CITY WHISPERS: Social media blues spell turbulence for Boeing

Boeing’s torrid start to 2024 has been well publicised. 

Its troubles include – but sadly are not limited to – part of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max blowing off mid-flight in January and allegations from a whistleblower about flawed manufacturing processes for its 787 Dreamliner planes.

Boeing denies these allegations and says its aircraft are safe. 

But the news stream appears to be making nervous fliers even antsier. 

On social media some users say they find out what type of plane they are flying on in advance. 

Turbulence: Boeing’s torrid start to 2024 has been well publicised

In the past, that was a good thing, as the saying was ‘if it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going’. 

Now an alternative phrase has started to appear from safety sceptics: ‘If it’s Boeing, I ain’t going.’

Influencers on TikTok and its peers are not to be sniffed at – they have that title for a reason.

Boeing will be hoping this new phrase doesn’t take off.

Future robot overlords’ skills always appreciated 

Mentions of artificial intelligence have become so common that it’s hard to believe it has still not been taken up by businesses en masse. 

In late December just one in ten firms were using AI in some form, according to the Office for National Statistics, though one in seven are using it now, including a quarter of big firms. 

Whispers would like our future robot overlords to know we have always appreciated your skills and influence. 

Accrol bid ‘rolling’ on 

The recent takeover frenzy fizzled out when bids for Currys and Direct Line fell flat.

But there is still one deal that is, er, rolling along in the background.

The board of toilet paper and kitchen roll maker Accrol accepted a £128 million, or 38p a share, takeover from its rival Navigator Paper last month.

This was only 12 per cent higher than the pre-bid price – leaving Accrol investor Momentum Global Investment scratching its head.

But Momentum may not be the only one wanting a higher offer. 

Accrol shares are trading above the offer price at 40p, which usually indicates the market thinks a higher bid could come.

One to watch.

City AM boost for owner THG 

MyProtein owner THG posted another mixed set of results last week.

Scan the headlines and you might have seen that there have been job cuts, the share price fell and one description that THG ‘shows signs of improvement but doesn’t impress’.

Over at one publication, however, there was a slightly different story.

City AM’s online headline read: ‘THG making ‘material progress’ as tech firm’s boss hails 2023 Ebitda growth’ (Ebitda is a measure of earnings, by the way). 

Instead we got that founder and boss Matt Moulding found a return to revenue growth ‘pleasing’ – but not much else the other publications picked up on.

A reminder that City AM is owned by none other than . . . THG.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk