STV shares rise as broadcaster posts huge rise in profit March 10, 2020 Shares in STV rose roughly seven per cent today after the Scottish broadcaster posted a huge rise in profit for the full year. STV, which holds the channel 3 licence in Scotland, reported pre-tax profit of £19m last year, up from just £1.9m in 2018. However, revenue slipped two per cent over the period to [...]
Oil rebounds after Black Monday price crash March 10, 2020 Oil prices have shown some signs of recovery today after yesterday’s rout which led to such dramatic global stock market falls it was dubbed Black Monday. Brent Crude oil is currently trading at $36 a barrel, an eight per cent increase on yesterday. At the end of February, it was $51 a barrel. “Oil prices [...]
Goldman-backed Neyber finalises sale to Salary Finance March 10, 2020 The Goldman-Sachs backed lender Neyber has finalised its sale to rival Salary Finance. The deal came after weeks of talks after BDO was appointed as an administrator. The takeover by Salary Finance creates a workplace lender with more than 500 corporate clients, including BT, the NHS and Virgin Active. Among the combined client base will [...]
Huawei rebels defeated – but give government bloody nose March 10, 2020 The government was given a bloody nose by its own backbenchers this afternoon, after a group of rebels led by former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith stuck to their guns on Huawei. MPs voted 306 to 282 against an amendment calling for Downing Street to stop using “high risk vendors” – a term that appears [...]
EU suspends landing slots rule in bid to ease burden on beleaguered airlines March 10, 2020 The EU has dropped a rule meaning that airlines must run the majority of their scheduled services or risk losing profitable landing slots in a bid to give the industry some relief amid the coronavirus outbreak. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said that the bloc would temporarily do away with [...]
Iceland’s founding family mulls buying bigger stake March 10, 2020 Iceland’s founder could seek to regain ownership of the supermarket when South African investment company Brait sells its stake. Brait, which owns around 63 per cent of the frozen food specialist, said in November it plans to offload its stake in several British companies, including Iceland, in the next five years. It will also sell [...]
UK coronavirus: Sixth Brit dies as Covid-19 infections hit 373 March 10, 2020 A sixth person has died after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK, as the number of confirmed cases rises to 373. The patient, who was in their eighties and had underlying health conditions, was treated by West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust. Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said it appeared that the virus was [...]
Norwegian shares plunge 12 per cent as airline cancels 3,000 flights March 10, 2020 Shares in low-cost carrier Norwegian plunged 12 per cent today after the airline said it would cancel around 3,000 flights between now and mid-June to tackle the slump in demand caused by coronavirus. The cancellations, which extend existing measures, represent approximately 15 per cent of the carrier’s total capacity for the period. They are part [...]
Peugeot’s Ellesmere Port factory to go down to four-day week March 10, 2020 Peugeot’s car factory at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire will go down to a four-day working week later this month as the manufacturer looks to save costs due to the stalling European car market. Last year the plant built around 62,000 Vauxhall and Opel Astra models last year, but there is doubt over the long-term future [...]
Government would be ‘very unwise’ to ignore Huawei rebels, says David Davis March 10, 2020 The government would be “very unwise” to ignore Conservative rebels on Huawei, even if Downing Street wins today’s key vote, David Davis has warned. Speaking just hours before MPs debated an amendment designed to force the government’s hand on 5G, banning it from using “high risk vendors” after 31 December 2022, the former Brexit secretary [...]