Business

The owner of British Airways has reported a sharp rise in profits amid soaring demand for trips and a fall in the cost of fuel. International Airlines Group (IAG) said its operating profit for the first three months of the year was €68m (£58.5m) – above expectations and up from €9m (£7.7m) during the same

The UK economy is no longer in recession, according to official figures. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by a better-than-expected 0.6% between January and March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Economists in a Reuters poll had predicted the figure would be 0.4%. A recession, which is defined as two consecutive three-month periods where

The Bank of England has edged closer to a cut in interest rates, with another member of its nine-person Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voting for lower borrowing costs this month. While the MPC voted 7-2 to leave UK interest rates on hold at 5.25%, the change in the vote will be seen as a further

People are having to play “pharmacy bingo” – going from shop to shop to find stocks – as medicine shortages are worsening, experts have said. Health leaders say some patients are even having to “ration” their drugs, with a new poll suggesting shortages are a “daily occurrence” for many of England’s pharmacies. Treatments for ADHD,

High street bank TSB has announced 250 job losses and the closure of 36 branches. The job cuts will be in the fraud operations department of the bank, central operations and staff who work at the branches earmarked for closure. Trade union Unite said the decision by the UK high street lender was a “grave

The Russian state has been making more money from its oil and gas industry in the past three months than in any comparable period since the early days of the Ukraine invasion, it has emerged. The figures underline that despite the imposition of various sanctions on fossil fuel exports from Russia since February 2022, the

One of Britain’s biggest carpet retailers is axing more than 25% of its head office staff as it grapples with a protracted downturn in trading. Sky News understands that Carpetright, which is privately owned, notified staff on Tuesday morning that roughly 70 jobs would be lost as part of a cost-cutting process. The redundancies will

The boss of P&O Ferries – known for its fire-and-rehire of nearly 800 workers – has said he could not live on the less than £5-per-hour some of his staff are paid. The ferry company is paying employees an average of £5.20 an hour, two years after making 786 people redundant, and rehiring cheaper workers,

An estate agency group backed by the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group is being put up for sale in the latest sign of corporate activity in the sector. Sky News understands that LDC has hired bankers from Clearwater International to oversee a sale of Lomond Group. A process is expected to kick off

Single-sex toilets are set to become a legal requirement for all new bars, restaurants, offices and shopping centres under new laws proposed by the government. Self-contained toilets for both sexes may be provided in addition to single-sex toilets, or if there isn’t enough space. Care homes, hotels, schools, cells in custodial facilities, and buildings used

The world’s second-largest steel company has warned the government that a planning verdict due this week could lead to a key division quitting the UK. Sky News has seen a letter sent by ArcelorMittal to Michael Gove, the levelling-up secretary, in which it says that a decision to allow the closure and redevelopment of part

Ordinary investors will be awarded ‘bonus’ shares in NatWest Group if they hold onto stock they acquire in the taxpayer-backed bank, under a plan expected to be finalised by ministers later this month. Sky News has learnt key details of the options being explored by the Treasury for a multibillion pound retail offer of NatWest shares,

Entain, the FTSE 100 gambling group, has been rebuffed by the former bosses of bookies Coral and Skybet in its hunt for a new chief executive. Sky News has learnt that Entain, which owns Ladbrokes, approached Andy Hornby, who now runs Wagamama’s parent company, and Richard Flint, who holds a portfolio of roles, about the

A former top Post Office lawyer has been accused of telling the Horizon IT inquiry a “big fat lie” over his knowledge of a bug in the system that could have stopped wrongful prosecutions of sub-postmasters in their tracks. Jarnail Singh was a senior in-house lawyer and subsequently head of criminal law at the Post

Official figures have raised fears of a deepening public sector drag on the the UK’s economic recovery from recession. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that productivity in the public sector, dominated by education and healthcare, deteriorated between the third and fourth quarters of 2023. It measured a 1.0% decline over the

Tech giant Apple has recorded the biggest drop in iPhone sales since the early months of the COVID pandemic. Sales for January to March were down 10% on the same period last year – something not seen since the 2020 iPhone model was delayed due to lockdown factory closures. Overall, Apple earned $90.8bn (£72.4bn) in

Goldman Sachs is removing a cap on bonuses for London-based staff, paving the way for it to resume making multimillion pound payouts to its best-performing traders and dealmakers. Sky News can exclusively reveal that the Wall Street banking giant notified its UK employees on Thursday that it had decided to abolish the existing pay ratio

One of the world’s leading economic authorities has warned the UK that borrowing should remain expensive until the rate of price rises eases further and stays there. Interest rates, which are at a post-2008-era high of 5.25%, should stay there, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Money latest:Tips for plane upgrades;

The US central bank, known as the Fed, has again kept interest rates high – at 5.25% to 5.5%. It comes despite the bank signaling in January that interest rate cuts were around the corner. Money latest: Bitcoin suffers nightmare month – and it’s just got worse Progress in bringing down rates and making borrowing

Shifting expectations for UK interest rate cuts have contributed to a dip in house price growth, according to a closely watched measure. Nationwide reported a 0.4% dip in average property costs last month compared with March, taking the annual rate of growth to 0.6% from 1.6%. The lender’s report said the easing reflected “ongoing affordability