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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.

Friday newspaper round-up: Paramount Global, Apple, Coutts

(Sharecast News) - Paramount Global's share price soared on Thursday following a report that Sony Pictures and Apollo Global Management had made a $26bn offer for the troubled media giant. According to the Wall Street Journal, the offer was made on Wednesday by Sony's chief executive, Tony Vinciquerra, and Aaron Sobel, a partner at Apollo. Paramount's shares rose 12% on the news. - Guardian Fossil fuel companies will be allowed to explore for oil and gas under offshore wind-power sites for the first time, the government will announce on Friday, in a move that campaigners said is further proof that ministers are abandoning the climate agenda. The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which regulates North Sea oil and gas production, will confirm that it is granting licences to about 30 companies to look for hydrocarbons on sites earmarked for future offshore windfarms. - Guardian

Apple has suffered its biggest drop in iPhone sales for more than three years as Chinese shoppers turn away from the company and embrace domestic rivals such as Huawei. The Californian tech giant said on Thursday night that revenues from the iPhone fell by 10.5pc in the first three months of the year. Total sales fell by 4pc to $90.8bn (£72.4bn), while profits were down 2pc to $23.6bn. Shares rose in after-hours trading however, with the sales decline not as severe as feared. Sales from China fell by 8pc. - Telegraph

The King's bank is pulling nearly £2bn out of the London stock market in the latest hammer blow to the beleaguered exchange. Coutts, which banks the Royal family and operates an ATM in Buckingham Palace, has announced plans to move away from UK stocks and instead invest its money abroad. The changes will see the amount it invests in UK equities drop from 33pc of assets to just 2pc, meaning Coutts will sell £1.96bn of British stocks and plough the money into other regions. - Telegraph

Hong Kong's financial regulator has launched criminal proceedings against Simon Sadler, the owner of Blackpool Football Club, and the hedge fund he founded, Segantii Capital Management, over allegations of insider trading. The Securities and Futures Commission also said it had started proceedings against former Segantii trader Daniel LaRocca. Sadler and LaRocca were both released on a cash bail of HK$1 million (£102,000) and HK$500,000 respectively. Segantii pledged to "defend itself vigorously" against the charges. - The Times

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(Sharecast News) - California's home-insurance safety net does not have enough money to pay all of the claims from damage caused by the Los Angeles wildfires and has asked private insurers to contribute $1bn toward those claims. All private insurers operating in California are required to contribute to the Fair plan, a plan of last resort established so all Californians would have access to fire insurance. More than 450,000 California homeowners got their insurance through the Fair plan in 2024 - more than double the number in 2020. As of 4 February, the plan had received more than 4,700 claims from the Palisades and Eaton fires, almost half of which were for "total losses". - Guardian
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Tuesday newspaper round-up: OpenAI, EVs, gas prices
(Sharecast News) - Elon Musk escalated his feud with OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman on Monday. The billionaire is leading a consortium of investors that announced it had submitted a bid of $97.4bn for "all assets" of the artificial intelligence company to OpenAI's board of directors. The startup, which operates ChatGPT, has been working to restructure itself away from its original non-profit status. OpenAI also operates a for-profit subsidiary, and Musk's unsolicited offer could complicate the company's plans. The Wall Street Journal first reported the proposed bid. - Guardian
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(Sharecast News) - An increasingly complex tax system is burdening the government and businesses with hundreds of millions of pounds more in administration costs, Whitehall's spending watchdog has warned. The report by the National Audit Office (NAO) also said "poor levels of service" meant some taxpayers and their representatives were "finding it more difficult to deal with their tax matters and are losing trust in HM Revenue & Customs [HMRC]". - 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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