CITY WHISPERS: Bernard Looney's ex-wife sends her Christmas message

'Tis the season for cheerfulness, but also for overviews of 2023 by analysts.

Among the messages is one from broker Liberum, whose analysts Andrew Ripper and Caspar Erskine last week handed out awards for the technology and media sectors.

Gongs included 'Player of the Year', awarded to Zillah Byng-Thorne for her stints as chairman of review site Trustpilot and executive chairman of advertising agency M&C Saatchi.

There was also 'theme of the year', picked up by the rise of artificial intelligence after shares of the likes of Nvidia and Microsoft soared.

Less happy about picking up an award will be GB Group, a Chester-based fraud prevention company, which Liberum named as the most likely bid target.

One more thing…

Christmas is understandably quiet on the Square Mile, with traders and executives usually too busy downing turkey and mulled wine to make any big announcements.

But a handful of companies have decided now is the perfect time to hold their annual general meeting.

Next week's agenda includes advertising technology company Tremor, stock market data group ADVFN and SkinBioTherapeutics.

Christmas is also often a time when companies release bad news, aware that many people are too distracted by the festivities to notice.

However, this column remains alert all year round. Companies, you have been warned.

Contributor: Emily Hawkins