COVID-19: UK records 26,144 new coronavirus cases and 71 more deaths - Sky News

The UK has reported 26,144 new COVID-19 cases and 71 more deaths in the latest 24-hour period.

Some 29,622 coronavirus infections and 68 fatalities were announced yesterday, while 31,795 cases and 28 deaths were reported this time last week.

Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world

The figures show positive cases in the UK have fallen by 33% in the past seven days. However, deaths have increased by 9.2% across the same period.

Meanwhile, 35,773 people received their first dose of a COVID vaccine yesterday, taking the overall total to 46,811,298.

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And 164,295 had their second jab, meaning 38,126,702 are now fully inoculated.

It comes as a government adviser warned that falling case rates over the last week could be explained by people refusing to get tested in a bid to avoid having to self-isolate.

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Professor Robert West, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (Spi-B), which advises ministers, said it could be a factor in the difference between the high infection rate in the UK and the decrease in daily positive cases.

The latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that COVID infections are up to their highest level since January in England, and the highest since February in Wales.

The ONS's household swab test survey showed that around one in 65 people in private households in England had coronavirus in the week to 24 July - up from one in 75 in the previous week, and the ninth consecutive week that infections have increased.

Infections are also estimated to have risen in Northern Ireland, though numbers have dropped in Scotland.

Prof West said the discrepancy between the infection and case rate - the number of people testing positive for coronavirus each day - was a "puzzle".

The University College London academic suggested people were reluctant to quarantine if they were found to have the infection, so they were boycotting tests.

Prof West told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "One of the things that is a concern is that people may not be coming forward as they used to do for testing.

"One of the reasons for that may be that the messaging from the government in a way has sort of given a bit of a green light to people to say, 'well, it is not so bad if you get the infection'.

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Sunak: 'Stick with' self-isolation rules

"[But] if you get tested you're going to have to self-isolate, at least at the moment, and that's going to be very disruptive. I suspect that may be a factor."

The so-called 'pingdemic' has caused widespread disruption to businesses, with record numbers being alerted by the NHS COVID-19 app to self-isolate in recent weeks, including 700,000 for the week to 21 July.

The government has responded by rolling out exemptions for workers it deems to be employed in critical industries, such as those in the food sector, along with transport, waste collection and defence staff.

Daily negative test results can enable such workers who have been alerted by the NHS COVID-19 app or called by NHS Test and Trace as close contacts of positive cases to continue working.

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2021-07-31 16:13:27Z
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COVID-19: UK records 26,144 new coronavirus cases and 71 more deaths - Sky News

The UK has reported 26,144 new COVID-19 cases and 71 more deaths in the latest 24-hour period.

Some 29,622 coronavirus infections and 68 fatalities were announced yesterday, while 31,795 cases and 28 deaths were reported this time last week.

Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world

The figures show positive cases in the UK have fallen by 33% in the past seven days. However, deaths have increased by 9.2% across the same period.

Meanwhile, 35,773 people received their first dose of a COVID vaccine yesterday, taking the overall total to 46,811,298.

Advertisement

And 164,295 had their second jab, meaning 38,126,702 are now fully inoculated.

It comes as a government adviser warned that falling case rates over the last week could be explained by people refusing to get tested in a bid to avoid having to self-isolate.

More on Covid-19

Professor Robert West, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (Spi-B), which advises ministers, said it could be a factor in the difference between the high infection rate in the UK and the decrease in daily positive cases.

The latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that COVID infections are up to their highest level since January in England, and the highest since February in Wales.

The ONS's household swab test survey showed that around one in 65 people in private households in England had coronavirus in the week to 24 July - up from one in 75 in the previous week, and the ninth consecutive week that infections have increased.

Infections are also estimated to have risen in Northern Ireland, though numbers have dropped in Scotland.

Prof West said the discrepancy between the infection and case rate - the number of people testing positive for coronavirus each day - was a "puzzle".

The University College London academic suggested people were reluctant to quarantine if they were found to have the infection, so they were boycotting tests.

Prof West told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "One of the things that is a concern is that people may not be coming forward as they used to do for testing.

"One of the reasons for that may be that the messaging from the government in a way has sort of given a bit of a green light to people to say, 'well, it is not so bad if you get the infection'.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Sunak: 'Stick with' self-isolation rules

"[But] if you get tested you're going to have to self-isolate, at least at the moment, and that's going to be very disruptive. I suspect that may be a factor."

The so-called 'pingdemic' has caused widespread disruption to businesses, with record numbers being alerted by the NHS COVID-19 app to self-isolate in recent weeks, including 700,000 for the week to 21 July.

The government has responded by rolling out exemptions for workers it deems to be employed in critical industries, such as those in the food sector, along with transport, waste collection and defence staff.

Daily negative test results can enable such workers who have been alerted by the NHS COVID-19 app or called by NHS Test and Trace as close contacts of positive cases to continue working.

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2021-07-31 15:45:00Z
52781764689611

Amazon-backed electric vehicle maker Rivian in talks with ministers over UK factory - Sky News

An electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer backed by Amazon and Ford is in talks with ministers about building a giant factory in the UK that could include a big state support package.

Sky News has learnt that Rivian, which is also backed by the Ford Motor Company and many of the biggest investors in Silicon Valley, has been in secret negotiations with the British government for weeks about the construction of a plant near Bristol.

The talks are not yet at an advanced stage, and Britain is facing competition from rival proposals from Germany and the Netherlands, according to industry sources.

Any investment decision is likely to be ultimately worth well over £1bn, they added.

If Rivian does opt to build a plant in the UK - which would be its first outside the US - it would represent another major boost to the country's automotive sector following recent announcements from Nissan and Stellantis, the owner of Vauxhall.

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Rivian raised another $2.5bn (£1.8bn) from investors earlier this month, taking the total sum it has raised since 2019 to a gargantuan $10.5bn (£7.5bn).

RJ Scaringe, the company's founder and chief executive, said the latest capital injection would enable it "to scale new vehicle programmes, expand our domestic facility footprint, and fuel international product rollout".

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Customer deliveries of its R1T electric trucks, which will sell from $67,500 (£48,500), are due to begin in the autumn - although they have faced previous delays.

Image: RJ. Scaringe is the company's founder

The talks with ministers are understood to be focused on a facility to manufacture Rivian vehicles, rather than the batteries used to power them, although insiders said that the negotiations were fluid and could yet shift towards a gigafactory.

Several companies are discussing building gigafactories in the UK, reportedly including the South Korean conglomerates LG and Samsung.

Boris Johnson has been briefed on the Rivian discussions and is said to be taking a keen interest in their progress, according to one industry executive.

The nature of a government subsidy package is not yet defined and it was unclear this weekend whether Rivian had yet to make any formal requests for funding or tax breaks from ministers.

Rivian is said to have identified Gravity, a 616-acre campus near Bristol, as one potential site for a new manufacturing plant.

Its existing factory is in Normal, Illinois - which it acquired from Mitsubishi Motors in 2017 - and last week the company confirmed that it was looking for another location in the US to build its vehicles.

The electric vehicle (EV) group is also reported to be preparing to launch an initial public offering in New York as soon as this year that would value it at as much as $70bn (£50.3bn).

That would make it far smaller in market value terms than Tesla, Elon Musk's EV company, which has a market value of $680bn (£489bn) and has seen its shares more than double during the last year.

Nevertheless, at a valuation north of $50bn, Rivian would be one of the world's largest publicly traded EV companies.

Its other shareholders include BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, the hedge fund Third Point and Dragoneer Investment Group, a prolific technology investor.

Rivian's biggest customer to date is Amazon, which has placed an order for 100,000 EV trucks, production of which is scheduled to start this year.

A decision on whether to proceed with a plant in the UK or on the Continent is expected in the next few months.

If it does move ahead in Britain, it would further confound predictions that the country's automotive sector was headed for terminal decline after Brexit.

Image: Customer deliveries of its R1T electric trucks, which will sell from $67,500 (£48,500), are due to begin in the autumn

Honda's decision to close its plant in Swindon, announced in 2019, was seen as a major blow to the industry, with Nissan warning that its future investment would be jeopardised if Britain left the trading bloc.

Recent developments involving both the Japanese carmaker and Stellantis have revived hopes of a brighter future for automotive manufacturing in the UK.

The government's decision to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 and hybrid vehicles by 2035 has accelerated the need for a huge shift in manufacturing capability.

There remain significant concerns, though, that the provision of EV charging infrastructure will fail to keep pace with demand.

A BEIS spokesperson said: "While we are working to attract inward investment into the UK to accelerate the growth of new industries, we cannot comment on speculation about individual investments."

Rivian declined to comment this weekend.

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2021-07-31 08:58:26Z
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Monzo bank in money laundering rules investigation - BBC News

Monzo

Digital bank Monzo is being investigated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over potential breaches of financial crime regulations, the bank has disclosed.

The financial watchdog sent letters to several retail banks including Monzo in May, warning of failings in their anti-money laundering controls.

Monzo said it is complying fully with the FCA's investigation.

This comes on the back of customer complaints Monzo received in 2020.

Hundreds of Monzo customers claimed they were left without access to money when their accounts were suddenly frozen during the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020, according to the Guardian.

In response to the Guardian investigation, the mobile app-based challenger bank unblocked a customer's account and apologised, saying "we don't always get this right".

However, it said that in 95% of cases, it had made the right decision in freezing accounts.

An FCA spokesman told the BBC that the financial watchdog was unable to comment on ongoing investigations.

• Monzo offers paid leave after pregnancy loss
• Monzo boss warned: 'Worst decision of your life'

"In May 2021, the FCA notified us that it had started an investigation into our compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, potential breaches of some of the FCA Principles for Businesses and related FCA rules for anti-money laundering and financial crime systems and controls between 1 October 2018 to 30 April 2021," Monzo said in its annual report.

The online bank said that the financial watchdog was "reviewing and investigating" its compliance with financial crime regulations, and that the investigation was still "at an early stage", meaning that it would take some time to be resolved.

"This could have a material negative impact on our financial position, but we won't know when or what the outcome will be for some time," Monzo added.

The challenger bank reported a 23% jump in new customers to 5 million, compared with 2020, while pre-tax losses rose 13% to £130m. It has yet to make a profit.

Freezing accounts

In 2019, a BBC Watchdog Live investigation revealed that Monzo had been freezing or closing bank accounts and leaving some people in financial difficulty for weeks.

At the time, Monzo said it was freezing accounts is because it believed there was suspicious activity occurring.

After being detected by algorithms, the bank said it aimed to have a human review the account within 10 minutes, no matter whether it was day or night.

Monzo said it had been able to "return millions of pounds to victims of fraud" using its processes, but the bank admitted that it could be frustrating as it was not legally permitted to inform customers or the press why accounts had been blocked.

Around the BBC

• BBC One - Watchdog - Monzo

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2021-07-30 20:50:16Z
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China to shut Taishan nuclear reactor after fuel damage - Financial Times

China is shutting down a nuclear reactor in the south of the country “for maintenance” following an investigation into a potential fuel-rod problem, after the French nuclear operator EDF publicly recommended its closure last week.

When a possible leak at the Taishan power station was reported last month, Chinese authorities ruled out any danger at the site, which is run by China General Nuclear Power Corp (CGN).

But in a statement on Friday, CGN said the nuclear plant had “decided to shut down Reactor No. 1 for maintenance, in order to find the cause of the damage affecting the fuel and to replace the damaged fuel”.

While there had been a small amount of fuel damage, it was within the allowable range and the reactor could have continued to operate safely, CGN said, adding that the decision was taken following “full communication between Chinese and French technicians”.

Both CGN and EDF, which holds a 30 per cent stake in the joint venture, had sought to play down the severity of the problem after CNN reported in June that there was a risk of a radiation leak. 

EDF said last week that it would have shut down the novel European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) if the facility had been in France “to accurately assess the situation in progress and stop its development”, although it said the decision was beyond its control. 

Taishan is the first nuclear plant in the world to operate an EPR, a Franco-German technology that for two decades has been beset by delays and cost overruns. The technology, which first began operating at Taishan, west of Hong Kong, in December 2018, has been designed to enhance power and safety.

CGN and EDF are also collaborating on an EPR nuclear plant in the UK, under construction at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

EDF said on Friday that it was taking note of CGN’s decision and that the company “remains mobilised to provide expertise in the shutting down of the reactor”. 

The French company said last week that it was unable to provide an estimate of how long it would take to resolve the problem at the reactor, and said it depended on the results of the analysis.

The French nuclear operator said last month that a build-up of noble, or inert, gases in the Taishan reactor’s primary water circuit seemed to have occurred because of issues with the casing around some fuel rods. The company has said that there is no danger of a leak from the facility and that the build-up of noble gases had been contained.

CNN reported last month that Framatome, an EDF unit, had informed the US government of a potential “imminent radiological threat to the [Taishan] site and to the public”, citing unspecified documents.

The network said that Joe Biden’s National Security Council was looking into the incident but that it did not believe it was yet at a “crisis level”.

Nuclear power, which accounts for about 5 per cent of total power generation in China, is at the heart of President Xi Jinping’s plans to tackle global warming, in which he has set out to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2060. 

Additional reporting by Primrose Riordan in Hong Kong

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2021-07-30 16:07:44Z
52781759708015

Watchdog shoots down Bezos’ spacecraft-bid protest, affirms NASA’s right to pick SpaceX for next lunar mission - RT

A US watchdog has denied a protest filed against NASA by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ space exploration company, Blue Origin, after the space agency chose Elon Musk’s SpaceX to build its next lunar lander.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) rejected Blue Origin’s protest on Friday, stating that NASA was within its rights to select a single company – SpaceX – to build its lander. NASA signed a contract worth almost $3 billion with SpaceX in April, after earlier saying it would take bids from multiple contractors.

The GAO also rejected a protest by defense contractor Dynetix, which also hoped to bid for the NASA contract. In a statement, the GAO said that NASA “reserved the right to make multiple awards, a single award, or no award at all.”

When NASA awarded the contract in April, it said that SpaceX bid was highly rated and represented “the best value to the government.” 

Bezos was undeterred, however, and earlier this week offered NASA $2 billion if the agency switched to Blue Origin’s bid. “Blue Origin will bridge [NASA’s] budgetary funding shortfall by waiving all payments in the current and next two government fiscal years up to $2bn to get the program back on track right now,” Bezos wrote to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. In return, Bezos wanted Blue Origin to get a fixed-priced contract for the construction of a spaceship for NASA’s moon mission, slated for roughly 2024.

In addition to offering a lower initial bid, SpaceX has experience working with NASA already, bringing three agency astronauts to the International Space Station last November. The historic flight marked the first time a commercially-developed rocket was used on an ISS mission.

Also on rt.com Jeff Bezos offers NASA $2 billion to get moon mission contract he lost to Elon Musk

Blue Origin has lost out to SpaceX in the bidding wars before. NASA leased a launch pad in Florida to Musk’s company in 2014, after the GAO rejected similar protests from Bezos’ firm. 

Bezos himself got a small taste of space exploration last week, taking a short trip into suborbital space aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket and capsule. The Amazon CEO and world’s richest person was “beaten,” however, by Virgin Galactic CEO Richard Branson, who a week earlier traveled to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere aboard his company’s Unity 22 spaceplane. However, Blue Origin took issue with Branson’s flight, claiming that as the Virgin tycoon hadn’t crossed the Karman Line (100km above sea level), he wasn’t technically in space.

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2021-07-30 17:49:00Z
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Amazon fined record $887 million over EU privacy violations - The Verge

Now that Amazon’s Q2 earnings are in, it has submitted a 10-Q filing with the SEC that includes additional details like this eye-popping note about a fine imposed by Luxembourg’s National Commission for Data Protection (CNPD) (via Bloomberg).

On July 16, 2021, the Luxembourg National Commission for Data Protection (the “CNPD”) issued a decision against Amazon Europe Core S.à r.l. claiming that Amazon’s processing of personal data did not comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation. The decision imposes a fine of €746 million and corresponding practice revisions. We believe the CNPD’s decision to be without merit and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter.

That converts to about $887 million US, which would be the largest fine ever under Europe’s data protection law. The CNPD has not publicly committed on its decision, and Amazon didn’t specify what revised business practices the commission is proposing.

EU commissioners announced in November 2020 that it was their belief Amazon’s retail business misused non-public data to compete with other sellers in France and Germany.

In a statement given to The Wall Street Journal, Amazon says, “the proposed fine is entirely out of proportion with even that interpretation.” The WSJ notes that GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) regulations allow for fines of up to 4 percent of a company’s revenue, with the released number amounting to about 4.2 percent of Amazon’s reported $21.3 billion income for 2020.

Amazon:

Maintaining the security of our customers’ information and their trust are top priorities. There has been no data breach, and no customer data has been exposed to any third party. These facts are undisputed. We strongly disagree with the CNPD’s ruling, and we intend to appeal. The decision relating to how we show customers relevant advertising relies on subjective and untested interpretations of European privacy law, and the proposed fine is entirely out of proportion with even that interpretation.

Update July 30th, 9:35AM ET: Updated to clarify that the Luxembourg commission is imposing the fine, and to add a statement from Amazon.

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2021-07-30 13:07:50Z
52781762512852

Amazon's online sales growth slows as lockdowns ease - Financial Times

The loosening of lockdown restrictions around the world meant Amazon’s customers were increasingly “doing things besides shopping”, the ecommerce company said, as it posted weaker than expected sales for the year’s second quarter.

Dragging Amazon’s top line was its core online store business, which grew 15 per cent, the slowest rate since 2019, despite it bringing forward its flagship Prime Day sales event to June.

Brian Olsavsky, Amazon’s chief financial officer, told reporters the deceleration was “essentially a combination of lapping last year’s Covid strength”, when demand for online shopping surged to record levels.

Vaccinated communities with loosened lockdown rules meant it was “seeing among our customers in especially United States and Europe, people are getting out more doing other things besides shopping”, he added, noting spending by customers with Prime memberships had “moderated”.

Amazon’s cloud computing division, AWS, continued to perform strongly, as companies accelerated plans to move to the cloud. The segment posted $14.8bn in revenue in the second quarter, compared to $10.8bn in the same period last year — the second straight quarter of above 30 per cent growth.

Overall revenues increased 27 per cent from last year to $113bn, falling short of forecasts for about $115bn, according to consensus data from FactSet. Profit rose 50 per cent compared to the same period last year, to $7.8bn.

Amazon also forecast its profits would fall in the current quarter when compared to the same period last year, and predicted operating income for July through September would be between $2.5bn and $6bn, compared with $6.2bn a year ago.

The company’s “other” business, which primarily consists of its nascent advertising efforts, continued to post strong growth. Revenue for the segment surged by 88 per cent compared to the same period last year to $7.9bn, a time when companies pulled back advertising budgets as the pandemic took hold.

The earnings mark Amazon’s final quarter under the stewardship of founder Jeff Bezos, who stepped aside as chief executive at the beginning of the month on the 25-year anniversary of the company’s founding. He was replaced by Andy Jassy, formerly chief executive of AWS.

The shares fell about 7 per cent in after-hours trading. The company had been trading up by just over 12 per cent since the beginning of the year.

“Over the past 18 months, our consumer business has been called on to deliver an unprecedented number of items, including PPE, food, and other products that helped communities around the world cope with the difficult circumstances of the pandemic,” Jassy said in a statement.

“At the same time, AWS has helped so many businesses and governments maintain business continuity, and we’ve seen AWS growth reaccelerate as more companies bring forward plans to transform their businesses and move to the cloud.”

The company said it had incurred $1.5bn in costs directly related to dealing with Covid-19, such as distancing measures at its warehouses. It brings the total cost since the start of the pandemic to approximately $15bn.

Olsavsky said Amazon would not follow other tech groups, such as Google and Facebook, in mandating vaccines among its staff. He said its plan to return to offices in September still stood.

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2021-07-29 22:17:37Z
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Amazon shares fall as revenue misses Wall Street target - Financial Times

The loosening of lockdown restrictions around the world meant Amazon’s customers were increasingly “doing things besides shopping”, the ecommerce company said, as it posted weaker than expected sales for the year’s second quarter.

Dragging Amazon’s top line was its core online store business, which grew 15 per cent, the slowest rate since 2019, despite it bringing forward its flagship Prime Day sales event to June.

Brian Olsavsky, Amazon’s chief financial officer, told reporters the deceleration was “essentially a combination of lapping last year’s Covid strength”, when demand for online shopping surged to record levels.

Vaccinated communities with loosened lockdown rules meant it was “seeing among our customers in especially United States and Europe, people are getting out more doing other things besides shopping”, he added, noting spending by customers with Prime memberships had “moderated”.

Amazon’s cloud computing division, AWS, continued to perform strongly, as companies accelerated plans to move to the cloud. The segment posted $14.8bn in revenue in the second quarter, compared to $10.8bn in the same period last year — the second straight quarter of above 30 per cent growth.

Overall revenues increased 27 per cent from last year to $113bn, falling short of forecasts for about $115bn, according to consensus data from FactSet. Profit rose 50 per cent compared to the same period last year, to $7.8bn.

Amazon also forecast its profits would fall in the current quarter when compared to the same period last year, and predicted operating income for July through September would be between $2.5bn and $6bn, compared with $6.2bn a year ago.

The company’s “other” business, which primarily consists of its nascent advertising efforts, continued to post strong growth. Revenue for the segment surged by 88 per cent compared to the same period last year to $7.9bn, a time when companies pulled back advertising budgets as the pandemic took hold.

The earnings mark Amazon’s final quarter under the stewardship of founder Jeff Bezos, who stepped aside as chief executive at the beginning of the month on the 25-year anniversary of the company’s founding. He was replaced by Andy Jassy, formerly chief executive of AWS.

The shares fell about 7 per cent in after-hours trading. The company had been trading up by just over 12 per cent since the beginning of the year.

“Over the past 18 months, our consumer business has been called on to deliver an unprecedented number of items, including PPE, food, and other products that helped communities around the world cope with the difficult circumstances of the pandemic,” Jassy said in a statement.

“At the same time, AWS has helped so many businesses and governments maintain business continuity, and we’ve seen AWS growth reaccelerate as more companies bring forward plans to transform their businesses and move to the cloud.”

The company said it had incurred $1.5bn in costs directly related to dealing with Covid-19, such as distancing measures at its warehouses. It brings the total cost since the start of the pandemic to approximately $15bn.

Olsavsky said Amazon would not follow other tech groups, such as Google and Facebook, in mandating vaccines among its staff. He said its plan to return to offices in September still stood.

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2021-07-29 20:36:56Z
CAIiEB58PM-NzL5KytBKfeZDmM0qGAgEKg8IACoHCAow-4fWBzD4z0gw_fCpBg

Shell boosts dividend and launches buybacks as profit soars - Reuters UK

• Profits surge to $5.5 bln, highest since late 2018
• Shell boosts dividend by 38%
• Launches $2 billion share buyback

LONDON, July 29 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) boosted its dividend and launched a $2 billion share buyback programme on Thursday after a sharp rise in oil and gas prices drove second quarter profits to their highest in more than two years.

As profits across the industry recovered from last year's pandemic-led collapse in energy demand, peers TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) and Norway's Equinor (EQNR.OL) also announced share buybacks. read more

Shell's London-traded shares rose by over 3.5% by 0850 GMT, outperforming peers BP (BP.L) and TotalEnergies.

"We are stepping up our shareholder distributions today, increasing dividends and starting share buybacks, while we continue to invest for the future of energy," Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said in a statement.

Adjusted earnings rose to $5.53 billion, the highest since the fourth quarter of 2018, exceeding an average analyst forecast provided by the company for a $5.07 billion profit.

That compares with earnings of $638 million a year earlier.

Apart from higher fuel prices, stronger profits from Shell's marketing division, which houses the world's biggest network of petrol stations, also boosted the results as sales of coffee and snacks jumped.

Shell Chief Financial Officer Jessica Uhl said that global fuel demand was at 90% to 100% of its pre-pandemic levels, but consumption of aviation fuel remained weak.

A logo of Royal Dutch Shell is seen at Gastech, in Chiba, Japan, April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo

DIVIDEND INCREASE

Shell increased its dividend for a second consecutive quarter by 38% to 24 cents, a year after it cut its dividend for the first time since the 1940s in response to the collapse in energy demand caused by the pandemic. read more

The company also launched a $2 billion share buyback programme that it aims to complete by the end of the year.

Shell said earlier this month that it will boost its distribution to shareholders via share buybacks or dividends to 20% to 30% of cash flow from operations beginning in the second quarter, earlier than expected. read more

"We knew Shell was set to raise distributions today but the scale of the increase is significantly above expectations," Redburn analyst Stuart Joyner said in a note.

Free cashflow, a metric of the company's performance following deep cost cuts last year, rose in the quarter to $9.7 billion, its highest since the first quarter of 2020.

The strong results provide relief for Shell, which faces mounting pressure over its strategy to tackle climate change after a Dutch court in May ordered the company to significantly accelerate its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. read more

Shell said it will appeal the court ruling, but at the same time it aims to accelerate its plan to cut emissions following a strategy overhaul announced last year to build a large low-carbon business. read more

Shell said it will maintain its 2021 capital spending at below $22 billion. Any future increases will go mostly towards low-carbon and retail businesses, van Beurden said.

Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Edmund Blair and Barbara Lewis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2021-07-29 15:59:00Z
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Nearly 35,000 workers in Scotland removed from furlough scheme - BBC News

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Nearly 35,000 people in Scotland were removed from the UK government's furlough programme in June, official HMRC figures show.

A total of 141,500 remained on the job retention scheme - which was down from 175,300 at the end of May.

Furlough will be wound down further from Sunday as the UK government asks employers to make a bigger contribution to the wage support scheme.

The Treasury said 900,000 Scots were furloughed through the pandemic.

It added that more than 90,000 businesses had received loans and £1.535bn had been paid in self-employment support.

• What impact has the furlough scheme had?
• How many people are on furlough and what has it cost?

Across the UK, an estimated 1.3 million people were on the scheme at the beginning of July, down from a peak of 5.1 million at the height of lockdown in January.

The scheme has been extended several times but will end on 30 September.

It is credited with stopping a spike in unemployment and some fear jobs will be lost when it ends.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said "thanks to the strength of the Union" and the vaccination rollout, the economy was "rebounding faster than expected".

Mr Sunak, who is on a two-day visit to Scotland, added "It's vital this continues, and Scotland's innovation and ingenuity will be key in creating jobs, powering our growth and driving a green recovery."

However, the SNP has called on the Chancellor to apologise for "prematurely withdrawing furlough and risking thousands of unnecessary redundancies".

The top five industry groups with the highest rates of jobs being put on furlough at 31 May 2021:

• Air passenger transport (57%)
• Hotels and similar accommodation (57%)
• Travel agency and tour operator activities (51%)
• Photographic activities (43%)
• Beverage serving activities (43%)

Source: ONS

The furlough scheme, drawn up after talks with business groups and union leaders, has cost UK taxpayers almost £50bn to date, arousing fears taxes will have to rise to pay for it.

Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), known as furlough, staff receive 80% of their current salary, capped at £2,500 per month.

'It's just a waiting game for workers'

Barry McCluskey has been on furlough from his job as an operations co-ordinator in the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow for nearly 18 months.

He told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme he has been given no confirmation about when he will return to work - and believes the furlough scheme must be extended.

Mr McCluskey said: "I know some football stadiums have reopened with smaller capacities, but I don't think that's financially viable for smaller venues like the Royal Concert Hall. It only holds 2,500 people.

"If you take staff into consideration and the cost of trying to run a gig, you really need a full audience to make it financially feasible for the company. As it stands, I have had no confirmation about when I go back to work. So it's just a waiting game at the minute.

"I totally believe that, especially for the arts and music industries, the furlough scheme should be extended until we can have full venues.

Barry says his long period on furlough has been made "a wee bit more difficult" because he is registered blind.

He explained: "At the start of the pandemic it was very difficult because, when I was going outside, I didn't know how far I was away from people regarding the two-metre distancing. Plus, stuff like touching surfaces and holding on to handrails while going up and down stairs.

"After I had my vaccines, I became a bit more confident that I'm protected a bit more. "

The UK government has largely footed the bill for furloughed workers, but since 1 July employers have been asked to contribute 10% towards the wages of furloughed workers for hours their staff do not work.

That amount will rise to to 20% in August and September.

It will make the scheme less appealing to employers, although firms are relying on it less as the economy reopens.

The SNP's Treasury spokesperson, Alison Thewliss, criticised the winding down of the scheme, as well as its timing.

She said: "I would urge Rishi Sunak to explain to the people of Scotland why he is short-changing us on youth jobs, and ploughing ahead with Universal Credit cuts that will undermine the Scottish Child Payment and plunge half a million people into poverty, when at the same time he can find £250million for a UK government yacht."

The Scottish Chambers of Commerce has called for a halt to the "tapering" of the furlough scheme until all Covid restrictions are lifted.

Spokesman John Erskine said: "There are huge sections of our economy and thousands of employees across Scotland who are still unable to return to work.

"The doubling of furlough contribution for employers at this time is not the right thing to do and that's what is going to put those jobs at risk."

Are you currently on furlough? Are you an employer with staff on furlough? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:

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Related Internet Links

• Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme statistics- 1 July 2021 - GOV.UK

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2021-07-29 11:55:11Z
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Shell raises dividend and launches share buybacks after oil prices jump - Financial Times

Royal Dutch Shell has raised its dividend almost 40 per cent and launched a $2bn share buyback scheme, as the energy major takes advantage of stronger energy prices to try to attract back investors.

Thursday’s moves, which came as the group reported a jump in second-quarter earnings helped by oil’s recovery above $70 a barrel, were more aggressive than analysts had anticipated and show the pressure on energy majors to resurrect flagging share prices.

France’s TotalEnergies also reported strong results on Thursday with its highest half-year earnings in five years, and will use some of its cash flow for share buybacks.

Investors remain wary of a sector that has been hard hit by two price slumps since 2015 while facing the long-term challenge of a possible peak in oil demand and increasing government action to tackle climate change.

Shell’s shares rose 3.5 per cent on Thursday but remain more than 40 per cent down from where they were two years ago, when oil prices were marginally lower. The company had said in April the dividend would probably remain unchanged for the rest of 2021 after raising it slightly at its previous earning report.

“There is an element of confidence in raising the dividend,” said Ben van Beurden, chief executive. “We felt that our dividend needed to be reset [as] the gap between our dividend payout and free cash flow was simply too large. We wanted to signal to the market the confidence we have in our prospects and cash flows by making it permanent.”

Analysts said the focus on returning cash was an effort to demonstrate that the energy majors remain huge generators of free cash flow when energy prices are strong, with the ability to bolster payouts to yield-hungry investors.

“Shell’s stepping up distributions is extremely positive,” said Biraj Borkhataria at RBC Capital Markets.

Shell’s dividend will rise to 24 cents a share from the second quarter, although it remains well below its pre-pandemic level. Last year the company slashed it by two-thirds to 16 cents, the first reduction since the second world war, as pandemic-induced lockdowns hit energy demand and pushed oil prices below $20 a barrel.

The policy of increasing dividends 4 per cent a year “remains unchanged”, the company said.

The buybacks were more widely anticipated, with investors keen to see energy companies returning cash rather than raising investment. Many had predicted, however, that the buyback would be closer to $1.5bn. Shell said it would keep holding capital expenditure below $22bn for the year. 

Oil and gas majors in Europe are trying to balance investor demand for higher returns and pressure to adjust their business models to align with climate goals.

Van Beurden said he was increasingly confident oil prices would remain strong in the medium term, partly resulting from under-investment in the sector, but indicated any increases to planned capital expenditure would be weighted towards the company’s strategy of boosting cleaner fuels such as hydrogen.

In the second quarter, Shell reported adjusted net profit of $5.5bn, slightly ahead of analyst expectations of $5bn and up from $3.2bn in the first quarter. Cash flow from operations, excluding working capital movements, hit $14.2bn in the second quarter, exceeding analyst expectations for $12.1bn.

Total’s adjusted net income rose 15 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $3.5bn.

The energy majors are also using higher oil prices to deleverage. Shell’s net debt fell to $65.7bn from $71.3bn in the previous quarter, nearing its target of reaching $65bn before increasing shareholder distributions. The company said it was “retiring” the $65bn “milestone” and would instead target “AA credit metrics through the cycle”.

Brent, the international crude oil benchmark, traded near $75 a barrel this month compared with $45 a barrel at the start of the year, while gas prices have soared globally because of tight supplies.

“There are going to be a few quarters of tight [oil] markets,” van Beurden said.

However, Shell’s chief financial officer Jessica Uhl said she believed the dividend would be “resilient” even if oil prices fall back. “We’re not betting on the current price to always be the case,” she said.

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2021-07-29 07:03:07Z
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