Category Archives: Business

End of era as Toshiba delists from Tokyo stock exchange after 74 years

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Electronics firm taken private in £11bn deal by consortium led by Japan Industrial Partners

Toshiba, the Japanese company synonymous with the country’s 20th-century dominance of electronics, has delisted from the Tokyo stock exchange after 74 years.

The manufacturer, associated in the UK with its 1980s “Ello Tosh, gotta Toshiba” advertising campaign, was taken private on Wednesday in an £11bn deal by a consortium of investors led by the private equity investor Japan Industrial Partners (JIP).

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Inflation calculator: find out how much UK household price rises affect you

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This online tool will help you discover what is contributing to your household’s cost of living increases

Inflation has been soaring in the UK, with people being hit by higher prices for everyday essentials, but cost of living pressures are finally starting to ease.

The latest inflation rate for the 12 months to November 2023 means that goods and services cost 3.9% more than they did a year ago – in most cases, surpassing any pay rises workers can expect to receive.

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Workers at Tory donor’s JCB factory test positive for drugs after sniffer dogs called in

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Exclusive: ‘Significant’ number of staff sacked from digger firm after drug and alcohol tests

JCB, one of the UK’s biggest manufacturers, is investigating a spate of drug use among workers based at its headquarters and has sacked a “significant” number of staff, the Guardian can reveal.

A message sent to UK employees last week by the digger-maker’s group human resources director, Max Jeffery, seen by the Guardian, said it had been conducting a “series of investigations into substance misuse” over the past two months. This had resulted in a “small but significant number of people leaving JCB”.

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Avanti West Coast cancellations and delays prompt calls for urgent review

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Transport for the North says service is deteriorating fast, with fewer than half of trains running on time

Northern political and transport leaders have called on the UK government to urgently review Avanti West Coast’s operations amid a renewed surge in intercity rail cancellations and delays.

The intervention came as it emerged that morale at the train operating company has plummeted to the point where only 3% of staff say they feel valued, according to an internal Avanti survey seen by the Guardian.

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Businessman who tried to buy Sheffield United accused of ‘elaborate’ fraud

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US watchdog sues Dozy Mmobuosi for allegedly faking documents and making up companies out of ‘thin air’

A Nigerian businessman who appeared to be closing in on a takeover of the Premier League football club Sheffield United is being sued by the US financial watchdog for a fraud, in which he is alleged to have faked documents and made up companies out of “thin air”.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Monday it had filed charges against Dozy Mmobuosi, claiming he inflated his companies’ financial performance by hundreds of millions of dollars to defraud investors.

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Senator John Fetterman vows to block ‘outrageous’ $14.9bn US Steel sale

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Former mayor of Pennsylvania town of Braddock has long advocated for rights of US steel workers

The US senator John Fetterman has vowed to block the multibillion-dollar sale of US Steel to the Japanese company Nippon Steel, calling the potential deal “outrageous”.

The former mayor of the south-west Pennsylvania town of Braddock, which is home to a major US Steel plant, Fetterman has long advocated for the rights of American steel workers and positioned himself as a pro-union Democrat.

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Australia news live: Natasha Fyles resigns as Northern Territory chief minister; PM to visit north Queensland flood zones on Thursday

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Follow the latest updates live

Communities urged to exercise caution amid ‘huge volumes of water’

QFES commissioner Steve Smith has also made some comments on the flood situation up in Queensland.

There’s still huge volumes of water moving down through the systems, so at different points on the water, in the water catchments, they’re going to have rises. So we need people to stay informed, and they’ve done a great job in doing that. So we want that to continue with the support from community.

No. So we have commenced a search and rescue investigation into that. Degarra was one of the communities we couldn’t get into yesterday, but we have been speaking to a local man where there were a number of rescues completed yesterday in Degarra. So we have dispatched the water police vessel this morning, which left in the early hours of this morning and is on the way to that location. And in addition to that, we’ve now got rescue helicopters going that way as well.

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Gina Rinehart launches joint bid for lithium miner amid demand for electric vehicles

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The $1.7bn offer for Azure Minerals comes during a rush of dealmaking for the metal used in batteries

Gina Rinehart has teamed up with a Chilean miner to take control of a prized lithium asset in the mineral-rich Pilbara, creating a path for Australia’s richest person to become a major producer of the key metal used in electric vehicle batteries.

Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQM) lodged a $1.7bn bid for Azure Minerals, according to a stock exchange announcement on Tuesday.

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Octopus Energy raises $800m and aims to create 3,000 green jobs in UK

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Extra cash values firm at nearly $8bn, as it says it has greater share of home electricity market than British Gas

Octopus Energy has raised $800m (£630m) from its shareholders in a move that values the company at nearly $8bn, weeks after it became Britain’s biggest power supplier.

Its existing investors, which include Japan’s Tokyo Gas and Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management, have ploughed in extra cash as the value of the utility company surged by 60% since its last fundraising round two years ago.

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Judge throws out Kabwe lead-poisoning case against Anglo American mining

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South African court dismisses huge class-action lawsuit over toxic legacy of mining at Broken Hill in Zambia between 1925 and 1974

A South African court has thrown out a case brought against the multinational mining company Anglo American on behalf of 140,000 Zambian women and children, who allege they have suffered lead poisoning from one of its mines.

The lawsuit, one of Africa’s largest class-action cases, was filed in October 2020, accused Anglo American of negligence over its alleged failure to prevent widespread lead poisoning in the Zambian town of Kabwe, where its South African subsidiary is alleged to have played a key role in running a large mine from 1925 until 1974.

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Two in five Australians had flight cancelled or delayed over 12 months, survey says

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Choice poll also finds less than half of all flight refunds are received within a month as government considers additional regulation

Less than half of Australians who seek a refund for a cancelled flight receive it within a month while one-fifth of those seeking a refund wait more than six months, a poll has found, as the government considers a compensation scheme and a passenger bill of rights.

The consumer advocate Choice also found, in a survey of about 9,000 Australians, that two in five respondents had a flight cancelled or delayed in the 12 months between October 2022 and this year.

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UK telecoms firms told to safeguard at-risk customers in switch to digital landlines

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Minister’s move follows reports of pensioners left unable to call for help

Telecoms providers have been forced to pause plans to impose digital phone lines on vulnerable customers after reports of pensioners left unable to call for help during power cuts.

Companies including BT and Virgin Media have been forced by Michelle Donelan, the technology secretary, to sign a charter to safeguard at-risk households during the nationwide switchover from analogue to internet-based landlines.

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Nippon Steel to acquire Pittsburgh-based US Steel for $14.1bn

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All-cash deal will see company keep name and headquarters in Pittsburgh, where it was founded in 1901

US Steel, the Pittsburgh steel producer that was once the world’s largest company and played a key role in the nation’s industrialization, is being acquired by Nippon Steel in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $14.1bn.

The price tag for US Steel is nearly double what was offered just four months ago by rival Cleveland Cliffs. US Steel, which rejected that offer, confirmed the offering price from Nippon early on Monday.

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Rishi Sunak taking Michelle Mone case ‘incredibly seriously’

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PM’s comments come as Labour calls for Commons statement about Tory peer who admits lying to media over links to PPE firm

Downing Street takes the case of Michelle Mone “incredibly seriously”, Rishi Sunak has said, as Labour called for a Commons statement after the former Tory peer admitted she lied when denying involvement with a company that won UK government deals to provide personal protective equipment during the pandemic.

Pressure is increasing for action on Mone, who had repeatedly denied a connection to PPE Medpro, which made millions of pounds in profits during the pandemic, but conceded in an interview on Sunday that she had been untruthful.

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BP halts oil and gas shipments through Red Sea after rebel attacks

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Energy company follows decisions by five big shipping firms as Houthi militants step up attacks on vessels

BP has halted all shipments of oil and gas through the Red Sea after an increase in the number of attacks on cargo ships by Houthi militants in Yemen, including a strike on a Norwegian-owned vessel.

The British oil company said on Tuesday that it had paused shipping in the region indefinitely, citing a “deteriorating security situation” amid tensions in the Middle East.

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Hard-up this holiday? Amazon flyer tells workers to ask company mascot for help

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Workers making $17 an hour not impressed by holiday offer from company that just tripled profits to $9.9bn

Amazon is asking workers experiencing hardship to write a letter to its company mascot, Peccy, this holiday season so “some of their holiday wishes can come true”.

A flyer from the Amazon warehouse SWF1 in Rock Tavern, New York, states: “Are you or someone you know facing financial hardship this holiday season? Peccy wants to help! Write a letter to Peccy. If the Peccy team selects you, some of your holiday wishes could come true!”

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L&G opens door for huge US-style bonuses for UK asset managers

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Update to pay policy includes room for ‘necessary flexibility’ to attract best talent to London-listed firm

One of the largest UK pension and insurance firms has opened the door to backing US-style mega-bonuses for London listed companies despite fears that executive pay is fuelling inequality and encouraging “short-term risk taking”.

Legal & General Investment Management has updated its pay policy to say there is room for the “necessary flexibility” needed to attract the best talent. It acknowledges “an increased push” by UK companies towards “remunerations structures that are more closely aligned to US-style pay”.

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Tax ombudsman criticises ATO’s robotax for not considering ‘financial vulnerability’ of recipients

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Karen Payne says the debt notices had triggered a significant increase in complaints, and may require the government implementing a legislative fix

Australia’s tax ombudsman says the government should consider putting time limits on debt collection and ensure that people are not put into hardship after an ATO campaign to resurrect thousands of historical debts caused widespread distress and confusion.

Karen Payne, the country’s top tax bureaucrat in charge of the complaints management service, said the ATO campaign to extract the debts from tax refunds had triggered a significant increase in complaints, and may require a legislative fix.

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Do you know more? Email jonathan.barrett@theguardian.com

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World watches as landmark Jimmy Lai trial set to begin in Hong Kong

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Territory’s global reputation on the line as media mogul and democracy activist finally tried over alleged national security crimes

Hong Kong’s global reputation will be tested this week when the long-delayed trial of the pro-democracy activist and former media mogul Jimmy Lai gets under way.

Lai, who turned 76 in jail this month, is charged with colluding with foreign forces under the national security law, as well as sedition. If convicted, which experts say is highly likely, the British national faces spending the rest of his life in prison.

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Cambridge University reportedly could drop Barclays in favour of greener bank

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UK lender is a major European funder of oil and gas projects and university has said it does not want to back fossil fuel expansion

Cambridge University could cut ties with Barclays after more than 200 years over the bank’s refusal to stop financing new oil and gas projects, according to the Financial Times.

It reported that Cambridge is looking for an institution with robust climate policies to manage “several hundred million pounds” in cash and money market funds – a mandate expected to cover more than £200m in assets and generate about £10m in fees a year.

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