Financial news

• Thames Water is desperate for cash. But board should still exploit bondholder rivalry | Nils Pratley

  04-11-2024 20:32
  
  Jostling for position before eventual debt-for-equity swap gives opportunity to fight for £3bn lifeline with least worst termsRoll up, roll up, who wants to lend £3bn to Thames Water, a company already drowning in debt? It turns out a lot of people do. Two rival groups of existing creditors – one representing the A class of bondholders, the other the junior Bs – have tabled proposals to provide the company with a “liquidity runway”, meaning emergency cash to g
  
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• Burberry shares rise after reports Moncler is considering bid

  04-11-2024 19:23
  
  Head of LVMH, an investor in Italy’s Moncler, reportedly keen to get deal done with British luxury brandBusiness live – latest updatesShares in Burberry have risen by 6% after reports suggested Italian rival Moncler may be considering a bid for the British luxury fashion brand.The spike came after the trade journal Miss Tweed reported that Moncler, which also owns Stone Island, was looking at a potential acquisition of Burberry, which has struggled as demand for luxury goods has fall
  
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• Investors brace for volatile trading week as US election draws near

  04-11-2024 19:06
  
  Donald Trump has been ahead in betting markets, despite trailing in opinion pollsUS elections 2024 – live updatesGlobal investors are bracing for a week of volatile trading in financial markets before one of the most closely fought US elections in history.As voters in the world’s largest economy prepare to head to the polls on Tuesday, the dollar and the yield on US Treasury bonds fell on Monday as investors pared bets on a Donald Trump victory. Continue reading...
  
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• TfL reopens some Oyster card applications after cyber-attack

  04-11-2024 18:51
  
  Students, apprentices and care leavers over 18 can apply for travel discount cards in phased reopening of serviceTransport for London has reopened applications for some Oyster photocards after a cyber-attack in September forced it to close down many online services.Students, apprentices and care leavers over 18 can now apply for the discount cards that permit travel at reduced rates, but over-60s and schoolchildren will have to wait until later in the month as TfL tackles the backlog in a phased
  
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• NFU rejects Treasury claim that 72% of farms won’t pay inheritance tax

  04-11-2024 18:44
  
  Union says Defra figures show far more farmers will be hit by budget proposal and warns of ‘militant protest’ to comeThe government argument that just 28% of farmers will be affected by the new inheritance tax rules is in direct conflict with data produced by the its own environment department, according to the head of the farmer’s union, as the row over inheritance tax for farmers continued.The announcement in Rachel Reeves’s budget last week of plans to remove the Agric
  
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• Dutch publisher to use AI to translate ‘limited number of books’ into English

  04-11-2024 18:43
  
  Veen Bosch & Keuning, the largest publisher in the Netherlands, has confirmed plans to trial the use of artificial intelligence to assist in translation of commercial fictionA major Dutch publisher plans to trial translating books into English using artificial intelligence.Veen Bosch & Keuning (VBK) – the largest publisher in the Netherlands, acquired by Simon & Schuster earlier this year – is “using AI to assist in the translation of a limited number of books&rdquo
  
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• Martin Lewis says workers losing £369 each after National Insurance change

  04-11-2024 18:00 via express.co.uk
  
  Money expert Martin Lewis has warned that workers face losing an average of £369 each due to National Insurance tax changes for employers.
  
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• From manifesting to manifestos: Steven Bartlett is spearheading a new approach to achieving your goals

  04-11-2024 16:36
  
  The entrepreneur has teamed up with Adobe Express to promote the benefits of creating your own personal manifestoSteven Bartlett might be a visionary entrepreneur but he’s all-too aware that having vision isn’t enough on its own. As part of a partnership with Adobe Express, the quick and easy content app, he’s now on a mission to show people how to turn their vision into actionable steps with the help of a carefully-conceived manifesto that aligns with their goals and values. C
  
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• Post Office expects to have paid more than £650m in Horizon claims by March

  04-11-2024 15:39
  
  Inquiry hears claims jumped after TV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office and that £1.4bn is likely to be paid out overallThe Post Office expects to have paid out more than £650m in compensation to branch owner-operators by next March, after the ITV series about the Horizon IT scandal resulted in a huge spike in claims, the inquiry has heard.Simon Recaldin, the head of the four redress schemes the Post Office runs, told the public inquiry into the scandal that the state-owned body had s
  
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• Ryanair profits plunge amid lower fares and Boeing delays

  04-11-2024 11:17
  
  Problems with delivery of 737 aircraft left airline ‘over-crewed and over-costed’, says CEO Michael O’LearyBusiness live – latest updatesRyanair’s profits have dropped by nearly a fifth, as lower peak-season fares met higher costs that the airline blamed partly on problems at Boeing.Summer fares were down by an average 7% as Ryanair cut prices to keep its planes full, carrying 9% more passengers from April to September this year than last. Continue reading...
  
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• Expecting a new credit card in the post? Beware the ‘not received’ scam

  04-11-2024 10:00
  
  The amount of money stolen from plastic that is being intercepted and used for spending is soaring rapidlyWhen Denise George* received a notification on her phone that a replacement credit card she’d ordered had been used, she was surprised … as she was still waiting for it to be delivered. Fearing it had been stolen, she attempted to log in to her online banking – only to find she had been signed out of the app and had to reregister.Things got even worse as George found
  
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• 4BIO Capital Strengthens Investment Team

  04-11-2024 09:00 via globenewswire.com
  
  Press ReleaseLONDON, 4 November 2024 – 4BIO Capital (“4BIO” or “the Group”), an international venture capital firm focused solely on the advanced and emerging therapies sector, announces today the appointments of Dr. Therese (Thera) Liechtenstein as an Investment Director based in Munich and Tay Salimullah as a Venture Partner based in Chicago.Dmitry Kuzmin, Managing Partner at 4BIO Capital, said: “Thera and Tay’s extensive experience and innovative pers
  
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• Santander’s delay left us out on the street on moving-in day

  04-11-2024 08:00
  
  Because money wasn’t transferred to the seller in time, me, my child and our cat had to find emergency accommodationAfter an acrimonious divorce I was forced to sell the family house and move to a flat with my young daughter and cat. On the completion date, my solicitor, Lawcomm, confirmed the funds had been transferred and I was told to be ready to move by midday. By 4.30pm the money had still not reached the seller’s solicitor. The removal team had another job the next day, so I ha
  
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• ‘Nail in the coffin’: family farmers respond to inheritance tax changes

  04-11-2024 08:00
  
  Rachel Reeves announced in her budget that after April 2026 heirs will pay tax when farms are passed onFor more than 100 years, the family of 56-year-old Andrew Smith has had a cattle farm on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. Smith, who now runs the farm, sees chancellor Rachel Reeves’s changes to inheritance tax rules as a grave betrayal of British farmers.Working with his three sons, the farm produces about 2,000 sheep and 30 to 40 cows each year, yet makes “no profit”, he says. &ldqu
  
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• Fraudsters may have stolen £500,000 from cladding removal fund, watchdog reveals

  04-11-2024 08:00
  
  National Audit Office report says taxpayer-funded scheme made payment to suspected scammer last autumnFraudsters may have stolen £500,000 from a taxpayer-funded scheme aimed at accelerating the removal of dangerous cladding from buildings, the public spending watchdog has revealed.The National Audit Office said the government decision to prioritise speed in handing out money to building owners had increased its risk of losses from fraud. Continue reading...
  
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• Gridlock: why it can take 11 years to connect solar farms to the UK network

  04-11-2024 07:00
  
  Companies are waiting up to 14 years for connections, leading some to revise net zero targetsOn the south bank of the Mersey, Britain’s first factory dedicated to manufacturing electric vehicles may one day be powered exclusively by wind and solar farms.Stellantis, the European carmaker that owns the Ellesmere Port site, has begun work to fit four megawatts (MW) of solar power capacity across 500 sq metres (5,400 sq ft) of its rooftop space, enough to power the equivalent of 8,000 homes. C
  
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• One thousand UK workers to join first four-day week trial under Labour

  04-11-2024 06:00
  
  Pilot scheme said to have ‘groundbreaking’ potential for the hospitality industryOne thousand workers in the UK will get extra time off with no loss of pay in the first official pilot by the four-day week campaign under the Labour government.The British Society for Immunology and Crate Brewery in Hackney, east London, are among the businesses to have joined the latest trial, which is being led by the 4 Day Week Campaign, as it launches on Monday. Continue reading...
  
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• More than 50 people have UK driving licences with at least 30 points on them

  04-11-2024 01:01
  
  Three men have over 100 points and one woman 96, analysis shows, leading to calls for review of systemMore than 50 people in Britain hold valid driving licences despite racking up at least 30 penalty points, sparking calls for repeat offenders to undertake mandatory retraining.Three male licence holders have more than 100 points, including a 26-year-old with 176, according to analysis of official figures by the PA news agency. The woman with the most points is a 50-year-old with 96. Continue rea
  
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