Market Buzz
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Avanti West Coast, Twitter, FTSE reshuffle
Labour has called on ministers to claw back £12m in dividends paid by Avanti West Coast to its shareholders last year, when it was subsidised by £343m by the taxpayer. Figures released by the rail watchdog on Tuesday showed that Avanti paid out £12m in 2021-22 from management and performance fees. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Retailers, Elon Musk, LME
UK retailers have launched a barrage of discounts to try to clear stock after a month of falling sales as soaring inflation and bills hit households’ budgets and a warm autumn reduced demand for coats and boots. On Monday, New Look was offering a 50% discount off all products, Asos up to 80% off almost all lines and Boohoo 30% off everything, with many other fashion retailers – including Marks & Spencer, River Island and Matalan – offering between 20% and 30% cuts.
Monday newspaper round-up: Amazon, British Airways, De La Rue
Amazon’s UK tax bill jump could jump by £29m next year as a result of changes to business rates that are scheduled to hit warehouses and online retailers the hardest. The online retailer is likely to be among firms facing big tax rises following the chancellor’s autumn statement, according to analysis from the real estate adviser Altus Group. – Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Zero Covid, British Airways, Rolls Royce
Protests against the government's zero-Covid strategy are spreading from Shanghai to other Chinese cities such as Guangzhou, Wuhan and Xi'an. Videos of the protests on social media, including some showing clashes with police and people chanting anti-government slogans, were taken down. In Urumqi, most of the city had been under lockdown for over three months, although lockdowns were lifted in some neighbourhoods on Saturday. China reported 39,506 cases of Covid-9 on Sunday, a record level, but small when compared to the levels recorded at the height of the pandemic in the West.
Friday newspaper round-up: Rental demand, Gieves & Hawkes, Atom Bank
Demand for rental homes across the UK has jumped by nearly a quarter in a year, research has found, piling more pressure on an oversubscribed market and pushing record private rents even higher. The number of people enquiring about homes to rent is up 23% on this time last year, according to the property website Rightmove, driven in part by some would-be buyers putting their plans on hold in the hope that mortgage rates will drop in the new year. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Ofgem, pensions, Bulb, Purplebricks
The energy regulator Ofgem has said its price cap will reach £4,279 from January – but households will be shielded by the government’s emergency intervention to keep a lid on bills. Ofgem said the cap, which is adjusted every quarter, will increase by £730 for the three months from the start of next year. However, the government’s energy price guarantee (EPG) will limit typical household bills to £2,500. Analysts had expected the cap to sit at about £4,200.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Manchester United, Ovo, Royal Mail, HP
The Glazer family has announced it is “commencing a process to explore strategic alternatives” for Manchester United, potentially bringing an end to its 17-year ownership of the club. On the day it was also confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo had left Old Trafford by mutual consent, a statement from United on Tuesday night revealed plans to identify new investment that could lead to a potential sale. The club said the process led by their American owners will consider a number of options “including new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions involving the company”.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Penguin, UK restaurants, Shell
Penguin Random House, the world’s largest book publisher, and rival Simon & Schuster have scrapped a $2. 2bn deal to merge, Penguin’s owner said in a statement on Monday. Bertelsmann, a German media group which owns Penguin, initially said it would appeal a US judge’s decision that said its purchase of Simon & Schuster would be illegal because it would hit authors’ pay. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Electricity companies, Arm, British Steel
The companies responsible for bringing electricity to UK homes have been accused of “rampant profiteering” by a leading union that is calling for the energy regulator to cap their earnings. Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, has written to Ofgem to ask it to clamp down on “excessive” profits generated by regional electricity distribution network operators (DNOs), which raked in £15. 8bn in profits last year and have paid out £3. 6bn in dividends between 2017 and 2021.
Friday newspaper round-up: Royal Mail strikes, FTX, winter blackouts
Royal Mail workers will stage six more days of strike action in December, including on Christmas Eve, as part of the latest walkouts to affect the postal service. Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) at the service will go on strike on 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24 December. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Nexperia, face-to-face banking, ULEZ
The British government has blocked the takeover of the UK’s largest producer of semiconductors by a Chinese-owned manufacturer, citing “a risk to national security”. The business department’s decision on Wednesday comes more than a year after semiconductor company Nexperia first announced that it had taken control of Newport Wafer Fab in south Wales in July 2021, in a £63m deal. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Local authorities, long-term sickness, HSBC
Energy suppliers have been accused of profiteering by charging “horrendous and financially crippling rates” to care homes facing huge bills this winter. The chief executive of Care England, the largest body representing independent providers of adult care, has accused gas suppliers of being “unduly onerous” in their practices. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Water companies, Amazon, Post Office
Water companies could be forced to pay their customers hundreds of millions in fines due to sewage pollution, a leading firm specialising in corporate wrongdoing has said. Fideres LLP, which has conducted investigations into issues ranging from Covid test prices to cryptocurrency scams, is now setting its sights on England’s water companies. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Immigration rules, FTX, Twitter, Gieves & Hawkes
Britain’s foremost business lobby group has urged Jeremy Hunt to use this week’s autumn statement to shake up immigration rules to support companies struggling with chronic staff shortages and a looming recession. The head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said urgent action was required from the chancellor on Thursday to bolster the economy, including “tough political choices” to allow more overseas workers in Britain as employers struggle with a desperate lack of staff.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Business rates, Morrisons, Royal Mail
The Chancellor will most likely not include business rates relief in his autumn statement this week. Insiders in the government have signalled that Jeremy Hunt will not give into calls to delay the uprating of business rates nor to extend relief from the tax. They are set to rise in line with consumer prices which as of September had jumped by 10. 1% year-on-year. Business rates are also expected to be revalued in order to reflect changes in the rental market. According to the Confederation of British Industry, that could saddle the retail sector with increases of as much as 25% over the next two years.
Friday newspaper round-up: Twitter, small businesses, British Airways
As Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter entered its third week, and following mass layoffs, the billionaire laid bare a delicate financial future for the social media platform, amid an exodus of top privacy and security executives. Yoel Roth, the head of safety and integrity who had been deputized to publicly address concerns advertisers and users had about the platform, is reportedly the latest to leave the company. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Public services, house prices, Rio Tinto
Rishi Sunak’s government has been warned that Britain’s creaking public services will require at least £43bn a year in additional funding just to “stand still” amid the fallout from soaring inflation. The Trades Union Congress said next week’s autumn statement needed to protect both public services and workers’ pay from the highest rates of inflation since the early 1980s to avoid a further collapse in the quality of support for health, social care, education, justice, and the environment.
FDA committee votes in favour of AstraZeneca asthma candidate
AstraZeneca announced on Wednesday that a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) committee has voted in favour of an adult asthma treatment.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Meta, London Underground, Companies House
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed to executives that the company will begin laying off employees on Wednesday morning, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Zuckerberg addressed hundreds of executives at the company on Tuesday morning, foreshadowing large cuts. He mentioned recruiting and business teams as groups that would see layoffs, according to the WSJ, adding an internal announcement of the company’s layoff plans is expected around 6am eastern time on Wednesday.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Natural gas pact, inheritance tax, global brands
Germany is keen to talk to Britain about a solidarity pact that would allow Europe’s largest consumers of natural gas to bail each other out if an extreme cold snap were to create shortages this winter, German officials have said. Such an agreement could be mutually beneficial for both London and Berlin, the German civil servant in charge of rationing in the case of a supply crisis told the Guardian in an interview. – Guardian.