NHS app to be used as vaccine passport for travel, says Shapps April 28, 2021 Brits will use the existing NHS Covid-19 app to show their vaccine status if they wish to travel abroad, transport secretary Grant Shapps has confirmed this morning. The app will be retooled to function as a vaccine passport, Shapps said, or to show a negative test result. “It will be the NHS app that is [...]
London Stock Exchange Group sees income increase after Refinitiv deal completes April 28, 2021 The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) posted a small increase in income for a first quarter in which it finally completed the acquisition of data firm Refinitiv. Total income at the firm was up 3.9 per cent at £1.8bn for the period, while gross profit climbed 4.0 per cent on a constant currency basis to £1.5bn. [...]
Lotus to invest £2bn in switch to electric and revamp of UK plant April 28, 2021 Sports car maker Lotus will build electric vehicles in the UK as part of a £2bn investment push aimed at massively increasing its production capacity. The Hethel-based firm yesterday announced that it would switch to selling only electric cars by 2028. Its last combustion engine car, the Emira, will launch this summer. As part of [...]
Shell Q1 results: What to expect April 27, 2021 After BP today gave the market “all it could have asked for”, attention will now turn to rival oil giant Shell ahead of Thursday’s first quarter results. While the former firm came into the results trumpeting the fact that it would hit its debt reduction targets a year early, prompting the restart of share buybacks, [...]
MPs on business committee launch Liberty Steel enquiry April 27, 2021 The parliamentary business select committee has today launched an enquiry into Liberty Steel following the collapse of Greensill Capital. It is at least the fourth enquiry into issues arising out of the failure of the boutique financier to have been launched so far amid a massive lobbying scandal involving former Prime Minister David Cameron. The [...]
Heathrow bid to raise £2.6bn through higher passenger charges blocked April 27, 2021 The UK’s aviation regulator has today ruled that Heathrow’s bid to raise passenger charges to repair the damage of the coronavirus pandemic was “not in the interest of consumers”. The airport had asked the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to increase its regulatory asset base to £2.6bn in order to recover its losses. But the watchdog [...]
BP to kick off share buyback plans as profit climbs on rising oil prices April 27, 2021 BP this morning said it would kick off £500m worth of share buybacks in the second quarter after its profit beat expectations in the first three months of the year. The oil giant said that reported profit for the first quarter came in at $4.7bn, up from $1.4bn in the last period of 2020. Underlying [...]
Jet2 on course for £385m loss due to holiday cancellations April 27, 2021 Package holiday provider Jet2 said that it would make a loss of up to £385m for the full year after it cancelled all trips until 23 June due to Covid-19. The firm took the decision to scrap all holidays up to that point due to the “uncertainty” regarding the resumption of international travel. As a [...]
Serco wins new jobseekers contract worth £350m April 27, 2021 Serco has this morning announced a £350m contract with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to help find unemployed people new jobs. Shares in the firm rose 3.0 per cent on the back of the announcement. The FTSE 250 services provider will run the West central and Wales contracts for the “Restart” programme, which [...]
Entain hikes offer for Aussie bookie Tabcorp to £1.9bn April 27, 2021 Entain this morning hiked its offer for Australia’s biggest bookies Tabcorp to AU$3.5bn (£1.9bn), the FTSE 100 firm has confirmed. An initial approach worth AU$3bn was batted back by the company in February, but this morning Entain redoubled its pursuit. In a statement, it said: “Entain believes that the revised proposal is compelling both in [...]