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Business

Londoners risk tax raid as Sadiq Khan grapples with tube funding crisis Business

TfL bosses are stuck in talks with the government over a long-term bailout deal worth £ 15.8 billion. Ministers have already distributed more than £ 3 billion to keep services running in the capital over the past year.

Sadiq Khan has threatened to charge drivers up to £ 5.50 a day to enter Greater London to cover the shortfall unless he is allowed to keep the road tax collected in the capital. Both options were rejected by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who said earlier this year: “I don’t think he can just plunder the national budget.”

With town hall and Westminster unable to come to an agreement before a pre-election communications blackout began last week, Mr Shapps has proposed a seven-week extension of current central government funding which runs out on March 31.

Mr Khan, the frontrunner to be re-elected for another four years in May, has regularly clashed with Boris Johnson over the alarming state of TfL’s finances last year. The Prime Minister said Mr Khan had bankrupted TfL’s finances. In response, the mayor – who froze tariffs for four years starting in 2016 – said Mr Johnson’s remarks were a “blatant lie”.

Tony Travers of the London School of Economics presented a number of options for putting TfL back on a stronger financial footing. He said: “Most likely is some kind of permanent tax solution that should be found.”

Mr Travers said another option is a substantial reduction in services, but added that cutting public transport would contradict the government’s climate change commitments to reduce car use. A third option to increase tariffs more sharply would also contradict the country’s green ambitions.

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Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-03-29 18:09:47

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Business

Boeing beats Airbus sales for the first time in two years Business

The same trend has helped Airbus maintain a winning streak in deliveries dating back to mid-2018, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

With transfers to airlines such as Wizz Air and India’s IndiGo, Airbus delivered 125 planes in the first quarter, compared to 77 for Boeing.

At the end of last month, Boeing handed over its first two 787 Dreamliners since October. Deliveries had been halted as the company inspected the model’s carbon fiber structures for tiny manufacturing defects. Boeing recorded 196 gross orders in March, all for the 737 family.

The aircraft manufacturer also recorded 156 cancellations, with carriers such as United Airlines changing orders to the Max and renegotiating terms.

Customers benefit from leverage to cancel or change the terms of the transaction for aircraft that have been delayed for more than 12 months. This added to the churning out of Boeing’s order books and manufacturing schedule.

The company is offering discounts on new orders to compensate airlines for Max’s 20-month grounding, which was imposed by US regulators in March 2019 after the crashes killed 346 people.

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Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-04-13 15:57:49

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Business

UK CVC fund considers $ 20 billion deal for Toshiba Business

Toshiba is considering an offer to take over a UK private equity fund, he said on Wednesday, with reports suggesting the deal could be worth around $ 20 billion (£ 14.5 billion).

Trading in Toshiba shares was halted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange upon opening, after the Japanese company confirmed the offer in a statement.

Toshiba said it “received an initial offer yesterday” from CVC Capital Partners for a takeover.

“We will ask for detailed information and will carefully discuss” the offer, the firm added.

the Nikkei The newspaper said CVC was considering a 30% premium to the Japanese industry group’s current share price, valuing the transaction at nearly 2.3 trillion yen ($ 20.8 billion) based on Tuesday’s closing.

The financial daily said CVC would consider recruiting other investors to participate in the buyout. CVC declined to comment on the matter.

The proposal would make Toshiba private, with the delisting intended to speed up decision-making by Toshiba management, which recently clashed with shareholders, according to reports.

The move, if successful, would allow the company to focus its resources on renewables and other core businesses, the reports added.

The two companies are no strangers – Toshiba chief executive and chairman Nobuaki Kurumatani headed CVC’s Japanese operations between 2017 and 2018, before taking on the role of conglomerate leader.

And a senior executive from CVC Japan is currently an outside director on the Toshiba board of directors.

Kurumatani told reporters that “we have received the proposal but will discuss it at a council meeting.”

Reports suggested talks would begin on Wednesday, although Toshiba did not immediately clarify.

“Work cut” for approval of bids

Toshiba has been hit by bogus accounting scandals and huge losses related to its US nuclear unit. He was forced to sell his chip unit for profit to make up for huge losses.

After a painful restructuring, its profits rebounded and the company returned in January to the prestigious first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Justin Tang, head of Asian research at United First Partners, said CVC’s representation on Toshiba’s board of directors meant the fund was already “familiar with Toshiba’s assets as well as its inner workings.”

“Given the turbulence at Toshiba, the favorable interest rate environment and favorable investors, the situation is very appropriate for CVC with its expertise in restructuring and turnaround,” he said. to AFP.

“However, they will have their work cut out for them when it comes to regulatory approvals,” Tang warned.

Japanese government spokesperson Katsunobu Kato stressed the importance of due diligence given Toshiba’s large presence in Japan.

“With regard to companies that are important to society and the economy of our country, we believe it is crucial that they can build and maintain a management system that allows them to continue stable operations,” said he declared.

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Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-04-07 06:37:50

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Business

A cooperative attacked for maintaining the reduction of commercial tariffs Business

The cooperative group has come under attack from supermarket rivals for its decision to maintain £ 66 million of trade tariff relief it received during the pandemic despite rising profits and paying executives in bonuses.

The mutual, which is proud of its “truly ethical trading” credentials, will award bonuses to senior executives.

A senior supermarket executive said he was “flabbergasted” by Co-op’s decision not to refund the money and accused the retailer of “nuclear hypocrisy”.

They added: “From a company that has spent the last decade pushing its values ​​down anyone’s throat and taking a high moral stance, looking its customers straight in the eye and saying ‘you can whistle. bang for your buck ‘and’ no, it’s not contradicting our values, it’s nuclear powered ocean hypocrisy. “

The managing director of another retailer who returned the tariff relief said: “It would have been very helpful to keep it, but it’s not our money – it’s the taxpayer’s money.”

The mutual, which also has funeral, legal services and pharmacy divisions, reported turnover of £ 11.5bn for the year ending Jan. 2, £ 600m more than ‘in 2019.

The group’s pre-tax profits fell from £ 24million to £ 127million, while the underlying operating profit of its food business rose from £ 283 million to £ 350million.

The cooperative said it would reimburse £ 15.5million in leave pay claimed under the coronavirus job retention program, but added it had been forced to spend £ 84million on cover costs directly associated with the pandemic, such as PPE for staff.

Steve Murrells, Group Managing Director, said: “What the board has done is very much in line with our values ​​and ethics. The decision was fully supported by the member board, we did not pay any money. dividend and we don’t. have the same access to financial markets as everyone else. “

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Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-04-08 18:31:13

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Business

Mike Ashley’s Frasers braces for £ 200million from ‘third wave’ Business

Frasers plans to reopen large swathes of its domain from Monday as non-essential retailers are allowed to welcome customers again.

The group, controlled by Mike Ashley, includes House of Fraser, Game Digital, Jack Wills, Evans Cycles (which has remained open as a core retailer) and Sports Direct.

Bosses criticized the Chancellor’s extension of tariff holidays for businesses and the restrictions it places on savings that can be made for big chains like Frasers.

Mr Ashley’s company also looked for potential buyout opportunities throughout the Covid-19 crisis, showing interest in the collapsed Debenhams and Peacocks brands, although directors found that Frasers’ offers tended to be much too low to be accepted.

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Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-04-09 06:36:44

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Business

Global recovery splits as emerging markets long struggle over economy Business

He warns that “tolerant” financial markets will begin to turn around with pressure focusing on the most indebted and vulnerable countries, like Brazil and South Africa.

“Last year’s fiscal sins in emerging markets have been forgiven but not forgotten.”

The pressure on countries with large piles of foreign currency debt could increase further. The dollar debt burden is likely to face mounting pressure if the Federal Reserve is forced to raise interest rates to calm an overheated U.S. economy, with higher borrowing costs hampering rebounds and exposing vulnerabilities. Some central banks in emerging markets, like Brazil and Russia, are already raising interest rates as they seek to support their struggling currencies.

“High debt increases the risk of experiencing financial stress later,” says Kirby. “You often have to go through a long period of deleveraging, which can weigh on growth.”

A generation of progress shattered

A prolonged stroke of the pandemic stops and even reverses some of the progress in global poverty over the past decades. The financial crisis has slowed down but has not completely halted the reduction of poverty in the world. However, the pandemic has wiped out a generation of progress in eradicating extreme poverty. The World Bank estimates that between 119 million and 124 million people have slipped into extreme poverty after two decades of steadily declining poverty rates.

Especially for the West, these low and middle income economies will be crucial for guiding global growth in the years to come. Global institutions, such as the IMF and the World Bank, have stressed the importance of eradicating Covid cases around the world to prevent the pandemic from resurfacing.

“If you eliminate the Covid virus in advanced economies, but not in emerging markets, it will come back,” Carvalho warns.

These countries have also become a much bigger engine of the global economy in recent decades. China’s economy was the size of Britain’s in 2005. It is now more than four times the size, while India, Indonesia, Brazil and Nigeria will rise through the ranks.

“We are seeing a recovery in emerging markets, but it is not enough to undo the damage caused by the pandemic,” says Kirby. “For more than a quarter of these countries, it wiped out 10 years of per capita income gains. The top priority is the vaccine and then you want to look at the legacy of the pandemic – debt so high. “

Advanced economies may soon put Covid in the rearview mirror, but for many poorer countries the road to recovery is longer and more difficult.

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Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-04-10 11:00:00

Categories
Business

Global recovery splits as emerging markets long struggle over economy Business

He warns that “tolerant” financial markets will begin to turn around with pressure focusing on the most indebted and vulnerable countries, like Brazil and South Africa.

“Last year’s fiscal sins in emerging markets have been forgiven but not forgotten.”

The pressure on countries with large piles of foreign currency debt could increase further. The dollar debt burden is likely to face mounting pressure if the Federal Reserve is forced to raise interest rates to calm an overheated U.S. economy, with higher borrowing costs hampering rebounds and exposing vulnerabilities. Some central banks in emerging markets, like Brazil and Russia, are already raising interest rates as they seek to support their struggling currencies.

“High debt increases the risk of experiencing financial stress later,” says Kirby. “You often have to go through a long period of deleveraging, which can weigh on growth.”

A generation of progress shattered

A prolonged stroke of the pandemic stops and even reverses some of the progress in global poverty over the past decades. The financial crisis has slowed down but has not completely halted the reduction of poverty in the world. However, the pandemic has wiped out a generation of progress in eradicating extreme poverty. The World Bank estimates that between 119 million and 124 million people have slipped into extreme poverty after two decades of steadily declining poverty rates.

Especially for the West, these low and middle income economies will be crucial for guiding global growth in the years to come. Global institutions, such as the IMF and the World Bank, have stressed the importance of eradicating Covid cases around the world to prevent the pandemic from resurfacing.

“If you eliminate the Covid virus in advanced economies, but not in emerging markets, it will come back,” Carvalho warns.

These countries have also become a much bigger engine of the global economy in recent decades. China’s economy was the size of Britain’s in 2005. It is now more than four times the size, while India, Indonesia, Brazil and Nigeria will rise through the ranks.

“We are seeing a recovery in emerging markets, but it is not enough to undo the damage caused by the pandemic,” says Kirby. “For more than a quarter of these countries, it wiped out 10 years of per capita income gains. The top priority is the vaccine and then you want to look at the legacy of the pandemic – debt so high. “

Advanced economies may soon put Covid in the rearview mirror, but for many poorer countries the road to recovery is longer and more difficult.

More about this article: Read More
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-04-10 11:00:00