Press Round-Up Full (Premium)
Friday newspaper round-up: Microsoft, mortgage rates, Boeing, Alphabet, Trump
Microsoft beat Wall Street estimates for its third-quarter revenue last night, driven by gains from artificial intelligence adoption across its cloud services and business software products. The company said its revenues had risen to $61. 9 billion, up by 17 per cent and exceeding the $60. 8 billion, or 15 per cent rise, that had been forecast. Its net income was $21. 9 billion, up by 20% from the year before. - The Times.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Royal Mail, welfare bill, Boeing, Alstom, Federal Reserve
The Labour Party is open to the prospect of a takeover of the owner of Royal Mail by the struggling postal group’s Czech billionaire investor, which is considering a renewed approach. EP Group, a conglomerate controlled by Daniel Kretinsky, revealed on Tuesday that it had made a “non-binding indicative proposal” to the board of International Distributions Services (IDS), Royal Mail’s parent company, on April 9 seeking its recommendation for a possible cash offer for the remainder of the shares it does not already own.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: IMF, champagne, Boeing, Plus500, Trump Media
Rising energy prices and disruption to international shipping risk “stalling” declines in inflation in leading economies, the International Monetary Fund has warned, telling central banks that the “last mile” of their battle against price rises may be the hardest. In its latest assessment of global financial stability, the IMF said markets were vulnerable to another round of volatility if investors continued to push back their expectations for interest rate cuts this year, leading to falls in bond and stock prices.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Tesla, Trump trial, Boeing, Thames Water, Apple
Tesla is to cut more than 14,000 jobs as Elon Musk’s groundbreaking electric car company feels the heat of a global price war with Chinese rivals at the same time as stalled demand for zero-emission vehicles. In an email to staff amid reports that workers in California and Texas have begun receiving redundancy notices, Musk stated: “As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity.
Monday newspaper round-up: Barclays, Middle East, fuel prices, oil exploration, tax havens
A 20-year-old children’s charity that shut down after an error by Barclays led to its account being closed was offered only £250 in compensation by the bank. JusB, which worked with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, initially was offered the sum along with an apology for a mistake that resulted in the charity being cut off from its finances for nearly a month last year. This offer was increased later to £525, which Sir Robert Neill, the charity’s constituency MP, called “trivial” and said “bears no relation to the harm done”.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Interest rates, NHS strikes, rental crisis, Ford, shop prices
The Bank of England is poised to cut interest rates at least twice in 2024, economists polled by The Times have said, as inflation slides to within touching distance of the official 2 per cent target and as economic growth stalls. A majority of the 41 economists who took part in The Times’s seventh annual economists’ survey said that the Bank of England would partly reverse its aggressive tightening of monetary policy amid downtrodden economic growth and weaker price pressures.
Friday newspaper round-up: Whitehall pay squeeze, rail delays, Donald Trump, short sellers, NI cuts
Civil servants are being overpromoted to get round a Whitehall pay squeeze, analysis suggests. “Grade inflation” in Whitehall is costing £1. 5 billion a year and resulting in less-qualified staff doing senior jobs, the Institute for Government has warned. At the same time, permanent secretaries and other top officials who cannot be promoted are experiencing much bigger pay cuts that are driving talented people to the private sector, the think tank warns. - The Times.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Nursery places, Storm Gerrit, recycling, OpenAI, vinyls
The Labour Party is drawing up plans to create thousands of new nursery places for the under fives as part of a signature offer to working parents before the next election. Under proposals expected to be in its manifesto, the party is looking to fund new nurseries in primary schools across the country to provide continuity of education for younger children. The centres would be integrated into existing schools as part of what Labour claims will be a “modernised childcare system” available from the end of parental leave to the end of primary school.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: First-time buyers, inheritance tax, Man U, Anglo American
The Conservatives will promise to cut the up-front cost of a home for first-time buyers as a pre-election giveaway to win over younger voters. In what is expected to be a central element of the party’s campaign, Michael Gove told The Times that it would “definitely” have a new offer in place before polling day. - The Times.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Public investment, debanking, housing crisis, recession fears
The economy is on course for another “decade in the doldrums” unless politicians increase public investment by £15 billion annually, starting at the autumn statement in two weeks’ time, a think tank has claimed. Growth is poised to limp along over the coming years and to remain far below its pre-2008 financial crisis trend, extending a 15-year squeeze on household living standards, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. - The Times.
Monday newspaper round-up: NatWest, economic slowdown, EU tariffs, Conduit Pharma, HS2
NatWest hired private detectives to look into the health of borrowers who owed money to its notorious Global Restructuring Group, it has been claimed. A “tracing agent” convicted of illegally obtaining personal information of bank customers has alleged that NatWest instructed him to report on debtors’ health conditions during the scandal at GRG. - The Times.
Friday newspaper round-up: Sterling, interest rates, Brexit, heat pumps, Rupert Murdoch
The pound dipped to its lowest level in six months, and bonds rallied after the Bank of England held borrowing costs steady for the first time since November 2021 in a finely balanced decision. Investors sold sterling after the announcement, pushing the pound 0. 5 per cent lower against the dollar to $1. 22, its weakest level since March. - The Times.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Wilko, green targets, inflation, Nationwide, high street
Wilko’s administrators are to question majority shareholder Lisa Wilkinson on the £77 million in dividends paid out to investors in the decade before the retailer’s collapse, as calls grow for the Wilkinson family to plug a £56 million hole in workers’ pension pots. The Times understands that PwC will conduct a review into the dividends paid out to the Wilkinson family and the retailer’s other directors as part of a wider investigation into company transactions in the years building up to the administration.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Electric cars, supermarkets, HS2, oil prices, Fed protests
Hopes for the mainstream adoption of electric cars have been punctured by figures revealing a fall of more than 11 per cent in the sale of zero-emission vehicles to private buyers. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has said that motorists are holding back from the switch because of continued uncertainty about whether a government ban on petrol and diesel cars will be enforced, the cost of electric vehicles, the cutting of financial incentives, and fears about the lack of a public recharging network.
Friday newspaper round-up: Covid jab, Channel migrants, Trump, bond markets, cash
Covid jab manufacturers are preparing to make booster shots available for the public to buy after health officials gave the green light to private sales for the first time. Some pharmacists and private clinics say they are interested in offering Covid vaccination for sale on the high street to the tens of millions of people no longer eligible on the NHS. - The Times.
Thursday newspaper roundup: Windfarms, Sunak, Putin/rouble, UK rates
New offshore windfarms will be strangled by government red tape, costing UK billpayers £1. 5bn a year, an analysis has found. The latest government auction for new offshore windfarms, due to be completed in September, could result in few projects making it through Treasury rules, according to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), a non-profit organisation. - The Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: UK inflation, retail, Issa brothers, Russia, investors
UK inflation has fallen to its weakest level since before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, pushed down by energy bills falling after the lower price cap took effect in July. Figures out this morning from the Office for National Statistics reveal the rate of price growth fell to 6. 8 percent last month, the lowest reading since February 2022 and down from 7. 9 per cent in the previous month. - The Times.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Trump indictment, Harvey Nichols, Plus500, Wilko, B&M
Donald Trump and several allies were indicted in Georgia last night, charged with launching a “criminal enterprise” to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election in the state, after demanding that officials “find” the extra votes to reverse President Biden’s victory. In the indictment issued by district attorney Fani Willis in Fulton County after a two-year investigation, Trump, 77, was accused of racketeering, forgery and a string of other election crimes as he and associates pressured Georgia officials to overturn his narrow defeat to Biden.
Monday newspaper round-up: Tourist VAT, cost-of-living, consumer confidence, strikes
New spending figures have laid bare the damage inflicted on the retail sector’s competitiveness by the government’s post-Brexit tourist tax. After the introduction of VAT on overseas spending, shops in London are struggling to capitalise on a post-Covid uplift in travel as the higher duty encourages visitors to divert to Paris and other European cities. - The Times.
Monday newspaper round-up: MP earnings, BP, NatWest, business confidence, small boats
MPs have been paid £10m from second jobs and freelance work over the past year, largely driven by the size of Boris Johnson’s earnings as well as former Tory ministers taking up a slew of highly paid roles, a Guardian analysis has found. Almost 18 months after the furore around second jobs led to promises of a crackdown, MPs’ earnings from work outside parliament have continued to rise. – Guardian.