BUSINESS LIVE: Wage growth slows; Metro Bank fined £16.7m; AstraZeneca upgrades guidance

Car insurance premiums fell 2 per cent between July and September 2024, with the average driver now paying £612 a year for cover.

The latest fall in premiums follows another 2 per cent drop between April and June 2024, according to the Association of British Insurers trade body.

Vodafone enjoyed better sales and earnings in the first half, but progress was limited by a performance slump in Germany.

The telecoms giant reported its service revenues rose by 1.7 per cent to €15.1billion (£12.5billion) in the six months ending September, while overall turnover increased by nearly €300million to €18.3billion.

Share prices in many major hospitality firms have fallen significantly since the week preceding the Budget, as investors have digested multi-million pound tax hikes.

Shore Capital research published on Monday showed Mitchells & Butlers shares were the worst hit, down 13 per cent compared to 23 October, while JD Wetherspoon fell 12 per cent and Marston’s shares were 10 per cent lower.

Shell has won an appeal against a major climate ruling ordering the oil supermajor to slash its carbon emissions.

A Court of Appeal in The Hague overturned a May 2021 ruling demanding Shell cut its CO2 emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 from 2019 levels, instead of the 20 per cent reduction planned by the firm.

Donald Trump‘s election victory has poured rocket fuel on the tech and crypto-focused ‘Bro-conomy’ – and British bros are among those hoping to cash in.

Bitcoin has been the most obvious beneficiary of the ‘Trump pump’, with the world’s most popular digital at an all-time high after surging nearly 30 per cent since election day last Tuesday to hit $88,600 (£66,100) today.

Bitcoin surged beyond $89,000 for the first time as the cryptocurrency is buoyed by the effects of Donald Trump’s victory in the US election and the resulting ‘Trump Trade’.

It was trading at $87,040 at midday on Tuesday, as it fell back from Monday’s record high.

(PA) – FTSE 100-listed business services company DCC has told investors it is plotting to break up the group to focus solely on its energy division.

Shares in the company surged by about 15% on Tuesday morning after revealing the strategic plans.

Dublin-based DCC said it was preparing to sell its healthcare arm and was reviewing options for its technology business.

The energy division offers sales, marketing and distribution services to firms wanting to transition to using cleaner energy.

This includes partnering with liquid gas and fuel producers and distributing the commodity to customers, installing solar power systems for firms, and operating service stations for cars.

Energy transition represents the biggest growth opportunity, DCC said, which is why it wants to focus purely on that part of the business.

Three of Britain’s biggest mortgage lenders are increasing rates, despite the Bank of England cutting interest rates last week.

Santander, TSB and HSBC have all announced prices across their fixed rate mortgage deals will rise this week.

Drax expects full-year profits to come in towards the top-end of market expectations as the British power generator continues to cash-in on the country’s decarbonisation drive.

The group told shareholders on Tuesday that full-year core earnings are set to come in at the high end of a £993million to £1.04billion range, thanks to strong pellet production and biomass generation.

Three in 10 young drivers have bought invalid car insurance from a ghost broker, according to the UK’s largest car insurer.

Aviva surveyed 2,000 drivers under 25 and found 30 per cent admitted to buying invalid or fake car insurance from someone on social media, a scam known as ghost broking.

BAE Systems shares rose on Tuesday as the defence giant’s order book continues to swell on the back of a global military spending boom.

The FTSE 100 firm has secured orders worth £25billion this financial year, up from £15billion just six months ago and puts BAE on target to hit full-year goals, with 90 per cent of projected revenues for 2024 already covered.

AstraZeneca has upgraded its annual guidance for the second time this year after sales of its cancer drugs soared in the third quarter.

The pharmaceutical giant expects overall sales and core earnings per share to rise by a high-teens percentage at constant currency rates in 2024, having previously guided for low-teens percentage growth across both categories.

Direct Line is cutting 550 jobs as its boss embarks on a £100million cost-saving programme to turn around its fortunes.

The cuts, representing 5 per cent of the beleaguered insurance firm’s workforce, were announced as the group revealed that it had lost 71,000 own-brand motor insurance customers in the latest quarter.

As the holiday season looms into view, Royal Mail is joining M&S, Sainsbury’s, Aldi et al in the advertising battle for Christmas revenues.

Britain’s postal delivery service is involved in an existential fight.

A rival to the London Stock Exchange is about to be snapped up by a Swiss competitor in a multi-million-pound deal.

Aquis Exchange, a competitor to the LSE’s junior Alternative Investment Market (AIM), which targets smaller companies, has backed a £207million takeover offer from Zurich-based SIX.

Adam Vettese, market analyst at eToro, comments on AstraZeneca’s performance:

‘AstraZeneca shareholders will have been sick of the sight of shares tumbling over the last 2 months, some 30% in fact, but this morning they’ve been given some much-needed relief with the second forecast hike in four months.

“Amid litigation in China and some lacklustre trial results, cancer and rare disease medicines have propelled the firms earnings beyond what analysts expected and as such EPS is expected to grow by a high-teens percentage.

Interestingly, the update also included an intention to invest $3.5 billion in the US, creating over 1000 jobs, which amid an uncertain position for big pharma post-election, could well curry favour with the new Trump administration.

British holidaymakers will get more bang for their buck on the Continent this winter as the pound soars against the euro.

In a boost for families planning skiing trips and other breaks in Europe, sterling topped €1.21 for the first time since March 2022.

Luke Bartholomew, Deputy Chief Economist at Abrdn, comments on the latest ONS unemployment figures:

“Despite the headline catching jump in unemployment, it is probably the ongoing slowdown in wage growth that will be most interesting to policymakers.

The unemployment data has been plagued by methodological issues for some time, and so has been playing a much smaller role than normal in policy decisions.

Meanwhile, the ongoing slowing in wage growth will give the Bank of England confidence that inflation pressures are broadly as expected.

Of course, the fiscal stimulus announced in the Budget and the likelihood of a material policy shift in the US does mean that all data might feel a little dated as we await the impact of these shifts.

But for now, there is nothing to shift the Bank away from its plan of gradual rate reductions, which will likely see the next 25bps cut occur early next year.”

Wage growth has fallen to its lowest level in more than two years while Britain’s jobless rate jumped by more than expected, according to official figures.

The Office for National Statistics said average regular earnings growth eased back to 4.8 per cent in the three months to September, down from 4.9 per cent in the previous three months.

Bitcoin could be worth $100,000 by January as crypto investors pile in on the back of Donald Trump’s thumping election victory.

The digital currency hit a record high yesterday, rising above $89,000 for the first time, as a wave of ‘Trump trades’ erupted on global markets.

Metro Bank has been fined almost £16.7million after a City watchdog probe found historic failures in the lender’s money laundering checks.

Between June 2016 and December 2020, Metro ‘failed to have the right systems and controls’ to adequately monitor over 60 million transactions worth more than £51billion, the Financial Conduct Authority said.