Category Archives: Business

Sub-prime lender Amigo avoids £73m fine after claiming hardship

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FCA finds company put customers at high risk of harm by failing to assess whether they could repay loans

The sub-prime lender Amigo has dodged a £73m fine despite having put consumers at a “high risk” of harm, amid fears that the financial penalty could have led to its collapse.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) investigation found Amigo put business interests ahead of its customers, by failing to properly assess whether customers, or their guarantors, could afford to repay loans they applied for – noting faults in both its automated tech and human oversight between November 2018 and March 2020.

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Lilt to vanish from UK, rebranded as a totally tropical Fanta

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We haven’t touched the taste, only the packaging, promises owner Coca-Cola

The soft drink Lilt has vanished from the UK after 48 years and has been rebranded as a new type of Fanta.

The tangy drink was launched in 1975 with the strapline “the totally tropical taste” and was sold only in the UK, Ireland, Gibraltar and Seychelles.

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Number of days lost to strikes is highest since the Thatcher era

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Squeeze on households as pay growth falls at among fastest rates for 20 years

The number of working days lost to strike action last year reached the highest level since 1989, according to official figures showing that wage growth failed to keep pace with inflation amid the biggest real-terms fall on record.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics further highlight the squeeze on households in the cost of living crisis.

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US firm Liberty Global buys stake in Vodafone after tumultuous year

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‘Cable cowboy’ John Malone rules out takeover bid but says he believes UK telecoms company is undervalued

The US telecoms group chaired by “cable cowboy” John Malone has snapped up a stake in Vodafone in a bet on the UK company’s revival – but has ruled out making a takeover bid.

Liberty Global, which is an investor in ITV and Virgin Media O2, told investors on Monday it had acquired a 4.92% stake in Vodafone, saying it believed the shares were undervalued.

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No questions asked: money laundering thrives in Australia because of professionals willing to facilitate it

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Lawyers, accountants and real estate agents face can little scrutiny and there is as yet no action from government to increase regulation

Raids earlier this month by the Australian federal police provided a rare window into the shady world of international money laundering. Australia is far from a model global citizen when it comes to cracking down on money laundering – and property has become a favoured vehicle for organised crime to hide and transfer dirty money.

The AFP arrested nine people, including the alleged head of the money-laundering organisation, Stephen Xin, at his Vaucluse home. They have now been charged with multiple money-laundering and proceeds-of-crime offences, allegedly carried out in support of the organisation’s extensive activities.

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EU tipped to avoid recession after gas crisis eases

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Economic growth forecast to be 0.8% in 2023 but households still face cost of living pressures

The EU is predicted to narrowly avoid recession as a result of a milder-than-expected energy shock, although households face difficult times ahead as cost of living pressures ease only gradually, the European Commission has said.

Economic growth for the 27 countries of the EU is forecast to be 0.8% in 2023, compared with a 0.3% projection last autumn, when fears of winter power outages and the rising cost of living ran high. In the 20-country eurozone, the economy will expand by 0.9% in 2023, boosted by a better-than-expected performance in Germany and Italy, as well as relatively stronger growth in Spain.

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Heathrow has busiest start to year since before Covid lockdowns

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More than 5.4m passengers travelled through airport in January, double the 2.6m from 2022

Heathrow airport had its busiest start to the year since before the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns in 2020 as travel restrictions continued to ease, according to data published on Monday.

More than 5.4 million passengers travelled through the UK’s and Europe’s busiest airport in January, double the 2.6 million from 2022, Heathrow said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

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Mars Wrigley fined after two workers tumbled into chocolate tank last year

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Federal workplace authorities fined the popular Pennsylvania candy factory $14,500 and categorized citation as ‘serious’

US federal workplace authorities have fined a popular Pennsylvania candy factory more than $14,500 after two of its employees fell into a large tub of chocolate last year.

In a scene that seemingly could have come straight out of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, two workers last June landed in the tub at the Mars Wrigley factory in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Neither of the two workers had any injuries when the sticky situation unfolded as they did maintenance work and tumbled into a tank that was partially filled with chocolate.

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Australia should force banks to repay scam victims and adopt better protections, advocates say

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Calls for federal government to mandate the checking of account details before money transfers are made

The federal government should take action to force banks to reimburse scam victims and check the account details match up on transactions to stop scams before the money is lost, consumer rights advocates say.

The call comes as Australia’s big four banks pushed back on mandatory reimbursements, arguing they could “inadvertently lead to increases in scam activity” and that customers should keep themselves safe.

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Brexit is a self-inflicted wound of unparalleled severity | Phillip Inman

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Quitting the EU has stalled business investment, making us reliant on workers who are now scarce. Hence rising wages, high inflation and increased interest rates. Result? A looming recession

Whenever Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, talks about the economy, he is forced to mention the toll taken by Brexit.

Business leaders, initially reluctant to criticise the Tory decision to quit the EU, have begun to find their voice. Most recently, leading City figure Guy Hands called Brexit a “complete disaster” and a “bunch of total lies” that has harmed large parts of the economy.

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Jim Chalmers confident Australia will avoid recession despite warnings of more interest rate rises

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The treasurer also noted ‘very encouraging’ signs on power prices falling, saying Labor’s energy price relief package was working

The treasurer Jim Chalmers says there are “very encouraging” signs on power prices falling and is still confident Australia will avoid a recession despite continuing interest rate rises.

Last week in its first meeting for the year, the Reserve Bank increased the cash rate for the ninth time in a row to 3.35% and warned it was considering even more interest rate rises in coming months.

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Fines against WA climate protester ‘absurdly excessive’, Human Rights Watch says; refund for Myki charges during outage – As it happened

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Activist pleaded guilty on Friday to criminal damage. This blog is now closed

Productivity commission report will be released in March

Chalmers says he has received a five-year review from the productivity commission about how Australia can respond to flagging productivity across the Australian economy.

I’d like to do that sooner, ideally in May, so that we can have this national debate about our productivity performance and some of the recommendations in there. Now, inevitably, a government won’t pick up and run with every single one of the recommendations from the Productivity Commission, but there may be some that we can run with. There will be some that align with the government’s economic plan and our policy objectives.

No doubt people will want to ask him about that and he can explain it. I think there’s a broader issue here about how the bank communicates the context for its decisions. This is one of the things that I have been discussing with the RBA Review Panel. I actually discussed it with them on Friday in one of the regular meetings that I have with the review panel, how they communicate their decisions and the context behind their decisions is one of the key focuses of that review.

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UK can expect year of stagnation after narrowest of escapes from recession

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Marginal expansions and contractions in 2023 will do little to solve a lack of investment and export shortfall

It was a recession in all but name: that is the conclusion of many economists who argue that while the official data shows the UK economy stood still in the last three months of 2022 rather than contracting, it is still in bad shape.

To be precise, the economy actually expanded by 0.01% in the fourth quarter, an increase so statistically insignificant that it is rounded down to zero. Had Britain not added just £77m to its £2.2tn gross domestic product (GDP) then it would have fallen into a technical recession, characterised by two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

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UK must quit climate-harming energy charter treaty, experts say

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Secret international court system enables fossil fuel firms to sue governments for lost future profits

Experts have urged the UK to leave the controversial energy charter treaty (ECT), a secret court system that enables fossil fuel companies to sue governments for huge sums over policies that could affect future profits.

The European Commission said this week that remaining part of the treaty would “clearly undermine” climate targets and that an exit by EU countries appeared “inevitable”. Seven EU countries, including France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, have already said they will quit the ECT.

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Australian TV broadcasters claim more gambling ad restrictions could cut free sport coverage

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Free TV Australia has rejected calls for further restrictions, telling inquiry the current regime is poorly understood by the community

The peak body for free-to-air commercial broadcasters has strongly rejected calls for further restrictions on gambling advertisements, warning free coverage of sport may be cut as a result.

Free TV Australia has argued the extent of wagering advertisements on television has been grossly exaggerated by some anti-gambling advocates and the current restrictions are poorly understood by the community.

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News Corp to cut 1,250 jobs after missing second-quarter estimates

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Reduced ad spends due to rising inflation and higher interest rates have battered Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate

Media conglomerate News Corp said on Thursday that it would cut 1,250 jobs after it missed estimates for second-quarter earnings due to weakness in its news and digital real estate businesses.

Rising inflation and higher interest rates are forcing companies to curb their ad and marketing spend, denting one of the major sources of revenue for companies such as News Corp, which has major publishing platforms including the Wall Street Journal and New York Post in the US, The Sun and The Times in the UK, and The Australian.

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Sardinian winemaker denies his two oxen logo is Red Bull copy

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Mattia Muggittu says he feels like David v Goliath as energy drink firm disputes branding on his first bottles

A small wine producer in Sardinia accused by the maker of the energy drink Red Bull of copying its logo has said he feels as if he is in a David and Goliath battle against the Austrian company.

Mattia Muggittu, the owner of Muggittu di Mamoiada, had just produced his first bottle of wine, which features two traditional Sardinian oxen tied together on its label, when he received a legal notice from Red Bull claiming the image bore similarities to the one on its energy drink depicting two bulls charging at each other inside a golden sun.

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Reserve Bank causing households ‘too much pain’ with rate rises, says union chief Sally McManus

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Australian union leader says the absence of labour market expertise on the RBA board had caused ‘missteps’

The head of Australia’s union movement has blasted the Reserve Bank and its governor for a lack of “understanding” that rate rises are causing “too much pain” and low income earners have exhausted savings.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary, Sally McManus, made the comments on Thursday after a ninth interest rate hike – and suggestions more increases will follow – sparked fears monetary policy could be tightened too far, risking recession.

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UK property demand declines as house prices in England fall

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Further slowdown likely amid interest rate rise and cost of living crisis, says surveyors’ body Rics

Property sales and house prices continued to decline across the UK in January, while new buyer demand and fresh listings were also down, surveyors have reported.

A net balance of -47% for new buyer inquiries was reported, down from -40% in December, according to the latest monthly snapshot from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). The January return marked the ninth successive negative monthly reading for new buyer inquiries.

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Sunak should expand free childcare to tackle workforce shortages, says CBI

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Business group says as much as £9bn of investment is needed to improve system

Rishi Sunak should funnel billions of pounds into free childcare to help get more parents into work to tackle acute workforce shortages, according to Britain’s leading business group.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said the government urgently needed to announce extra funding and changes to childcare and early years support, arguing that a more accessible and affordable system was an immediate economic priority.

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