Author: WTX Business Team

Elon Musk donated almost $2bn of Tesla shares to charity Billionaire Elon Musk says he donated around $1.95bn worth of shares is his company Tesla to charity last year. Musk – once the world’s richest man, donated 11.6 million shares, which was described in a filing with US regulators as “a bona fide gift.” The filing did not name the recipient, or recipients, of the donation. On Wednesday, Musk also said that towards the end of the year it would be a “good time” to find someone to succeed him as the chief executive of Twitter. The donation was made…

City AM – Firms tell Hunt to fix job crisis CityAM says London’s economy is being hamstrung by a chronic worker shortage that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt needs to tackle at the 15 March budget, a new report from Britain’s biggest business lobby groups highlighted today. Nearly two in three of the capital’s firms are struggling to fill vacancies, according to research carried out by BusinessLDN, Federation of Small Businesses, Confederation of British Industry and the London Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The report indicates the capital’s economy risks missing an opportunity to keep unemployment low while the UK tips into…

Financial Times – Overseas bets on Vodafone mount as Liberty Global takes £1.2bn stake The Financial Times leads with an image from protests in Israel, where people have demonstrated against efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to curb the powers of the country’s judiciary. It also leads with a story saying that Amazon is planning to “go big” on the country’s struggling grocery stores business. Catch up on today’s UK newspapers and the sports back pages

Wages rise at fastest rate in 20 years but still fail to keep up with inflation Newly published figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show regular pay has grown at the fastest rate in more than 20 years, but it is still failing to keep up with rising prices. Pay (excluding bonuses) increased at an annual pace of 4.7% between October and December 2022, the ONS said. The increase is the strongest growth seen outside the pandemic, the ONS said.  However, when adjusted for inflation, regular pay fell by 2.5%. The ONS says the gap between private and…

Ford to cut one in five jobs in the UK as it prepares for major transformation Ford will cut 1,300 jobs in the UK over the next two years – a fifth of its UK workforce, the car-making company announced. The job cuts come as part of a major restructuring programme that will see the company slash 3,800 jobs across Europe. Ford is cutting back on development staff as the company faces an uncertain economic future, preparing for the transition to electric vehicles. Most of the UK job cuts will be at its research site at Dunton in Essex. Several…

City AM – Buy now pay later boom Exclusive: Brits turn to buy-now pay-later to fund spending amid cost of living crisis City AM says Brits are turning to buy-now pay-later products to fund online spending amid a cost of living squeeze that is eroding their disposable income rapidly, exclusive research shared with City A.M. reveals. Nearly £1 in every £8 spent online last month was sourced from buy-now pay-later providers, according to research by Adobe Analytics. The proportion is up slightly from just over 10 per cent in the same month last year, signalling shoppers are responding to their…

FT – Peltz calls off battle with Disney after claiming objectives met in shake-up The Financial Times leads on the corporate battle at Disney, which has resulted in restructuring and the loss of 7,000 jobs after action by an investor. The paper reports Nelson Peltz has declared “the proxy fight is over” after securing changes at the company. Read the full story here Catch up on the latest from the UK’s national newspapers and the sports back pages.  

UK economy narrowly avoided recession last year Newly released figures show the UK narrowly avoided falling into recession in 2022 after the economy saw zero growth between October and December. The economy shrank between July and September 2022. A recession is when the economy contracts for two consecutive three-month periods. In December the economy fell by 0.5% partly due to the mass striking across the country. The Bank of England expects the UK to still fall into recession at some point this year but says it will be shorter and less severe than previously thought. The ONS’s Darren Morgan said:…

Disney to cut 7,000 jobs as streaming site records $.1.5bn loss Disney will be cutting 7,000 jobs in a massive shake-up to the company, the chief executive Bob Iger has said. The company’s mass job cuts come as subscriber numbers for its streaming service fall. The job cuts are part of a plan to save $5.5bn and make its Disney+ streaming service profitable. The changes have been announced alongside the latest quarterly figures. Commenting on the job cuts, Mr Iger said: “I have enormous respect and appreciation for the talent and dedication of our employees worldwide, and I’m mindful of…

Trial of scrapping train return tickets extended A trial that has seen the scrapping of return tickets will be extended it has been confirmed. The trial was implemented to help make fares simpler. Transport Secretary Mark Harper will confirm on Tuesday that publicly-owned LNER will extend its trial of selling single tickets only on its routes. Under the trial, a single ticket is always half the cost of a return. Currently, many singles are £1 less than a return. The government said such reforms could provide “better value” for passengers. LNER runs trains between London and Peterborough, the East Midlands,…

City Am – Big four want more City AM says The Big Four accounting firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – are seeking to hire laid-off bankers to bolster the ranks of their M&A advisory arms in the City. Top execs told City A.M. the world’s biggest professional services firms are seeking to capitalise on the downturn in big M&A deals by poaching talent from investment banks. Global banks including Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse have cut hundreds of jobs in London since the start of 2023, in the biggest round of layoffs since the global financial crisis. The…

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Shell profits soar 53% to new record high amid growing calls for windfall tax The Independent says Shell recorded the highest profit in its 115-year history as it benefited from soaring oil prices driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Profits increased by 53 per cent to £68.1bn in 2022, while earnings adjusted for taxes doubled to £32.2bn – sparking calls for Rishi Sunak’s government to expand the windfall tax on profits. Labour, the Liberal Democrats and climate change campaigners said the government was letting fossil fuel companies “off the hook” by failing to impose a strong enough tax on the…

Anger as Shell makes ‘obscene’ $40bn in profits The Guardian says Shell has prompted anger after annual profits more than doubled to a record of nearly $40bn, boosted by a surge in wholesale gas prices linked to the war in Ukraine and as households struggle to pay huge energy bills. The oil and gas company posted profits of $9.81bn in the final quarter of last year, compared with $6.4bn a year earlier. That took annual adjusted profits to $39.87bn (£32.2bn) in 2022, far outstripping the $19.3bn notched up in 2021. Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, said the profits…

‘Shell is richer because we’re poorer.’

Shell reports highest profits in 115 years Shell has reported record annual profits after energy prices rocketed last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Profits hit £32.2bn in 2022, double last year’s total and the highest in its 115-year history. Energy firms have seen record earnings since oil and gas prices jumped following the war. There has been a pile-on of pressure for firms to pay more tax as households struggle with rising bills.  The UK government introduced a windfall tax – called the Energy Profits Levy – on the profits of firms to help fund its scheme to lower…

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FT – UK alone in heading for recession as other big economies grown, IMF says The IMF report is the leading story for the Financial Times, whose front page features a graphic showing the UK’s projected growth in 2023 compared to other G7 countries. It reports the IMF’s warning that Britain “is the only leading economy likely to slide into recession this year” and that household spending will “falter”.

Tesco scrapping hot deli counters as thousands of jobs put at risk The Independent says Tesco has announced a wide-ranging overhaul of its stores which will impact around 2,100 jobs. The UK’s largest supermarket chain said it will extend changes to store management roles, shut remaining counters and hot delis and shut a number of in-store pharmacies as part of the shake-up. Tesco said it is reducing the number of lead and team managers in large shops as part of the changes to its management structure, which will impact around 1,750 workers. The grocer said the move will also introduce…

Tesco to make big changes to stores, affecting 2,100 jobs The Guardian says Tesco has announced a shake-up of its shop management in large UK stores along with the closure of its remaining meat, fish and hot deli counters, affecting 2,100 jobs. The UK’s biggest grocer said it had started rolling out a new management structure in 350 of its smaller superstores over the past two years and was extending this structure across its larger superstores and Extra stores. Tesco will cut the number of lead and team managers in large UK stores by 1,750, and introduce 1,800 new lower-paid…

City AM – Tax trouble sees Sunak sack Zahawi London business paper City AM leads – like most of Monday’s newspapers – with the sacking of Nadhim Zahawi as the Tory party chairman. CityAM says Nadhim Zahawi has today been sacked by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as Conservative party chair after weeks of speculation about his tax affairs. Sunak told Zahawi, 55, that, after an independent investigation, “it is clear that there has been a serious breach of the Ministerial Code,” forcing him to ditch the MP for Stratford-on-Avon. Sunak’s letter said he wanted his government to “have integrity, professionalism…