Weaker than expected retail sales drags Wall Street down August 17, 2021 US stocks edged down during the open today after official figures showed US retail sales were much weaker than expected in July. The blue-chip S&P 500 dropped 0.55 per cent to 4,455.46 points and the Dow Jones lost 0.83 per cent to fall to 35,328.87 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq extended the traditional benchmark’s losses to [...]
Ministers ‘considering ban’ on new North Sea exploration March 14, 2021 The government is considering banning new licenses to explore for oil in the North Sea, in what could be the first death knell for the basin. Ministers are weighing up a number of options for the continental shelf, the Telegraph reported, including a ban on licenses from 2040 or a temporary pause in licenses. It [...]
Ireland’s Aer Lingus appoints IAG Cargo head as new CEO February 25, 2021 Aer Lingus secures IAG Cargo head as it's new CEO after fighting for survival during the pandemic
Weak US jobs growth tempers Wall Street September 3, 2021 A weaker-than-expected US jobs report for August weighed heavily on Wall Street’s main benchmarks today. The S&P 500 slipped 0.09 per cent to 4,532.82 points, after closing at a record high yesterday. The Dow Jones lost 0.11 per cent to hit 4,531.09 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq provided some relief on Wall Street, rising 0.12 per [...]
British Airways settles long-running pensions battle with trustees April 9, 2019 British Airways has settled a long-running battle with the trustees of one of its staff pension schemes in a case that was set to go to the Supreme Court. The trustees of the nearly 25,000 member Airways Pension Scheme said today they had agreed to an out-of-court settlement to the dispute, subject to the approval of the [...]
BA looks set to recover from pandemic, so why are its 40-something pilots giving up their gold-plated pensions? April 20, 2021 In turbulent times, when the future of a company is being called into question, it is not uncommon for staff to transfer out of their employer’s defined benefit (DB) pension scheme, if they have one. Although seen as “gold-plated”, some DB scheme members worry about their scheme falling to the pension lifeboat fund, and that [...]
Which countries could be added to the travel ‘green list’ this week? August 4, 2021 Holidaymakers are waiting with bated breath to see which – if any – countries will be added to the UK’s travel “green list” at Thursday’s travel traffic light review. At the moment, there are just 29 countries and dependencies on the “green list”, with few popular tourist destinations included. There were fears this week too [...]
BA owner IAG dives to fresh €2bn loss July 30, 2021 British Airways owner IAG today plunged to a €2bn (£1.7bn) half year loss as continued travel restrictions continue to batter the airlines group. In the second quarter, the FTSE blue chip said that its airlines flew at a combined capacity of 21.9 per cent. For the coming period, it expects this to rise to 45 [...]
Hedge fund ExodusPoint takes short position in Deliveroo after disappointing IPO May 11, 2021 Hedge fund ExodusPoint Capital Management has reportedly taken a short position in Deliveroo after the delivery firm’s disastrous market debut. The New York hedge fund’s bet makes up approximately 0.56 per cent of Deliveroo’s shares, Financial News reported. The short position, which could be worth as much as £26m based on its closing price, marks [...]
Labour: ‘Reckless’ Priti Patel breached ministerial code over meeting with billionaire Tory donor September 12, 2021 Labour has accused the Home Secretary of being “reckless” and a “serial offender” in breaching the ministerial code after allegations involving a meeting between a billionaire Tory donor and British Airways. The Sunday Mirror reports today that Priti Patel arranged a meeting on 11 August at Heathrow Airport’s Hilton Garden Inn, which is part of [...]