Travelex staff have had to write out paper invoices for customers as the foreign currency firm continues to be without computer systems after hackers took control, demanding a $3m ransom. Travelex was forced to take down its global websites on 1 January after criminals attacked on its computer system on New Year’s Eve using Sodinokibi ransomware. The cyber-attack has also shutdown the online currency exchange services offered by Virgin Money, Tesco Bank, First Direct and Sainsbury’s Bank, which are powered by Travelex. The hackers are threatening to release 5GB of customers’ personal data – including social security numbers, dates of birth and payment-card information – into the public domain unless the company pays up. As the crisis continued on Wednesday, shares in Travelex’s parent company Finablr PLC (FIN), a global payments company listed in London, plunged by 16% to a record low. This was despite an attempt by the United Arab Emirates-based company to allay fears of a major online leak of personal data.
Anglo American (AAL) could rescue plans to dig the UK’s first deep mine in 40 years under the North York Moors through a £386m takeover bid for Sirius Minerals (SXX). The businesses are in advanced talks over a bid that would save Sirius from collapse after the struggling fertiliser miner failed to raise funds for its Yorkshire mine project. Under the terms of Anglo’s takeover bid, it would offer 5.5p a share to Sirius shareholders to value the company at £386m, or one-third more than its market value at close on Tuesday. The company’s share price has plummeted in recent years as it struggled to fund plans to extract a potent fertiliser called polyhalite, or Poly4. Sirius was worth 37p a share in August 2018 but was trading at just over 4p a share before the approach emerged. On Wednesday shares in the business climbed by more than a third to match the offer price.
Ted Baker (TED) bankers have appointed advisers to review the prospects for the business amid fears that the fashion chain will be forced to raise cash. A consortium of four major lenders to the company, understood to be Santander, HSBC, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, have hired the advisory firm FTI Consulting, which has previously worked with lenders to troubled high street businesses Debenhams and New Look as well as the collapsed Thomas Cook. FTI is expected to take several weeks to conclude the business review that could result in Ted Baker’s lenders tightening the terms on which they provide debt to the retailer, according to Sky News, which first reported the appointment. The review raises fears for Ted Baker, which is thought to be close to reaching the ceiling on its borrowing agreements for £180m of debt after a difficult period of trading. In October, debts were £130m and since then trading has been poor.
Employees at Greggs (GRG) are being rewarded with a £7m special bonus after the hugely successful launch of the bakery chain’s vegan sausage roll last year boosted sales and profits. The bakery chain’s 25,000 employees will receive up to £300 each in their pay packets this month – with shop floor staff and managers receiving the same amount. Greggs said it was making the one-off payment to workers “in recognition of their crucial contribution to business success”. Some 19,000 staff, who have been with the company before and up to March last year, will receive the full £300 payment. The rest will be given £75 for every quarter they have been with the company, up to the end of last year.
