FTSE 100 Live: Trainline stock soars, BP and Shell edge higher September 11, 2025 Good morning from the City AM liveblog team. Shares in Shell, BP, Playtech and Trainline were among the biggest risers in the London markets this morning, after the latter two reported earnings that sailed past analyst expectations. The government’s growth ambitions were dealt another hammer blow last night, after US pharma giant Merck pulled the [...]
Merck warns UK is ‘not internationally competitive’ as it scraps £1bn London research centre September 10, 2025 Merck has pulled out of a planned £1bn London drug research centre in the latest blow to the government’s growth agenda. The US pharma giant is to lay off 127 staff alongside abandoning the construction project, which had been set to open in King’s Cross in 2027. The firm warned the UK would lag behind [...]
Defence stocks rise as Europe’s tensions with Russia escalate September 10, 2025 European defence stocks rallied on Wednesday after the shock arrival of Russian drones across the border with Poland sent tensions in the region to fresh highs. Shares in FTSE 100 giant BAE Systems closed up 2.1 per cent to 1,830p by the end of the day’s trading in London, while Italy’s Leonardo rose 2.4 per [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks edge up as Primark sales hold steady; Rachel Reeves to give speech to investors September 10, 2025 The FTSE 100 is netted a marginal gain on open as a sleuth of London-listed firms providing trading updates. The blue-chip index jumped 0.2 per cent on open to around 9,262.40. But this slightly trails its European counterparts where Germany’s DAX rose 0.4 per cent gain and Italy’s MIB and France’s Cac 40 0.3 per [...]
London fintech Monese says it needs more cash to survive after Pockit takeover September 9, 2025 Monese has warned it will need fresh investment if it is to survive for another year as the London fintech embarks on a change in strategy to put itself on a firmer financial footing. The current account and money transfer business, which last year was acquired by fintech firm Pocket in a rescue deal, said [...]
HSBC lands £333m in dividends from takeover of Silicon Valley Bank UK September 9, 2025 HSBC Innovation Banking has handed a £333m in dividends to its parent company amid a surge in profitability after completing its first full year as a subsidiary of HSBC Group. The lender, which had been the UK subsidiary of Silicon Valley Bank until the latter’s demise in 2023, paid HSBC a special dividend of £198m [...]
Firms are needlessly ‘gold plating’ Consumer Duty rules, FCA policy director says September 9, 2025 Scores of wholesale financial services firms are needlessly “gold plating” their compliance with Consumer Duty rules, the financial watchdog’s policy chief has claimed, as the regulator pushes back over concerns the rules have become too burdensome for businesses. Charlotte Clark, director of cross-cutting policy and strategy at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), admonished companies who [...]
Tom Tugendhat backs calls to marshal financial services to boost defence September 8, 2025 Tom Tugendhat has backed a report calling for greater involvement from the financial services sector to boost defence spending in the UK. The MP for Tonbridge, who served as security minister from September 2022 to July 2024, said the City of London has a “vital role to play” in the country’s national resilience. “From Taiwan [...]
The Beauty Tech Group set for £350m London float September 8, 2025 The owner of beauty technology firm CurrentBody is to float on the London Stock Exchange in a move which could value it at as much as £350m. The Beauty Tech Group, which also owns ZIIP Beauty and Tria Laser, unveiled plans to list on the London stock market to “take the business to the next [...]
My favourite Nasdaq-listed, Chinese-owned, Cayman-incorporated Scottish castle August 22, 2025 A question: what’s the fastest-growing hotel group in Britain? You might opt for Premier Inn, the Whitbred-owned budget chain that’s set to open more than 1,000 new rooms this year. A wildcard choice might be Yotel, the group set up by Yo! Sushi man Simon Woodroffe that’s ballooned from a single site in 2007 to two dozen [...]