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Wednesday newspaper round-up: Post Office, Workplace AI, Barclays

(Sharecast News) - Ministers will publish legislation to quash the convictions of hundreds of post office operators who were prosecuted during the Horizon scandal, marking a significant victory for victims after decades of campaigning. The legislation on Wednesday will automatically overturn convictions of theft, fraud and false accounting that were handed down in connection with Post Office business during that period. It will cover prosecutions brought by the Post Office and the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales between 1996 and 2018. - Guardian Exposure to new technologies including trackers, robots and AI-based software at work is bad for people's quality of life, according to a groundbreaking study from the the Institute for Work thinktank. Based on a survey of more than 6,000 people, the study analysed the impact on wellbeing of four groups of technologies that are becoming increasingly prevalent across the economy. - Guardian

Morrisons plunged to a £1bn loss last year amid a surge in debt interest payments linked to its private equity takeover. The supermarket chain, which was acquired by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) for £10bn in 2021, fell deeper into the red for the year ending October 2023 as finance costs grew. Accounts for Morrison's parent company, Market Topco, show the group made a pre-tax loss of £1.1bn last year after racking up £735m in interest costs. - Telegraph

Households face paying almost £200 extra on their energy bills under plans to keep Britain's lights on by building more gas-fired power stations. Experts said the policy, announced by Rishi Sunak on Tuesday, would result in a bill of around £5bn for consumers, equivalent to £178 per household, most likely spread over a decade or more. - Telegraph

A top hedge fund has amassed a bet worth almost £200 million against shares in Barclays despite a recent rally in the bank's stock price on hopes that the chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan will revive the lender's fortunes. The short position built by Qube Research & Technologies equates to 0.73 per cent of Barclays's issued share capital and is the biggest ever disclosed against the bank. It suggests that Qube believes the share price rise, fuelled by a turnaround plan set out by the Barclays boss last month, will run out of steam. - 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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