Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 950 i MoneyWeek

Building materials are a long-term growth market, says WirtschaftsWoche. Population growth, urbanisation and investment in infrastructure are boosting global demand for concrete, cement and aggregates by 2%-3% a year. That bodes well for LafargeHolcim, the industry’s biggest player with a market capitalisation of €28bn. It is heading for a record year. The building booms in North America and Europe, which jointly comprise 49% of sales, are keeping order books full, while rising cement prices in India are also fuelling growth. Sales climbed by 6% year-on-year in the first quarter while operating profits jumped by a fifth. The stock yields almost 4%.…

Even before arriving in London on Monday for a three-day state visit, Donald Trump was causing controversy, “weighing in with views” on Theresa May’s possible successor, says The Economist. He told The Sun that Boris Johnson would be an “excellent” leader. He also criticised the UK’s Brexit negotiating strategy, suggested that Nigel Farage should assist in negotiations, and urged a clean break if the EU refused to meet its demands, saying he would go “all out” for a rapid trade deal with the UK. Meanwhile, protestors were out in force with their giant inflatable baby Trump, and prominent figures including Jeremy Corbyn and Vince Cable refused invitations to a state dinner on Monday. Trump will always attract critics, but he’ll also attract “plenty of love”, says Peter Foster in The…

The trouble with celebrity fund managers is that it’s always hard to know if they’re good – or just plain lucky. Active managers who consistently beat the market over time are vanishingly rare, to the point where even those with lengthy records may simply be the equivalent of a lottery winner who imagines that their numerology “skills” have led them to the “right” numbers. Now that Neil Woodford’s winning streak has come to an end (see page 28), here are three tips to help you avoid being struck by fallen stars. “Consistently successful fund managers are rare” 1. Watch for style drift: Woodford made his name taking broadly contrarian bets on big blue chips, with the backing of a large institution to keep him in check. But when he launched…

The vogue within the investment markets has been to pay for performance. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys, has become the mainstream view, and asset managers have started to change their fee structure to build in a performance element. It started with the hedge funds a generation ago, with 20% of the profits typically going straight to the manager, and since then it has shifted into more mainstream funds offered to smaller investors. In the UK, close on 100 unit trusts now have some form of performance fee built into them and so do many hundreds more across Europe. They are common among investment trusts as well. Each time, the argument for them is the same. Sure, they will cost some money, but the incentives will also improve performance,…

Utopians will have to toe the line Izabella Kaminska Financial Times Seasteaders believe that modern societies have become “monopolistic and coercive political systems” with excessive regulation and taxation, says Izabella Kaminska. To escape this, and because all existing landmass is already claimed, they are “engineering tiny floating countries”. Unfortunately, this makes them look more like Bond villains attempting to “squirrel away unfairly extracted wealth from more co-operative societies” than pioneering homesteaders of old. By seeking “independent sovereign status for its facilities so that they cannot be taxed or influenced by other nations”, the movement’s Seasteading Institute is courting trouble. The stance is “tantamount to a security risk for established states”. In practice, there are only two ways to opt out of the international consensus. Ideologues can either “trot off to…

bloomberg.com The debate over who will suffer the most from the US-China trade war overlooks some of the biggest victims – the countries caught in the middle, says Tyler Cowen. Take Pakistan. It borrowed $6.5bn from China this fiscal year alone. China is Pakistan’s biggest foreign investor and a major supporter of its infrastructure. It is also an ally in its rivalry with India. On the other hand, the US is the world’s strongest military power with important links with Pakistan, the leading importer of Pakistani goods and the holder of the global reserve currency. Pakistan, therefore, has no interest in picking sides. But if it is forced to, at Trump’s bidding, then there’s no way it can afford to “thumb its nose” at China. The US, in other words,…

Some 3,920 small companies raised £1.93bn through the enterprise investment scheme (EIS) during the 2017-2018 tax year, according to HM Revenue & Customs. That marked a 1.5% rise on the previous year, but analysts say the EIS should be doing much better given recent restrictions on pension tax reliefs, which are prompting savers to find new tax-efficient investments. Alex Davies, the founder of Wealth Club, a specialist EIS adviser, blames the “constant tinkering with the rules” for the tiny increase, pointing to a series of changes to the small print of the EIS in recent years. He predicts the data for 2018-2019 will show EIS capital raising slipping back. In that case, small businesses hoping to use the EIS to raise much-needed funds will need to work hard to achieve…

The resignation of Theresa May as prime minister, combined with the poor showing for both Labour and Conservatives in the European Parliament elections, could pave the way for an early general election in the UK. If Labour wins control of the government, what can businesses expect? What policies might a Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn introduce? It’s clear that a Jeremy Corbyn-led government would take Britain in a political direction not seen since the 1970s – one involving far greater government intervention in the economy. As Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies put it in The Times last year, Labour is in effect, offering “an alternative to the form of market capitalism practised in this country for at least the past 40 years”. Policies discussed or floated…

On the AIC’s list of “dividend heroes” there are three trusts with 51-year records: City of London, Bankers Investment Trust and Alliance Trust. Caledonia Investments is not far behind, on 50, with F&C Global Smaller Companies and Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust both on 47. Of the three trusts with 51-year records, UK-focused City of London (LSE: CTY) has the highest yield, with a current figure of 4.52%. It is trading at a 2% premium to net asset value (NAV), and has an ongoing charge figure of 0.41%. City has a revenue reserve cover of 0.76 and dividend cover of 1.06%. If you’re looking for a globally diversified alternative, Bankers Investment Trust (LSE: BNKR) is currently yielding 2.2%. It is trading at a 1.2% discount to its NAV, with revenue…

Before Neil Woodford left Invesco Perpetual in 2013, he worked closely with Mark Barnett. Woodford managed £30bn in four open-ended funds, two funds for St James’ Place and the £1.3bn Edinburgh Investment Trust (LSE: EDIN), won from Fidelity in 2008. Barnett managed three trusts, including Perpetual Income & Growth (LSE: PLI) and Keystone (LSE: KIT), plus various other funds. Though he worked somewhat in Woodford’s shadow, Barnett’s returns were actually better in the later years so when Woodford left, it seemed natural for Barnett to take over the funds, minus the investors who cashed in to follow Woodford. While Woodford’s new venture has struggled badly, so have the funds – all UK specialists – he left behind. EDIN has returned a respectable 24% over five years, but only 5% over…

Pets At Home (LSE: PETS) is the country’s largest pet-supplies retailer. Its veterinary business has struggled in recent years, and online competitors have taken a slice of the retail market. But a restructuring seems to be bearing fruit, with the latest results coming in better than expected. Revenue increased by 6.9% to £961m in the year to the end of March, surprising the stock’s many short-sellers, says Louisa Clarence-Smith in The Times. Rumours of a private-equity takeover have also boosted the shares, which have gained around 60% in the last year.…

Clarence Hatry started out as an insurance clerk before moving into business in World War I. His first success came with a reinsurance firm, the City Equitable Fire Insurance Company, which he eventually sold for more than four times his initial investment. During the 1920s he was involved in a string of companies, many of which went bankrupt. Chief among these failures was the 1923 collapse of the Commercial Corporation of London. However, Hatry’s ambitions could not be contained, and by 1929 he owned a string of financial businesses, including a successful brokerage that issued bonds for local towns, undercutting established firms, and several investment trusts. What was the scam? Having financed consolidation within the jute-manufacturing industry and helping Debenhams to acquire a large number of independent drapery shops, Hatry…

There are three important decisions in life: what you do, with whom you do it, and where you do it. What. Who. Where. Keep it simple. And you only have a limited amount of time; you want to make sure you get those basics right. This week, we wonder, “where”? “No one comes to London anymore; it’s too crowded” We arrived in London last week and everything has changed there. We lived in London twice. Once, when the children were little, in the early 1990s. And again ten years later. We liked it both times. There was so much to discover. Coming from the bottom, we were eager to explore the top. We went to fancy restaurants, to Royal Ascot, to the Connaught Hotel and the Ritz. We dined in…

German bond yields are down to all-time lows as market turmoil causes investors to pile into fixed income, no matter how overpriced. The yield on the benchmark ten-year bond touched –0.219% on Monday, with investors apparently unperturbed by the negative yield. Bond yields move inversely to prices, so when yields fall – even below zero – that still implies a capital gain for bond holders. Bond bullishness was not limited to Europe’s most rock-solid country. Investors have even been lapping up Italian debt, notes Nikou Asgari in the Financial Times. Rome issued €4.6bn of bonds last week, with “demand for the five-year bond” at its highest level since August last year. Ten-year Italian yields hit a two month-low of 2.48% this week. Yet Rome’s borrowings have reached an eye-watering €2.4trn,…

Investors seeking promising gold miners should look Down Under, says Markus Bussler in German business weekly Der Aktionär. Unlike their North American counterparts, local producers didn’t binge on acquisitions at the peak of the gold bull market in 2010 and 2011, so their balance sheets are virtually debt-free, helping them take over peers in North America now. The gold price expressed in Australian dollars has climbed to a new record peak above $1,800 an ounce as the Australian dollar has declined in foreign-exchange markets. Australian producers make their sales in the local currency, while operating costs are around $1,200 an ounce, so margins are healthy. Northern Star and Saracen Mineral are worth researching.…

The online rail and bus ticket sales platform Trainline is set to float in London next month, says Elizabeth Burden in The Times. The group, which now sells tickets for 220 rail and bus brands in 45 countries, was founded by Virgin Trains in 1997. It was subsequently owned by two private-equity companies. The second, KKR, is now taking it public after acquiring it for £500m in 2015. Trainline plans to raise around £75m to fund future growth. Its initial public offering (IPO) could see it reach an overall value of £1.5bn. Business is booming: sales have doubled since 2015, reaching £3.2bn in the 12 months to February 2019. Operating profits jumped to £10.5m after three years of losses.…

“Disquiet” over a proposed €33bn merger with Fiat Chrysler (FCA) has caused the Renault board to postpone a key vote on starting talks, says Adam Sage in The Times. Nissan, which currently has an alliance with Renault, and owns 15% of the French carmaker, has displayed “a conspicuous lack of enthusiasm” for the tie-up. If both sides want to remain competitive, they have “little choice” but to go ahead with the deal, says John Gapper in the Financial Times. Owing to the “escalating costs of software and hardware”, which can reach $2bn to develop for each new car platform (a shared set of design, engineering and production efforts and major components), the key to staying profitable is to join forces. Moreover, the global industry plans to invest $61bn in autonomous…

Investors in an open-ended fund give a fund manager their money to invest on a collective basis. The term “open-ended” means that new shares can be issued in accordance with demand for them. When an investor wants to put money into the fund, new shares are issued. When they sell, the shares are “redeemed”. The buying and selling price of an open-ended fund always reflects the value of the underlying portfolio (minus any costs involved). One problem with using open-ended funds to invest in illiquid assets – such as commercial property, for example – is that if investors demand their money back in large numbers, then the fund will be unable to liquidate its holdings rapidly enough to satisfy redemption requests. This is why many commercial property funds had to…

• The Queen enjoys a day at the races. And over the last 31 years, she’s done quite nicely out of her hobby, reports the Daily Mail. Her horses have won 534 races out of 3,205 run, bringing in prize money of £7.7m. Her most successful steed is Carlton House, which won £772,815 and was retired to stud in Australia at six years old in 2014. Her most lucrative year was 2016, when she raked in £772,815. • GVC, the UK’s largest gambling company and owner of bookmaker Ladbrokes, is facing a shareholder revolt over the size of its executives’ pay. It has proposed a reduction of £150,000 in chief executive Kenny Alexander’s salary. But that is unlikely to be enough, says Rupert Neate in The Observer, as it doesn’t…

“Writing is an insecure job, but what isn’t spoken about is the arrogance. You have to be arrogant to say, ‘I’ve got an idea and I want you to spend £6m on making it.’” Screenwriter and producer Russell T Davies (pictured), quoted in The Times “I’m terrified of not having any money. Terrified. I worked out at a very young age, ten I think, that I was never going to inherit. So: self-reliance.” Jade Holland Cooper, founder of fashion brand Holland Cooper and wife of Superdry co-founder Julian Dunkerton, quoted in The Times “I don’t think either is as important as self-esteem, confidence and a sense of entitlement. That’s something I’ve seen in my students: immense amounts of talent, but things that stop people expressing that talent.” Writer and poet…

ofdollarsanddata.com Much of the English language could disappear without our losing any essential information, says Nick Maggiulli. Language is not efficient. Yet this very inefficiency contributes to its effectiveness: it means we can still understand texts riddled with errors and conduct conversations in a noisy room. Similarly, the majority of wars have not been won with superior strategy or kit, but with brute force. Sometimes, just working hard is the best option. This can apply to personal finance too. Paying your highest-interest debt off first makes the most sense rationally. But if you pay off your debts by balance (smallest first), then you “get a psychological win under your belt that will motivate you to pay off your other debt”. This works because personal finance is “all about behaviour modification,…

The seed enterprise investment scheme (SEIS) is aimed at the smallest and youngest businesses seeking to raise money. It offers investors significantly more generous tax reliefs than the main EIS, in return for the risk of backing such businesses, so it can be a very useful way for companies to raise growth funding following a start-up. The application process for the SEIS is similar to that for the EIS, so you won’t be able to guarantee investors that they’ll qualify for the scheme’s tax breaks. But you can still apply for advance assurance. It’s important to understand the much narrower eligibility criteria for this scheme, however. It’s usually only an option for those businesses with assets of less than £200,000 and fewer than 25 employees. You can’t use the scheme…

Hamish Muress, Senior Currency Strategist at OFX How might an early general election affect the pound? The uncertainty of a general election alone is likely to hit sterling – even the news of Theresa May making plans for her resignation has been painful for the pound. The problem with a significant drop in the pound is that it could leave the Bank of England stuck between a rock and a hard place. A lower pound would drive inflation up, arguing for higher interest rates. But if growth is struggling amid confusion over Brexit and government policies, then that would be bad news for growth, which argues for lower rates – it’s Catch-22. What impact could this have on UK businesses? It really depends – if your business is an importer,…

“Woodford is hardly the first active manager to make dud calls” “A bonfire of reputation and a terrible moment for investor confidence” is how one “veteran” fund manager described it to the Financial Times this week. “I can’t remember anything quite like this,” another manager, Peter Walls of Unicorn Mastertrust, told Citywire. They were, of course, referring to the “gating” of Neil Woodford’s flagship Woodford Equity Income Fund this week, which left investors large and small (including Kent County Council) unable to withdraw their money until further notice. What went wrong? Neil Woodford gained his reputation as a “star” while working at Invesco Perpetual, from 1988 to 2013. His big call was to avoid the tech bubble (and bust) and buy out-of-favour tobacco stocks (see opposite page). He beat the…

Woodford Investment Management offers three funds – the suspended Woodford Equity Income;Woodford Income Focus; and Woodford Patient Capital Trust (LSE: WPCT).The Income Focus fund is far more liquid than its troubled partner (as is the case for the fundsWoodford runs for St James Place), so while we’re not wild about it (too many house builders), if you’re a fan, there’s no rush to exit. WPCT is an investment trust, and so doesn’t have the liquidity issues of the Equity Income Fund. However, there is a huge overlap between the two – analysts at Stifel put it at an extraordinary 89% (accounting for use of gearing, or borrowed money) – which could mean that the trust’s underlying portfolio suffers in the event of any “fire sale” held byWoodford as he restructures…

When it comes to organising our finances, some of us half-heartedly update an Excel spreadsheet every few months. Then there are those who know their account balances down to the penny. If you’re more the former than the latter, there are several apps (there always are) designed to help you, or perhaps your children, keep track of your money. Breaking down spending First, the apps offered by digital banks such as Monzo and Starling are very useful for seeing exactly what you’re spending your money on. While you might think you keep a rough tally in your head of what you’ve spent week to week, it can be a shock seeing just how quickly trips to the local supermarket or meals out add up. These apps set out your spending…

The AA (LSE: AA) is the UK’s top provider of car breakdown cover, with 40% of the market, selling roadside assistance and insurance products to 13 million personal and business customers. Sales grew by 2% last year to £979m, but profit fell by 28% to £219m as the group struggled to cope with the £2.9bn debt pile bequeathed by its previous private-equity owners. Boss Simon Breakwell hopes new technology will turn the company around. But investors aren’t convinced, and the AA remains one of the most shorted stocks on the market – it has halved in 12 months.…

2018 Te Whare Ra, Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand £15.15, lescaves.co.uk Te Whare Ra (TWR) is located in the Marlborough sub-region of Renwick and is owned by Anna and Jason Flowerday. The estate was founded by Allen and Joyce Hogan in 1979 when they first planted vines on a small block of land in the heart of Marlborough – they were ahead of the trend, and long before Cloudy Bay and the like made it to our shores in the mid-80s, and so this is Marlborough’s first ever boutique winery. Anna and Jason appeared on the scene in 2003, fresh from working as winemakers in Australia. Truly great wines have a sense of place combined with texture, balance, fruit concentration and great length. These are qualities that cannot be added; they…

Donald Trump’s trade policies display “all the finesse of an elephant attempting embroidery”, says The Economist. Locked in an impasse with China, the White House has now also initiated a major trade escalation with Mexico. America’s neighbour and largest trading partner has until 10 June to clamp down on the flow of migrants into the United States or face tariffs of 5% on all imports. The levy could eventually rise to 25%. The move surprised markets, which had thought that US-Mexican disputes had been settled. Mexico’s peso slid to five-month lows against the US dollar. America’s S&P 500 has had its second-worst May since the 1960s, losing almost 7%. The Trump administration has also ended India’s special trade status, which had eliminated some tariffs on Indian imports, although the impact…

“On 31 May, 1999… Barron’s... was warning about market risks, especially in the technology sector… Over the next few years, Amazon’s stock would drop 95%, eventually falling to below $6 in 2001… [yet] Amazon has [also] risen 4,606% since Barron’s published [that] column, with an annualised average return of 21.1% — about quadruple what the S&P 500 returned over the same period… [So] anytime some company is said to be ‘the next Amazon’ (or Apple or Microsoft), keep in mind that most people would be unable to withstand the sort of pain and wealth destruction that goes along with investing early, even if the ups and downs are temporary. Only if investors can withstand the subsequent drawdown – in Amazon’s case, 83% in 2000; 73% in 2001; 41% in 2004;…

Three to buy RM Money Observer This educational products supplier sells IT equipment and footballs to schools, and e-marking software to examination boards. The group took a major hit when the government’s Building Schools for the Future programme was axed in 2010, but the hangover has left the shares cheap even as it has managed an impressive turnaround to become “highly profitable” once more. A price/ earnings (p/e) ratio below 12 looks good value for “a decent business”. 236p The Renewables Infrastructure Group The Sunday Times This FTSE 250 green investor, known as “Trig”, owns wind, solar and battery farms across Europe. Last year its assets generated enough electricity to power more than half a million homes, with most earnings coming from reliable fixed-price contracts and subsidies. The shares trade…

• Hopes that new chief executive Andrew Davies could deliver a period of stability for investors in Kier Group have been “summarily consigned to the kitchen bin”, says Alex Ralph in The Times. The engineering group, which is working on HS2 and Crossrail, warned that annual profits would be £25m lower than expected. At the same time, restructuring costs will now be £15m higher than expected. The shares have plunged 41% to a 20-year low. Analysts now warn that “the company could be heading for the same fate as Carillion”, which went into liquidation in January. But comparisons with Carillion are a bit overblown, says Matthew Vincent in the Financial Times. Kier doesn’t rely on “a few huge low-margin construction contracts”. However, the recent announcements go beyond simple “kitchen sinking”.…

It is just over three years to the day since I launched this column by predicting (correctly, as it turned out) that Remain would get between 45% and 55% of the vote in the EU referendum. Since then I’ve expressed my views on everything from the post-referendum challenge to Jeremy Corbyn to the recent Australian general election. I’ve also had a look at the available research on various betting strategies, from backing “steamers” to the issue of whether favourites or long shots offer better value. As you might expect, I’ve had both successes and failures. Like most people, I was taken by surprise by Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 US presidential election and the hung parliament that resulted from the 2017 UK general election. But at the same time…

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell looks as though he is now getting ready to cut interest rates, says David Rosenberg. At his latest speech in Chicago this week, the head of the US central bank – who has tried so far to strike a tough tone on monetary policy – sounded far less “hawkish” than he has in the past. He made no effort, notes Rosenberg, to counter market expectations that there will be two rate cuts before the end of the year. Powell also noted that at some point in the future, US interest rates will once again hit the “ELB” (effective lower bound, or 0%), and that the central bank has to be ready for that. The nod to lower rates helped markets rally strongly in the middle…

David Brookman, a former steel worker and trade unionist who now sits in the House of Lords as Baron Brookman of Ebbw Vale, claimed £50,000 in attendance and travel expenses last year, despite never speaking in the House and never asking a single question, says The Guardian. Peers can claim £305 a day for travel if they sign in on arrival, although no record is kept of when they depart. Brookman was not alone in his silence: 88 peers (around one in nine) didn’t speak, hold any government post or sit on any committee; and 46 didn’t register a single vote. One non-voter claimed £25,000 while another peer voted just once and claimed £41,000. Two peers claimed more than £70,000. The median claim was £30,180; 116 claimed nothing at all.…

fs.blog In an interview, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos touches on the timeless lessons he’s learned for business success, says Shane Parrish. The three “big ideas” are thinking long term, putting the customer first, and inventing. Experimenting is necessary because a lot of the things you try won’t work, says Bezos. Just be clear with your customers about what it is you’re trying to do. As Warren Buffett says, you can have great success putting on a ballet or a rock concert. Just don’t hold a ballet and advertise it as a rock concert. “You need to be clear with all of your stakeholders… and then people get to self-select in,” says Bezos. Bezos’s motto is gradatim ferociter, or “step by step, ferociously”. You have to start small, and you can’t…

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“If Woodford is a fallen superstar then Hargreaves was his agent,” as Matthew Vincent puts it in the FT’s Lombard column.The online investment platform’s “imposing marketing machine whirred into action” at the launch of all three of Woodford’s funds, notes Citywire’s Daniel Grote. In the Equity Income Fund’s first full year of operation in 2015, Hargreaves clients owned more than a third (38%) or £3.1bn, of the fund. And by the end of last year, this figure still stood at 31%. Hargreaves clients also own around two-thirds of the Woodford Income Focus Fund.The company’s backing of Woodford’s funds is “so significant” that it is deemed a “related party”, in that it controls more than 20% of the shares, and so must disclose its holding in annual reports, notes Grote. No…

Sweden is well known for its engineering companies such as Atlas Copco, Saab, Sandvik, and Volvo. A more obscure Swedish name in this field is Hexagon AB (Stockholm: HEX AB), a precision-engineering and software company with a market value of €16bn. It combines sensors, satellite-based positioning technology and software to transform clients’ operations and improve their productivity. For instance, Hexagon developed the first complete industrial assembly process based on laser measurements for the Airbus A380 programme. The system uses four Hexagon laser trackers (two for the wings and two for the fuselage), all connected to special control and measurement software. China HQC, meanwhile, used Hexagon to design the world’s largest indirect coal liquefaction project. This involved more than 13,000 pipelines and 2,400 pieces of equipment that had to withstand high…

Our investment approach is to seek out high-yielding stocks that we believe can deliver a high income and an attractive total return. We consider three key aspects of a company. First, the fundamental strengths, notably the structure of the industry it operates in, the group’s competitive position, balance sheet and cash generation, and also environmental, social and governance factors. Second, we gauge the valuation of the shares compared with history and other companies in the market. Finally, we assess long-term structural trends affecting the industry as well as shorter-term cyclical threats and opportunities. Ultimately, we are seeking sound businesses that are attractively valued and poised to benefit from cyclical or structural trends. Here are three we bought in the last financial year: Cashing in on mass affluence Wealth management group…

Move over Hugh Grosvenor, there’s a new European property king. According to Bloomberg data, the founder of Zara, Amancio Ortega, has quietly overtaken the real-estate heirs of London to hold the continent’s biggest portfolio – with assets worth $13bn, compared with $12bn for the young Duke of Westminster and $7bn for Charles Cadogan. Not bad for a man who grew up so poor that there were periods in his childhood when he ate “only potatoes”. At 83, Ortega is Spain’s richest man, with a fortune put at $63.6bn – most of it derived from his majority stake in Zara’s parent Inditex, the world’s largest fast-fashion operator. For some years Ortega’s wealth managers have been scrambling to diversify his wealth, says The Economist. Property was the natural choice for a mogul…

By Anchuli Felicia King Directed by Nana Dakin At the Royal Court Theatre until Saturday 15 June White Pearl is a satirical comedy dealing with issues of race, culture and corporate backstabbing. Asian cosmetics firm White Pearl is facing a PR disaster when a racially insensitive commercial posted on the internet goes viral. As boss Priya’s (Farzana Dua Elahe) efforts at damage control flounder, she searches for a scapegoat. Meanwhile, other members of the team face their own personal crises; Built (Kae Alexander) has to deal with a former lover who won’t take no for an answer while Xiao’s (Momo Yeun) father is being prosecuted back home in China. The Royal Court has a reputation for putting on rather worthy plays, so it is good to see it try to…

Max Beaverbrook Not Quite a Gentleman Charles Williams Biteback Publishing (£25) Max Beaverbrook was “widely disliked” in his lifetime as a newspaper owner and backstairs politician who used the Daily Express ”to further his own interests”, says Jane Ridley in the Literary Review. However, a “marked talent for making money” enabled him to make a rags-to-riches journey from a “hard, joyless, childhood” in the Canadian province of New Brunswick to a business empire, ministerial posts and the peerage. While this biography by Charles Williams does not manage to make Beaverbrook any more likeable, it does give “a full account of a remarkable 20th-century career”. The book might have more accurately been subtitled “Not Remotely a Gentleman”, says Lewis Jones in The Daily Telegraph. Certainly, Williams’ “thorough” biography “leaves one in…

• My son, a Chelsea fan, wanted to go to the Europa League final in Azerbaijan, says Jeremy Clarkson in The Sun. It took two flights and a 13-hour train journey to get there. So it’s no surprise that the stadium wasn’t full. “I’ve seen bigger crowds in a library. And heard more noise.” And that is the tragedy of football, because “for the game to be a colossus, it must have cash”. And so a major European final is held in the capital of an oil-rich state that isn’t even in Europe because “its government was able to offer more money to UEFA than a convenient location like, say, Belgium”. And it’s why the World Cup will be in the even more oil-rich state of Qatar. And why, “if…

£22,000 The nightly cost of the penthouse suite at London’s Corinthia hotel. Donald Trump booked an entire floor for his family for the duration of his state visit to the UK this week. Trump himself will stay at Winfield House, the US ambassador’s residence in Regent’s Park. $18.7bn The amount Blackstone Group, an American private-equity firm, is paying for 1,300 industrial warehouses across the US from Singapore-based GLP. It is the biggest private real-estate transaction ever, and “a big bet on the continued explosion of e-commerce”, says The Wall Street Journal. £61,000 The sum awarded in an out-of-court settlement to Pok Wong, a student who claimed that Anglia Ruskin University had exaggerated the career prospects of her “Mickey Mouse” degree course. The university said it had paid out to prevent…