Upper Crust owner SSP delays float of Indian business
The planned initial public offering of Travel Food Services, which it runs with K Hospitality in India, has been delayed to the summer as it waits for stock market conditions to recover.
'Recent geopolitical events have led to a heightened level of uncertainty across some of our travel markets, in particular in North America,' the company said in a statement.
The announcement came alongside half-year results, which showed operating profit at the FTSE 250 company rose 20 per cent to £45 million, up
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Reuters
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Indian farmers accelerate summer crop sowing amid strong monsoon
MUMBAI, July 21 (Reuters) - Indian farmers have accelerated the planting of summer-sown crops such as paddy, soybeans, cotton and corn, following above-average monsoon rainfall in July which increased the moisture levels required for sowing, according to government data. The monsoon is the lifeblood of India's nearly $4 trillion economy, delivering almost 70% of the rainfall needed to water farms and replenish aquifers and reservoirs. Nearly half of India's farmland is not irrigated and depends on the annual June-September rains for crop growth. The country has so far received 6% more rainfall than normal since the start of monsoon season on June 1, which helped farmers to plant summer crops on 70.83 million hectares (175 million acres) by July 18, up 4.1% from the last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare. Farmers have planted 17.67 million hectares with rice paddy, up 12.4% on the same period last year, as a hike in support prices prompted farmers to expand the area. India is the world's biggest exporter of rice and the top importer of edible oils such as palm oil and soyoil. Farmers planted soybean on 11.17 million hectares, down from last year's 11.9 million hectares but having accelerated in the last week. Corn was planted on 7.1 million hectares, up from 6.17 million a year earlier. The cotton area was 3.4% lower at 9.86 million hectares, having also seen an increase in the past few days, while pulses planting rose by 2.3% from a year ago to 8.2 million hectares. The farm ministry keeps updating the provisional sowing figures as it gathers more information from the state governments. Farmers are inclined to expand the area under paddy as the government buys large quantities at state-fixed support prices, which is not the case for other crops, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm. "So far, the weather's been pretty good for crops, except in a few parts of north-eastern India. If the monsoon stays strong next month, we could be looking at a bumper harvest across the country," he said.
The Guardian
30 minutes ago
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Sebastian Coe says World Athletics is closely monitoring outstanding athlete payments from Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track series, admitting: 'There is no point in pretending this is a satisfactory situation.' Johnson unexpectedly cancelled the final Los Angeles leg of his new four-meeting series last month following low spectator numbers at the opening three editions in Kingston, Miami and Philadelphia. The series announced a total prize fund of $12.6m (£9.3m) at its launch earlier this year, but a number of athletes are understood yet to receive payment. It is not unusual for a time lag between competition and remuneration but, given the abrupt end to the aborted first season, runners are increasingly concerned over individual payments that stretch well into six figures. 'It's not good,' said Lord Coe, the global governing body's president. 'The one thing that World Athletics has always stood strongly behind is the athletes. So yeah, this is not a good situation. It's a startup, but the athletes do need paying.' He added: 'For these things to work, they can't be vanity projects. They have to be suffused in practicality and deliverability. I just want the events that are going to add lustre, that we can find space for, and we will encourage them to at least have the courtesy of spending that kind of time and that kind of effort, both intellectual and resource, in making sure they work.' Grand Slam Track champions at each meet receive $100,000 (£74,000) in addition to substantial appearance fees. Britain's 400m Olympic medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith won the short sprint category in Kingston and Philadelphia, with Josh Kerr triumphing in the short distance category in Miami. While Grand Slam Track declined to comment, it is understood agents have been informed that their athletes will receive payment for the Kingston event by the end of this month, with later meet payments following before the end of September. The Guardian understands that some athletes have received appearance money from the opening meet. Asked if World Athletics has the power to intervene on athletes' behalf, Coe replied: 'Well, let's just watch this space.' Johnson's brainchild has been touted as a direct competitor to World Athletics' Diamond League circuit, which had stood unchallenged as the primary season-long athletics competition since it succeeded the Golden League in 2010. Speaking to the Guardian in April, Johnson denied fears that the $30m of investment in Grand Slam Track could run out before he is able to change the sport. 'We're in this for the long haul,' he said. 'Startups aren't profitable in year one. You know, if anybody comes to you with a startup, saying: 'Hey, we're going to be profitable in year one,' run away as fast as you can. But we will continue to grow.' Coe insists he remains fully supportive of privately funded athletics events. 'It was in everybody's interest for something like this to be successful,' he said. 'We're not the 'computer says no' command-and-control federation. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion 'From the very moment I became president of World Athletics, I talked about the need to be more creative and partner – don't shy away from forming those relationships. So we were very clear that this had to be done properly and executed properly. Hopefully, [create] an additional attraction in the sport.' Meanwhile, Coe confirmed World Athletics remains committed to introducing DNA tests for all elite female athletes ahead of September's world championships. Coe initially announced the policy in March to 'guarantee the integrity of female women's sport'. It will involve a non-invasive one‑time cheek swab or dry blood test. Tests are due to begin in the coming weeks once the World Athletics Council has confirmed procedural regulations.
