TransPennine Express cancelled more than one in eight trains over summer

Regulator says figures show much of Britain’s railway is ‘still not delivering reliable journeys’Business live – latest updatesTransPennine Express cancelled more than one in eight trains over the summer, according to figures that show much of Britain’…

Regulator says figures show much of Britain’s railway is ‘still not delivering reliable journeys’

TransPennine Express cancelled more than one in eight trains over the summer, according to figures that show much of Britain’s railway is “still not delivering reliable journeys”.

Nationally, fewer than seven in 10 trains ran on time and 3.5% of trains were cancelled on the day between 1 July and 30 September, which was slightly better than the same period last year, figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) showed.

Continue reading...

South East Water paid £2.25m to shareholders despite £18m losses

Cost of debt rises for firm that left thousands of customers without running water in summerSouth East Water, which left thousands of customers without running water this summer, has paid out dividends of £2.25m over six months while overseeing increas…

Cost of debt rises for firm that left thousands of customers without running water in summer

South East Water, which left thousands of customers without running water this summer, has paid out dividends of £2.25m over six months while overseeing increased losses of £18.1m before tax.

The water company, which serves customers in Kent, Sussex, Berkshire and Surrey, made the payout to shareholders despite facing huge rises in the costs of its £1.4bn debt mountain, its half-year report showed on Thursday. In the six months to 30 September, the cost of serving the debt rose by £7.4m to £54.8m, as inflation and higher interest rates bit.

Continue reading...

McDonald’s to take on Starbucks with retro-style stores called CosMc’s

New restaurants – serving more complex, customisable drinks – will be trialled in the USMcDonald’s is launching a new kind of restaurant, CosMc’s, a retro-style store with treats and customisable drinks including “s’mores cold brew”, “churro frappes” a…

New restaurants – serving more complex, customisable drinks – will be trialled in the US

McDonald’s is launching a new kind of restaurant, CosMc’s, a retro-style store with treats and customisable drinks including “s’mores cold brew”, “churro frappes” and “turmeric latte” that could rival chains such as Starbucks.

The fast food company said it would open its first pilot site near the company’s headquarters in a suburb of Chicago this month, as part of efforts to “solve the 3pm slump”, when it gets fewer customers between the lunch and dinner rush.

Continue reading...

Frasers Group warns of ‘softening in global luxury market’ as sales fall

Cost of living crisis partly responsible but total sales at Mike Ashley’s company riseMike Ashley’s Frasers Group has warned of “softening in the global luxury market” as underlying sales at its upmarket division, which includes the House of Fraser dep…

Cost of living crisis partly responsible but total sales at Mike Ashley’s company rise

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has warned of “softening in the global luxury market” as underlying sales at its upmarket division, which includes the House of Fraser department stores and the Flannels chain, dived more than 11%.

The fall in underlying sales, which does not take into account acquisitions, came as the group closed two more House of Frasers stores in the half-year, taking the total to 29, half the number the group bought out of administration in 2018.

Continue reading...

Frasers Group warns of ‘softening in global luxury market’ as sales fall

Cost of living crisis partly responsible but total sales at Mike Ashley’s company riseMike Ashley’s Frasers Group has warned of “softening in the global luxury market” as underlying sales at its upmarket division, which includes the House of Fraser dep…

Cost of living crisis partly responsible but total sales at Mike Ashley’s company rise

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has warned of “softening in the global luxury market” as underlying sales at its upmarket division, which includes the House of Fraser department stores and the Flannels chain, dived more than 11%.

The fall in underlying sales, which does not take into account acquisitions, came as the group closed two more House of Frasers stores in the half-year, taking the total to 29, half the number the group bought out of administration in 2018.

Continue reading...

Hedge fund billionaire Sir Chris Hohn paid himself £276m this year

Payout from TCI, where Rishi Sunak was once employed, amounts to more than £1m for every working dayThe billionaire British hedge fund manager Sir Chris Hohn paid himself $346m (£276m) this year – more than £1m for every working day.However, the payout…

Payout from TCI, where Rishi Sunak was once employed, amounts to more than £1m for every working day

The billionaire British hedge fund manager Sir Chris Hohn paid himself $346m (£276m) this year – more than £1m for every working day.

However, the payout from his TCI hedge fund, where Rishi Sunak worked between 2006 and 2009, is half the £574m Hohn collected a year earlier.

Continue reading...

Hedge fund billionaire Sir Chris Hohn paid himself £276m this year

Payout from TCI, where Rishi Sunak was once employed, amounts to more than £1m for every working dayThe billionaire British hedge fund manager Sir Chris Hohn paid himself $346m (£276m) this year – more than £1m for every working day.However, the payout…

Payout from TCI, where Rishi Sunak was once employed, amounts to more than £1m for every working day

The billionaire British hedge fund manager Sir Chris Hohn paid himself $346m (£276m) this year – more than £1m for every working day.

However, the payout from his TCI hedge fund, where Rishi Sunak worked between 2006 and 2009, is half the £574m Hohn collected a year earlier.

Continue reading...

Hedge fund co-founded by Jacob Rees-Mogg to close after client withdraws £2bn – business live

Live coverage of business, economics and financial markets as Somerset Capital says it will wind down after loss of major clientThe UK’s big three financial regulators are consulting on new powers to oversee so-called critical third parties because of …

Live coverage of business, economics and financial markets as Somerset Capital says it will wind down after loss of major client

The UK’s big three financial regulators are consulting on new powers to oversee so-called critical third parties because of the potential risks to financial stability.

The Bank of England, its Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that managing the risks from third parties was “beyond the ability of any individual firm” or infrastructure provider to solve.

Third-party service providers often play a vital role in the delivery of important services by banks and insurers. These arrangements bring benefits, but also potential risks. We are consulting today on proposals to implement new powers given to us by parliament to manage these risks for those providers who could present risks to financial stability, in an effective and proportionate way.

Continue reading...

UK house prices rise again as easing of mortgage rates tempts more buyers

Monthly increase of 0.5% in November comes as average price of property goes up to £283,615, says HalifaxBusiness live – latest updatesUK house prices rose for the second month in a row in November, according to a leading index, as a slight easing in m…

Monthly increase of 0.5% in November comes as average price of property goes up to £283,615, says Halifax

UK house prices rose for the second month in a row in November, according to a leading index, as a slight easing in mortgage rates helped coax more buyers into the market.

The average price of a UK property rose by £1,394 – or 0.5% – last month to £283,615, according to the mortgage lender Halifax.

Continue reading...

Greedflation: corporate profiteering ‘significantly’ boosted global prices, study shows

Multinationals in particular hiked prices far above rise in costs to deliver an outsize impact on cost of living crisis, report concludesProfiteering has played a significant role in boosting inflation during 2022, according to a report that calls for …

Multinationals in particular hiked prices far above rise in costs to deliver an outsize impact on cost of living crisis, report concludes

Profiteering has played a significant role in boosting inflation during 2022, according to a report that calls for a global corporation tax to curb excess profits.

Analysis of the financial accounts of many of the UK’s biggest businesses found that profits far outpaced increases in costs, helping to push up inflation last year to levels not seen since the early 1980s.

ExxonMobil: profits of £15bn increased to £53bn

Shell: £16bn up to £44bn

Glencore: £1.9 bn up to £14.8bn

Archer-Daniels-Midland: £1.4bn up to £3.16bn

Kraft Heinz: £265m up to £1.8bn

Continue reading...