Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 edges 12 points higher
- Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) leads risers, up 9.5%
- Energy price cap to drop 12%
CAB Payments boss steps down after messy IPO
CAB Payments boss Bhairav Trivedi will step down next month, less than a year after the fintech company listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Last July, CAB became one of the UK's largest IPOs of 2023 when it floated at around £800 million.
However, in the following three months shares tanked 80% as its profits appeared to be falling below initial guidance.
Trivedi will be replaced by outsider Neeraj Kapur and will work as a strategic advisor to help smooth the transition in leadership.
Shares remain unaffected by the news, trading flat on Friday, but still down around 70% since listing.
Wall Street to feel hangover after Nvidia's historic session
Wall Street is set to open around slightly higher on Friday, building on Thursday's record gains from Nvidia, which saw all US indices close at record highs.
The Dow Jones is set to open around 60 points higher at around 39,100, while the S&P 500 is looking to begin trading 4 points higher at around 5,100.
The Nasdaq is expected to slide around 3 points at around 18,000 when markets open.
Nvidia added US$270 billion on Thursday, the largest single-session value gain in market history and Friday is expected to see the rally continue with pre-market trading pushing the AI chipmaker up around 2%.
Over in the UK, Polar Capital Technology (LON:PCT) Trust hit a new all-time high and other investment trusts including Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC (LON:SMT) and Manchester & London Investment Trust plc enjoyed strong gains on Thursday after Nvidia's blowout results overnight.
The pair are two of the 13 London-listed investment trusts that have large holdings in the US semiconductor giant.
Serco ordered to stop using biometric data to monitor staff
Shares in outsourcing firm Serco slipped 1.5% after a UK watchdog ordered the FTSE 250 company to axe the use of its facial recognition technology (FRT) and fingerprint scanning to monitor staff.
Some 2,000 workers at Serco's leisure businesses have had their biometric data unlawfully processed, Britain's data protection watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office, revealed.
The data was being used to monitor attendance and subsequently decide pay for staff members at 38 leisure centres owned by or associated with Serco.
"They failed to show why it is necessary or proportionate to use FRT and fingerprint scanning for this purpose when there are less intrusive means available such as ID cards or fobs," the ICO said.
"Employees have not been proactively offered an alternative to having their faces and fingers scanned to clock in and out of their place of work, and it has been presented as a requirement in order to get paid."
Serco has been ordered to delete all biometric data that it doesn't legally need to hold.
Standard Chartered boss calls bank's share price 'crap'
Standard Chartered boss Bill Winters said he thinks the bank's share price is "crap" after he revealed a major overhaul to streamline the company.
“You might be thinking [the stock prices is crap] and you’d be right, the stock price is crap [but] we’re completely focused on addressing the shareholder concerns. We are completely optimistic about our ability to continue to deliver on this plan,” he said.
Winters enjoyed a 22% bump in his pay package to $9.9 million, according to additional Bloomberg analysis.
Shares in the bank are up 9.5% on Friday after the lender said it would be hiking its dividend by 50% and launched another US$1 billion buyback.