Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
Be nice. That’s what Tesco (LON:TSCO) bosses told its staff.
The supermarket is encouraging management to be more polite to employees, to show it ‘really cares’.
But as one tweeter suggests, being nice to the people who buy things at your stores might also help Tesco rollback the relentless advance of discounters Aldi and Lidl.
What they need to do more importantly is to be polite to customers .. That would be a good start #tesco https://t.co/ifHSI4xkIk
— Chris Brothwood (@chrisbrothwood) March 17, 2016
While we’re all still reeling from the Budget, The Economist reminds us that things could be worse.
I'll bet when Trump finds out the Economist put him in the top 10 global threats list, he's going to insist he's #1. https://t.co/7lQj7pp8Bz
— Derek Young (@DerekMYoung) 17 March 2016
The magazine’s Intelligence Unit has ranked Donald Trump winning the US presidency as one of the top ten global risk factors to the world economy.
“In the event of a Trump victory, his hostile attitude to free trade, and alienation of Mexico and China in particular, could escalate rapidly into a trade war,” said the magazine in its Global Forecasting Service risk rating.
President Trump is ranked just above the rising threat of the Islamic State and Brexit. At the top end of the scale -the most likely with the highest impact- was a sharp economic slowdown in China.
Meanwhile, pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) announced that CEO Andrew Witty would be stepping down after nearly a decade in the role.
Witty will retire at the end of March next year and the announcement has sParked fresh speculation of a potential shake-up.
It has seen as a move to placate investors who have been calling for a break-up of the group.
Sir Andrew Witty to step down as boss of @GSK; wonder if beyond knighthood he achieved his personal goals? #pharma
— Mike Ward (@ScripMikeWard) 17 March 2016
It also emerged this morning that four of GSK’s non-executive directors will not seek re-election:
BRIEF-GSK says four non-executive directors not to seek re-election at AGM https://t.co/3UtEjDhi72
— Ken Bakker (@KenBiker) 17 March 2016
Witty wasn’t the only FTSE 100 casualty this morning.
In a surprise departure, Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) chief executive Sam Walsh announced he was to step down in July.
Walsh took the mantel three years ago, which saw him slash costs and abandon the group’s progressive dividend policy.
Rio Tinto’s head of copper and coal, Jean-Sébastien Jacques is already lined up as successor.
Elsewhere, shares in Kurdish oil producer Gulf Keystone Petroleum (LON:GKP) fell to a seven year low this morning.
Directors warned that uncertainty caused by low oil prices, geopolitical instability, and operating problems have cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue.
It dropped 21% to 9.5p, the lowest since March 2009, extending its yearlong decline to 70%.
@Alexios1201 Ouch #GKP. I feel sorry for Long term shareholders here. To think these were 400p+
— Topinfo (@TopTradersADVFN) 17 March 2016
The gears of the northern powerhouse were grinding away this morning as Sirius Minerals (LON:SXX) published plans for a North Yorkshire potash mine.
The blueprints outlined a mile-deep mine shaft in the heart of the North York Moors National Park, as well as a subterranean transport tunnel extending towards the port.
The chthonian project will dig billions of tonnes of fertiliser from beneath the moors and nearby seabed. It is expected to create thousands of jobs in the region.
Shares dipped almost as deep, as a costlier than anticipated price tag pushed stock down 20%.