Greatland Gold has shared an update on Newcrest’s drilling campaign at the Havieron deposit in the Paterson region of Western Australia.

In addition, the precious and base metals exploration and development company reported on latest drill results, which confirmed the continuity of higher-grade mineralisation within the South East Crescent and Breccia.

In an update, Greatland Gold 2021 growth drilling programme includes plans for approximately 65,000 metres of drilling within the next six months and will focus on South East Crescent and Breccia, expansion of the existing Inferred Mineral Resource in Northern Breccia, and drill testing and interpretation of the geological and mineralisation controls in Eastern Breccia.

Gervaise Heddle is the chief executive officer of Greatland Gold. He commented: “As earth moving activities commence at Havieron, Newcrest continues to deliver excellent infill results within the existing resource shell and is launching an exciting 2021 growth drilling programme with the potential to further expand the mineralised footprint.

“The latest drill results increase our confidence in the continuity of higher-grade mineralisation and support the potential delivery of an Indicated Mineral Resource. Meanwhile, Newcrest’s plans for 65,000 metres of growth drilling will target several zones which could represent potential extensions to mineralisation outside of the Inferred Mineral Resource estimate, as well as new targets announced today within the Havieron joint venture area.

“Alongside the ramp-up of exploration and early works activities at Havieron, we are also preparing to launch our Juri Joint Venture exploration programme for 2021, which will focus on drill testing priority targets, including the Parlay target within the Black Hills Project and the Goliath, Outamind and Los Diablos targets within the Paterson Range East Project. We look forward to providing regular updates on activities at both joint ventures – Havieron and Juri – in due course,” Heddle added.

Greatland Gold shares are trading -2.80% at 26,15 (1548GMT).

Facebook reported strong results for the fourth quarter ended 31 December.

Thanks to increased ad spending by businesses, revenue at the social media giant jumped by £7bn from $21.08bn to $28.07bn. This was higher than expected by analysts, who estimated revenues of $26.44bn.

As well as revenue, the number of users over the Facebook platforms also surged by 12% to 2.80bn – higher than the 2.75bn estimated by analysts.

The group saw strong trading as Instagram Shopping and Facebook Marketplace expanded and more people began shopping online.

Facebook said in a trading update: “We believe our business has benefited from two broad economic trends playing out during the pandemic. The first is the ongoing shift towards online commerce. The second is the shift in consumer demand towards products and away from services.

“We believe these shifts provided a tailwind to our advertising business in the second half of 2020 given our strength in product verticals sold via online commerce and our lower exposure to service verticals like travel. Looking forward, a moderation or reversal in one or both of these trends could serve as a headwind to our advertising revenue growth.”

The results this year came despite a difficult time for Facebook as the group faced an advertiser boycott, antitrust actions, and content moderation concerns around the US presidential election.

Tamara Littleton, analyst and chief executive officer at social media agency The Social Element, commented on the strong results: “For now, Facebook seems untouchable. But the fact remains: Facebook has damaged its reputation through consistently putting profit before anything else.”

Facebook shares closed -3.51% lower at 272,14.

Apple posted bumper trading in the last three months of 2020 as people bought plenty of gadgets over the Christmas period.

For the quarter ended December 26 sales were up 21% to $111.44bn – beating analyst expectations of $103.28bn.

Quarterly earnings per diluted share were up 35% to $1.68. International sales accounted for 64% of the quarter’s revenue.

Sales of iPhones increased amid the release of its new iPhone 12. iPhone sales exceeded estimates of $59.80bn and hit $65.60bn. The new phone had convinced a record number of customers to switch to the company and upgrade, said executives from Apple.

According to Apple, sales in China were particularly strong. Sales in greater China surged 57%.

Mac sales reached $8.68bn, which was in line with analyst expectations of $8.69bn. Sales of iPads were $8.44bn, which is higher than the analyst expectations of $7.46bn.

Apple declared a dividend of 20.5 cents per share.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, commented: “We’re gratified by the enthusiastic customer response to the unmatched line of cutting-edge products that we delivered across a historic holiday season.”

Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer, said: “Our December quarter business performance was fueled by double-digit growth in each product category, which drove all-time revenue records in each of our geographic segments and an all-time high for our installed base of active devices.

“These results helped us generate record operating cash flow of $38.8 billion. We also returned over $30 billion to shareholders during the quarter as we maintain our target of reaching a net cash neutral position over time,” he added.

Apple shares closed 0.77% lower at 142,06.

UK car production was down 29% and has fallen to its lowest level since 1984.

Last year saw British car manufacturers produce a total of 921,000 cars. This is the first time that production has fallen to below a million since the depths of the 2009 financial crisis.

The figures have meant that the industry lost about £10.5bn in revenues compared to the year previously.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), called 2020 a “dreadful year” and said that it was also “the worst in a generation” for car production.

“These figures, the worst in a generation, reflect the devastating impact of the pandemic… The industry faces 2021 with more optimism, however, with a vaccine being rolled out and clarity on how we trade with Europe, which remains by far our biggest market,” he said.

“The immediate challenge is to adapt to the new conditions, to overcome the additional customs burdens and regain our global competitiveness while delivering zero emission transport.”

Nissan overtook Jaguar Land Rover as the biggest British manufacturer. Nissan produced 246,000 vehicles whilst Nissan had an output of 244,000 cars – down 37% on the previous year.

The UK’s biggest export destination remains the EU with 53.5% going to the EU. The number of cars exported to the EU slumped in 2020 by 30.8% to 400,460 vehicles.

Exports to the US, Japan and Australia last year were down 33.7%, 21.6% and 21.8% respectively. However, exports to China, South Korea and Taiwan grew by 2.3%, 3.6% and 16.7% respectively.

Paperchase has secured a rescue deal, which will save stores and protect jobs.

The retailer is expected to announce details later on Wednesday, however, Sky News learnt that the rescue deal is Permira Debt Managers who is connected to its current private equity owners.

Paperchase has been owned by private equity firm, Primary Capital, since 2010

The new deal is expected to protect 90 of the 125 stores. More details will be announced this afternoon. Permira Debt Managers have provided funding to the retailer since 2015.

Paperchase appointed administrators earlier this month, saying that the pandemic had put high strain on the retailer.

A spokesperson for Paperchase said: “The cumulative effects of lockdown one, lockdown two – at the start of the Christmas shopping period – and now the current restrictions have put unbearable strain on retail businesses across the country.

“Paperchase is not immune despite our strong online trading. Out of lockdown we’ve traded well, but as the country faces further restrictions for some months to come, we have to find a sustainable future for Paperchase.

“We are working hard to find that solution and this NOI is a necessary part of this work. This is not the situation we wanted to be in. Our team has been fantastic throughout this year and we cannot thank them enough for their support.”

Store closures throughout November and December last year wiped out the most important months of the year for the retailer

Despite the rescue deal and many stores saved, it is expected that some redundancies may go ahead.

ScS Group posted strong sales in the 26 weeks to 23 January.

The sofa retailer saw gross sales jump 13.9% to £182.3m over the past six months – this is up from £160m a year earlier.

ScS Group benefitted from a surge in sales over the lockdown period and the pent-up demand whilst stores were closed. In the first quarter, online sales jumped by 98%.

New lockdown restrictions means that stores are closed again, which led to a slump in sales.

The comapny’s order book is at £90m. This is £16m more than at the same period in 2019. Like-for-like order intake fell by 9% over the period but it increased by 12% in the 21 weeks to December 19, 2020.

ScS Group has said that it remains “cautiously optimistic” after posting recent results.

“Whilst it is too early to provide clarity on the outlook for the weeks and months ahead, we remain cautiously optimistic given the strong trading experienced by the Group following the first and second lockdowns,” said the group in a trading statement.

“Given the tactile nature of our products, the majority of customers chose to wait until stores re-opened to try our products in person before making their purchasing decision. This resulted in the business benefiting from pent-up demand, coupled with an increased level of investment by UK consumers in their homes. The Group has built a robust balance sheet and continues to focus on cost and cash management to ensure we maintain this resilience in these challenging times.”

ScS Group shares (LON: SCS) are trading +0.48% at 211,00 (0828GMT).

Shore Capital analysts, Darren Shirley and Clive Black, commented: “At the start of the important winter trading period on Boxing Day, ScS was trading from 57 out of its total 100 stores, with a further 37 forced to closed on the 30th December; with all closed on the 4th January. The stores are reported to have traded strongly whilst open.

“Online continues to partially compensate for store closures, increasing by 98% in the period, though most customers appear to want the tactile experience of a store visit ahead of purchasing furniture, and particularly floorings!

“Despite this end of period decline, the news on the ScS’ order book is broadly encouraging, sitting at £90.5m on the 26th January (inc. VAT), which is £16.8m higher year-on-year.”

Goldman Sachs chief executive, David Solomon, was hit with a $10m (£7.3m) pay cut after the bank’s involvement in Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal.

Solomon’s salary for the year fell from $27.5m in 2019 down to £17.5m – a reduction of 36%.

Following an investigation, it was found that Goldman Sachs bankers paid over $1.6bn in bribes to foreign officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi in order to win the 1MDB fund business. The bank has said its involvement in the scandal was an “institutional failure”.

“The board views the 1MDB matter as an institutional failure, inconsistent with the high expectations it has for the firm,” said the bank in a statement.

Over $6.5bn was raised by Goldman Sachs for 1MDB – most of which was stolen.

Whilst Solomon’s pay has been cut, bank executives stressed that he was not aware of the fraudulent activity that was taking place. The bank said that Solomon was not “involved in or aware of the firm’s participation in any illicit activity at the time… the board views the 1MDB matter as an institutional failure, inconsistent with the high expectations it has for the firm”.

The 1MDB has been investigated for years by regulators in the US, UK, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. It cost Goldman Sachs over $5bn, however, despite the costs the bank was still able to enjoy a strong year. The bank had an annual revenue of $44.6bn in 2020 – the highest level since 2009.

Chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs, John Waldron, is also having his pay cut. His salary for 2020 will fall $6m to $18.5m.

Brian Rabbitt, acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s criminal division, commented at the time: “That harm was borne principally and in the first instance by the people of Malaysia, who saw a fund created to benefit them… instead turned into a piggybank for corrupt public officials and their cronies.”