Ryanair flies just 500,000 people in February as travel restrictions continue March 2, 2021 Irish carrier Ryanair flew just 500,000 people in February as widespread coronavirus restrictions all but ended air travel. In the same month last year the airline carried 10.5m passengers, but over the last 12 months the pandemic has totally reshaped the aviation industry. Since last March, when the pandemic hit Europe, the airline has flown [...]
18 energy suppliers pay out £10.4m for overcharging customers March 2, 2021 Ofgem has this morning charged 18 energy suppliers, including British Gas, Shell, and Scottish Power, a combined £10.4m for overcharging their customers. In total, over 1m customers were wrongly charged £7.2m for firms’ failures to correctly protect customers’ tariff prices when they decided to switch supplier or tariff. The watchdog said that most of the [...]
Fresnillo triples profit on back of booming gold and silver prices March 2, 2021 Mexican miner Fresnillo this morning said that its profit tripled in 2020 as booming gold and silver prices offset a slight fall in production. The FTSE 100 firm said that profit before tax jumped to $551.3m (£397.3m) for the last financial year, up from $178.8m in 2019. That’s considerably ahead of analyst predictions of profit [...]
FCA ends probe into car dealership Lookers March 2, 2021 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has this morning closed its investigation into car dealer Lookers for the possible miss-selling of products. The regulator said that it would not impose penalties on the FTSE 250 firm, but said it had made its concerns clear about the “historic culture, systems and controls”. As a result, Lookers said [...]
Weir Group revenues stable after pivot away from oil and gas March 2, 2021 Engineers Weir Group today said that its revenues had fallen just one per cent in 2020, a year in which the firm made the switch away from oil and gas. The company said that revenue was £1.96bn in 2020, marginally lower than the £2.05bn posted the year before. It said that its adjusted operating profit [...]
Takeover target Signature Aviation swings to $24m loss March 2, 2021 Takeover target Signature Aviation today hailed its “resilient performance” in 2020 as the private jet firm swung to a $24m (£17.3m) loss before tax. After the worst year in history for aviation, the company said that its flight activity was down just 17 per cent in February, compared to 77 per cent last April. It [...]
S&P rises as Biden’s stimulus heads to the Senate March 1, 2021 The news that Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus bill had passed through Congress over the weekend helped give investors confidence, pushing markets up round the world. The bill will now move to the Senate, where the Democrats hold the casting vote. The S&P 500 rose 2.5 per cent and the Nasdaq jumped 2.9 per cent [...]
Ministers ‘absolutely committed’ to securing future of Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant March 1, 2021 Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has said that the government is “absolutely committed” to securing the future of car manufacturing at the Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire. Over the last week, ministers have been in talks with the plant’s owners Stellantis over whether the company will develop its new Astra model at the plant. Stellantis – [...]
Unemployment claims in London airport communities rise at double the national rate March 1, 2021 The number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose at double the national rate in communities around London’s biggest airports in 2020. The coronavirus pandemic has decimated the travel industry, leading to airlines and airports slashing thousands of jobs to stay afloat. In Hayes and Harlington, Heathrow’s local constituency, the number of people claiming benefits rose [...]
Shares in new Norwegian carrier Flyr soar in debut trade March 1, 2021 Shares in new Norwegian airline Flyr rose nearly 30 per cent today in a promising market debut for the recently-launched firm. The newcomer, which plans to complete its maiden flight by mid-2021, is launching into a market that has been seriously disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. It will focus on domestic flights in its home [...]
