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Tuesday newspaper round-up: Thames Water, Telegraph, Xlinks

(Sharecast News) - Thames Water has been accused of "misleading" customers after telling them that just a few pennies in every pound spent on their bills is paid to its lenders. The debt-laded firm is Britain's biggest water company, serving 16 million customers in London and the south-east of England. It has sent a breakdown of its costs in bills to customers, including spending 48p of every pound on infrastructure, 20p on the supply and treatment of water, and 3p to its lenders. - Guardian Rishi Sunak risks further criticism from green campaigners after throwing his weight behind the building of new gas-fired power stations, saying he will "not gamble with our energy security". The government will on Tuesday announce a plan to increase gas power capacity by providing extra certainty to investors that plants have a long-term future, even as Britain moves away from fossil fuels. - Guardian

Nearly four million people are at risk of abandoning work permanently amid a post-lockdown surge in benefits paid to claimants who do not have to find a job. Policy in Practice warned there had been a "marked" post-pandemic shift in welfare that was moving people away from seeking employment, with 3.9 million now receiving out-of-work benefits without having to even look for a job - twice as many as the number of claimants who must try to find work. - Telegraph

Rupert Murdoch and the owner of The Daily Mail have reportedly held talks about a potential joint takeover of The Telegraph alongside UAE-backed RedBird IMI, as opposition to its solo bid hardens. Mr Murdoch's News UK and DMGT, which owns the Daily Mail, have held talks about putting money into the bid, Bloomberg reported, in a move that would dilute UAE money in the takeover. - Telegraph

The company behind a multibillion-pound project to export power from Morocco is considering an option to transmit electricity to Germany instead of Britain. Xlinks, whose leaders include Sir Dave Lewis, the former Tesco chief executive, plans to build 4.5 gigawatts of wind farms and 7GW of solar farms in the Moroccan desert, together with 5GW of battery storage capacity. - The Times

Coca-Cola UK, Formula One Marketing and Reckitt are among "a rogues' gallery" of the slowest payers to small businesses in Britain, taking an average of more than 110 days to pay their invoices. Research by Good Business Pays, which campaigns for the fairer treatment of suppliers, analysed public filings from more than 5,000 companies to identify slow and late payers. - 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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