped 51pc to £558m, ahead of its expectations. Last month, it raised its 2020 revenue forecast for the second time in less than two months due to strong demand during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Time for me to hand over to my colleague Louise Moon, who will steer the blog into the evening. Thanks for following along today!

Gambling software developer Playtech has been boosted by masterminding bet365’s debut in the burgeoning US sports betting market.

My colleague Oliver Gill reports:

The FTSE 250 company said it expected to beat City expectations for its full-year results.

America is in the middle of a gambling gold rush with the repeal of a decades-long ban on sports betting. 

Playtech said that launching bet365 and Ladbrokes owner Entain in New Jersey meant profits before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation would be about €300m (£270m) over 2020. 

• Read more: Playtech rides US betting boom with bet365

Investors trapped in the failed Woodford Equity Income fund have missed out on a £28m payday after shares in a stock sold at a discount soared following a $1.5bn (£1bn) takeover offer.

My colleague Daniel Grote reports:

French drugmaker Sanofi swooped on Kymab this week, agreeing to buy the Cambridge biotech firm for $1.1bn, potentially rising to $1.5bn.

The deal for Kymab, which is developing a drug for the treatment of eczema, is for around five times the price investors had valued the unquoted company.

Shares in Schroder UK Public Private, fund manager Neil Woodford's former investment trust, surged 10pc on the news.

But Woodford’s long-suffering fund investors, who are still waiting for all their savings to be returned, missed out on the windfall. The Equity Income fund sold its stake in Kymab in August for just £4.6m to other investors in the company. That stake is now worth up to an estimated £33m.

• Read more: Trapped Woodford investors miss out on £28m biotech payday

John Lewis has temporarily suspended its click-and-collect services, in an effort to discourage non-essential travel.

Waitrose, its sister supermarket, will also insist all shoppers wear a face covering unless they are medically exempt or beneath the required age.

In a statement, the partnership that runs both said:

Marshals will be positioned at the entrances of all supermarkets. They will have disposable masks available for customers who do not have their own and will deny admission to anyone refusing to comply. They will also be ensuring that, wherever possible, only one member of each household is permitted to shop…

The John Lewis Partnership is also conscious of the increased need to remove reasons for non essential travel during the current lockdown, to help encourage the public to stay at home. With this in mind, Click & Collect services based within John Lewis shops will be switched off to new orders at the close of business today.

Click-and-collect will not be affected at Waitrose stores.

Earlier today, Tesco and Asda introduced similar measures.

The Government will begin talks with the EU this week on how regulators will cooperate over financial services post-Brexit.

The two sides have agreed to broker a "memorandum of understanding" by March after the industry was largely sidelined during trade talks. 

Jamie Davies, Boris Johnson's spokesman, said: "We want to preserve financial stability, market integrity and the protection of investors and consumers.

"We did push for a broader agreement on financial services as part of the negotiations, and the Treasury will continue that work with the commission beginning this week."

Chacellor Rishi Sunak said that the City of London should brace for "Big Bang 2.0" following the UK's departure from the European Union, suggesting a repeat of the sweeping deregulation of financial services under Margaret Thatcher.

US stocks have opened higher as Democrats moved to launch fresh impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump in the wake of last week's Capitol Hill riots.

BMW has left motorists stunned after posting a bizarre video promoting its ‘iDrive’ control system which features two cars coming alive and having an argument.

My colleague Alan Tovey reports:

Released for the CES electronics show, the video features a 20-year old 7 Series BMW that was the first to feature iDrive, rowing with the new iX electric vehicle in a car museum.

The older car calls the iX a “whippersnapper” and tells it “no toy cars allowed”, while the younger vehicle hits back, saying “your time is over” and that “it’s impossible to talk to your generation”.

When the iX reels off its features, the 7 Series says it is speaking “marketing b******t”.  

Last year BMW raised eyebrows with its “OK Boomer” social media campaign, hitting back at criticism of the German auto giant’s new designs which went down badly with the company’s traditionally older customers.

You can watch the video here:

Lockdown has sparked puzzle magazine mania, prompting the publisher of Grazia and Heat to launch two new titles. 

My colleague Ben Woods reports:

Bauer Media is rolling out Bella Puzzles Train Your Brain and Bigger Better Puzzles as readers while away the hours  with brainteasers.

Puzzle magazines notched record growth for Bauer during the first lockdown, outstripping the performance of its UK stable of more than 100 magazines. 

Liz Watkinson, Bauer’s UK boss of TV listings, real life and puzzles, said: “We have seen a growth in the puzzle magazine market over the last year, especially in lockdown as consumers found comfort and engagement in print puzzles.”

• Read more: Lockdown puzzle mania sparks new magazine titles

Stock trading on UBS’s London platform has fallen by nearly half in the wake of Brexit, with traders opting for European hubs such as Amsterdam and Paris.

Bloomberg has the details:

The Swiss bank, which decided not to open a venue for these trades within the European Union, dropped to €307m in daily share trading last week on its UBS MTF venue, according to data from Cboe Global Markets Inc.

UBS MTF had a 1.6pc share of European stock trading during the first week of December, which fell to about 0.8pc as of Jan. 8, Cboe data showed.

While the loss of business is only a small part of the bank’s overall equities franchise, it highlights Britain’s reduced role for dealing in European stocks.

US equities are set to climb moderately at the open, with futures trading pointing toward gains of about 0.3pc on the benchmark S&P 500. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is looking at a 0.4pc rebound after its solid drop yesterday.

A stick-on, penny-sized button that claims to monitor for early signs of coronavirus is among a raft of health-conscious technology at this year's Consumer Electronics Show.

My colleague Matthew Field reports:

After years of drawing up to 180,000 people to an air-cooled conference centre in Las Vegas, the world’s biggest technology trade show is now all-virtual.

There has also been a surge in technology tilted towards the coronavirus era, from air portable air purifiers and smartphone-powered facemasks to ultraviolet, autonomous cleaning robots.

• Follow live: CES 2021 – latest updates

Buzz is building once again about the concept of negative rates, with several members of the bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee offering their take on going sub-zero over recent days.

My colleague Tim Wallace has taken a look at what dipping below the line would mean for the economy. He writes:

The most obvious downside is that savers and businesses could simply take their money out of the banking system to avoid losing money to negative rates.

This is the traditional argument – families will simply stuff their cash under the mattress.

In practice, most depositors in countries that have tried the policy have not seen their savings rates go below zero, with the impact limited to big companies and the very richest individuals.

• Read more: Why negative interest rates could be on the way

With a few hours of trading passed, European equities are moderately in the red, with the FTSE 100 held below flat by some pressure from a rising pound.

Here are some of the day’s top stories from the Telegraph Money team:

• Freelancer borrowers ‘need £100,000 deposit’ as banks restrict mortgages: One high street bank is demanding 40pc deposits from self-employed customers.
• FTSE starts 2021 on a high and fund managers buy in. Should you?: The FTSE 100 has enjoyed its best-ever start to a year.
• Buy-to-let tax loopholes: how landlords can keep more of their income: Landlords have had a difficult year so it is more important than ever it know about these underused reliefs.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has warned the resurgence of Covid-19 has put the UK economy in a tough position and would delay its recovery.

Reuters reports:

“(We’re) in a very difficult period at the moment and there’s no question that it’s going to delay, probably, the trajectory,” Bailey said in an online speech to the Scottish Chambers of Commerce.

However, he added that the basic shape of the recovery was likely to reflect the trajectory that the BoE outlined in a set of forecasts in November.

Bailey said he no longer thought that Britain’s unemployment rate would peak at around 7–8pc, as the BoE forecast two months ago, because the government had extended its job protection scheme.

Asset manager Rathbone Brothers has appointed City veteran Clive Bannister as its new chairman. 

My colleague Michael O’Dwyer reports:

The former chief executive of Phoenix Group, the FTSE 100 insurer, will join Rathbones as a non-executive director with immediate effect before taking over the top job from Mark Nicholls after its annual meeting in May. 

Mr Bannister built up Phoenix’s business through a string of successful acquisitions and previously held senior roles at HSBC where he headed its private banking operations. 

The announcement came as Rathbones, a FTSE 250 money manager, reported a strong finish to 2020 that helped boost assets under management to £54.7bn, up from £50.4bn a year earlier.

The increase was driven primarily by market movements and a rise in the value of its investments but also included a net £500m of new money from clients. 

Bitcoin prices has steadied out today after a rocky session yesterday that ended with the popular cryptocurrency down about 10pc.

The token are trading hands at just under $36,000 apiece, having ended yesterday down 10pc.

Even some patchy trading over recent sessions has done little to reduce bitcoin’s huge long-term gains – which have sparked joy among its supporters and investors, and a heavy dose of scepticism among market watchers who say its value lacks a solid foundation.

The pound is up about 0.4pc against the dollar currently, extending gains amid a broad weakening for the US currency. Sterling is also strengthening against other currencies, and has hit a one-week high against the euro. 

FTSE 100 chemicals company Johnson Matthey has named Stephen Oxley as its new chief financial officer.

He will join the company’s board at the start of April, with Karen Hayzen-Smith stepping down as interim CFO and returning to a her role as group financial controller.

Mr Oxley joins from KPMG, where he leads discussions on areas such as stewardship and environmental stewardship.

Johnson Matthey chief executive Robert MacLeod said:

Stephen's extensive experience in working with large global companies on major strategic programmes will enable him to make an immediate contribution to JM as we progress our transformation and deliver our growth opportunities to create a cleaner, healthier world.

Two of Donald Trump’s favoured banks are pulling away from the billionaire president in the wake of last week’s deadly riot at the US Capitol.

Bloomberg reports:

Deutsche Bank AG has decided to refrain from further business with Mr Trump and his company, said a person with knowledge of the matter, asking not to be identified because the deliberations were confidential. Mr Trump owes the Frankfurt-based lender more than $300 million.

And Signature Bank, the New York lender that’s long catered to his family, said it’s cutting ties while it presses for his resignation. Signature is closing two personal accounts in which Mr Trump held about $5.3 million, a spokesperson for the firm said on Monday.

• Read more: Deutsche Bank ‘cuts ties with Donald Trump over Capitol riots’

Wargames-maker Games Workshop saw profit and revenues rise strongly in half-year results that were even stronger than the company had expected.

Revenues for the six months to the end of December stood at £186.8m, up 26pc on 2019’s figures, while its profit before tax leapt to £91.6m.

Kevin Rountree, its chief executive, said it was “Another cracking performance from a truly amazing, global team”.

The closure of many of the company’s store – a key vector for getting new customers interested in its games franchises, which include the hugely popular Warhammer series – was offset by online sales, which rose 87pc year-on-year.

Games Workshop said the launch of the ninth edition of its Warhammer 40,000 sci-fi tabletop game “broke records for factory production”, with overall miniature output up 30pc on the same period in 2019.

• Read more: How lockdown rekindled my childhood obsession with Games Workshop’s inch-high wizards

Mr Rountree said the company – one of London’s best-performing stocks over recent years – had remained on the “front foot”, but said it would avoid resting on its laurels, adding:

Our biggest risk is senior management becoming complacent. I will continue to do my best to ensure that does not happen.

Jefferies’ Andrew Wade called the interim results “impressive”, noting that Games Workshop had beaten profit estimates despite store restrictions and a £5m discretionary bonus paid to staff at Christmas.

The company’s shares have dropped this morning, in a sign that investors are likely taking profit following a 73pc rally in its price over the past year.

The FTSE 100 has opened slightly higher, with US stimulus hopes prompting a slight bounce-back from yesterday’s solid losses.

Land Securities received just two-thirds of the rent it was owed towards the end of last month.

Out of a net £101m due on December 25th, just £66m had been received five days later, the company said – compared to a 94pc collection rate the prior year.

LandSec said £14m of the £35m in rent outstanding related to customers who have withheld payments, pending the documentation of agreed concessions.

For the period between the start of the first lockdown in March and Christmas Eve, its regional retail and urban opportunities clients have been the most behind on rent – paying just 58pc and 55pc respectively.

Overall, 80pc of rent for the period has been collected, with offices showing particular strength. LandSec said it has extended £24m in rent concessions to its tenants during the pandemic.

B&Q-owner Kingfisher has said it expects profits to come in at the top end of expectations, with sales supported by DIY demand and ecommerce growth.

The FTSE 100 group said said it has seen “strong demand” across its markets so far in the fourth quarter, with like-for-like sales to January 9th up 16.9pc.

Kingfisher said it is “comfortable” that profit will come in at the top of sell-side analysts’ estimates, which point to a range of £667m to £742m.

Here’s how sales have shifted over recent months:

 Thierry Garnier, its chief executive, said:

While the strength of our Q4 trading, to date, is reassuring, uncertainty over COVID-19 and the impact of lockdown restrictions in most of our markets continue to limit our visibility.

Longer term, we are confident that the strategic and operational actions we are taking are building a strong foundation for sustainable long-term growth. We also believe that the renewed focus on homes is supportive for our markets.

Good morning. The FTSE 100 is set to open flat after mixed retail sales highlighted the impact lockdowns on the UK economy.

New data from the British Retail Consortium showed that total sales fell by 0.3pc in 2020 – the worst performance since records began in 1995. However, sales in December grew 1.8pc as more shoppers switched to online. 

5 things to start your day 

1) Philip Day strikes deal to save Edinburgh Woollen Mill empire: The retail tycoon has struck a deal with Middle Eastern investors to save Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Ponden Home and Bonmarche from collapse.

2) Sunak warns worse on the way as second wave saps economy: "Many people are losing their jobs, businesses are struggling, our public finances have been badly damaged and will need repair," he told MPs.

3) Truckers ramp up rates as Brexit bites and customs chaos looms: Hauliers who charged €1.50 per km now want €10 because of the impact of new Brexit customs controls, said the Road Haulage Association.

4) Half of non-food sales head online: Almost half of all retail sales were online in Dec amid tightening rules, virus fears and an increased familiarity with internet shopping.

5) Why negative interest rates could be on the way: Top BoE policymaker Silvana Tenreyro set out a series of reasons why taking the base rate below zero could be economically “powerful”.

What happened overnight 

Two of Donald Trump’s favoured banks are pulling away from the billionaire president in the wake of last week’s deadly riot at the US Capitol.

Deutsche Bank AG has decided to refrain from further business with Mr Trump and his company, said a person with knowledge of the matter, asking not to be identified because the deliberations were confidential. Mr Trump owes the Frankfurt-based lender more than $300 million.

And Signature Bank, the New York lender that’s long catered to his family, said it’s cutting ties while it presses for his resignation. Signature is closing two personal accounts in which Mr Trump held about $5.3 million, a spokesperson for the firm said on Monday.

The yield on benchmark US government 10-year debt , which rises when prices fall, gained as much as 2.4 basis points to a fresh ten-month high of 1.1580%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5pc after touching an all-time high on Monday, led by a 2.6pc drop in South Korea as investors took some profit from a soaring Kospi.

Coming up today

Corporate: Games Workshop (Interim results) Rathbone Brothers, Robert Walters, THG, Vistry, XP Power (Trading statements)

Economics: BRC retail sales monitor (UK); small business optimism, job openings (US)