As it happened: Starmer dealt defence blow as investors react June 11, 2026 This was the City AM liveblog on Thursday 11 June. John Healey resigned as defence secretary over a lack of funding for the armed forces, heaping pressure on Sir Keir Starmer. Industry officials reacted with regret and paid tribute to Healey. The FTSE 100 also climbed on Thursday to defy fresh tensions between Iran and [...]
Hugo Boss shares soar as Mike Ashley’s Frasers circles June 11, 2026 Hugo Boss shares have jumped following a €2bn takeover approach from Frasers, sending its share price above the offer tabled by Mike Ashley’s group. The German luxury brand said it is reviewing the “unsolicited” takeover attempt, which would offer €38 per share, totalling about €1.98bn and valuing the fashion house at €2.7bn. But the takeover [...]
Wizz Air ‘resilient’ after route cancellations wipe out profit June 11, 2026 Wizz Air has insisted its decision to halt operations in Vienna and Abu Dhabi positioned the airline for “long term resilience,” despite causing net profit to drop by nearly 99 per cent. The FTSE 250-listed airline said its slump in net profit from €214m to €1m was due to the “one-off headwinds” of these route [...]
Thames Water eyes return to London Stock Exchange while Pennon back in profit June 10, 2026 There was a stark reminder for the City of the risks and rewards on offer to investors in water utilities on Wednesday, from two of the industry’s biggest names. One of them, Thames Water, is eyeing a return to the London Stock Exchange after a disastrous spell in private hands loaded it with debt and [...]
WH Smith shares crater after outlook slashed on Iran war travel chaos June 10, 2026 WH Smith shares have cratered after the retailer slashed its profit forecast amid the prolonged slowdown in global travel and slump in consumer confidence caused by the Iran war. Shares in the FTSE 250 retailer slumped by 16 per cent on Wednesday’s market open to 415p, leaving the stock down more than 35 per cent [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 see-saws amid global jitters as market outlook turns ‘risky and dangerous’ June 10, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Markets were not getting too excited at the beginning of this week when Donald Trump said a peace deal with Iran was “very close”. And last night’s exchange of strikes might explain why. The US has said it completed a series of strikes against Iran [...]
Molten Ventures shares surge as it offloads Revolut stake June 9, 2026 Shares in Molten Ventures surged on Tuesday morning after the startup investor confirmed it had sold down its stake in Revolut. The FTSE 250 firm said it made £63m from the share sale, adding that it still had a stake in the company worth more than £100m following the disposal. Molten was an early investor [...]
Regulator opens probe into PwC over WH Smith audit debacle June 9, 2026 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has launched an investigation into PwC over its audit of WH Smith that resulted in delayed annual results last year. Last August, WH Smith shares plummeted by up to 40 per cent after it admitted to an accounting error that overstated expected headline trading profit in its North American business [...]
Housebuilder Bellway warns mortgage rate hikes dampening housing demand June 9, 2026 Bellway has said that recent rises to mortgage rates as a result of the Iran war are dampening demand for housing, on top of rising building cost inflation due to the conflict. The FTSE 250 housebuilder said it has seen a “moderation” in customer demand in April and May, bringing an end to a “positive” [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 and Wall Street hit by stock sell-off; CBI cuts UK GDP June 9, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Rachel Reeves is staring down another bruising growth downgrade this morning after the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) slashed the UK’s GDP forecast to 1.1 per cent for the year. The figure is a drop from 1.4 per cent last year and below the previous consensus of 1.3 [...]