Natwest, Barclays, HSBC lead months worth of online banking outages March 6, 2025 Nine of the UK’s biggest banks and building societies were down for over 803 hours – the equivalent of 33 days – over the last two years. Fresh data from the Treasury Committee shows a minimum of 158 IT failure incidents at banks had affected millions of consumers in the period between January 2023 and [...]
HMV: Sales on song as billionaire owner helps turn around high street icon March 6, 2025 Sales at HMV have more than doubled in the last three years as its recovery under the ownership of Canadian billionaire Doug Putman continues at pace. The high street staple has reported a turnover of £189.5m for the 12 months to 30 May, 2024, up from the £177.9m it achieved in the prior year. The [...]
Entain: Ladbrokes owner’s profit jumps thanks to online revenue growth March 6, 2025 British bookmaker Entain has reported a 12 per cent jump in annual profit as it returned to organic growth. The expansion was driven by online expansion and a better-than-expected performance at its UK and Ireland businesses. The Ladbrokes owner told the market on Thursday that earnings before interest, tax, deprecation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 12 [...]
Profit slumps at Page Group and Robert Walters as jobs market collapses March 6, 2025 The slowing jobs market has forced two of the UK’s largest recruiters to reveal painful last-year performances in which profit and revenue nosedived. Page Group and Robert Walters both posted double-digit falls in overall revenue for the year ended 31 December. The latter’s earnings plunged 16 per cent to £892m, while Page Group’s dropped 13.5 [...]
UK’s payments regulator slams Mastercard and Visa for hiking fees March 6, 2025 The UK’s payments regulator has said the card market “isn’t working well” following a review into the fess charged by industry giants Mastercard and Visa. The Payment System Regulator (PSR) said on Thursday that the firms have raised core scheme processing fees 25 per cent since 2017, costing UK businesses an extra £170m a year. [...]
Melrose shares tumble as five-year targets fail to wow investors March 6, 2025 Shares in Melrose Industries tumbled more than 13 per cent on Thursday after a new set of five-year targets failed to chime with investors. GKN Aerospace’s owner is targeting £1.2bn in adjusted operating profit and around £5bn in revenue by 2029. It is also looking to secure annual earnings per share growth of more than [...]
Dettol and Nurofen owner Reckitt to sell divisions as it slims down March 6, 2025 Dettol, Lysol, Durex, and Nurofen owner Reckitt has delivered a mixed financial performance for 2024, with modest like-for-like revenue growth and increased profitability but a decline in reported net revenue due to foreign exchange impacts. Like-for-like net revenue rose 1.4 per cent, driven by gains in Hygiene and Health, while Nutrition declined. Hygiene and Health [...]
ITV: Digital expansion delivers growth March 6, 2025 ITV has reported strong profit growth in 2024, driven by strategic execution and continued digital transformation as the firm successfully navigated industry challenges. Record profits in ITV studios, strong digital performance on ITVX, and cost efficiencies drove higher margins and profitability. The TV giant told the market on Thursday that adjusted earnings before interest, taxes [...]
Schroders to bear down on costs in major strategic overhaul March 6, 2025 Storied investment giant Schroders has unveiled a new three-year strategy alongside its full year results in an attempt to attract new business and and reign in spiralling costs. The FTSE 100 investor has promised to deliver £150m of annual net cost savings, of which it claims to have already delivered £20m in the first three [...]
Rachel Reeves calls for action to break down gender barriers to boost growth March 6, 2025 Ahead of International Women’s Day, chancellor Rachel Reeves has called for urgent action to dismantle barriers preventing women from reaching leadership positions. Her comments follow the release of new research from Vodafone, which found that over a third of women still see gender as a barrier to career progression. “The UK is leading the charge [...]