Wednesday newspaper round-up: Airbnb, Virgin Atlantic, Harland & Wolff
The Royal Mint has unveiled a “pioneering” factory that will recover gold from electronic waste, creating a more sustainable source of the precious metal for the coin manufacturer’s luxury jewellery line. The factory in south Wales, which has been under construction since March 2022, is designed to extract gold from up to 4,000 tonnes a year of circuit boards sourced in the UK from electronics including phones, laptops and TVs. – Guardian
The vacation rental company Airbnb forecast third-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates on Tuesday and reported a lower second-quarter profit, as it flagged weakening demand from US customers. Shares of the company were down about 12% after the bell. Domestic travel in the United States has been pressured since the start of the year as more Americans grow cautious about travel spending amid growing economic uncertainty. – Guardian
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic has been banned from describing its green jet fuel as “sustainable” after it was accused of “misleading” customers during an advertising campaign. In a ruling on Tuesday, Virgin was found to have breached rules while advertising its first-ever transatlantic service powered by so-called sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). – Telegraph
The Titanic shipbuilder Harland & Wolff has been plunged deeper into crisis after the Falkland Islands withdrew from £120m contract talks. The Belfast-based company had previously been chosen as the preferred candidate to build a new floating dock for the British overseas territory. But on Tuesday it revealed the Falkland Islands government (FIG) had “decided to cease further contractual negotiations”. – Telegraph
The value of Old Master paintings, statues and other objets d’art owned by the FTSE 250 investment trust RIT Capital has inadvertently come to light as a result of their reclassification in its latest accounts. RIT-owned objects housed in Spencer House, a sumptuous palace in the St James’s district of London, where the managers of the trust work, are now believed to be valued at around £3.5 million. – The Times