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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: Private rents, M&S, Hipgnosis

(Sharecast News) - Average private rents in Great Britain have climbed to record highs, prompting a call for the next government to prioritise measures to help create an extra 120,000 rental properties. Data shows that the typical advertised rent outside London reached a record £1,316 a calendar month in May, the property website Rightmove said. The figure for London was £2,652 a month - almost three times the £894 asked for in north-east England. - Guardian Much has changed in Belfast since the 1930s. Yet through the second world war, decades of Troubles and the steep decline of heavy industry, the Short Brothers factory has continued to make planes and parts. Yet now a takeover by US planemaker Boeing of the factory's owner, Spirit AeroSystems, has raised questions over its future. Workers and politicians fear a new ownership structure could lead to steep job cuts at one of Northern Ireland's main manufacturers, which has about 3,500 employees. - Guardian

Dozens of airports across Europe are unprepared for new post-Brexit fingerprinting rules scheduled to be introduced in months, threatening chaos for British tourists unless the timeline is delayed. Senior industry figures have expressed alarm that many smaller airports across the EU have so far failed to install fingerprint technology that is set to be activated in October. Under the so-called European Entry/Exit System (EES), all British nationals travelling to the EU will have to have their biometric data taken upon crossing the border for the first time. - Telegraph

Marks & Spencer has faced shareholder questions over paying an annual dividend of only 3p, despite handing millions of pounds in bonuses to its bosses. At the retailers' annual meeting on Tuesday, several investors told the board they were "really disappointed with the really low dividend payment" that it awarded - its first for four years - after delivering forecast-busting profits. Archie Norman, its chairman, said the dividend should have hopefully "put a nice little bit of a chink in people's pockets", but admitted that it was a modest return. - The Times

The founder of Hipgnosis Songs Fund is to step down as chairman of its investment adviser as part of the $1.58 billion takeover of the London-listed music rights investment company by Blackstone. Merck Mercuriadis, 60, will depart Hipgnosis Song Management, the investment adviser, once Blackstone's $1.31-per-share acquisition closes, bringing to an end an acrimonious period. - The Times

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Thursday newspaper round-up: Solar panels, OBR, Chevron
(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
Wednesday newspaper round-up: British economy, Heathrow, FOS
(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
Tuesday newspaper round-up: OpenAI, EVs, gas prices
(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
Monday newspaper round-up: Service charge, BP, Heathrow, Elon Musk
(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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