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Important information: The value of investments can go down as well as up so you may get back less than you invest. Investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. This is a third-party news feed and may not reflect Fidelity’s views.

Sunday newspaper round-up: BT Group, Aston Martin, MPs

(Sharecast News) - BT has intensified its preparations to see off a possible takeover bid by its major shareholder Deutsche Telekom. For months now, the telecoms services provider had been working with Robey Warshaw and Goldman Sachs to prepare against such a scenario. Speculation in that regard was reaching a crescendo both in the City and within the sector, due to BT's need to invest £15bn in its new fibre-optic broadband network and multiple potentially destabilising factors. - The Sunday Telegraph

Aston Martin's decision to team up with Lucid Motors is but the latest move by Saudi to grow its economic influence in the UK. Indeed, Lucid's majority owner, Saudi's Public Investment Fund, was already the second-largest investor in Aston Martin, holding a 18% stake worth approximately £450m. PIH also has holdings in Carnival and in 2021 took over Newcastle United. The moves come amid a drive by the UK government to agree free-trade deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council. - The Financial Mail on Sunday

There are over 50 MPs who own stakes in publicly listed firms, raising questions regarding possible conflicts of interest. Under parliamentary rules, the shareholdings, including those of former PM Theresa May or former education secretary Gavin Williamson, did not need to be publicly disclosed in parliamentary registers. Among the companies now held by MPs were Barclays, HSBC, BP and Sainsbury's. Such companies could be impacted by laws or news policies introduced by Parliament. A spokesperson for May said she entirely rejected any suggestion that she broke any of the rules regarding shares in BT held by her husband. - Guardian

Fintech outfit Revolut was reportedly the target of an £18m by criminals who targetted a flaw in its US payments system. The Financial Times reported that the funds were stolen over the course of several months in 2022 before Revolut was able to close the loophole. The company, which has been pursuing a UK banking licence, was dealt another setback in March, when auditor BDO said three quarters of its revenues could not be verified and might have been misstated. - The Financial Mail on Sunday

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Thursday newspaper round-up: JCB, M&S, smart meters
(Sharecast News) - The British digger maker JCB, owned by the billionaire Bamford family, continued to build and supply equipment for the Russian market months after saying it had stopped exports because of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the Guardian can reveal. Russian customs records show that JCB, whose owners are major donors to the Conservative party, continued to make new products available for Russian dealers well after 2 March 2022, when the company publicly stated that it had "voluntarily paused exports" to Russia. - Guardian
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Brexit border outages, Boeing, Stellantis
(Sharecast News) - Lorries carrying perishable food and plants from the EU are being held for up to 20 hours at the UK's busiest Brexit border post as failures with the government's IT systems delay imports entering Britain. Businesses have described the government's new border control checks as a "disaster" after IT outages led to lorries carrying meat, cheese and cut flowers being held for long periods, reducing the shelf life of their goods and prompting retailers to reject some orders. - Guardian
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Tesco, OpenAI, housebuilding
(Sharecast News) - Tesco is facing criticism from "shocked" charities who say they are struggling to distribute unwanted food to homeless and hungry people after they claim the retailer brought in rules that mean unwanted food can only be collected in the evening. The supermarket group has switched to a new system which asks charities to pick up unwanted food, such as items reaching their best before date, only in the evening when a store is closing rather than the following morning, the charities have claimed. - Guardian
Monday newspaper round-up: BT, ultra-long mortgages, Fever-Tree
(Sharecast News) - BT has said it is increasingly using artificial intelligence to help it detect and neutralise threats from hackers targeting business customers amid repeated attacks on companies. The £10.5bn group is aiming to build up its business protecting customers from online criminals and has patented technology that uses AI to analyse attack data to allow companies to protect their tech infrastructure. British businesses are routinely facing hacking attempts, and some recent high-profile victims have included including the outsourcer Capita, Royal Mail and British Airways. - Guardian

Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

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