BUSINESS LIVE: Entain faces £585m HMRC charge

Matt Britzman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown:

‘Let’s address the elephant in the room first, Entain’s set aside £585m today in preparation for a settlement over the bribery investigation that’s been lingering in the background.

‘The business in question was sold over 6 years ago by a former management team, so drawing a line under this and moving on is something the new team, and investors, have been keen to do. But nonetheless, this entire set of events highlights why governance is so important and shines a spotlight back on a sector that’s come under scrutiny plenty of times in the past.

‘Back to the day to day, punters are continuing to allocate a portion of their dwindling disposable income to one of Entain’s host of big branded outfits, from Ladbrokes to Coral.

‘There are headwinds though, tighter affordability measures in the UK aiming to keep users from splashing all their hard-earned cash away are keeping a lid on things, as is the ongoing environment in Germany where regulation is poorly enforced.’

Rio Tinto’s chief executive broke into tears as he apologised to two whistleblowers who spent years raising concerns about misconduct at the company, according to a report seen by the Mail.

Jakob Stausholm, who has led the company since 2021, reportedly said that no one ‘ever deserves’ to be victimised and ‘financially ruined’ the way Dr Maurice Duffy, a long-time consultant with the company, and project manager Richard Bowley were by the FTSE 100 miner.

Italy’s banking sector mounted a recovery after the country’s government performed a U-turn on its surprise windfall tax.

Their shares tumbled on Tuesday when they were blindsided by a one-off 40 per cent levy on banking profits imposed in response to a surge in earnings caused by higher interest rates.

But following the market meltdown Rome’s government, headed by Giorgia Meloni (pictured), changed tack by announcing the banks would pay no more than 0.1 per cent of their assets.

Housebuilder Persimmon’s profits plummeted by 65 per cent in the first half as the housing sector grappled with subdued demand in the wake of high mortgage rates.

The FTSE 100 firm’s underlying operating profit for the six months ended 30 June was £152.2million.

Deliveroo has upgraded its full-year earnings guidance despite total orders number falling 6 per cent in the first half.

The company expects to post adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £60million to £80million for the year, up from its previous £20million to £50million forecast.

The industrial manufacturer headed by Nat Rothschild, the prominent financier, has been picked as Tesla’s electric car charging partner in the US.

Volex, which employs 8,000 people in 22 countries, will supply connectors to Tesla’s electric vehicle (EV) charging points as they are rolled out in the US.

Gambling giant Entain has taken a £585million provision on the back of a HMRC investigation, with the Ladbrokes owner hoping to ‘draw a line’ under potential bribery offences associated with the sale of its Turkish business in 2017.

Barry Gibson, chairman, said:

‘We are pleased to be making good progress towards drawing a line under this historical issue, which relates to a business that was sold by a former management team of the Group nearly six years ago.

‘We have been working closely with the CPS throughout this process, and they have recognised our extensive co-operation. Following a complete overhaul of our business model, strategy and culture in the last few years, the Entain of today bears no resemblance to the GVC of yesterday.’