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Monday newspaper round-up: Energy bills, Black Friday, Lloyds Bank, Sephora

(Sharecast News) - Household energy bills across Great Britain are set to rise at the start of next year, analysts predict, putting more pressure on household finances. Officially, the price cap for January-March 2025 will be set on Friday morning by regulator Ofgem, limiting what energy providers can charge in England, Scotland and Wales. - Guardian

Black Friday is fast becoming Black Fraud Day with the discount period now "prime time" for scammers, according to Britain's cybersecurity chief, who said criminals were using artificial intelligence to trick shoppers. With online criminals taking advantage of an eagerness to save money amid the cost of living crisis, last Christmas people in the UK were scammed out of more than £11.5m, figures show, almost £1m more than in the same period in 2022. Fake clothing or high-end tech listings on social media were among the common ploys used to dupe people. - Guardian

Lloyds Bank has been accused of "swamping" lawyers with truckloads of post to stop them claiming compensation for drivers in the car finance mis-selling scandal. Courmacs Legal claimed it was receiving "tens of thousands" of legal letters every day from the bank's finance arm, Black Horse, which other lenders instead send electronically. - Telegraph

Thousands more investors are seeking to sue Hargreaves Lansdown over Neil Woodford's failed equity fund, claiming the investment platform continued to recommend the product even as it ran into issues. RGL Management, the litigation firm, is seeking to double the number of people represented in a High Court claim against Hargreaves Lansdown, taking the number of claims from 2,750 to more than 5,000. - Telegraph

Sephora, the LVMH-owned make-up giant, is ramping up its store expansion in the UK as it attempts to take on rivals such as Boots in the battle for British beauty. Guillaume Motte, its chief executive, said he wanted to double the size of the business in Britain by opening new shops and expanding its online channel. "We're probably looking in the next two to three years to have at least 20 stores in the UK," he told The Times. - The Times

A parcel company that previously received brickbats for poor service has more than doubled its annual pre-tax profits after a "record year" for deliveries. Evri said that a £32 million investment in customer service and the growing number of consumers shopping online for second-hand goods had helped to boost growth, with parcel volumes rising by 14.9 per cent to more than 730 million during the 53 weeks to the end of February. - The Times

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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.

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