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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.

Thursday newspaper round-up: Inflation, Post Office, public sector

(Sharecast News) - Rishi Sunak is at risk of missing his flagship target to halve inflation this year, one of Britain's leading economic forecasters has warned, as households are left thousands of pounds worse off amid the cost of living crisis. Sounding the alarm over the hit to living standards, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said the soaring price of food and other basic essentials meant inflation was on track to remain persistently high for the rest of this year. - Guardian The Post Office is facing a government investigation after paying bonuses to executives for supplying evidence to the public inquiry into the Horizon computer system scandal. Kevin Hollinrake, the business minister, has demanded an "immediate explanation" from the Post Office after parts of chief executive Nick Read's £450,000 bonus were linked to providing "all required evidence and information on time". - Telegraph

Britain's bloated public sector is nearly twice as large as official figures suggest, economists have said, after the Tories failed to stem its relentless growth over the past 13 years. Analysis by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) suggests that around 10.6m people are employed by the state - far more than the 5.7m typically cited by the Government. - Telegraph

Shares in Carl Icahn's conglomerate fell sharply after it revealed that federal prosecutors had been in touch to request information a day after a short-seller alleged that it was operating a "Ponzi-like economic structure". The veteran American activist investor has forcefully pushed back against the report from Hindenburg Research, pledging to "vigorously defend" his business and branding the criticism "fundamentally flawed". - The Times

About 1.6 million households and businesses were paid a total of almost £11 million under a scheme that rewarded them for cutting their power usage at peak times last winter. National Grid, the company responsible for keeping the nation's lights on, said the energy savings under the "demand flexibility service" were equivalent to the amount of electricity needed to supply about 10 million homes for an hour. - The Times

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(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
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(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
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(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
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(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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