Monday newspaper round-up: Investment bankers, energy price cap, Raspberry Pi
London’s investment bankers are expected to rake in bigger bonuses this financial year, as the City begins to recover from a two-year slump in deals caused by surging interest rates. Demand for investment banking services – such as facilitating mergers and acquisitions, advising companies and governments on fundraising, and underwriting new stock and bonds – was hit by a sharp increase in borrowing rates after the pandemic, as central banks acted to tame runaway inflation. Jobs and pay were cut as investment banks sought to reduce costs. – Guardian
Millions of households will pay lower gas and electricity bills this summer as the energy price cap for Great Britain falls by £122 a year to the equivalent of £1,568 for the typical annual charge from today. However, the latest cap applies only from July until the end of September, and bills are expected to rise again this winter, leaving millions struggling to heat their homes. – Guardian
Vast salt caverns designed to store hydrogen are to be excavated under Britain’s biggest former naval base as part of plans to bolster the country’s energy security. Each the size of St Paul’s Cathedral, the 19 caverns will be dug under Portland Harbour in Dorset and filled with enough hydrogen to fuel a power station for days. The hydrogen contained in the caverns will be reserved for emergency use and called upon when wind and solar farms are not generating enough energy to keep Britain’s lights on. – Telegraph
Millions of employees saving in workplace pension schemes are set to have their money put into illiquid, unlisted assets for the first time with the announcement by Legal & General of a new fund capable of handling billions of pounds. L&G, which operates workplace pension schemes for employers including Tesco and NatWest, said its new fund would feed savers’ cash into private equity, private debt and infrastructure — asset classes largely denied to pension savers. – The Times
A fund management company is betting against shares of Raspberry Pi only weeks after the maker of microcomputers was listed on the stock market in a flotation hailed as a boost for London. The asset management division of JP Morgan, America’s biggest bank, has amassed a so-called short position in Raspberry Pi stock equivalent to 0.51 per cent of the company’s issued share capital, disclosures to the Financial Conduct Authority show. – The Times