Reuters UK Business

By Francesca Landini and Valentina Za MILAN (Reuters) -Italy’s Benetton family and U.S. investment fund Blackstone have proposed a buyout offer for Atlantia that values the airport and motorway operator at 58 billion euro ($63 billion) and aims to take it private. Underscoring the strong appeal of the infrastructure sector, the deal would be this …

Benettons, Blackstone propose buyout deal valuing Atlantia at $63 billion Read More »

LONDON (Reuters) – Standard Chartered is slashing its presence in Africa and the Middle East, it said on Thursday, as it looks to cut costs and focus on more profitable markets. The bank will fully exit seven countries, it said, and shrink its presence in a further two. StanChart will cease all operations in Angola,Cameroon, …

StanChart exits 7 markets in Africa and Middle East Read More »

LONDON (Reuters) – Five insurers including Aviva and Lloyds Banking Group have joined a programme set up by Britain’s FloodRe to give homeowners extra funds to build up resilience to floods, FloodRe said on Thursday. The insurers will offer customers access to reimbursement costs of up to 10,000 pounds ($13,137) over and above the cost …

Aviva, Lloyds join British FloodRe insurance scheme to build flood resilience Read More »

By Mimosa Spencer PARIS (Reuters) -Sales at Birkin bag maker Hermes beat estimates in the first quarter, lifted by strong appetite for its luxury accessories, particularly in the United States and Europe, as the sector powers through turbulence from the war in Ukraine and COVID lockdowns in China. Hermes, which also sells silk scarves and …

Hermes upbeat on China as strong U.S., European demand buoys sales Read More »

By Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union has closed a loophole that allowed EU governments to export weapons worth tens of millions of euros to Russia last year alone despite an embargo which took effect in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region. EU countries last year sold to Russia weapons and ammunition …

EU closes loophole allowing multimillion-euro arms sales to Russia Read More »

LONDON (Reuters) – British lenders expect loan defaults to rise over the coming months and also plan to rein in mortgage lending by the greatest amount since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Bank of England survey showed on Thursday. The BoE’s quarterly credit conditions survey showed lenders expect more defaults on mortgages, …

UK lenders expect more defaults, less mortgage lending – BoE Read More »

LONDON (Reuters) – Real-time data points a slowing of British consumer behaviour in early April although there was a slight increase in spending on payment cards which included bigger outlays on fuel, the country’s statistics office said on Thursday. “Most of the consumer behaviour measures we monitor were down in the latest week, with falls …

UK consumer behaviour slowed in early April – ONS Read More »

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will have enough gas supply to meet demand from April to September, National Grid said in its annual summer outlook on Thursday. Total UK gas demand is forecast at 34 billion cubic metres (bcm) this summer versus 31.9 in the same period last year and supply is forecast at 34 bcm …

Britain will have enough gas this summer, National Grid says Read More »

(Reuters) – European shares edged higher on Thursday after a mixed batch of earnings, while investors awaited the European Central Bank’s policy decision amid risks of an economic slowdown as the Ukraine crisis drives up inflation. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.1% following a strong finish on Wall Street and gains in Asian shares. …

Mixed earnings cap gains in European shares ahead of ECB decision Read More »