Reuters UK Business

LONDON (Reuters) -British finance minister Rachel Reeves on Wednesday committed to lower business rates for high street stores to help “level the playing field” with their online rivals. Predominantly bricks-and-mortar retailers have for years complained that business rates – a property tax charged on most commercial properties to fund local services – are archaic and …

UK’s Reeves commits to lower property taxes for retail, hospitality and leisure Read More »

By Deborah Mary Sophia and Kenrick Cai (Reuters) – Google parent Alphabet said on Tuesday its AI investments were “paying off” as it reported a 35% surge in its cloud business and U.S. election-related spending lifted YouTube ad sales in the third quarter. Alphabet shares rose nearly 6% in after-market trading on Tuesday. Shares of …

Alphabet’s AI investments boost cloud sales, lifts maturing ad business Read More »

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel pushed back on Wednesday against calls for ultra-easy monetary policy, arguing that inflation was unlikely to ease below its 2% target so gradual rates cuts remained appropriate. Policy doves, mostly from the euro zone’s south, raised concern last week that inflation could fall too far and …

ECB does not need to stimulate economy, Schnabel says Read More »

MILAN (Reuters) – Italy is struggling to find a “strategic” buyer for its stake in lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena before a year-end deadline, leaving it with little alternative but to turn to the market and broaden a fragmented shareholder base, two sources close to the sale process said. Italy must cut its 26.7% …

Italy readies market sale of Monte dei Paschi stake as longer-term plan elusive, sources say Read More »

By Danilo Masoni MILAN (Reuters) – Renewable energy shares, reeling from an investor retreat, face extended uncertainty as the U.S. election has added to wariness, leaving only selected stocks poised to benefit from any boost lower interest rates could provide to funding. The sector achieved bubble-like valuations in 2020-21, as major funds piled in, attracted …

Analysis-Tentative green energy shoots at risk from US vote uncertainty Read More »

By Maria Martinez BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany’s gross domestic product unexpectedly increased in the third quarter, skirting a recession, but inflation rose more than expected in October, interrupting the downward trend in Europe’s troubled largest economy. “This is still far from what we need, but at least it is a ray of hope,” Economy Minister Robert …

German economy unexpectedly grows, dodging recession; inflation up Read More »

PARIS (Reuters) – France’s competition authority said on Wednesday it had fined electric equipment makers Schneider Electric, Legrand, Rexel and Sonepar a total of 470 million euros ($508.49 million) for fixing prices. Schneider Electric was fined 207 million euros, Rexel 124 million euros, Sonepar 96 million euros and Legrand 43 million. The decision sanctions two …

Schneider, Legrand, Rexel and Sonepar fined in French price fixing probe Read More »

LONDON (Reuters) – British finance minister Rachel Reeves announced the inheritance tax threshold freeze would be extended until 2030 as she delivered her first budget plan on Wednesday. Inheritance tax (IHT) is charged at 40% on the value of estates above 325,000 pounds ($423,000), a threshold which has not changed since 2009. Reeves said that …

UK’s Reeves says to extend inheritance tax threshold freeze to 2030 Read More »

By Jesús Aguado MADRID (Reuters) -Spain’s anti-trust watchdog CNMC said on Wednesday it would decide around mid-November whether it would need more time to complete its evaluation of BBVA’s 12-billion euro ($13 bullion) takeover bid for smaller rival Sabadell. Extending the deadline would potentially extend the review well into 2025 and could imply possible stricter …

Spain’s CNMC to say in mid-November how long review of BBVA’s bid for Sabadell will take Read More »