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Sunday newspaper round-up: Stamp duty, Wind energy, Metro Bank

(Sharecast News) - Investment companies are calling on government to bin the stamp duty on share trading in order to revive the London stock market and the country's economy. The bosses at Abrdn, AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown and Interactive Investor all told The Mail on Sunday that politicians must pledge to ditch the tax. According to Abrdn's Stephen Bird, the levy was unpatriotic and economically destructive. Removing it might be the single biggest boost to UK share ownership, he said. - The Financial Mail on Sunday A lack of enough cables to transport Scottish wind energy south to England has led to over £16bn in waste over the past decade. One result will be higher electricity bills for households and businesses. When such bottlenecks emerge wind farms are paid to turn off their turbines, while gas stations in England are also paid to make up the shortfall. In 2023, the cost of that system, known as curtailment, was £700m with another £140m spent in January and February of this year. - Financial Mail on Sunday

The Bank of England is looking into allegations that Metro Bank placed customers' data at risk through the misuse of software that lies at the heart of a long-simmering legal tussle. The person that contacted it alleged that the software linking Metro's Magic Money Machines to customer accounts had not been made for that purpose and potentially created weaknesses in the system. Metro allegedly made matters worse by sharing the source code for the machines with other parties. - The Guardian

The owner of the Mirror and Express newspapers warned that Facebook poses a "potent threat to civil society". Reach, which owns dozens of other regional titles, also criticised Facebook parent company Meta's decision to deprioritise news. That decision had resulted in a sharp drop in page views for some of the group's local titles. Prior to Meta's decision, Reach had "worked well" with Facebook for a number of years. Google on the other hand had a more proactive approach, according to the publisher. - Sunday Telegraph

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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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