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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.

Wednesday newspaper round-up: House sales, dividend income, Body Shop

(Sharecast News) - The number of UK homes sold this year is expected to fall to the lowest level in more than a decade, as the soaring cost of mortgages puts off homebuyers. House sales reaching completion are expected to fall 21% year-on-year to about 1m in 2023, the lowest level since 2012, according to a report from the property website Zoopla. - Guardian Ministers have been accused of hypocrisy in claiming Sadiq Khan expanded London's ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to raise revenue after it emerged the Department for Transport urged the mayor to extend the city's congestion charge for the same reason. On the first day of Ulez covering every London borough there was renewed bickering between the Labour mayor and the government, with Khan castigating Mark Harper, the transport secretary, for what he called factual mistakes after the pair crossed paths at a TV studio. - Guardian

A single rogue flight plan caused the IT meltdown which led to thousands of flight cancellations, it emerged on Tuesday night, as Downing Street refused to rule out that a French airline was to blame. The National Air Traffic Service (Nats) revealed that a "technical issue" that led to more than 1,000 flight cancellations was caused by "some of the flight data we received". - Telegraph

Shareholders globally are heading for a second year of real-terms cuts to dividend income as inflation this year is set to eat into a healthy rise in nominal payouts. A bumper increase in bank dividends this year produced a pick-up in global dividend income in the second quarter to a record of almost $570 billion, according to the latest Janus Henderson study of company payouts. - The Times

The owner of The Body Shop is exploring a potential sale of the skincare and cosmetics retailer after struggling to turn around its fortunes. Yesterday Natura & Co, the Brazilian beauty conglomerate that owns the Avon and Natura brands and is in the process of selling its Aesop brand to L'Oréal, said that its board had authorised management to explore "strategic alternatives" for The Body Shop. - The Times

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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
Thursday newspaper round-up: Car production, UK retailers, water bills, KPMG
(Sharecast News) - The architect of a ban on newspaper takeovers by foreign states has demanded that an Abu Dhabi fund be forced to sell The Telegraph by Easter. Baroness Stowell, the Conservative chairman of the Lords communications and digital committee, said the Government should impose an ultimatum on RedBird IMI. It should be backed by the threat of regulatory action, she said, to strip the fund of control of what has been dubbed "the newspaper auction from hell". - Telegraph

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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