The owner of British Airways has placed its hopes for a return to profitability on strong demand for transatlantic travel after posting a loss for its key summer season. International Airlines Group (IAG) said the gradual lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions in key markets – culminating in the full reopening of the US travel corridor
Business
Liberty Steel boss Sanjeev Gupta has been criticised in a report by MPs looking into the crisis that engulfed the company, as well as the future of the wider steel sector. It claimed that the use by Mr Gupta – once known as the “saviour of steel” – of “high risk financial funding practices” was
The Bank of England has surprised investors and economists by leaving interest rates on hold at 0.1% for at least another month. However, the Bank used its quarterly Monetary Policy Report to signal that it was likely to increase borrowing costs in the “coming months”. The decision pushed the pound lower by more than a
America’s central bank has confirmed that it is to start scaling back its emergency support for the US economy. The US Federal Reserve said that it will start reducing its $120bn a month programme of bond purchases by $15bn a month, which should mean they will end altogether by June. It comes a day before
Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney has declared a “watershed” moment in financing the world’s move to net zero following news that $130 trillion of private capital was waiting to be deployed. “Right here right now is where private finance draws the line,” Mark Carney said on “finance day” at the COP26 summit in
Three of Britain’s biggest high street lenders will this week join an alliance aimed at phasing out the world’s dependence on coal power amid a blizzard of efforts by multinationals to demonstrate their green credentials at the COP26 summit. Sky News has learnt that HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group will be among 10
The owner of the Paddy Power and Betfair brands has revealed a £60m hit from a “run of customer-friendly” sports betting results last month, saying it will be partly responsible for a cut to its full-year financial guidance. Flutter Entertainment, which is the world’s largest online betting group, saw its shares tumble 7% at Tuesday’s
The Rothermere family is on the verge of a £400m pensions agreement that will pave the way for it to delist the publisher of the Daily Mail and i newspapers after nearly a century as a public company. Sky News has learnt that Rothermere Continuation Limited (RCL) is close to agreeing a deal with trustees
Barclays has revealed that its chief executive Jes Staley has stepped down following an investigation by regulators into his dealings with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. The bank said on Monday that Mr Staley – its chief executive since 2015 – had gone after being given sight of the preliminary conclusions of a probe launched
A husband and wife team who set up an upmarket outdoor pizza-oven company nearly a decade ago are planning to sell a stake in the business in a deal that could propel them into the ranks of Britain’s wealthiest people. Sky News has learnt that Ooni, is based in Scotland, is in talks to hire
G20 world leaders have endorsed a global minimum tax on corporations as part of an agreement on new international tax rules. The move by the leaders of the world’s biggest economies is a step toward building more fairness amid the surging revenues of some multinational businesses. US treasury secretary Janet L Yellen hailed it as
The Racing Post is galloping towards a £500m sale as its owner looks to cash in on a surge in demand for sports betting data. Sky News has learnt that Exponent Private Equity, which acquired the horseracing bible in 2016, is in talks with investment banks about launching an auction of Spotlight Sports Group, potentially
Commuter journeys on Britain’s railways are still at just 45% of pre-pandemic levels. The figure for the number of journeys made by people commuting by train in mid-October was an increase from 33% in late August, according to industry body the Rail Delivery Group (RDG). London has seen the slowest recovery – with demand at
Over 1,300 of the biggest UK-registered companies and financial institutions will soon have to make various climate-related disclosures. The disclosure standards on climate-related risks were voluntary but, following a recommendation in March, they will become mandatory from 6 April next year, subject to parliamentary approval. Those affected will include many of the UK’s largest traded
The energy regulator will conduct a consultation on how it caps bills, as many suppliers continue to struggle with increasing gas prices. Thirteen energy suppliers have gone bust since the beginning of September, beaten by soaring wholesale energy costs and unable to pass costs to customers due to the restrictions of the price caps. According
Facebook has announced a rebrand of the company, renaming it Meta, to bring together its different apps and technologies. In an announcement at the Facebook Connect conference, founder Mark Zuckerberg said legacy apps like Facebook and Instagram will now be part of the new metaverse-focused parent company. It comes as the social media giant deals
Lloyds Banking Group has posted a pre-tax profit of £2bn in the third financial quarter, a significant improvement on the same time last year. The bank – Britain’s largest mortgage lender – reported a profit before tax of £5.9bn for the first nine months of the financial year. Like its rivals Barclays and HSBC, Lloyds
Costs for pubs and brewers are spiralling, those in the industry say, with price rises possible for consumers as a result. The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) says that the cost of essentials such as fuel, CO2, energy, bottles, cans, and packaging are making it impossible for small independent breweries to recover from pandemic-related restrictions.
Here are the key points from Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s budget speech: • The chancellor says there are “challenging” months ahead, adding that inflation in September was 3.1% and is likely to rise further – the OBR expect it to average 4% over the next year • Pressures caused by supply chains and energy crisis will
Monzo, one of Britain’s most prominent standalone digital banks, is in detailed talks to raise hundreds of millions of pounds at a sharply higher valuation despite a string of setbacks which have included curtailing its expansion in the US. The company is in discussions with a number of investors about raising at least £300m in
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said recent claims against the social media giant are an attempt to “paint a false picture of our company”. Whistleblower Frances Haugen has told MPs that groups on the social media site can be “dangerous” because they use algorithms that “take people who have mainstream interests and push them to
Petrol prices have hit a record high across the UK in what the RAC has described as a “truly dark day for drivers”. The average daily price per litre hit 142.94p on Sunday in data reported on Monday morning by RAC/Experian Catalist, which is separate from the weekly average record price reported by government. The
The head of the world’s largest oil firm has rejected suggestions that oil will be fully phased out and said that it would be a mistake to “demonise” the hydrocarbon industry. In an exclusive interview with Sky News, Amin Nasser, the CEO of Saudi Aramco, insisted oil has a future, despite a global shift towards
Users of the Tesco website and app are experiencing disruption following an “attempt to interfere” with the system, the retail giant has said. The website and app have been hit with outages since yesterday morning, meaning customers cannot place or track orders. Website users are given an error message when they try to access groceries
The chancellor has announced a series of spending pledges ahead of the autumn budget this week, which include £5bn for health research and innovation and £3bn for education. Rishi Sunak has promised to do “whatever it takes” to support families with the cost of living, as he pre-empts Wednesday’s address in the House of Commons.
The Co-operative Bank has made an audacious approach about a merger with TSB in a move that could trigger a fresh wave of consolidation among Britain’s mid-sized lenders. Sky News has learnt that the Co-operative Bank contacted TSB’s Spanish owner, Banco Sabadell, earlier this month to gauge its appetite for a deal. It is understood
Inflation could top 5% in the months ahead, the Bank of England’s new chief economist has warned. The remarks by Huw Pill in an interview with the Financial Times are likely to be seized upon as the latest evidence of Britain’s cost-of-living crisis. Mr Pill also told the FT that the Bank would face a
More than 100 Conservative MPs have made a fresh plea to Chancellor Rishi Sunak to do more to support pubs and clubs at next week’s budget. In a letter to Mr Sunak, the group of Tory backbenchers have called on the chancellor to maintain a freeze on alcohol duties when he delivers his budget on
Green bonds offering savers the chance to back the government’s environmental projects are going on sale – but experts think the “paltry” returns on offer will see demand wilt. The bonds, described as the first ever green savings product issued by a country, go on sale online via the Treasury-backed National Savings & Investments (NS&I)
The maker of a host of well known consumer brands has revealed a big lift in prices and warned of worse to come as it battles “unprecedented cost inflation” around the world. Unilever, which produces foods such as Marmite, Cornetto ice creams and Hellmann’s mayonnaise alongside goods including Dove soap, said it had raised prices
Tesla said it had battled chip shortages, port congestion and rolling blackouts as it reported better-than-expected sales – but warned “outside factors” could hold back further growth. The electric car maker, led by billionaire Elon Musk, also boosted its profitability in the third quarter despite a 6% fall in the average selling price of its
Petrol retailers have been accused of “taking a bigger cut” by a motoring group after warning that record pump prices are expected within days. The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) – which shot to public prominence last month as the industry grappled delivery problems that sparked weeks of panic-buying in areas of England – blamed rising
As we begin to hit the shops ahead of Christmas, retail sales are back to pre-pandemic levels for the first time since restrictions eased in April. We are now spending more on items like clothing and furnishings than we were in February 2020, according to real-time credit and debit card data from the Office for