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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.

Thursday newspaper round-up: Ultra Electronics, Newport Wafer, Avast

(Sharecast News) - The annual pay of FTSE 100 chief executives fell during the pandemic but still equates to what a key worker would earn in a lifetime, according to a report that highlights the UK's wage divide and the taxpayer support that has kept some companies afloat. The bosses of companies in the blue-chip share index were paid £2.69m on average in 2020, the High Pay Centre said, with vaccine-maker AstraZeneca's chief executive, Pascal Soriot, taking top spot thanks to a £15.45m deal. - Guardian The takeover of the British defence firm Ultra Electronics by a US private equity company will be investigated on national security grounds, after the business minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, told the competition regulator to examine the deal. Warning that foreign investment "must not threaten national security", Kwarteng tabled an order in parliament preventing Ultra from disclosing "sensitive information" to Cobham, the defence firm behind the £2.6bn takeover bid. He said Ultra would be prevented from passing on details of the "goods or services it provides to HM Government or HM Armed Forces", while the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) examined the deal. - Guardian

The Chinese owner of Britain's biggest microchip factory has admitted for the first time that the deal could be unwound as a national security review ordered by Boris Johnson is due within days. Wingtech warned shareholders in a Chinese filing that "domestic and foreign industry policies" may jeopardise the takeover of Newport Wafer Fab, despite the sale to Wingtech-owned Nexperia being confirmed in recent days. - Telegraph

Avast faces an investor backlash against its £6.2 billion deal to sell itself to an American rival after the biggest independent shareholder in the cybersecurity company raised concerns about the takeover. Schroders, Britain's largest asset manager, said that the terms of Avast's sale to Arizona-based NortonLifeLock "materially undervalue" the London-listed group. Sue Noffke, Schroders' head of UK equities, told The Times that the planned takeover risked a UK plc being "sold too cheaply". - The Times

After the initial shock of coronavirus, it didn't take long for Britons to start engaging in retail therapy to make their enforced stretches at home more comfortable. As people stocked up on cleaning supplies, office desks, chairs and pot plants, Dunelm, the homeware retailer, was propelled on to the list of "pandemic winners". Surrounded by a rainbow assortment of bath towels in Dunelm's shop in Enfield, north London, Nick Wilkinson, chief executive, wears the crown uneasily. He attempts to suggest that takeaway companies and PPE manufacturers had a better year than Dunelm, despite growing sales and profits and its share price lifting by 50 per cent in the past year. - The Times

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Wednesday newspaper round-up: Amazon, dividends, Weardale Lithium
(Sharecast News) - Amazon profits soared once again in the first quarter of 2024, the company announced on Tuesday - the latest in a series of robust earnings reports for the retail giant. The company attributed the boost to artificial intelligence and advertising sales. Amazon reported overall revenue of $143.3bn in the first three months of the year - up 13% from the same period in 2023 and surpassing Wall Street expectations of $142.65bn. The e-commerce giant reported an increase of more than 200% to $15bn, with net income more than tripling to $10.4bn from $3.17bn at the same time in 2023. - Guardian
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Meta, ExxonMobil, Very Group
(Sharecast News) - The Federal Communications Commission on Monday fined the largest US wireless carriers nearly $200m for illegally sharing access to customers' location information. The FCC is finalizing fines first proposed in February 2020, including $80m for T-Mobile; $12m for Sprint, which T-Mobile has since acquired; $57m for AT&T, and nearly $47m for Verizon. - Guardian
Monday newspaper round-up: Thames Water, Brexit, Babylon
(Sharecast News) - Senior Whitehall officials fear Thames Water's financial collapse could trigger a rise in government borrowing costs not seen since the chaos of the Liz Truss mini-budget, the Guardian can reveal. Such is their concern about the impact on wider borrowing costs for the UK, even beyond utilities and infrastructure, that they believe Thames should be renationalised before the general election. Officials in the Treasury and the UK's Debt Management Office fear that, unless the UK's biggest water company is renationalised as soon as possible, "prolonged uncertainty" about its fate could "damage confidence in UK plc at a sensitive time", with elections in the UK and the US later this year. - Guardian
Sunday share tips: Centrica, Lancashire Holdings
(Sharecast News) - The Sunday Times's Lucy Tobin told her readers to book their profits in Centrica and 'sell'.

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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