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Wednesday newspaper round-up: Aviva Investors, HSBC, car finance

(Sharecast News) - One of the UK's biggest pension funds has lost more than £350m on a series of "calamitous" investments in incinerator power plants that are expected to go bust in the coming days. The Guardian understands that Aviva Investors will put three incinerators into administration this week after pouring millions of pounds into what has been described as the country's "dirtiest form of power generation". - Guardian HSBC is to launch its first UK "wealth centre" in London's upmarket Mayfair district, offering more personalised banking services and exclusive events such as wine tastings as part of a drive to win more rich customers. The lender will take up two floors of the 16-storey Smithson Tower at 25 St James's Street - close to the Ritz Hotel and Fortnum & Mason department store - as part of a wider revamp of HSBC's premier-tier bank service. Aimed at the sought-after "mass affluent" market, premier is a tier below private-banking clients and targets customers with £100,000 to £2m in income, assets or deposits. - Guardian

Treasury officials called retailers to make the case for Rachel Reeves's tax raid ahead of a public letter that warned over changes announced in her maiden Budget. Retailers are understood to have been contacted by the Treasury last week to find out whether they planned on giving their support to the letter, which criticised the Chancellor's decision to impose extra costs on the industry. - Telegraph

Britain's official labour market statistics may be underestimating the number of people in employment by almost 1 million and overstating the extent of the country's inactive workforce problem. The Resolution Foundation, a think tank, has calculated that official measures of the state of the labour market produced by the Office for National Statistics have undercounted the levels of employment by 930,000 since the pandemic. - The Times

A mounting scandal over mis-sold motor finance could leave lenders footing a compensation bill of as much as £30 billion, a leading credit rating agency has warned. Moody's estimate is the highest so far and will fuel speculation that the scandal facing banks and other car loan providers will mirror the payment protection insurance debacle, which ultimately resulted in firms absorbing about £50 billion in redress costs. - 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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