Sainsbury’s has reported a £261m loss for the year as it counted the cost of falling fuel sales and COVID-19 measures. Britain’s second-biggest supermarket chain said grocery sales for the year to 6 March climbed by 7.8% but overall revenues were flat as fewer motorists used their cars during a year of lockdowns. COVID-19 costs
Business
Premier Inn owner Whitbread has slumped to a £1bn annual loss – but hopes to benefit from a “staycation” boom over the summer. Revenues for the year to 25 February fell 71% to £589m with the group’s hotels and restaurants closed for much of the period while 27,000 workers were furloughed and about one in
HSBC’s profits have surged by a better than expected 79% to $5.8bn (£4.2bn) in the first quarter, largely thanks to an improved economic outlook in the UK. The upturn allowed the banking giant to release $435m (£313m) that had been set aside to cover bad debt, boosting its bottom line despite a squeeze on revenues
The UK is on course for its strongest annual growth since the Second World War after a resilient performance through latest lockdowns, according to a respected economic forecaster. Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to expand by 6.8% this year, according to the EY ITEM Club – which would be the fastest pace since 1941.
Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells has quit boardroom positions at retailers Morrisons and Dunelm as well as her role as a Church of England minister after a major miscarriage of justice. It comes after 39 sub-postmasters had their wrongful convictions for theft, fraud and false accounting overturned on Friday by the Court of Appeal.
Paula Vennells, the ex-Post Office chief executive, is quitting the boards of two major retailers days after her former employer was found culpable over one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British legal history. Sky News has learnt that Ms Vennells’ departure as a director of Wm Morrison, the supermarket chain, and home furnishings
Football bosses are kicking off talks about the future of the Women’s Super League (WSL) that could trigger a bidding war between private equity investors. Sky News has learnt that the Football Association (FA) has appointed Rothschild, the investment bank, to advise it on financing options for the WSL. Sources said the process, which is
A ‘blank cheque’ company set up by the Japanese technology giant SoftBank is in talks to merge with a start-up which competes with the likes of Google Maps in the provision of sophisticated location data services. Sky News has learnt that Mapbox is in detailed negotiations to go public through a special purpose acquisition company
Investment bank J P Morgan has admitted it “clearly misjudged” the backlash from football fans over the proposed new European Super League. The financial giant had committed just over £2.8bn of start-up financing to the ill-fated scheme, although no money has yet changed hands. But on Friday, a statement from JP Morgan said: “We clearly
Two of the City figures who led an attempt to prise Manchester United from the Glazer family’s control a decade ago have urged them to loosen their grip in the wake of this week’s European Super League debacle. Sky News can reveal that Lord O’Neill – the architect of the Red Knights campaign in 2010
Thirty nine sub-postmasters who were wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office have had their criminal convictions overturned. The appellants, some of whom were imprisoned for crimes they never committed, had been accused of theft and false accounting because of a faulty computer system. In court, Sam Stein QC, the barrister representing several sub-postmasters, said the
Britain’s economic reopening has helped create the strongest pick-up in optimism among manufacturers for nearly half a century, according to new figures. A balance of 38% of firms surveyed by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said their outlook on the business situation had improved in the past three months. It was the first positive
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has revealed that production at two of its UK manufacturing plants is to be suspended due to a shortage of parts. The company said that operations at the Castle Bromwich and Halewood sites would be affected through a “limited period” of non-production from next Monday. It blamed a COVID-19 crisis-related issue
Executives from clubs which sparked a civil war in English football by joining the now-abandoned European Super League have been handed an ultimatum to step down from key Premier League sub-committees. Sky News has learnt that Richard Masters, the Premier League chief executive, contacted executives on Wednesday including Bruce Buck, the Chelsea chairman, and Vinai
The withdrawal of the six Premier League teams from the proposed European Super League is the “right result for football fans, clubs and communities across the country”, the prime minister has said. Welcoming the withdrawal of Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester United from the controversial competition, Boris Johnson said: “We must continue
The 12 clubs that initially agreed to form a breakaway European super league are already among the richest and most prestigious in the world. A number of them have come under the control of foreign owners in recent years and some are saddled with huge debt piles – while the coronavirus pandemic has had a