Amigo struggling to raise £45m survival cash as it swings to hefty loss February 23, 2023 Beleaguered lending shop Amigo said it was yet to secure the £45m funding it needed for survival today as it swung to a hefty loss in the nine months to the end of December. The controversial Bournemouth-based firm has been struggling to restart lending again in full after being punished by regulators for dishing out [...]
Heathrow narrows losses to £1.3bn thanks to travel bounce back February 23, 2023 Heathrow Airport narrowed its losses sharply in 2022 amid a bounce back in travel demand, but said results were weighed on by surging cost pressures and lower passenger numbers. The group reported underlying pre-tax losses of £684 million for last year, against losses of £1.3 billion in 2021. It said no dividends were paid in [...]
Ukraine war fuels record orders of £37bn for arms titan BAE Systems February 23, 2023 The war in Ukraine helped to boost arms and combat vehicle manufacturer BAE Systems as it reported record orders of £37bn. The company’s sales were up 4.4 per cent in the last year to £23bn as conflict rages in Europe for the first time in decades, while Ukraine’s president recently toured the continent pleading for [...]
Isa explainer: should you go for cash or stocks & shares? February 23, 2023 Savers have just over four weeks to make the most of this year’s tax-free savings allowance. We look at the different types of ISA available and how to find the one that’s right for you. Individual Savings Accounts, or Isas, were introduced by the government to encourage more people to save and allow savers to [...]
Virgin Media O2 reveals plans to open new London HQ as it dials in earnings of £10.36bn February 23, 2023 Virgin Media 02 has said it is “confident” it will deliver its 2023 profit guidance, as the group posts strong revenues in its first few months of merging. For the year ending 2022, the broadband giant saw revenues of £10.36bn up slightly from the pro forma figure of £10.35bn the previous year. The group which [...]
Drax: Biomass energy giant which received £6bn from taxpayer reports 84 per cent earnings hike February 23, 2023 Power generation firm Drax is the latest winner from the energy price crisis, with its earnings up 84 per cent in the last 12 months to £731m. Drax, which received £6bn in green energy subsidies from British taxpayers over the last four-decades, was the latest energy giant to announce bumper profits; recent announcements include Shell [...]
Mark Kleinman: British Steel, Freetrade’s Future and Investment Association grumbles February 23, 2023 I wasn’t wrong a few weeks ago when I wrote here that sorting out Britain’s financially troubled steel industry would ultimately be someone other than Grant Shapps’ mess to clean up. What I didn’t anticipate then was that just a month later Kemi Badenoch would become the fourth business secretary in six months given the [...]
Rolls Royce reveals £652m profit but engineering giant continues to ‘burn through cash’ February 23, 2023 Rolls Royce, the British aero-engine manufacturer, unveiled profits of £652m in 2022, £238m higher than the previous year. The increase, which was driven by its civil aerospace and power systems divisions, also reported free cash flow of £505m versus an outflow of £1.5 billion in the prior year. Charlie Huggins, head of equities at Wealth [...]
Britain passing up £18bn economic boost due to ‘failure’ to build enough homes February 23, 2023 Britain is passing up on a near £18bn economic boost due to the government and businesses’ “failure to build enough new” homes, a former Tory housing minister has claimed today in a new report. Brandon Lewis, ex-housing and planning minister, in a foreword to a report by think tank Policy Exchange said decades of weak [...]
Gender pay gap: Women who have children work two months free every year February 23, 2023 The gender pay gap is almost 15 per cent, and widens “dramatically” after women have children, according to the TUC. The TUC said its study suggested that the average woman in paid employment effectively works for free for nearly two months of the year compared to the average man. The gender pay gap means that [...]