Top polluters set to pay

Monday 9th December 2019

Get straight to the good stuff every day with the Multiply Minute; a lightning-quick round-up of the money news and how it affects you.

Pollution tax

Policies in place to fight climate change are forecast to cost the country’s most polluting firms 43% of their value. Progress pays though, as the rules will see lower polluters add 33% to their value. The study by the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) predicts that car companies that quickly switch to electric vehicles (EVs) are likely to profit, while the 10 biggest firms in oil and coal will see their value drop significantly.

Hotel mattresses looted

Gone are the days of simply slipping a shampoo bottle into your suitcase. Five-star hotels are now falling foul of increasingly ambitious thieves, with research showing that TVs, paintings, and even mattresses are being pilfered by guests. The luxury mattresses apparently go missing in the middle of the night, usually via lifts serving underground car parks.

Just Eat tug-of-war

Takeaway company Just Eat is seeing its shares soar as it tucks into the details of rival bids from would-be buyers Prosus and Takeaway.com. With two offers on the table, Just Eat shareholders have until 27th December to make up their minds. It’s one of many food delivery companies vying to feed consumer demand, but it remains to be seen what a potential deal could mean for the price of a pizza.

Tesco checking out of Asia?

Britain’s biggest retailer, Tesco, is thinking about selling off its stores in Thailand and Malaysia. It has over 2,00 of them in both countries, where they are known as Tesco Lotus. The move would continue the trimming of its international businesses in a sustained retreat of the company's previous global ambitions.