Market Buzz
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Workplace sickness, Google-Anthropic, Carpetright
The hidden cost of rising workplace sickness in the UK has increased to more than £100bn a year, largely caused by a loss of productivity amid “staggering” levels of presenteeism, a report warns. Analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) shows the cost of staff sickness has grown by £30bn a year to £103bn in 2023. The annual bill was £73bn in 2018, its study found. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: House prices, Ofgem, NatWest
House prices are expected to rise over the second half of the year across the UK, according to a forecast, with the market bolstered by more people selling their homes. Prices are likely to increase by 2% towards the end of 2024, Zoopla has predicted. The improved outlook for the housing market was the result of an increased number of homes for sale, the property portal said. The number of sales agreed in the four weeks to 21 July was 16% higher than the same period a year ago and the average estate agent had more homes for sale than at any point in the past six years.
Monday newspaper round-up: Clean energy, Evri, UK manufacturing
The chief executive of Vodafone has said Labour will fail to achieve its promise of nationwide access to 5G, which is essential for next-generation technology such as artificial intelligence, by 2030 if the telecom company’s £15bn merger with the rival Three UK is blocked. In its election manifesto, the government said nationwide coverage was needed by the end of the decade because the UK was falling behind other countries in terms of the investment and rollout of advanced mobile networks.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Chancellor, Tempest, Revolut
The Chancellor's first day at work saw staffers deliver a blunt summary of the realities facing her department. The biggest surprise was the rapidly growing £4bn annual bill for housing illegal immigrants. Reeves was also told of the inflation-busting public sector pay recommendations from pay review bodies for multiple key sectors, including teachers and NHS staff. The briefings left her infuriated at how the Tories had been playing with the theme of tax cuts despite the presence of a "gaping black hole" in the public finances, a senior government source said.
Friday newspaper round-up: Stellantis, John Lewis, FRC
Rachel Reeves is expected to reveal a £20bn hole in government spending for essential public services on Monday, paving the way for potential tax rises in the autumn budget. Labour sources said the blame lay with the Tory government, describing it as a “shocking inheritance” and accusing the former chancellor of “presiding over a black hole and still campaigning for tax cuts”. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Thames Water, mortgage costs, UK car production
Thames Water has breached its licence to supply water to nearly 16 million people after some of its debt was downgraded to junk status. The regulator Ofwat could now fine Thames, the country’s largest water monopoly, up to 10% of its annual turnover, equating to hundreds of millions of pounds. However, since the company is already teetering close to temporary renationalisation, Ofwat is likely to hold off on any immediate large fines. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Reckitt, Tesla, Virgin Atlantic...
Reckitt is under pressure from top shareholders to revisit a sale of its nutrition business, following litigation and a series of other setbacks at the division that have sent the company’s share price to decade lows. The FTSE 100 consumer giant acquired the Mead Johnson infant formula business in 2017 for $17bn — its largest-ever acquisition — and it has been plagued by mishaps ever since. Meanwhile, the wider group, which makes Lysol detergent and Durex condoms, has underwhelmed investors as it struggles to build back sales volumes following a period of high inflation and suppressed consumer demand.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Kamala Harris, Crowdstrike, Vivendi...
Kamala Harris has secured enough delegates from her party to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination, as she pledged to offer Americans a “brighter future” compared to the “chaos, fear and hate” proposed by Donald Trump. The US vice-president was speaking in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday, the first full day since President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid and endorsed her for the Democratic presidential nomination, shaking up the 2024 race for the White House.
Monday newspaper round-up: Biden, gambling levy, UK economy...
Kamala Harris, the vice-president, has emerged as the frontrunner to replace President Biden as the Democratic nominee for the election against Donald Trump in November. Biden, 81, announced yesterday afternoon that he would drop out of the race. In the hours that followed, Harris, 59, was endorsed by leading Democrats, prospective rivals and the chairs of all 50 state parties. – The Times.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Rentokil, Ukraine, Crowdstrike
BT's former chief executive officer, Philip Jansen, is plotting to takeover Rentokil Initial with the help of private equity. As part of the acquisition, Jansen would take over as executive chairman. In particular, the corporate dealmaker and his financial supporters would focus on making Rentokil's 2022 purchase of US peer Terminix work. In a second phase, the company would move on to acquiring other US companies in the same sector. - Sunday Times .
Friday newspaper round-up: Arena Television, social care, Obama, Netflix, Pret a Manger
Liquidators of Arena Television, the failed outside broadcast business at the centre of what has been called Britain’s “largest ever” asset-based lending fraud, are suing Lloyds Banking Group for up to £285 million. Lloyds and its Bank of Scotland subsidiary are accused of processing payments “without authority”, allegedly allowing Arena’s directors to perpetrate a “substantial and wide-ranging fraud” against scores of lenders, court filings show.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Aslef, unemployment, Microsoft
The co-founders of Silicon Valley’s most prominent venture capital firm have announced their support for Donald Trump’s bid for re-election, and plan to make substantial donations to back him further. Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen, the heads of Andreessen Horowitz, commonly known as A16Z, revealed their plans in a sprawling 90-minute podcast, in which they argued that the future of “American innovation” required a Trump victory. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Harland & Wolff, Octopus Energy, Microsoft
Local councils will have to adopt mandatory housing targets within months under planning reforms to be unveiled on Wednesday as part of Keir Starmer’s first king’s speech, which the prime minister says will be focused on economic growth. Starmer will introduce a package of more than 35 bills on Wednesday, the first Labour prime minister to do so in 15 years, as he looks to put the economy at the centre of his first year in office. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Elon Musk, Julian Dunkerton, SSE/TotalEnergies
Elon Musk has said he plans to give $45m a month to a Super Pac focused on electing Donald Trump, starting in July, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The tech billionaire, who endorsed Trump two days ago, has already donated what was described as “a sizable amount” to the America Pac, though the actual amount of the donation will not be made public in election filings until 15 July, Bloomberg reported. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Lloyds Banking, Sky News, Hotel Chocolat
A solar energy project developer linked to Thames Water is to be liquidated and its staff made redundant as the crisis engulfing the debt-laden water supplier puts strain on its complex corporate structure. Trinzic Operations Ltd, which is ultimately owned by Thames’s parent company Kemble Water Holdings, is to be voluntarily shut down, the Guardian can reveal. – Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: British economy, Stamp duty, Euro 2024
Football fans have delivered a £3. 1bn boost to the British economy over the past four weeks with £405m expected to be spent at pubs and restaurants for Sunday night's final alone. Over 17m Britons are expected to tune in from their local pub, bar or restaurant and splash out a combined £70. 5m and another £280. 1m at retailers. Tesco, for one, was anticipating sales of more than 1. 0m pizzas and 180,000 packs of burgers between Friday and Sunday. - Sunday Telegraph .
Friday newspaper round-up: Post Office, Rosebank, Carpetright
Labour will miss its target of delivering 1. 5m new homes this parliament without an emergency cash injection into the affordable housing sector, providers have warned. Housing associations and councils have written to deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, saying her promise to deliver “the biggest boost to affordable housing in a generation” will be impossible unless there are urgent interventions to fix the financial pressures providers face. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Elon Musk, The Body Shop, Telegraph
Popular trader recommendation websites must vet the firms they advertise and tackle fake reviews under new rules designed to protect households from cowboy builders and tradespeople. Nationally, unscrupulous traders cost homeowners about £1. 4bn a year, according to trading standards authorities, a problem that is escalating as demand for home improvements, loft conversions and extensions increases. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Four day working week, Post Office, Linklaters
Campaigners for a four-day working week are preparing a new pilot project on flexible working in the hope that the Labour government will be more receptive to changes in how people work. The pilot project has opened to companies to sign up for a November start, with findings to be presented to the government in the summer of 2025. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Meta, EDF, Tesla
Meta has claimed news is not the antidote to misinformation and disinformation spreading on Facebook and Instagram, as the company continues to push back against being forced to pay media companies for news in Australia. Meta announced in March it would not enter into new agreements with media companies to pay for news following the end of contracts signed in 2021 under the Morrison government’s news media bargaining code. – Guardian.