Market Buzz
Jefferies upgrades Anglo American to ‘buy’
Jefferies upgraded Anglo American to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ on Friday and lifted its price target to 2,850p from 2,500p following the recent share price decline.
Friday newspaper round-up: House sales, fuel prices, The Telegraph
House sales are expected to accelerate over the next four months as buyers seek to benefit from tax breaks that are due to run out in April 2025, according to the online property website Zoopla. The number of home sales increased across the UK this year, pushing up prices by 1. 5% in the year to October. Next year prices are expected to rise by 2. 5% and transactions will jump by 5%, the website said. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Stellantis, The Observer, car production
The owner of Vauxhall told investors that it was “confident” it would meet the UK’s rules on electric vehicle sales just two months before it blamed them for the decision to close a factory in Luton, the Guardian can reveal. Stellantis cited the UK’s zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate when it announced the closure of its van factory in Bedfordshire on Tuesday, putting 1,100 workers at risk of redundancy or relocation to its factory making smaller vans in Ellesmere Port.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Bookies, water companies, John Lewis
Bookmakers and casinos will be forced to fund NHS services that tackle problem gambling, after Labour rubber-stamped the previous government’s plans, which also include a cap of as little as £2 on the sums that can be staked on online slot machines. The Guardian revealed on Monday that the government was poised to approve the new “statutory levy”, using proceeds of around £100m a year to fund research, prevention and treatment of gambling harms. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: FCA, bookies, BDO
Britain’s financial sector watchdog is “incompetent at best, dishonest at worst”, according to a damning report by MPs and Lords which called for a big shake-up. An examination of the Financial Conduct Authority, which took almost three years and collected evidence from 175 fraud victims, whistleblowers and the regulator’s former staff, found “there are very significant shortcomings to the FCA”. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Tourist tax, Amazon, FCA
Millions of tourists to the UK could soon be asked to pay a local visitor levy as cash-strapped councils try to raise money to fund services. Nearly half of Scotland’s local councils are considering a mandatory levy on overnight stays, known as a tourist tax, to help cope with a surge in visitors that has overwhelmed places such as Skye, the Callanish stones on Lewis and Orkney’s neolithic sites. – Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Nationwide, Close Brothers, Gold
Nationwide will announce a £2bn gain on its £2. 9bn takeover of Virgin Money in its half-year results, this Wednesday, likely triggering a windfall for its customers. The building society will also turbo-charge investment in the combined business on top of its recently begun 500 person hiring spree. As well, millions of members are in line for more 'fairer share' perks. - Financial Mail on Sunday.
Friday newspaper round-up: Thales, energy price cap, The Observer
New inheritance tax rules for farmers could be changed to make it easier for those 80 and over to hand down their farm without it incurring the tax, in what would be a partial climbdown by the government after a bruising row with farmers and a huge protest march in Westminster on Tuesday. The Treasury is understood to be assessing the impact of changes, including amending gifting rules for over-80s so they can pass on their farm to their family without having to live for seven years after making the gift.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Energy suppliers, Tokamak Energy, RedBird IMI
Energy suppliers will spend £500m helping customers with their energy bills this winter, after the government helped broker a deal involving 12 of the biggest companies in the UK. Suppliers will spend the money in a variety of ways, including putting credit on some customers’ bills, writing off the debts of others and putting credit on prepayment meters, sources told the Guardian. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Aviva Investors, HSBC, car finance
One of the UK’s biggest pension funds has lost more than £350m on a series of “calamitous” investments in incinerator power plants that are expected to go bust in the coming days. The Guardian understands that Aviva Investors will put three incinerators into administration this week after pouring millions of pounds into what has been described as the country’s “dirtiest form of power generation”. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Starling Bank, Asos, Morrisons
Staff have resigned at Starling Bank after its new chief executive demanded thousands of workers attend its offices more regularly, despite lacking enough space to host them. In his first major policy change since taking over from the UK digital bank’s founder, Anne Boden, in March, Raman Bhatia has ordered all hybrid staff – many of whom were in the office only one or two days a week, or on an ad-hoc basis – to travel to work for a minimum of 10 days each month.
Monday newspaper round-up: Energy bills, Black Friday, Lloyds Bank, Sephora
Household energy bills across Great Britain are set to rise at the start of next year, analysts predict, putting more pressure on household finances. Officially, the price cap for January-March 2025 will be set on Friday morning by regulator Ofgem, limiting what energy providers can charge in England, Scotland and Wales. – Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Kursk, AstraZeneca, BAE Systems
America's President has authorised Ukraine to employ long-range ATACMS supplied by the US to strike targets inside Russia. More specifically, Kyiv will now be allowed to strike targets within the Kursk region, the New York Times reported. Speculation may increase that permission from Britain, the US and France to do the same with Storm Shadow missiles could follow. Joe Biden's decision is said to have been triggered by the appearance of North Korean troops in the Kursk region.
Friday newspaper round-up: London Capital & Finance, airlines, Resolute Mining
Investment firm London Capital & Finance (LCF), whose failure in 2019 triggered one of Britain’s biggest retail investment scandals, operated as a Ponzi scheme, a London judge ruled on Thursday. The high court said former chief executive Michael Thomson and four others had knowingly participated in the fraud, misled investors and misappropriated assets in a ruling welcomed by LCF’s joint administrators, which brought the case. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Homebase, P&O Ferries, Boohoo
The struggling DIY chain Homebase has collapsed into administration, leaving thousands of workers facing an uncertain future, despite the purchase of the bulk of its stores by the owner of The Range homeware retailer. Gavin Park, Gavin Maher and Adele Macleod from the financial advisory firm Teneo were appointed as joint administrators of Homebase’s owners, HHGL Limited and Hampden Group Limited. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Post Office, Spirit AeroSystems, Flutter
The Post Office is expected to announce the closure of dozens of branches and cut up to 1,000 head office jobs as it seeks to reduce costs to secure its financial future. There are about 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK, of which 115 are wholly centrally owned. The rest are operated by independent post office operators under contract and partners such as WH Smith and Tesco. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Bluesky, British Steel, FRC
Social media platform Bluesky has picked up more than 700,000 new users in the week since the US election, as users seek to escape misinformation and offensive posts on X. The influx, largely from North America and the UK, has helped Bluesky reach 14. 5 million users worldwide, up from 9 million in September, the company said. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Hospitality, wind generation, Vertical Aerospace
Great Britain “lags behind” Europe on measures to restrict betting adverts, according to a report released days after official data showed a sharp increase in the number of children with a gambling problem. Restrictions on ads by bookmakers and casinos are increasingly becoming “the norm” across Europe in response to public health concerns, according to a report commissioned by GambleAware, the UK’s leading gambling charity. – Guardian.
Friday newspaper round-up: AI, Bentley, News Corp
Dozens of health and children’s groups have urged ministers to tackle obesity by imposing taxes on foods containing too much salt or sugar. New levies based on the sugar tax on soft drinks would make it easier for consumers to eat more healthily by forcing food manufacturers to reformulate their products, they claim. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Scams, second-hand car sales, AstraZeneca
Companies could face fines of up to $50m for failing to prevent scams and may be forced to compensate victims under new laws the Albanese government says would give Australians the strongest anti-scammer protection in the world. The government will introduce legislation to federal parliament on Thursday to establish its long-awaited “scams prevention framework”. – Guardian.