Woodford investors to wait until 2022 at earliest for last £124m August 2, 2021 Investors stuck in Neil Woodford’s collapsed flagship fund will have to wait at least until 2022 to claw back the £124m remaining in the fund, it was revealed today. In an update for shareholders, fund administrator Link said that it was “hoped that the sale of the remaining assets will be concluded in 2022”. Shareholders [...]
SSE sells SGN stake for £1.2bn as energy firm completes disposals August 2, 2021 Energy firm SSE has today sold off its entire stake in Scotia Gas Networks (SGN) for £1.2bn as it completes its £2bn disposal programme. The FTSE 100 firm said that a consortium comprising existing SGN shareholder Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and Brookfield Super-Core Infrastructure Partners would buy out its 33.3 per cent stake. Shares [...]
Upfront cost of electric cars putting customers off August 2, 2021 The upfront cost of buying an electric vehicle is putting people off buying one, new research from Which has found. According to a recent survey by the consumer group, more than a third (34 per cent) of potential buyers cited costs as the reason they might not buy one. That is despite the fact that [...]
Science Museum under fire after signing ‘gagging order’ with Shell over sponsorship deal July 30, 2021 The Science Museum is under fire today for signing a “gagging order” preventing it from criticising Shell, the sponsor of its current “Our Future Planet” exhibition. Documents obtained by FOI request by climate group Culture Unstained show that the museum signed a sponsorship agreeing in which it agreed not to do or say anything which [...]
Babcock shares plummet after defence firm books £2bn writedown July 30, 2021 Defence giant Babcock saw its shares plunge 11.6 per cent this morning as it posted a whopping £1.6bn loss on the back of £2bn in impairment charges after a review of its contracts. The FTSE blue chip said that it would now focus solely on being an international aerospace, defence and security company. Over the [...]
BA owner IAG dives to fresh €2bn loss July 30, 2021 British Airways owner IAG today plunged to a €2bn (£1.7bn) half year loss as continued travel restrictions continue to batter the airlines group. In the second quarter, the FTSE blue chip said that its airlines flew at a combined capacity of 21.9 per cent. For the coming period, it expects this to rise to 45 [...]
GMB calls for clarity over Sizewell C funding July 30, 2021 The energy workers union has today called on the government to end the uncertainty over the future of Sizewell C nuclear plant after reports emerged that ministers were looking to end China’s involvement in the project. GMB union said that if the government were to do so, it should lay out alternative funding arrangements for [...]
Eurostar boss calls on UK to hike airline taxes to fund rail link July 30, 2021 The boss of Eurostar has said that the UK should tax airlines more in order to pay for the cross-Channel rail link. In an interview with the Telegraph, Jacques Damas said such a step would help the government to achieve its net zero ambitions. He also said that the £250m shareholder rescue in May would [...]
Chip shortage to cut Renault production by 200,000 cars this year July 30, 2021 Renault this morning warned that it would lose production of 200,000 cars this year as a result of the global semiconductor shortage. The figure is double the shortfall that the French car giant had previously forecast. However, despite the fall in production the firm said that it was on track to turn a profit for [...]
Drax hikes dividend as power firm heads back to black July 29, 2021 Power generator Drax this morning said that it would hike its interim dividend a tenth after getting back into profit in the first half of the year. For the first half, the FTSE 250 firm reported profit from continuing operations of £84m, swinging back into the black after a £57m loss last year. Energy firms [...]