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Wednesday newspaper round-up: Airbus, Tesco, Royal Mail, Mike Lynch

(Sharecast News) - Britain's next government will need to fill a shortfall of up to £33bn in the public finances unless it is prepared to push through a fresh round of severe austerity measures, a thinktank has warned. The Resolution Foundation said the debate between Labour and the Conservatives over the funding of specific pledges was "detached from reality", with election promises based on cuts that would be hard to deliver. - Guardian UK exports of clothing and footwear to the EU have dived since Brexit, according to a new study that shows the extent to which complex regulations and red tape at the border have deterred firms from sending goods across the Channel. Exports of clothing and footwear sold to EU countries have fallen from £7.4bn in 2019 to £2.7bn in 2023, helping fuel an 18% slump in sales of all non-food goods exports to countries covered by the EU single market, according to the consultancy Retail Economics and online marketplace Tradebyte. - Guardian

Airbus has unveiled a new unmanned combat jet that will be capable of acting as a "loyal wingman" for RAF pilots flying Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft. The European aerospace giant unveiled the sleek-looking concept drone at the Berlin International Airshow, where defence companies are this week showing off their latest wares. - Telegraph

Tesco has rolled out a digital "marketplace" to sell products ranging from office furniture to giant chess sets, as the supermarket giant seeks to challenge Amazon online. Around 9,000 new products have been added to Tesco's website, as the retailer seeks to attract shoppers with third-party brands, such as Hornby jigsaws and Beko air fryers. It comes as Tesco seeks to turn itself into a "one-stop shop for everything customers need". - Telegraph

The right-hand man of the Czech tycoon seeking to pull off the £3.6 billion takeover of Royal Mail's parent company has met union bosses in an attempt to convince them of the merits of the deal. Roman Silha, who heads mergers and acquisitions for EP Group's investments, sought to reassure the Communication Workers Union, which has called for a new ownership model for the postal services company, including giving all its employees a stake in its future. - The Times

Closing arguments in the California fraud case against Mike Lynch concluded on Tuesday and the jury retired for deliberation. Lynch's lawyers have portrayed the British businessman as a savvy entrepreneur in the trial relating to Hewlett-Packard's $11 billion acquisition of Autonomy, his software company, in 2011. - 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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(Sharecast News) - The British economy is on course to expand by 1.5% this year after the budget gave a boost to public spending but could be blown off course if Donald Trump goes ahead with threatened tariffs, a leading economic thinktank has warned. In a boost to Rachel Reeves after a bruising month of negative economic figures, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) upped its annual growth prediction from 1.2% to 1.5%. - Guardian
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(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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