The London business newspaper CITY AM leads on share plunges in Bytes Technology. Elsewhere the news that BT Tower has been bought and will be turned into a hotel makes the paper’s front page headlines.
Bytes Technology plunges as chief resigns after failing to disclose company share trades
Shares in software firm Bytes Group plunged over 18 per cent on Wednesday after it said its chief executive is stepping down amid revelations that he made several trades in the company’s shares without disclosing them.
Neil Murphy, who has worked at the company since 1997, has resigned with immediate effect and the board of Bytes is looking into the secret trades.
The Surrey-based firm said Murphy’s stake remains at around 2.9m shares, in line with figures reported to the market in November last year.
Sam Mudd, an executive director at Bytes and the managing director of Phoenix Software, a subsidiary of Bytes, will take on the role of interim chief.
BT Tower to be turned into Heatherwick-designed hotel by US giant
London’s iconic BT Tower has been sold to a US hotels giant for £275m – with the iconic structure to be turned into a Thomas Heatherwick-designed hotel.
BT Group has agreed a deal with MCR Hotels which owns around 150 locations, including the historic landmark Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Hotel in New York City.
The tower’s new owner has said the building will be converted into an “iconic” hotel – a new life for the once Post Office tower which has stood amid London’s skyline since the sixties.
Heatherwick – who designed the new London routemaster and the 2012 Olympic torch – said “My team and I are thrilled to partner with MCR to reimagine the BT Tower. This is an extraordinary building and an amazing opportunity to bring it back to life. We’re excited at the prospect of working with Fitzrovia’s residents and with many thousands of Londoners, to repurpose this important piece of the city’s living heritage.”
Nvidia: Another stunning set of results for ‘the only stock that matters’
Nvidia has revealed another stunning set of earnings, reporting record sales of $22.1bn in its fourth quarter, ahead of analyst estimates, in a sign that the artificial intelligence (AI) boom is far from over.
The US based chip designer said its fourth quarter revenue soared 265 per cent from a year ago, when it reported its highly anticipated results after the Nasdaq closed on Wednesday.
Most of this was from data centre revenue of $18.4bn, up 409 per cent year on year.
“Accelerated computing and generative AI have hit the tipping point. Demand is surging worldwide across companies, industries and nations,” said chief executive Jensen Huang.
Lloyds announces record annual profits but sets aside £450m for FCA motor finance probe
Lloyds Banking Group has reported an uptick in annual profits on the back of higher interest rates while setting aside £450m for an FCA motor finance probe.
The group also announced it was planning an up to £2bn share buyback, which together with a 1.84p per share final dividend would see £3.8bn returned to shareholders.
Britain’s largest domestic banking group – which owns Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows – posted a pretax profit of £7.5bn for 2023, up 57 per cent from £4.8bn in 2022 and an all-time high for the lender. Analysts had expected a figure of £7.4bn.
The bank’s net interest income rose to £13.3bn in 2023, from £12.9bn in 2022. However, its net interest margin narrowed by 0.1 per cent to 2.98 per cent between the third and fourth quarters as the group faced pressure to offer savers better deals and a likely peak in interest rates.
