BUSINESS CLOSE: Energy price gap rises; Virgin Money profits slump; Jet2 sales soar

Just before close, the FTSE 100 was 0.24% higher at 7,487.77.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was 0.11% lower at 18,459.82.

Households with pre-payment meters could pay lower energy bills permanently while other homes pay more, under new plans from the regulator Ofgem.

It has laid out plans to standardise standing charges, the daily fees which are added to energy bills regardless of how much gas or electricity a home uses.

The Government is ploughing £163million into HM Revenue & Customs’ debt management team in a bid to recoup £4.67billion in unpaid taxes over the next six years.

According to Treasury estimates, the injection of cash will help HMRC’s debt management team recoup £515million in taxes in 2024-25.

The things a Chancellor chooses to leave out of a Budget or Autumn Statement are just as important as what is included.

The omissions are telltales: they reveal what, and whom, the occupant of Number 11 thinks they can ignore or let down.

First Group swung to a loss in the first half as the Avanti West Coast operator suffered a significant hit related to its pension plans.

The FTSE 250 travel firm posted a £68.4million loss in the 27 weeks to 30 September, down from £8.7million at the same point a year ago.

Hipgnosis Songs Fund, its investment adviser and co-founder Merck Mercuriadis have been served legal proceedings by a company once owned by the Canadian.

The struggling music catalogues investor is accused of engaging in ‘a diversion of business opportunity’ from Hipgnosis Music Limited (HML) to the firm and its investment adviser, Hipgnosis Song Management.

(PA) – Cocktail bar group Nightcap has revealed that the impact of continued rail strikes and warm weather dragged on sales over the past three months.

Bosses told shareholders they do not believe “Nightcap will be in a position to reach its fullest trading potential until the industrial action has been settled” as it witnessed disruption from fewer commuters and travellers into cities.

The company, which is led by former Dragons’ Den star Sarah Willingham, highlighted the impact but saw total revenues boosted by acquisitions.

Nightcap, which runs 46 bars across the UK including the Cocktail Club chain, reported that like-for-like sales declined by 16.7% over the 13 weeks to October 1, compared with the same period last year.

The hospitality firm said the drop was “mostly caused by additional rail strikes and extremely warm weather throughout September”.

Some bars saw trade knocked by customers spending less time indoors during the warm weather, but it stressed that outdoor venues, such as Bar Elba and Luna Springs, performed well.

Overall revenues were 42.7% higher at £14.7 million for the quarter, boosted by the takeover of the Dirty Martini brand from administration in the summer.

The update comes ahead of a key Christmas period for hospitality operators under pressure from tighter consumer budgets.

Nightcap said it is “cautious” about near-term trading due to the potential further impact from strikes but was positive about current bookings.

Ms Willingham said: “Whilst trading in October 2023 has continued on the same trend as Q1, we are focusing on the important Christmas period.

“Christmas bookings and enquiries across the whole estate including Dirty Martini are in line with the strong 2022 Christmas period.”

The Autumn Statement saw Jeremy Hunt deliver a 2p cut to National Insurance as he outlined his plan for growth.

But it wasn’t long before it was pointed out that a continuing stealth tax raid and the downbeat projections of the Office for Budget Responsibility took the gloss of somewhat.

The oil and gas industry is a ‘marginal force’ in the global transition to clean energy, a new report claims ahead of the COP28 summit in Dubai next week.

Oil and gas producers account for 1 per cent of total clean energy investment globally, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

(PA) – NatWest Group has said it plans to close another 19 branches, mostly in the early part of next year, the latest tranche of hundreds of banks that have closed in recent years.

The business said it will shut 18 NatWest branches and one Royal Bank of Scotland set.

The NatWest branches are mainly spread across England, apart from one in Pontypridd in Wales.

All the NatWest sites will close in either the latter part of February or early March, the bank said.

Three of the sites are in London, with others in Redcar, Bradford, Birmingham, Maldon and Dudley, among others.

The one RBS branch that is set to close is on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow, though it will stay open until November 19 next year.

There has been a massive exodus of branches from the high street in recent years.

So far in 2023 alone, banks have announced the closure of 578 branches across the UK.

Jeremy Hunt is keen to make it clear he’s not a rabbit-out-of-the-hat type of man.

He’s steady, considered, measured and not prone to the show-boating of former Chancellors of the Exchequer, who liked a cheeky moment of surprise.

The average discount on new electric vehicles has increased by a staggering 323 per cent in the last year, in a desperate bid to stimulate sales by car manufacturers and their networks.

With consumer demand for EVs waning in recent months, the average combined cash and finance discount on a new battery-powered car grew to a whopping £4,399 in the last 12 months, according to new market analysis.

PZ Cussons says its trading outlook remains on track, despite the Carex maker’s bottom line taking a hit from the planned delisting of its Nigerian business.

The group told shareholders that ‘additional sensitivities’ related to PZ Cussons Nigeria and ‘implications of the devaluation in the naira’ would hit its earning in the first half of next year.

Motorpoint Group has fallen to a half-year loss as challenging economic conditions led to consumers making fewer used car purchases.

Britain’s largest independent vehicle retailer recorded a £3.5million loss for the six months ending September after making a £2.4million profit in the equivalent period last year.

Average Jet2 holiday package prices jumped 11 per cent to £855 in the six months to the end of September as the FTSE 250 group’s profits soared.

The group saw its net ticket yield from flight-only customers rise 18 per cent to just over £124 during the period, while non-ticket revenue per passenger reached £25.81, up slightly from £25.79 last year.

Sacked OpenAI boss Sam Altman is returning less than a week after he was ousted.

The maker of Chat GPT said its co-founder  would come back as chief executive under a new board.

Small firms last night hailed a package of ‘game-changing’ measures to boost Britain.

Jeremy Hunt vowed to ‘end the scourge of late payments’ to small suppliers alongside plans to offer relief on business rates and cut taxes for the self-employed.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said it would ‘help build future prosperity’

Hipgnosis Songs, its investment adviser and its founder Merck Mercurladis face legal proceedings on allegations of ‘diversion of business opportunity’, the struggling music royalty fund said this morning.

Hipgnosis Music, which is in liquidation and where Mercuriadis was previously a director, served proceedings alleging there was ‘a diversion of business opportunity’ from Hipgnosis Music Limited to the company and the investment adviser, which is now backed by Blackstone.

Mercuriadis, the investment adviser and the London-listed fund deny the claims and intend to defend them, it said.

Soap maker PZ Cussons expects only a minimal surplus cash position remaining in its Nigeria business beyond what is required for trading by the end of its current financial year.

The company had earlier said the devaluation of Nigeria’s currency would adversely impact its profit and in September offered to buy out minority shareholders of PZ Cussons Nigeria amid plans to de-list the business from the Nigerian stock exchange.

PZ Cussons, however, said first-half trading has continued to be strong in its Nigeria business and many of its brands have held or gained market share there.

‘We expect to achieve an improvement in both gross and operating profit margins in the first half of the year, despite very high levels of inflation,’ the company said about its Nigerian business.

Nissan is set to announce that it will build two new electric models at its UK car production plant in Sunderland in a major boost for Britain’s motor industry.

The Japanese car manufacturer will confirm on Friday its plans to make electric vehicles (EV) to succeed the popular Qashqai and Juke – both of which are currently assembled at the North East factory – after months of talks with the Government.

Jet2 says it is on track to meet annual forecasts after posting a jump in operating profit for the six months to the end of September, helped by ongoing strong demand for flights and holidays.

While Jet2’s British customer base has been hit by higher bills in the last two years, holiday companies and airlines have found consumers have not cut back on holidays.

Profit before nasties came in 32 per cent higher in the first half, after it took more people on holiday, and more of those opted for its higher-margin package holidays.

Virgin Money UK profits slumped after pressure on lending margins and stubborn inflation squeezed the bank’s returns.

The British lender posted an underlying profit before tax £593million for the last financial year, down 24 per cent year-on-year and well below forecasts of £625million.

Virgin Money, owner of the former Glasgow-based Clydesdale Bank, also announced an additional share buyback plan of £150million.