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Sabtu, 30 April 2022

Britain's best and worst seaside destinations for 2022 revealed by Which? with Bamburgh named No.1 - Daily Mail

Britain’s best and worst seaside destinations for 2022 revealed in new Which? ranking, with 'beautiful' Bamburgh No.1 again (and Skegness bottom... again)

UK holidaymakers rate coastal resorts on factors including value for money, peace and quiet, and scenery
Bamburgh in Northumberland is commended for its 'spectacular' sandy beach and 'imposing' castle
Folkestone in Kent is revealed as the cheapest destination, with visitors paying an average of £63 per night

Published: 00:01 BST, 30 April 2022 | Updated: 07:21 BST, 30 April 2022

Britain’s best - and worst - seaside destinations for 2022 have been ranked in Which?’s annual survey, and it’s a tiny village in Northumberland that has taken the top spot once more.

The consumer champion asked thousands of holidaymakers to rate coastal resorts they have visited across a range of categories including quality of beaches, seafront, tourist attractions, food and drink, scenery, peace and quiet and value for money.

Bamburgh, with a population of a little over 400, tops the charts for the second year in a row with an overall destination score of 87 per cent, followed by second-place Llandudno, Wales, and Scotland’s St. Andrews in third place. Skegness and Bognor Regis, meanwhile, tie for last place.

Bamburgh, with a population of a little over 400, has been named Britain’s best seaside destination in Which?’s annual survey. Above is the 'imposing' Bamburgh Castle overlooking the beach

Tables by Which? show the ranking of coastal towns and villages across Britain. The consumer champion asked thousands of holidaymakers to rate coastal resorts they have visited across a range of categories

According to Which? first-place Bamburgh proves ‘unbeatable once again for its sheer beauty’, with its sweeping sandy beach overlooked by clifftop Bamburgh Castle described as ‘spectacular’ and ‘imposing’ by respondents.

Wales has three of the top six seaside towns, with second-place Llandudno earning a score of 86 per cent.

The town’s biggest draw is the Great Orme, a limestone headland which rises to nearly 700ft (213m) and boasts ‘incomparable’ views, according to Which?

It notes that active visitors enjoy lacing up their walking boots and hiking to the summit, while others opt to take the tram or open-sided cable car.

Wales has three of the top six seaside towns, with second-place Llandudno (pictured above) earning a score of 86 per cent

Third-place St Andrews is the highest-ranked Scottish seaside destination with an 84 per cent score. Above is St Andrews Castle

On top of that, Llandudno has twin West and North Shore beaches and reasonably priced hotels - £95 a night on average, proving that for popular locations there’s no need to break the bank, Which? notes.

Third-place St Andrews is the highest-ranked Scottish seaside destination in the survey of more than 4,300 travellers, with a score of 84 per cent.

The city heaves with history, hosting Scotland’s oldest university, a world-famous golf course and a network of medieval streets to explore, Which? points out.

Dartmouth (pictured) - scoring five stars in the seafront category - ranks joint fourth with a score of 83 per cent

Tenby, which ties in fourth place, has a selection of five-star beaches, from the golden sweep of North Beach, peppered with rock pools and windbreaks, to Castle Beach (pictured) tucked into a cove

WHICH? REVEALS BUDGET-FRIENDLY SEASIDE RESORTS WITH HOTELS UNDER £100

Filey, North Yorkshire

Overall score: 81%

Average hotel price per night: £98

Lynmouth, Devon

Overall score: 80%

Average hotel price per night: £100

Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland

Overall score: 75%

Average hotel price per night: £88

Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear

Overall score: 73%

Average hotel price per night: £78

Scarborough, North Yorkshire

Overall score: 71%

Average hotel price per night: £85

It’s one of three places that score five stars for food and drink - alongside Padstow (64 per cent) and Lytham St Annes (79 per cent) - thanks to its variety of cafes and food shops. Visitors say that St Andrews ‘oozes golf’ while praising the university city’s ‘youthful vibe’, quaint streets and historical sites, a testament to its winning blend of sport, culture, sand and sea, according to Which?

In joint fourth place, it's Devon's Dartmouth and Tenby in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, with both earning scores of 83 per cent.

Which? says that Dartmouth has proven ‘it doesn’t need a sprawling beach to attract visitors to the water’ after scoring five stars in the seafront category.

As for Tenby, the consumer champion says that the town has a parade of pastel-coloured Georgian houses and a selection of five-star beaches, from the golden sweep of North Beach, peppered with rock pools and windbreaks, to Castle Beach tucked into a cove and the smaller Harbour Beach.

At the other end of the table, Southend-on-Sea (51 per cent), Great Yarmouth (51 per cent) and Burnham-on-Sea (51 per cent) join Skegness (49 per cent) and Bognor Regis (49 per cent) to make up the bottom five.

Commenting on Skegness - which also landed at the bottom of the table in 2021 - Which? says that despite its low ranking, holidaymakers do have highlights to share from their trips there.

Many recommend the Natureland seal sanctuary, with one visitor calling it ‘the sort of thing you expect to see on a David Attenborough programme’. Gibraltar Point nature reserve and a ‘very welcoming population’, nostalgic attractions and amusement rides for children make Skegness a ‘proper’ British seaside resort in the eyes of some respondents.

And Bognor Regis similarly receives praise from those surveyed. Which? reveals that visitors to Bognor Regis find a ‘charming’ town with the best climate on the south coast. Holidaymakers recommend visiting the peaceful Pagham Harbour nature reserve and Hotham Park – a ‘little gem’ – while the flat promenade is praised for being accommodating to visitors with limited mobility.

According to Which? the results shine a spotlight on the ‘sheer quality’ of Britain’s coastline: 51 destinations score an impressive 70 per cent overall or higher.

This includes Folkestone in Kent which is the cheapest seaside destination at £63 per night. Its destination score of 72 per cent makes it an appealing choice for travellers whose holiday budgets are tighter than usual this year due to the cost of living crisis, Which? reveals.

With a score of 49 per cent, Skegness finishes joint last. However, Which? says that despite its low ranking, holidaymakers do have highlights to share from their trips to the Lincolnshire town

Which? reveals that visitors to Bognor Regis (pictured) find a ‘charming’ town with the best climate on the south coast. However, it finishes joint last overall

Above is the harbour in Folkestone, Kent, named the cheapest seaside destination overall at £63 per night

Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, says: ‘The British seaside hasn’t boomed like this since the 1960s. Holidaymakers had such a fantastic time in their caravans, tents and beach lodges over the past two years that a coastal break on home shores is on the cards for many, even with restrictions on overseas travel lifted.

‘Prices for a UK stay have increased, but there’s no need to pay over the odds. For a holiday on a budget, it’s best to aim for an off-season trip. Head to one of the many well-priced resorts with your bucket and spade, an empty stomach for the candyfloss and a pile of 2p coins and go make your fortune on the slots.’

Which? explains that it only reported on the towns that achieved a minimum sample size, which 'unfortunately, that meant no destinations from Northern Ireland are included'.

For more information visit www.which.co.uk.

IN DEFENCE OF LOW-RANKING GREAT YARMOUTH AND WESTON-SUPER-MARE

By Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel

Both sit near the bottom of our table, alongside a string of other seaside resort towns such as Bognor and Skegness. Many of my childhood holidays were spent hunting for the sea across the mudflats of Weston or misspent in the arcades of Great Yarmouth. I loved them for all the reasons many people, myself included, still love them now. It’s a seaside break on a budget with cheap accommodation, and penny slots and candyfloss providing entertainment for pocket change.

But that’s not to ignore their problems. It’s no secret that big seaside resort towns have struggled with the decline of tourism. I know from my own recent visits that some feel rundown, a reflection of the lack of money and investment they’ve had for so long. While the one-star rating some towns received for peace and quiet and the comments some of you sent in reflects that the all-day drinking culture that’s boisterous to some, feels unsafe to many. This is reflected in their poor ratings in our survey.

There is hope. I have been to Clacton, Southend and Weston in recent years and things are on the up. A lick of new paint here, a renovated grand hotel there and the confidence that comes with an influx of new visitors during the pandemic.

The basics are certainly in place. Many resorts have some of the best stretches of beach in the country as well as theatres, arcades and mini funfairs for kids.

If you haven’t been to a British seaside resort in a while, it might be worth revisiting – pack your bucket and spade, an empty stomach for the candyfloss and a pile of 2p coins to make your fortune on the slots.

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2022-04-29 23:01:46Z
1407498937

Jumat, 29 April 2022

What does Elon Musk's Twitter deal mean for Tesla? - Financial Times

The day Elon Musk landed his $44bn Twitter coup, the Tesla chief executive flew to Boca Chica in Texas, not to relax on the sandy beach but to attend his regular 10pm meeting at SpaceX, the rocket business that he also heads.

The billionaire, who also oversees tunnelling enterprise Boring and brain chip venture Neuralink, will have his multitasking abilities put to the test when Twitter becomes the latest spinning plate in an already precarious collection.

The question for shareholders in Tesla, still the only direct publicly listed avenue for investors wanting exposure to Musk, is to what extent his latest curiosity will distract him.

“I’ve learnt that it’s wrong to underestimate his extraordinary energy and bandwidth,” said James Anderson, a portfolio manager at Baillie Gifford, one of the carmaker’s earliest investors and a top 10 shareholder. “What we are hearing suggests that [Tesla] is running so well that Musk isn’t or doesn’t need to be involved day-to-day.”

Once a struggling start-up that fumbled efforts to mass produce its cars, the business has matured almost beyond recognition.

In the past two years alone, Tesla has opened its Shanghai factory, a facility in Berlin built in record time and its new Texas plant, where the ribbon was cut this month at a rodeo-themed party hosted by Musk.

The brand turned a profit of $5bn in the first quarter and is on track to sell 2mn vehicles this year. It harbours an ambitious goal to raise this to 20mn sales a year by 2030, which would make it larger than Toyota and Volkswagen combined.

“Does he need to be as involved? Probably not as much as a year ago, and totally not as much as two to three years ago,” said Gary Black, managing partner at The Future Fund and one of the many investors that use Twitter as a platform to lay out the Tesla bull case. “If there was going to be a time for him to do Twitter, it’s now.”

Musk manages his time with a forensic level of detail, according to several people who have worked for him. His timetable used to include Monday and Tuesday at SpaceX, Wednesday and Thursday at Tesla, and Friday spent in product review at both companies, hopping between locations on his private jet while juggling emails.

“He was very disciplined about that rhythm — impressively so,” said one former Tesla executive who reported directly to Musk, adding that his schedule on days he was not travelling internationally was “cast in stone”.

At one point, he split his working day into five-minute slots to maximise his output, and regularly puts in days that can run towards 20 hours.

“I am no more worried about Twitter being a distraction from Tesla than I am about Tesla being a distraction from SpaceX,” said one top 20 shareholder.

Yet Musk will inevitably need to rely on a host of deputies at his operations. At SpaceX he has Gwynne Shotwell, the long-serving chief operating officer, while Drew Baglino at Tesla is the most senior executive after Musk and finance chief Zach Kirkhorn. It is not yet clear how involved Musk intends to be in Twitter’s day-to-day management.

Gwynne Shotwell and Bob Behnken — SpaceX’s chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell with Nasa astronaut Bob Behnken at the SpaceX headquarters in California in 2018 © Patrick T Fallon/Bloomberg

A second former Tesla executive who reported to Musk said the chief executive typically spread responsibility around the carmaker’s managers rather than relying on a single traditional operations chief as he did at SpaceX. “It’s just the way he operates,” the ex-director added.

One potential issue may be the time implications of an additional location. “He now has so many more points on the map he has to go to,” said the first former Tesla executive.

Twitter is based in San Francisco, while SpaceX has an office outside Los Angeles and a launch base on the Texan coastline. Tesla, once confined to its Fremont plant and a Nevada battery factory, now has the Texas, German and Chinese plants also demanding Musk’s attention.

“He loves to travel [from] place to place to all the factory floors and be in engineering meetings,” said Walter Isaacson, who is writing a biography of the entrepreneur. “But he does some meetings these days virtually.”

Musk will have to keep one eye on the Tesla share price. His stock in the carmaker forms part of the complex, hastily assembled funding for the Twitter deal.

Musk has pledged $12.5bn from a loan secured against his Tesla shares as part of a package that also includes $13bn of debt from banks and $21bn in cash.

The day after the Twitter deal was announced, Tesla shares fell 12 per cent, wiping more than $125bn off the carmaker’s value, over fears Musk would have to sell stock to stump up the remaining cash needed for the buyout.

Further falls would increase the number of shares he has to ringfence as collateral on the deal.

“It’s dawning on people that if he has to leverage up some more to buy Twitter, what happens if Tesla shares have further to fall?” said Jim Chanos, the hedge fund billionaire and renowned short-seller who has a longstanding bet against the carmaker.

“There’s no room for error in Tesla’s valuation, he has to keep executing. He has to keep growing at 40-50 per cent a year with 30 per cent gross margins,” Chanos said.

Black said Musk’s “incentive now is to keep Tesla’s stock price as high as he can”. He expects the company to announce a share split to buoy the price, and push for a higher credit rating to reduce interest payments.

Although there are few business overlaps — Tesla eschews traditional advertising — analysts and investors warn that Musk’s Twitter ownership still has the potential to hurt the carmaker.

“There’s a big reputational risk from a mishap . . . if Musk gets a negative image and that transfers on to Tesla for a while,” said Philippe Houchois, a car industry analyst at Jefferies who believes it is inevitable that Musk will “upset people”.

Cars at Tesla’s Fremont factory — Tesla shares fell 12% a day after the Twitter deal was announced © Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

In the days since the deal, Musk has fired off several humorous missives, including one saying his next move would be “buying Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in”.

But he has also targeted individuals, with posts including a meme featuring Twitter’s legal head Vijaya Gadde and a promise to upset one in five users on the most extreme ends of the political spectrum in the name of balance.

One suggestion that has swirled since the deal is that China, which has banned the social media platform, may be able to lean on Tesla, which makes roughly half its cars in the country, to influence rules at Twitter. China’s foreign ministry has dismissed the idea.

Ultimately, even the company’s harshest critics admit the impact on Tesla’s shares, which have soared far higher than the business’s improving fortunes, may be muted.

“Tesla shareholders are very forgiving,” said Chanos. “They may just shrug their shoulders and say, ‘if anyone can do it, Elon Musk can do it,’ and continue to give him the benefit of the doubt.”

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2022-04-29 09:25:11Z
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Kamis, 28 April 2022

UK launches post-Brexit shake-up of insurance rules - Financial Times

Rishi Sunak, UK chancellor, has launched a consultation on radically changing the rules governing insurance companies, with the aim of allowing them to invest tens of billions of pounds more in infrastructure — including green energy.

The government argues that reform of the EU’s Solvency II rules — and their replacement with a British regulatory regime — could unleash what prime minister Boris Johnson has called an “investment big bang”.

The Treasury’s consultation on changes to the Solvency II regime, announced on Thursday, has been eagerly awaited by industry as the first big break between UK and EU financial rules since Brexit.

Solvency II, a 1,000-page piece of EU legislation, has long been seen as too burdensome by UK insurance companies. But the prospect of watering down the regime has prompted warnings that it could create risks for insurance policyholders.

The first big proposed adjustment would mean easing solvency requirements by reducing the so-called risk margin, an extra capital buffer that companies must hold, by 60-70 per cent for life insurers.

The second would be to reform what is known as the “matching adjustment” — which allows insurers to reduce their long-term liabilities if they invest in certain “matching” assets — to allow long-term projects, such as offshore wind, to be included in these portfolios.

The third reform is intended to cut reporting and other administrative burdens on companies, including doubling the thresholds at which insurers are included within the solvency regime.

The combination of the reforms would allow life insurers, who particularly benefit from the changes, to redeploy as much as 15 per cent of the overall capital they currently set aside, the government said. That would equate to about £18bn based on data from the end of 2020.

John Glen, City minister, said the reforms could unlock tens of billions of pounds for long-term investments. “I am confident that these reforms will help maintain and grow the insurance sector whilst ensuring both a very high standard of policyholder protection and the safety and soundness of UK insurers,” he said.

Shares in life insurers Legal & General and Aviva rose 1.7 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively, by late afternoon trading, against a 0.8 per cent rise in the blue-chip FTSE 100 index.

The Prudential Regulation Authority, which issued its own documents on Thursday outlining its position, said that while the reforms “would involve an increase in the risk of insurer failure compared to the current position”, the capital requirements could be eased without threatening the robustness of insurers’ balance sheets.

The PRA said a combination of reforms that included other changes to the matching adjustment to better reflect credit risks would ensure that the overall package was “within the PRA’s risk appetite and should continue to advance its statutory objectives”.

The Association of British Insurers, a trade body, said it would consider the proposals in more detail “to ensure what is being proposed meets the common objectives” of the sector and the government.

Its director of regulation, Charlotte Clark, said that “only meaningful reform can enable our industry to provide much needed investment in green infrastructure, particularly at a time when energy security is increasingly vital”.

“Insurers will want to study the details of the proposals carefully,” said consultancy KPMG’s insurance director Matthew Francis, highlighting how changes to the calculation of the matching adjustment “partially offset” gains from the reduced risk margin.

The PRA said that the freed-up capital under the suggested package of changes, if not returned to shareholders, could enable insurers to do between £45bn and £90bn worth of new business.

Consumer campaigners have previously raised concerns about the Solvency II changes. In February, Mick McAteer, a former UK regulator who is now co-director of the Financial Inclusion Centre think-tank, warned that the reform could weaken consumer protections while providing a windfall for shareholders.

In September, Brussels unveiled its own proposals for changing Solvency II, which it said would deliver a short-term capital boost of up to €90bn for European insurers. This triggered concerns in Whitehall that the EU was moving faster than the UK.

FTSE 100 life insurer Phoenix Group said in December that with the right regulatory and policy changes, it could invest up to £40bn to £50bn in illiquid and sustainable assets.

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2022-04-28 14:22:17Z
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Barclays beats expectations but suspends buybacks after U.S. trading blunder - CNBC

A branch of Barclays Bank is seen, in London, Britain, February 23, 2022.

Peter Nicholls | Reuters

LONDON — Barclays on Thursday said it had suspended its planned share buyback program on the back of a costly trading error in the U.S.

It comes as it reported expectation-beating profit for the first quarter, as strong investment banking performance helped drive income growth.

The British bank announced last month that it had sold $15.2 billion more in U.S. investment products — known as "structured notes" — than it was permitted to. Barclays said Thursday that it had postponed its share buyback program indefinitely and set aside a provision of £540 million as a result of the issue, which is currently being investigated by U.S. regulators. The bank had originally said it expected a hit of £450 million.

"Barclays believes that it is prudent to delay the commencement of the buyback programme until those discussions [with the SEC] have been concluded," the bank said in its earnings release Thursday.

"Barclays remains committed to the share buyback programme and the intention would be to launch it as soon as practicable following resolution of filing requirements being reached with the SEC and the appropriate 20-F filings having been made."

Earnings

Barclays reported first-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders of £1.4 billion ($1.76 billion), above analyst expectations of £644 million, according to Refinitiv data. It marks an 18% decline from the first quarter of 2021, when net profit came in at £1.7 billion.

Group income rose 10% year-on-year to £6.5 billion, driven by strong corporate and investment banking earnings during a spike market volatility.

"Our income growth was driven partly by Global Markets, which has been helping clients navigate ongoing market volatility caused by geopolitical and economic challenges including the devastating war in Ukraine, and by the impact of higher interest rates in the US and UK," CEO C. S. Venkatakrishnan said in a release accompanying the results.

Other highlights for the quarter:

Total operating expenses increased to £4.11 billion, up from £3.58 billion in the first quarter of 2021, due to the rise in litigation and conduct charges resulting from the U.S. trading error.
CET1 ratio, a measure of bank solvency, came in at 13.8%, down from 15.1% in the final quarter of 2021.
Return on tangible equity hi 11.5%, down from 14.7% in the same quarter of last year, and the bank said it will continue to target RoTE of more than 10%.

The results come after a turbulent end to 2021, with long-time CEO Jes Staley resigning in November following an investigation by regulators into his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. He was replaced by Venkatakrishnan.

Shares are down by nearly 22% so far this year amid wider concerns over interest rates, inflation and a slowdown in growth.

This is a breaking news story, please check back later for more.

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2022-04-28 06:15:42Z
1394780232

Rabu, 27 April 2022

Elon Musk loses bid to escape SEC deal over tweet saying 'funding secured' for Tesla - Financial Times

A federal judge rejected Elon Musk’s request to quash a 2018 agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over his claim he had “funding secured” to take his electric vehicle maker Tesla private.

The regulator sued Musk after he allegedly engaged in fraud in August 2018 by telling his 22mn followers on Twitter that had secured financing to take Tesla private at $420 per share.

Musk ultimately settled, agreeing to pay a $20mn fine and step down as Tesla chair. The agreement also forced the billionaire to obtain preapproval for any written communications material to Tesla, including on Twitter, the social media platform that he is now taking private in a $44bn deal.

Musk also agreed he would not deny the allegations of the complaint or imply it was without factual basis.

The SEC subsequently subpoenaed Musk last November after he asked Twitter users if he should sell part of his stake in Tesla, the ruling said, in order to determine if he had sought approval for them. Musk in March asked the court to quash portions of the subpoena and terminate the consent decree, saying the regulator lacked authority to issue the demand and arguing the subpoena was issued in bad faith.

US District Judge Lewis Liman denied the request in a decision on Wednesday: “Musk cannot now seek to retract the agreement he knowingly and willingly entered by simply bemoaning that he felt like he had to agree to it at the time but now — once the spectre of the litigation is a distant memory and his company has become, in his estimation, all but invincible — wishes that he had not.”

Musk did not immediately return a request for comment on the decision.

The SEC case against Musk has been a headache for the world’s richest man for years, as the regulator has pressed him to produce documents detailing whether certain tweets had been preapproved.

In February 2019, Musk had tweeted that Tesla will produce “around 500k” cars in 2019 — a claim he later clarified was meant to say an annualised rate of 500,000 by the end of the year. The SEC argued the first tweet was false and material. Musk called it merely “celebratory”, but the federal judge said a reasonable observer could have been misled.

Musk had repeatedly clashed with the SEC, and earlier this week referred to its San Francisco office as “shameless puppets of Wall Street”, alleging in a series of tweets that they were colluding with “short seller sharks” to attack Tesla and “doing nothing to protect actual shareholders”.

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2022-04-27 17:29:37Z
1399098689

British Gas tells customers to turn off "vampire" consoles, laptops to save some money - Eurogamer.net

British Gas has advised customers to check which devices they are leaving plugged in and consuming power while on standby - including games consoles, laptops, TVs and set-top boxes - in order to save some money on the company's soaring energy bills.

The warning these so-called "vampire devices" are draining power - expensive for you, but also unecessary for the planet - comes as the UK faces an unprecedented energy price hike, while gas and electricity companies continue to turn massive profits.

Indeed, the language of today's call from British Gas has been criticised for passing the blame for high bills onto consumers. There have also been questions asked about the numbers British Gas has used to calculate its savings.

British Gas' own research, published by BBC News, appears to show a possible average saving of £147 per year by switching "vampire devices" off.

This breaks down to £24.61 per year for leaving your TV on standby, £12.17 for "games consoles", and £11.22 for "computers".

Speaking to the BBC, British Gas energy expert Marc Robson advised buying a smart plug, and switching devices off at the mains.

The article has attracted a number of responses which have questioned these figures, particularly those surrounding the cost of leaving a TV on standby. (Since 2013, the European Commission has ruled that TVs must not use more than half a watt of power while in standby mode.)

"This is factually incorrect and is shameless scaremongering by British Gas," one reponse reads. "TVs have been required by law to use 0.5 Watts or less per hour in standby since 2013. That's 4.38kW per year. With electricity at 30p/kW, it will cost £1.31 per year. Saying it costs £24.61 is a lie."

"This is 'have you tried just putting on a jumper' but for the warmer months," added Absolute Radio presenter Ross Buchanan. "Shifting the responsibility of rising bills onto the consumer rather than the government or the energy companies is pretty tasteless regardless of whether your 'research' is accurate (it's not)."

A previous report into claims "vampire devices" were costing UK bill payers large amounts revealed that oft-quoted figures such as the one based on TV standby usage were based on outdated measurements and devices, and unrealistic in practice.

Earlier this year, Xbox said it had quietly moved its consoles to use its energy-saving mode by default, which also now checks and downloads updates while not in use. Microsoft has encouraged anyone still set to its "Instant On" mode to make the switch.

In February, it was reported that British Gas profits had jumped by 44 percent, while owner Centrica said its profits had more than doubled to £948m thanks to a sevenfold increase in oil and gas profits.

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2022-04-27 12:02:29Z
1403282755

Kellogg's launches legal challenge against new government food rules for high-sugar cereals - Sky News

Kellogg's is mounting a legal challenge against new government rules that would stop some of its cereals being prominently displayed in shops.

In October, new regulations come into effect restricting the promotion of food and drink with high fat, salt and sugar content.

Kellogg's said in a statement that it has "tried to have a reasonable conversation with government" without success.

The company's UK managing director said: "We believe the formula being used by the government to measure the nutritional value of breakfast cereals is wrong and not implemented legally.

"It measures cereals dry when they are almost always eaten with milk.

"All of this matters because, unless you take account of the nutritional elements added when cereal is eaten with milk, the full nutritional value of the meal is not measured."

Some of Kellogg's most popular brands include Coco Pops, Crunchy Nut, Frosties, Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies and Special K.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "Breakfast cereals contribute 7% - a significant amount - to the average daily free sugar intakes of children.

"Restricting the promotion and advertising of less healthy foods is an important part of the cross-government strategy to halve childhood obesity by 2030, prevent harmful diseases and improve healthy life expectancy, so we can continue to level up health across the nation."

The spokesman added that obesity costs the NHS more than £6bn a year and is the second biggest cause of cancer in the UK.

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2022-04-27 09:46:04Z
1402913241

Selasa, 26 April 2022

UK government borrowing halves as economy rebounds from lockdowns - Financial Times

UK government borrowing more than halved in the 2021-22 financial year ending in March as the economy bounced back from the pandemic, giving the chancellor more scope to address the cost of living crisis.

The Office for National Statistics’ initial estimate of public sector net borrowing for 2021-22 was £151.8bn, down more than 50 per cent from the £317.6bn in 2020-21 when the coronavirus crisis was at its worst.

This provisional data was worse than the £127.8bn that the government’s fiscal watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, predicted in its March forecast for the financial year. But with tax receipts strong, economists said the final official figure was likely to improve significantly as further spending data came in from government departments.

Representing approximately 6.4 per cent of national income, the level of government borrowing was lower than the total of the five years following the 2007-08 global financial crisis, indicating a much more rapid economic recovery from the virus.

Economists said the figures were better than expected and that the ONS would soon revise down the estimates for borrowing in 2021-22.

Michal Stelmach, senior economist at KPMG UK, said the £24bn difference between the OBR’s forecast and the ONS figures stemmed from an assumption made by the fiscal watchdog that many government departments would not have spent their full budgets in 2021-22.

Bar chart of Public sector net borrowing (£bn) showing Public borrowing more than halved in 2021-22

“The key difference stems from [the OBR’s] judgments, which are yet to appear in the published data, in particular in relation to greater departmental underspends, lower investment by local authorities, and an expected downward revision to the cost of the Covid-19 loan guarantee schemes,” Stelmach said.

Samuel Tombs, UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, noted that “early estimates of borrowing recently have been revised down significantly, as more data have been collated”. He said that tax revenues were higher than the OBR had predicted for the full financial year and government spending numbers were often revised down significantly.

The healthy situation for the public finances gave Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, scope to alleviate the pain from the cost of living crisis, according to James Smith, research director of the Resolution Foundation think-tank.

A “revenue rich” recovery, Smith said, implied that “the chancellor can have little reason not to provide much-needed policy support to families as they deal with the higher inflation and energy bills that are now hitting their finances”.

Sunak, however, gave no hint that he was considering any imminent further action to help households. In a statement after the figures were published, the chancellor highlighted the support he said he had already offered.

“We must manage public finances sustainably to avoid saddling future generations with further debt,” he added.

Tax revenues were strong in March and across the whole of 2021-22. Central government revenues totalled £830bn in the financial year, some £6.5bn more than the OBR forecast at the time of the Spring Statement.

In response to the data, the OBR said the strength in revenues was “broad based with all the major taxes recovering strongly” and the improvement had continued even as the wider economic recovery took a hit from higher energy prices.

High inflation tends to raise government revenues both because spending is higher in the short term as prices rise and many thresholds in the tax system are fixed in cash terms.

The fiscal watchdog said strong revenues was “thanks to strong growth in the cash size of the economy”.

But it did sound a note of caution on the public spending side of the government budget. The initial figures showed central government spending was £33.8bn higher than it had expected, reflecting big overshoots in purchases in goods and services as well as net investment.

Some of that was likely to be revised down, the OBR said, but it noted that the forecast miss was large enough for it to wonder whether there had indeed been a surge of government spending at the end of the financial year.

Net public investment was also £18.5bn higher than the OBR expected with £7bn likely to be automatically revised away once the ONS takes account of government policy changes on student loans and lower estimates of likely losses on Covid loan guarantees.

But, the watchdog indicated that some of the additional spending was likely to be real and this suggested, “supply bottlenecks may not have impinged on capital outlays at the end of the year by as much as [we] expected”.

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2022-04-26 13:24:11Z
1399771561

EU warns Elon Musk over Twitter moderation plans - Financial Times

Brussels has warned Elon Musk that Twitter must comply with the EU’s new digital rules under his ownership, or risk hefty fines or even a ban, setting the stage for a global regulatory battle over the future of the social media platform.

Thierry Breton, the EU’s commissioner for the internal market, told the Financial Times that Elon Musk must follow rules on moderating illegal and harmful content online after Twitter accepted the billionaire’s $44bn takeover offer.

Breton said: “We welcome everyone. We are open but on our conditions. At least we know what to tell him: ‘Elon, there are rules. You are welcome but these are our rules. It’s not your rules which will apply here.’”

Musk’s take-private deal for Twitter could transform the Tesla chief executive, who has used the platform to attack regulators and critics, into a social media baron, given that millions of people rely on the San Francisco-based platform for news.

He said on Monday that “free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy” and described Twitter as “the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated”.

The comments from Breton, one of Europe’s most influential digital regulators, come just days after Brussels signed off a new piece of legislation that will force Big Tech to more aggressively police content online.

In pitching his offer for Twitter, Musk outlined plans to loosen the social media platform’s content moderation policies, describing himself as a “free speech absolutist”. Republican politicians in the US are hopeful that the deal could pave the way for Donald Trump to return to Twitter, after the former president was banned for repeatedly breaching its rules around hate speech and misinformation.

But Breton said he wanted to offer a “reality check” to Musk’s plans for less stringent moderation. The EU commissioner, who was key in negotiating the new Digital Services Act, warned that a lack of compliance from Twitter risked a ban for the platform in Europe.

He said: “Anyone who wants to benefit from this market will have to fulfil our rules. The board [of Twitter] will have to make sure that if it operates in Europe it will have to fulfil the obligations, including moderation, open algorithms, freedom of speech, transparency in rules, obligations to comply with our own rules for hate speech, revenge porn [and] harassment.”

“If [Twitter] does not comply with our law, there are sanctions — 6 per cent of the revenue and, if they continue, banned from operating in Europe,” he added.

The Digital Services Act forces the like of Twitter to disclose to regulators how they are tackling content such as disinformation and war propaganda. The groundbreaking rules are part of a bigger push by Brussels to curb the power of large online platforms, including Facebook and Google.

Last month, the EU also unveiled the Digital Markets Act, aimed at curbing the power of big tech, including a ban on platforms promoting their own services ahead of rivals.

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2022-04-26 12:34:51Z
1354640173

Shoppers could face £271 rise in annual food bills - BBC

The average food bill could increase by £271 this year as prices continue to rise, research suggests.

Grocery prices were 5.9% higher in April than a year ago, the biggest increase since December 2011, according to research company Kantar.

It said shoppers were turning to discount retailers Aldi and Lidl as pressures on budgets grows.

Supply chain issues, the Ukraine war and rising raw material costs are all contributing to soaring food prices.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: "The average household will now be exposed to a potential extra £271 per year.

"A lot of this is going on non-discretionary, everyday essentials which will prove difficult to cut back on as budgets are squeezed. We're seeing a clear flight to value as shoppers watch their pennies."

Aldi was the fastest growing retailer during the period the data covers, with its sales increasing by 4.2% over the 12 weeks to 17 April.

This was closely followed by Lidl, which was up 4%.

More than one million extra shoppers visited the two retailers respectively over the period compared with this time last year, with both achieving record-breaking market shares, according to Kantar.

Tesco was the only other retailer to increase its market share, growing by 0.3 percentage points to 27.3% of total grocery sales.

Supermarkets are facing a fierce battle for customers as the soaring cost of living hits household budgets.

On Monday, Morrisons and Asda, who have both been losing customers to Aldi and Lidl, said they were cutting prices on hundreds of products.

Meanwhile Iceland boss Richard Walker told the BBC that the cost of living was the "single biggest domestic issue" facing the country, adding that he would offer a "constant drum beat" of deals to help shoppers cut costs.

Rising inflation

The latest inflation figures showed that UK prices are rising at their fastest rate for 30 years, with increased energy, fuel and food costs all contributing.

Firms are increasingly passing on the higher costs they are facing to customers.

On Tuesday, budget fashion chain Primark warned it would have to introduce "selective price increases" across some of its autumn and winter clothing ranges because of these higher costs.

Last month, retailer Next also said its prices for homeware items would jump 13% and its fashion prices will rise by 6.5% in the second half of this year.

Nestle, the maker of KitKats and Nesquik cereal, also increased prices by more than 5% in the first three months of the year because of rising costs.

Kantar said food prices were rising fastest in markets such as dog food, fresh lamb and savoury snacks, but were falling in spirits.

It said there was also evidence of some customers stocking up on certain products due to limited availability and increased prices linked to the war in Ukraine.

Last weekend some supermarkets introduced limits on how much cooking oil customers are able to buy, with supplies being hit by the war.

The majority of the UK's sunflower oil comes from Ukraine and disruption to exports has led to some shortages and an increased demand for alternatives.

Kantar said the cooking oil market grew by 17% in April, with sunflower oil up 27% and vegetable oil up 40%.

Sign at Tesco in Hatfield showing cooking oil limited to three items per customer

Meanwhile, for the first time since the pandemic began supermarket sales are falling - by 0.6% compared with two years ago, Kantar said.

However, this compares with the start of the first national lockdown in the UK, when only essential shops like supermarkets were allowed to open.

Kantar said the easing of Covid restrictions, with many returning to the office, as well as restaurants and pubs, may also have had an impact.

Online grocery sales were also down by almost 15% compared with 2021.

"It is to be expected that sales are down compared with last year when restrictions were still in place," Mr McKevitt said.

"While the number of trips we're making to the supermarket has remained steady this year, people aren't buying as much when in store and the average basket size has dropped by 4.5% to £22.39."

Are you struggling with the rising cost of living? How are you changing your food shopping? Which items have increased in price? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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2022-04-26 08:47:01Z
1309943377

Senin, 25 April 2022

Elon Musk's Twitter takeover expected to be agreed within hours - Sky News

Twitter is reportedly on the verge of agreeing a takeover by Elon Musk.

Twitter's board and Mr Musk negotiated into the early hours of Monday over his bid to buy the platform, The New York Times reported, and shares were up 5% on Monday as speculation mounted that a deal was close.

The Wall Street Journal was among outlets suggesting an announcement could come before the US markets closed while Reuters said it understood that there was no other offer on the table for the board to consider.

In a signal that the World's richest man thought an agreement was in the bag, he tweeted: "I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means."

He has offered to buy the social network for $43bn (£33.5bn) and placed the right to uphold free speech at the forefront of his argument for a deal, accusing Twitter of failing its users to date.

Twitter recently adopted a "poison pill" strategy in an attempt to resist a hostile takeover, but some investors wanted the tech giant to seriously consider his offer.

Musk previously described his offer of $54.20 per share as "best and final" though the board may have extracted some additional cash from him.

One fund manager invested in Twitter told Reuters: "I wouldn't be surprised to wake up next week and see Musk raise what he called his best and final offer to possibly $64.20 per share."

Musk argues that the social network needs to be taken private in order to grow and become a genuine platform for free speech.

The billionaire also wants to tackle other issues facing the social network, such as the proliferation of bots who distribute spam messages.

And he's pondered adding new features including an edit button, as well as reducing Twitter's reliance on advertising and allowing longer tweets to be posted.

Twitter's stock was trading at $48.93 as of Friday's close on Wall Street, meaning Musk's offer represents a 10% premium on that price.

Some hedge funds believe it amounts to a good deal - and argue that concerns over inflation and an economic slowdown mean that Twitter's stock is unlikely to be worth more than $54.20 any time soon.

But long-term shareholders argue that Twitter is worth much more - and just six months ago, the stock was trading at $62.11.

In other developments, the Wall Street Journal has reported that Twitter is re-examining Musk's offer - not least because the billionaire now has financing for a deal.

According to the media outlet, both sides met on Sunday to discuss the proposal - and the social network "is more likely than before to seek to negotiate".

Musk has also met privately with several Twitter shareholders to highlight potential benefits of his takeover.

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2022-04-25 17:48:45Z
1354640173

Twitter 'under pressure' to reach deal with Elon Musk - as both sides meet to discuss takeover plan - Sky News

There are growing expectations on Wall Street that Twitter could reveal a takeover by Elon Musk later on Monday after the social media platform came under pressure from shareholders to agree a price.

Twitter's board and Mr Musk negotiated into the early hours of Monday over his bid to buy the platform, The New York Times reported, and shares were up 5% in pre-market deals as a result.

The world's richest man has offered to buy the social network for $43bn (£33.5bn) - and has accused the company of failing to uphold free speech.

Twitter recently adopted a "poison pill" strategy in an attempt to resist a hostile takeover, but some investors want the tech giant to seriously consider his offer.

According to Reuters, some shareholders wanted Twitter to seek a better deal from Musk - urging it not to let this opportunity slip away.

Musk previously described his offer of $54.20 per share as "best and final" - but given the social network is set to release quarterly results on Thursday, Twitter's board may argue that this price is too low.

Beyond encouraging the Tesla CEO to sweeten his offer, other options for the company include attracting bids from rivals.