Octopus edges toward Bulb takeover as £4bn saga nears its end October 8, 2022 Octopus is edging closer to taking over fallen rival Bulb, bringing to an end the biggest state bailout since RBS in 2008.
Mark Kleinman: Vodafone pressure, steel woes and a new business boss October 6, 2022 Mark Kleinman is the man the City reads – and in his fortnightly column for City A.M., he shares his insight and analysis. Vodafone boss hopes deal eases the pressure At last, an engaged tone. Two months after I wrote in this column that Nick Read, the Vodafone chief executive, was looking nervously over his [...]
Truss vows to defeat ‘enemies of enterprise’ as PM gets heckled by Greenpeace October 5, 2022 Liz Truss has vowed to defeat the “enemies of enterprise” and said her three biggest priorities are “growth, growth, growth” in her Tory conference speech, after being heckled by Greenpeace protesters. The Prime Minister launched a strong defence of her government’s recent mini-Budget, saying that “cutting taxes is the right thing to do morally and [...]
HSBC mulls ditching Canadian business amid Ping An breakup pressure October 5, 2022 HSBC is mulling hiving off its Canadian business in a move that could raise billions for Britain’s biggest bank. The banking giant has asked JP Morgan to identify possible buyers of its Canadian arm. Sky News first reported the news today. If HSBC did leave Canada – where it has built up a sizable £6bn [...]
Kwarteng trashes market bets on earlier OBR report and fiscal plan October 4, 2022 The pound today climbed to its highest level against the US dollar in two weeks despite chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng trashing market expectations of a sooner-than-expected fiscal plan. Sterling surged 0.78 per cent against the greenback to buy $1.141. It has now regained all its losses since Kwarteng’s mini-budget rocked the currency last month. UK borrowing [...]
Truss: Cancelled 45p tax cut was never a ‘priority policy’ October 4, 2022 Liz Truss has said the cancelled tax cut for people paying the top 45p rate of Income Tax was never a “priority policy” as she seeks to defend the U-turn. The Prime Minister said she does “support a lower, simpler tax system”, but that “what we couldn’t allow is a fairly minor part of the [...]
Connecting? Vodafone confirms merger talks with Three UK October 3, 2022 Vodafone confirmed it was in merger talks with Three UK this morning, setting the scene to become the largest mobile telecoms supplier in Britain. The FTSE 100 firm said it was in discussions with CK Hutchison, Three’s Hong-Kong parent company, with the view of combining the two UK arms, with Vodafone owning 51 per cent [...]
British defence firm Qinetiq ditches Belgian space division in acquisitions spree October 3, 2022 British defence technology firm Qinetiq has sold off its Belgium space division due to “limited” commercial alignment with its global orbital defence ambitions. Qinetiq has sold Space NV to Belgium-based Redwire Space Europe for £28m, having first bought the commercial satellite systems company in 2005. The space firm generated around €49m (£43m) worth of revenue [...]
British Steel’s Chinese owners push for Government bailout October 1, 2022 The owners of British Steel are seeking an urgent package of financial support from taxpayers, according to Sky News.
Joules tanks as insolvency talk spooks market September 29, 2022 Share tanked over 32 per cent this evening for Joules after reports that the beleaguered retailer was weighing up insolvency options. As first reported by Mark Kleinman for Sky News, the British lifestyle brand is working with Interpath Advisory on a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), which would allow the firm to renegotiate liabilities, but could [...]