City traders held off from any sudden moves this morning ahead of what could be another scorching US inflation print.

London’s premier FTSE 100 index edged 0.03 per cent lower to 7,485.53 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, climbed 0.28 per cent to 19,967.28 points.

Investors are seemingly exercising caution before new US inflation figures are published stateside this afternoon.

Wall Street thinks the rate of price rises cooled to 8.7 per cent last month from a 40-year high of 9.1 per cent. Core inflation is anticipated to have jumped over the last month.

Any upside shock may send a jolt through markets caused by traders assessing whether a hotter print will prompt the Federal Reserve to keep hiking interest rates rapidly.

Analysts at investment bank Citi said earlier this week Fed chair Jerome Powell and co may lift borrowing cost 100 basis points at...

Royal Mail said it would be “materially loss-making” for the financial year 2022-2023 if its employees go ahead with planned strike action.

More than 115,000 Royal Mail postal workers are set to strike for four days in a dispute over pay, with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents the workers, announcing that 24-hour walkouts will happen on 26 and 31 August, and 8 and 9 September. 

The British postal service had negotiated with the CWU on salaries, and offered an unconditional increase of 2 per cent with an additional 3.5 per cent conditional on agreements to improve productivity. 

The CWU rejected this 5.5 per cent increase, which Royal Mail said would have added about £230m to the company’s annual costs “at a time when the business is already loss making.” 

Royal Mail said it was already losing £1m a day according to its trading update for the first quarter and the proposed pay deal would add over £500,000...

Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will hold emergency talks with energy sector chiefs today as the price cap was forecast to hit more than £4,400 in January.

In a new dire outlook for households, Cornwall Insight said bills are set to soar to around £3,582 in October, from £1,971 on Tuesday, before rising even further in the new year.

There has been widespread anger at Shell, BP and British Gas owner Centrica announcing bumper financial results while households struggle to cope with soaring bills.

The Sun reported gas and electricity executives will meet with the Cabinet ministers on Thursday morning, when the bosses will be asked to submit a breakdown of expected profits and payouts as well as investment plans for the next three years.

It comes as Liz Truss branded as “bizarre” proposals to agree support for rising energy bills with the Government and Rishi Sunak before the Tory leadership contest is over.

Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will hold emergency talks with energy sector chiefs today as the price cap was forecast to hit more than £4,400 in January.

In a new dire outlook for households, Cornwall Insight said bills are set to soar to around £3,582 in October, from £1,971 on Tuesday, before rising even further in the new year.

There has been widespread anger at Shell, BP and British Gas owner Centrica announcing bumper financial results while households struggle to cope with soaring bills.

The Sun reported gas and electricity executives will meet with the Cabinet ministers on Thursday morning, when the bosses will be asked to submit a breakdown of expected profits and payouts as well as investment plans for the next three years.

It comes as Liz Truss branded as “bizarre” proposals to agree support for rising energy bills with the Government and Rishi Sunak before the Tory leadership contest is over.

Chinese authorities are urgently looking into a new deadly virus that has infected over three dozen people in the country, several media in Asia report this morning.

The virus, called Langya, is carried to humans from animals, particularly shrews, according to The Taipei Times.

The Langya henipavirus has been discovered in China, with 35 confirmed human infections reported so far, Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said today.

A study titled “A Zoonotic Henipavirus in Febrile Patients in China” is reportedly to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine tomorrow and will say that a new henipavirus associated with a fever-causing human illness has been identified in China.

The patients have symptoms including fever, fatigue, a cough, loss of appetite , muscle pain, nausea, a headache and vomiting.

More to follow.

CRIMINAL barristers are set to vote on plans to intensify their ongoing strikes by running uninterrupted strikes indefinitely.  

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) will ballot its members over plans to call off its current bi-weekly strike actions and run a continuous strike from 5 September onwards.

“It has become clear that a significant proportion of barristers wish to be given an option to escalate our current action towards an uninterrupted strike in order to exert maximum leverage upon the Government,” the CBA said in a letter to its members.

Criminal barristers are now in their seventh week of strike action, after voting to walk out in June.  

So far the government has refused to cave into barristers’ demands, who are calling for a 25 per cent increase in legal aid fees. 

In a comment to City A.M., Kirsty Brimelow, vice chair of the CBA, said the government’s “refusal to enter negotiations on fee increases” had...

The Government is under pressure to offer more support to households as soon as possible, following another forecast of huge hikes in energy bills this winter.

MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis has urged the Government to deliver an action plan today, and for both Tory leadership contenders Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss to come together and agree on measures to alleviate the cost of living crisis.

He warned that current pledges from Truss, including tax cuts and green levies would not be sufficient, and that “lives depend” on more support being offered to vulnerable households.

Lewis said the expected increases in the price cap will be “unaffordable for millions” and “leave many people destitute.”

This included elderly people, with energy bills set to swallow 45 per cent of the new state pension.

Three in four British workers want hybrid work to cope with the cost of living crisis gripping the country.

Employees want their employers to offer flexible hybrid working as inflation surges to record levels of 9.4 per cent in the country, a survey by hiring software company Greenhouse found today.

As the cost of essentials like groceries and energy soar and the Bank of England hikes interest rates to tame inflation, 75 per cent of employees also expect a recession.

If their workplace was to refuse benefits like the possibility of working from home, 24 per cent of workers over 55 said they would not leave their jobs while 53 per cent of 23-34 year olds said they would quit.

Job security, high salaries, and flexible working were among the top benefits that employees value most.

56 per cent do not anticipate their wages to drop, with 47 per cent of workers expecting a pay rise of this year. Londoners were most confident of up to a 50...

Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will hold emergency talks with energy sector chiefs today as the price cap was forecast to hit more than £4,400 in January.

In a new dire outlook for households, Cornwall Insight said bills are set to soar to around £3,582 in October, from £1,971 on Tuesday, before rising even further in the new year.

There has been widespread anger at Shell, BP and British Gas owner Centrica announcing bumper financial results while households struggle to cope with soaring bills.

The Sun reported gas and electricity executives will meet with the Cabinet ministers on Thursday morning, when the bosses will be asked to submit a breakdown of expected profits and payouts as well as investment plans for the next three years.

It comes as Liz Truss branded as “bizarre” proposals to agree support for rising energy bills with the Government and Rishi Sunak before the Tory leadership contest is over.

Just under £300bn has been wiped off the value of UK corporate bonds since the start of this year following a major sell-off in the bond market in what is considered the biggest collapse in two decades.

In the first six months of this year, the total outstanding value of UK corporate bonds has fallen by 13.3% from £2.237 trillion to £1.940 trillion, a fall of £297.5 billion.

This compares to a fall of 3% for the FTSE100 over the same period, digital asset manager Collidr told City A.M. this morning.

Bond prices have been hit by rising interest rates and rising inflation since the start of the year, in response to central banks tightening monetary policy to control inflation.

Collidr’s research shows that £283.8bn has also been wiped off the value of Gilts (UK government bonds) since the start of the year.

Gilts have fallen by 14.8%, the biggest drop since the 1980s.

The collapse in bond prices has been a major challenge for...

Holiday giant Tui has revealed a £63m hit from the recent travel chaos that crippled airports and led to flight cancellations and lengthy delays.

The firm said its customers were impacted by about 200 flight cancellations in May and June, in particular due to woes at Manchester Airport amid staff shortages.

Tui remained loss-making in the three months to the end of June due to the costs of the airport disruption, reporting third quarter underlying pre-tax losses of £23m in its third quarter.

This still marked a big improvement on the £566m underlying loss suffered a year earlier thanks to the recent rebound in travel demand.

Tui said that with the airport disruption impact stripped out, it would have reported underlying earnings of £41m in its third quarter – its first profit since the pandemic struck.

Sebastian Ebel, chief financial officer and designated chief executive of Tui Group, said: “Although the entire European airline...

Prudential increased operating profit to £1.6bn and cut costs by 32 per cent during the first half of 2022 amid drastic market volatility and dampened economic outlook.

The British insurance company’s life and asset management profits rose despite the challenges of Covid in its markets which contributed to the volatility. 

It announced the first interim dividend of the year at 5.74 cents (4.5p) and looks to cut head office costs by $70m at the start of 2023.

“Our resilient operational performance demonstrates the strength of our well positioned and well diversified franchise across the Asia region, driven by our multi-channel, digitally enhanced distribution platform,” said CEO Mark FitzPatrick, highlighting the company’s performance in its Asian markets.

“We expect that operating conditions may continue to be challenging. We remain confident that Prudential has the financial resilience, capital strength and capability to meet the...

Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will hold emergency talks with energy sector chiefs today as the price cap was forecast to hit more than £4,400 in January.

In a new dire outlook for households, Cornwall Insight said bills are set to soar to around £3,582 in October, from £1,971 on Tuesday, before rising even further in the new year.

There has been widespread anger at Shell, BP and British Gas owner Centrica announcing bumper financial results while households struggle to cope with soaring bills.

The Sun reported gas and electricity executives will meet with the Cabinet ministers on Thursday morning, when the bosses will be asked to submit a breakdown of expected profits and payouts as well as investment plans for the next three years.

It comes as Liz Truss branded as “bizarre” proposals to agree support for rising energy bills with the Government and Rishi Sunak before the Tory leadership contest is over.

Insurance giant Aviva has sought to soothe investor concerns today, confirming that the nearly £400m takeover of Succession Wealth will be completed later this year.

The deal is expected to be wrap up in the second half. While its interim dividend for this year has jumped 40 per cent to 10.3p per share – up from 7.35p a year prior.

“Sales are up, operating profit is higher, our financial position is stronger. This has been an excellent six months for Aviva,” CEO Amanda Blanc said in a statement.

The comments will act as tonic to shareholder fears that the City insurer has been losing its momentum, having had its share price stall in recent months to trade no higher than 30 years ago.

The lag prompted analysts to dial back their expectations for the firm. Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and RBC were all among the teams to trim their target price for the stock in the past month.

Investors have been eager for an update on its shift in...

Delivery platform Deliveroo has posted a heftier loss while also announcing the departure of Next chair Lord Simon Wolfson from its board. 

In its half-year results, the London-listed firm posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of £68m, a wider loss than the £26m posted in the first half of 2021.

However, it marked an improvement of the £106m loss seen in the second half of 2021, after a boost to gross profit and marketing investment efficiencies. 

Deliveroo also posted a loss before tax of £147m, an increase from £95m in the second half of 2021.

What’s more, retail titan Lord Wolfson said that after “much consideration” and “with regret,” he was stepping down from the company’s board.

“I believe that the time required to continue in my role at Deliveroo is no longer compatible with my executive and other commitments,” he said.

More to follow…

Chinese authorities are urgently looking into a new deadly virus that has infected over three dozen people in the country, several media in Asia report this morning.

The virus, called Langya, is carried to humans from animals, particularly shrews, according to The Taipei Times.

The Langya henipavirus has been discovered in China, with 35 confirmed human infections reported so far, Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said today.

A study titled “A Zoonotic Henipavirus in Febrile Patients in China” is reportedly to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine tomorrow and will say that a new henipavirus associated with a fever-causing human illness has been identified in China.

The patients have symptoms including fever, fatigue, a cough, loss of appetite , muscle pain, nausea, a headache and vomiting.

More to follow.

Lower taxes, net zero and rising fuel costs have dominated the Tory leadership debate. But as we move into the final month of the run-off between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, another battle is raging that strikes at the heart of true Conservative values.

We’ve heard a range of promises directed at card-carrying Conservative farmers, with pledges to protect the green belt. But there is a deeper mismatch here and a quiet disregard for property rights across the UK. 

For years telecoms giants have been allowed to take advantage of landowners across the UK, with ministers showing little appetite to protect those affected. To accelerate 5G coverage across the UK, private landowners host phone masts on their property. For doing so, they are paid an annual rental fee by telecommunications providers. That seems not only fair, but a great incentive to speed up 5G rollout. Many of these landowners – farmers, churches, local sports clubs, community groups and...

We’ve come to believe we live in an almost completely cashless society today. In fact, withdrawing large amounts of cash from your bank is viewed with suspicion – victim of fraud or tax evasion? What other possible reason could you have for cash? Even Big Issue sellers now have Square readers to accommodate this shift. 

But lately there’s been a fresh dash to cash, with the Post Office seeing £801m in withdrawals in July alone. That’s at its highest level for five years. 

The reality is that cash is accountable. Consumers see and feel their spending. It’s more than just a number flying in and out of a bank account. They can physically put it in an envelope saying, “that’s for the electricity bill”, and know it’ll still be there when it comes time to pay. 

In a cost-of-living crisis, consumers are looking to be more in control of their spending than ever before. The fact that they don’t feel they can rely on their banks to help them...

Insurance giant Admiral has had its pre-tax profits and share earnings halve over the past year, nearing pre-pandemic levels as the “unique” Covid-19 market conditions fade.

The group’s profit before tax sunk 48 per cent to £251.3m in the six months to 30 June, in comparison with the same period in 2021. However, the figure remained nearly 20 per cent above pre-pandemic levels.

While earnings per share were halved from 132.9p a piece to 67p, the take-home had been 10 per cent above the figure seen in the first half of 2019.

The London-listed insurer enjoyed a boom in demand during the pandemic, raking in a pre-tax profit of £482.2m in the first half of 2021, when lockdown restrictions were largely in place.

In a statement today, CEO Milena de Focatiis said she was “happy” with the progress given rampant inflation which is quickly shrinking the spending power of the average consumer.

“Although, as expected, profit has decreased against...

THE UK Parliamentary account on TikTok was unceremoniously banned from the Westminster estate last week after a group of MPs alerted the Speaker of the House to the account’s existence. While concerns about national security and data access in China are understandable, an outright closure of such an important route to engaging people in politics is a tremendous, missed opportunity. 

Chinese-owned TikTok has struggled to allay national security concerns across the west – the US Government has recently forced TikTok to route 100 per cent of US data through cloud servers in the US, and TikTok was banned entirely in India in 2020. In the UK, taking a hard-line approach on Chinese-owned social media may be politically expedient for some MPs – not to mention for TikTok’s competitors – but blanket restrictions ignore the culturally dominant and agenda-defining position TikTok now holds. It’s as popular a news source as Sky News’ website and app, and especially...

Travel platform Hostelworld has said it hopes to be profitable at an operational level in the second half of the year, as holidaymakers have returned in recent months.

In interim results, the London-listed company said net revenue hit €28m in the period, compared to just €2.9m the previous year, as travel restrictions eased.

While overall EBITDA was negative for the first half, June was positive after a surge in bookings that month.

The company posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of €5.2m, slimmer than the €9.7m loss posted in the first half of 2021.

Providing there was no “further deterioration” in the macro-economic situation, “disruption to airline schedules, or escalation of the conflict in Ukraine,” the firm expects to be EBITDA positive in the second half of 2022, Gary Morrison, chief executive officer, said.

He added: “The trends in the first half of 2022 are encouraging and indicate that where markets open up for travel, demand...

Just under £300bn has been wiped off the value of UK corporate bonds since the start of this year following a major sell-off in the bond market in what is considered the biggest collapse in two decades.

In the first six months of this year, the total outstanding value of UK corporate bonds has fallen by 13.3% from £2.237 trillion to £1.940 trillion, a fall of £297.5 billion.

This compares to a fall of 3% for the FTSE100 over the same period, digital asset manager Collidr told City A.M. this morning.

Bond prices have been hit by rising interest rates and rising inflation since the start of the year, in response to central banks tightening monetary policy to control inflation.

Collidr’s research shows that £283.8bn has also been wiped off the value of Gilts (UK government bonds) since the start of the year.

Gilts have fallen by 14.8%, the biggest drop since the 1980s.

The collapse in bond prices has been a major challenge for...

Three in four British workers want hybrid work to cope with the cost of living crisis gripping the country.

Employees want their employers to offer flexible hybrid working as inflation surges to record levels of 9.4 per cent in the country, a survey by hiring software company Greenhouse found today.

As the cost of essentials like groceries and energy soar and the Bank of England hikes interest rates to tame inflation, 75 per cent of employees also expect a recession.

If their workplace was to refuse benefits like the possibility of working from home, 24 per cent of workers over 55 said they would not leave their jobs while 53 per cent of 23-34 year olds said they would quit.

Job security, high salaries, and flexible working were among the top benefits that employees value most.

56 per cent do not anticipate their wages to drop, with 47 per cent of workers expecting a pay rise of this year. Londoners were most confident of up to a 50...