Skip Header
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.

Friday newspaper round-up: Co-op ad, British Gas, Tata Steel

(Sharecast News) - Publicans have called on the Co-op to pull a "disgraceful" TV advert that urges the supermarket's customers to watch the Euro 2024 football tournament at home rather than going to the pub. The Co-op Food ad says it is hard to see the TV screen in the pub and suggests customers instead "stay in" and take advantage of a beer and pizza deal the supermarket is promoting. - Guardian British electricity prices were double those paid in France and Spain in the spring, with the steel industry saying the disadvantage could hinder UK efforts to switch to greener technology. UK companies paid nearly £66 per megawatt hour (MWh) for wholesale electricity in the second quarter of 2024, well over double the French and Spanish equivalents in the same period, according to analysis of industry data by the lobby group UK Steel. - Guardian

British Gas has filed a record number of winding-up petitions against small businesses, threatening to tip restaurants and care homes into bankruptcy. British Gas Trading sought winding-up orders against 111 companies in 2023 and a further 60 were filed so far this year. It marks a significant increase on previous years, with just 38 filed in 2022 and 13 in 2021. - Telegraph

Tata Steel has snubbed unions and closed one of two blast furnaces at its biggest plant under plans to switch to a greener form of production. The company said it had ceased operations of blast furnace 5 in Port Talbot, south Wales, as part of its restructuring programme to stem "unsustainable" losses of more than £1 million a day. The decommissioning of the blast furnace and associated facilities started immediately after the last liquid iron had been produced. The second blast furnace is due to be shut down in September. - The Times

Two of the biggest hitters in private equity, KKR and CVC, are among the bidders to have put forward offers of more than €3 billion for B&B Hotels. Goldman Sachs' investment division, which is looking to offload the hotels chain, is understood to have received a handful of proposals pitched between €3.2 billion and €3.3 billion. - The Times

Share this article

Related Sharecast Articles

Thursday newspaper round-up: CMA, Riverford, Lloyds, Arm Holdings
(Sharecast News) - The appointment of the former boss of Amazon UK to lead the competition watchdog poses a threat to its independence and pledge to hold big tech to account, according to a group including tech companies and the former business secretary Vince Cable. The group - which includes the News Media Association, the Firefox developer Mozilla, the consumer group Which? and the Future of Technology Institute - has written to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to raise concerns about the appointment of Doug Gurr as the interim chair of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). - Guardian
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Thames Water, Johnson & Johnson, BoE
(Sharecast News) - Thames Water may need as much as £10bn in debt and equity investment to repair its finances, according to a representative of creditors hoping to lend the struggling utility another £3bn. London's high court heard evidence on Tuesday that suggested the UK's largest water company may need significantly more resources than the roughly £6.3bn it has previously indicated. - Guardian
Monday newspaper round-up: Zero-hours contracts, Barclays, Asos
(Sharecast News) - Hundreds of thousands of British workers are on zero-hours contracts despite being with the same employer for years, according to analysis from the TUC. The majority of zero-hours contract workers have been with their employer for more than 12 months, while one in eight have not been granted regular employment rights after more than a decade working in the same place, the organisation said. - Guardian
Friday newspaper round-up: Apple, Daily Mail, OpenAI, Homebase
(Sharecast News) - Apple slightly beat analysts' expectations in its first-quarter earnings for fiscal year 2025 on Thursday. The iPhone-maker's revenue rose by 4%, coming in at $124.30bn, barely above estimates of $124.12bn. Earnings per share were $2.40, just ahead of analysts' expectations of $2.35. Shares rose more than 8% in extended trading after CEO Tim Cook indicated in an earnings call on Thursday that Apple is on the trajectory for revenue growth next quarter. - 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.

Award-winning online share dealing

Search, compare and select from thousands of shares.

Expert insights into investing your money

Our team of experts explore the world of share dealing.