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Friday newspaper round-up: HS2, BP, flotations

(Sharecast News) - The HS2 high-speed rail line is at risk of further cuts to its route north of Birmingham as the government considers whether it can afford high-cost projects in advance of the autumn budget. The project has been mired in fresh uncertainty after the prime minister's spokesperson refused to guarantee on Thursday it would run to Manchester, after publication of a photographed document suggesting further cuts were under discussion. - Guardian The BP chairman, Helge Lund, has started the hunt for a new boss to replace Bernard Looney, which could lead to the oil giant's first external chief executive hire for decades. The chairman told BP staff in a webcast on Wednesday that he had begun the process of appointing a new chief executive and would consider hiring company outsiders to the role. - Guardian

A Court of Appeal judge has called ChatGPT "jolly useful" after he used the artificial intelligence chatbot to write part of a ruling. Lord Justice Birss, who specialises in intellectual property law, said he had used the text generation tool to summarise an area of law he was familiar with before copy and pasting its words into a court ruling. - Telegraph

Almost half of the £1.6 billion in state-backed pandemic loans provided by Starling Bank is either overdue or has effectively been written off, official figures show. An analysis of £1.41 billion worth of bounceback loans issued by Starling shows that at least £761 million is in arrears, default or has already been claimed back from the government. - The Times

The Arm flotation has breathed life back into a moribund global market for IPOs. Its performance over the coming weeks will determine the extent to which the trickle becomes a flood. Company flotations in 2022, both in tech and beyond, dried up as businesses marked time waiting for market conditions to improve. - The Times

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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
Thursday newspaper round-up: Car production, UK retailers, water bills, KPMG
(Sharecast News) - The architect of a ban on newspaper takeovers by foreign states has demanded that an Abu Dhabi fund be forced to sell The Telegraph by Easter. Baroness Stowell, the Conservative chairman of the Lords communications and digital committee, said the Government should impose an ultimatum on RedBird IMI. It should be backed by the threat of regulatory action, she said, to strip the fund of control of what has been dubbed "the newspaper auction from hell". - Telegraph

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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