Britain has given the go-ahead for Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor to develop the Rosebank oil and gas field in the North Sea, in a move likely to provoke fresh criticism from environmental campaigners.

Equinor, which holds a majority stake in Rosebank, one of the biggest undeveloped oil and gas fields on the British continental shelf, will invest $3.8billion, or around £3.1billion, alongside its partner to develop the field.

Paddy Power owner Flutter has bought an initial 51 per cent stake in Serbia’s number two sports betting and gaming operator MaxBet for €141million (£123million) in a bid to expand in the Balkans.

Flutter said the deal, which also allows it to acquire the remaining 49 per cent stake in 2029 on similar terms, aligns with its strategy to target fast-growing, regulated markets where it can combine local expertise with its global pricing and technology.

The world’s largest online betting company said the €700million Serbian betting market is attractive due to its relatively low online penetration of around 35 per cent and expected online compound annual growth to 2025 of approximately 15 per cent.

MaxBet, which generated pro forma fully regulated revenue of €145million in the year to June, 44 per cent of it online, also has a smaller presence in Bosnia, Montenegro and North Macedonia.

‘We believe MaxBet is an excellent opportunity to replicate the success we have achieved in markets like Georgia, India and Italy,’ Flutter CEO Peter Jackson said in a statement.

The fund managers behind Lindsell Train split nearly £36m in dividends last year – despite disappointing returns for investors.

Nick Train and his wife received around £18m from the investment trust for the year to the end of January, as did his business partner Michael Lindsell and his wife, according to accounts filed with Companies House.

That was the lion’s share of a total dividend pot of £49m, although this was down from the previous year’s £53m.

Holiday group Saga expects annual revenues to rise by double digits and underlying profit to beat market estimates after a surge in bookings for its ocean cruises amid resilient travel demand.

The company, which also sells insurance to over 50-year-olds, separately told investors this mornign that finance chief James Quin would be stepping down from the role after nearly five years.

FTSE 250-listed Hiscox has agreed to sell its motor insurance business in Singapore and Thailand.

The insurer will sell DirectAsia to Ignite Thailand Holdings following a strategic review.

The company expects the deal to be completed by the end of 2023.

The Government has given the go-ahead to Oslo-listed Equinor to develop the Rosebank oil and gas field in the North Sea in partnership with London-listed Ithica Energy.

Equinor holds a majority stake in Rosebank, which is one of the largest undeveloped oil and gas fields on the British continental shelf, and expects to produce 300 million barrels of oil from the field in its lifetime.

‘We have today approved the Rosebank Field Development Plan which allows the owners to proceed with their project,’ the North Sea Transition Authority said in a statement.

Environmental campaigners had called on the Government to halt the development, arguing it contravenes Britain’s plan for a net-zero economy.

Gilad Myerson, executive chairman of Ithaca Energy, said: ‘We are delighted to announce the decision to move forward with the Rosebank development alongside Equinor.

‘Rosebank stands as the largest undeveloped field in the UK, and with the receipt of development consent from the NSTA, we are now poised to embark on a journey that will not only provide critically important domestic energy but also ignite substantial economic impact.

‘The Rosebank project will create thousands of jobs and contribute significantly to securing the UK’s energy needs for many years to come.’

The pound hit a six-month low against the dollar last night as it headed for its worst month since the mini-Budget crisis of last September amid fears of a recession.

Sterling dropped by about half a cent to as low as $1.2157 as pressure mounted on the currency in the wake of last week’s decision by the Bank of England to leave interest rates on hold.

And while many observers believe rates in the UK have peaked, it is thought there could be further hikes in the US, boosting the dollar.

Smiths Group achieved forecast-beating performance last year as turnover eclipsed the £3billion mark and operating profit more than tripled.

The engineering firm revealed a record 11.6 per cent uptick in headline organic sales for the 12 months ending July, while it also benefited from £146million in positive foreign exchange fluctuations.

Staff at supermarket chain Aldi are to be given body-worn cameras as the German discounter becomes the latest retailer to bring in more security measures amidst rising rates of shoplifting across the country.

UK boss Giles Hurley said that the company had not been ‘immune’ to reported rises in people stealing from shops – a rising pattern of behaviour seen nationwide, with some brazen thieves simply filling up carrier bags with items and leaving.

Shares in AIM-listed Videndum were hammered after the film set supplier revealed the devastating impact strike action in the US had wrought on its bottom line.

The London-based firm slumped to a £44.3million operating loss in the first half to 30 June, compared to a £19.7million profit the previous year, and revenues fell 25 per cent to £165million.

A 146-day strike by the Writers Guild of America was brought to an end this week after the union came to an agreement with an alliance of studios, streaming services and production companies.

(PA) – Britain’s smaller music venues will collapse if a business tax relief measure is taken away next year, a charity representing the sector has warned the Chancellor.

The Music Venue Trust (MVT) published an open letter to Jeremy Hunt urging him to extend the existing business rates relief for the retail, hospitality, and leisure sector next year.

The measure means that eligible businesses in the sector can get 75% off their tax bill, capped at £110,000 per firm each year.

But the one-year support is due to expire at the beginning of April 2024.

“The grassroots music sector is in the middle of a full-blown crisis,” the letter reads.

Some 125 venues have shut their doors for live music in the last 12 months, more than 15% of all such spaces in the UK, the MVT said.

It said that 76 of those venues have closed permanently, and the closures have resulted in the loss of 4,000 jobs.

Music venues have been hammered by the Covid-19 lockdowns, soaring energy prices and supply costs, fewer visitors and rising operational costs, and other factors like noise complaints, the MVT found in its annual survey of members.

The CBI has called for ministers to launch an independent review of the hated tourist tax, arguing that axing it could boost Britain’s international competitiveness.

It is one of a number of recommendations put forward by the business group ahead of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement in November.

Asos has warned full-year profits are set to be towards the bottom end of guidance after weaker-than-anticipated summer sales.

The online fashion retailer, which has struggled in recent times with sliding demand, anticipates underlying earnings of £40million to £60million for the 53 weeks ending 3 September.

Shares in the Canadian company, which listed on the London Stock Exchange at 410p in May 2021, fell another 12.2pc, or 18p, to 129p after another bleak update.

Facebook owner Meta has surrendered the lease on a building in London’s Regents Place, which has been earmarked by its landlord for a major new development.

Meta’s departure from the Regent’s Park-adjacent 1 Triton Square building, which is one of two buildings it has leased in the area, and analysts suggest the move is an indication of skittishness about real estate exposure among tech companies amid an uncertain economic outlook.

Aldi’s boss declared that the cost of living crisis has ‘changed the way Britain shops’ after sales at the supermarket chain hit a record high.

Giles Hurley said ‘a new generation of savvy shoppers’ are ‘flocking’ to Aldi and buying more own-label goods in a bid to trim their grocery bills.

Over the last year, Britain’s workers have taken on average 7.8 days off sick – two days more than before the Covid pandemic and the highest for more than a decade.

It’s a shocking increase, and particularly perturbing because of the sheer number of employees citing mental health and stress as the reason for their absence.

Mark Crouch, analyst at eToro:

‘Smiths Group has got momentum, with the engineering firm reporting another year of record revenue and earnings growth. With the firm’s operating profit, margin, cash conversion ratio and dividend also growing, there is plenty to like about these results.

‘The industrial technology firm is running very efficiently and effectively, with operating cash conversion and return on capital soaring over the past 12 months. Despite this, the firm’s balance sheet is actually a little weaker than it was a year ago, although it is still very robust.

‘Looking forward, while the economic outlook looks challenging, Smiths has proven adept at hitting its medium-term targets for revenue and profitability. With the firm continuing to benefit from the shift to decarbonization, we believe it can carry on doing so.’

London-listed stocks are in the red again this morning as worries of tighter macro conditions dampened sentiment, while Asos has fallen to a more than two-month low after reporting grim results and outlook.

ASOS reported a 15 per cent decline in fourth-quarter sales and said second-half earnings were expected to be around the bottom of its guided range.

The FTSE 250 is weighed down by a 4.3 per cent loss in Close Brothers. The banking firm said its financial results for the full year were significantly impacted by provisions in relation to Novitas.

AG Barr has added 2.7 per cent after the Irn-Bru maker posted a rise in its first-half profit, helped by strong demand for its cocktail mixes, soft drinks and price hikes of its products.

Amazon has become the latest tech giant to enter the AI arms race by pouring billions into the start-up behind a popular chatbot.

The online shopping firm said it will invest up to £3.3bn into San Franciscobased Anthropic, the developer of AIpowered chatbot Claude, a competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Irn-Bru maker AG Barr saw a marginal rise in its first-half profit, helped by strong demand for its cocktail mixes, soft drinks and price hikes of its products.

The beverage maker said its adjusted profit before tax came in at £27million for the six-month period ended 30 July, compared with £25.3million a year ago.

Roger White, chief executive, said:

‘We have made significant financial and strategic progress in the first half and have exciting plans in place for the balance of the year to sustain our growth momentum.

‘We remain confident in delivering a full year profit performance in line with our recently increased market expectations and are well positioned to deliver strong shareholder returns for the long-term.’

Nissan’s boss said the world ‘needs to move on’ as he confirmed plans to build electric cars in Britain.

Speaking just days after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pushed back the ban on new petrol and diesel engines from 2030 to 2035, Makoto Uchida said: ‘There’s no going back. The world needs to move on from internal combustion engines. We have a responsibility to be part of the solution.’

Citigroup’s British boss has delivered an uncompromising message to staff as she overhauls the US bank – telling them to ‘get off the train’ if they are not committed to the restructuring.

Jane Fraser has been chief executive of the lender – valued at £65bn – since March 2021, making her the most powerful woman among Wall Street’s banking heavyweights.

Joshua Warner, market analyst at City Index:

“ASOS has kept on the right track since escaping the red back in June as it tries to turnaround the business by becoming more agile, simple and efficient and remained profitable and cash generative in the second half.

‘However, earnings came in at the bottom-end of its target range and cashflow will be much lower than hoped as sales remain under pressure. ASOS blamed this on “timing effects”, but it will ultimately lead shareholders to think it will take longer for ASOS to turn its fortunes around.

‘ASOS remains a recovery play as it prepares to shift to its new commercial model once inventory levels have returned to a more normal size and its shift to a faster stock model is proving successful as its test case shows products turn around three times faster than usual.

‘Accelerating the turnaround in stock will not only be key to improving profitability and cashflow, but also paving the way for ASOS to reduce net debt.’

Meta Platforms has surrendered one of the two buildings it leases from FTSE 250 Britihs Land at London’s Regent’s Place, as tech companies turn cautious about office real estate due to prevailing macroeconomic uncertainties.

The property firm said the lease surrender would lead to an earnings per share dilution of about 0.6 pence for its half-year period.

British Land said it was ‘comfortable’ with current market expectations for the 2024 fiscal year despite the move by the Facebook-owner, as it saw a better-than-anticipated collection of historic Covid-19 arrears.

British industrial technology company Smiths Group has posted a 20 per cent rise in operating profit for the 12 months to the end of July as demand for scanners, valves and connectors soared, helped by decarbonisation trends.

The FTSE 100 group, which makes airport security scanners as well as specialist products used in the oil and gas and hydrogen sectors, made a profit of £501million for the year and said it expected more growth next year.

Paul Keel, chief executive, said:

‘We had another strong year of progress in fiscal 2023 as we further accelerated our growth, sharpened our execution, and developed our talented people. We delivered year-on-year improvement against all five of our medium-term financial commitments, including record organic sales and EPS growth.

‘Innovation is central to our purpose of improving our world through smarter engineering, and new product launches contributed more than three percentage points to our growth.

‘We continued to invest in R&D as artificiaI intelligence and other digital technologies are playing an increasingly important role in enabling us to support our customers more effectively. We are also further building our capabilities to capitalise on the growing megatrends we are exposed to across the major markets we serve, including energy transition and the world’s ever-increasing need for better security.’

Asos sales slumped 15 per cent in the fourth-quarter sales and the group has warned second half earnings are expected to come in at the bottom-end of its guided range.

However, the retailer has said its turnaround plan is making progress.

Asos announced an overhaul of its business model last October after the economic downturn and a string of operational problems hammered its profits and shares.

The strategy is to prioritise profit over top-line growth by reducing the amount of stock Asos carries, cutting costs and improving its cash position.

Underperforming water firms including Thames Water will be forced to return £114million to customers next year, industry regulatory Ofwat said on Tuesday.

David Black, Ofwat CEO, said:

‘The targets we set for companies were designed to be stretching – to drive improvements for customers and the environment.

‘However, our latest report shows they are falling short, leading to £114m being returned to customers through bill reductions. While that may be welcome to billpayers, it is very disappointing news for all who want to see the sector do better.

‘It is not going to be easy for companies to regain public trust, but they have to start with better service for customers and the environment. We will continue to use all our powers to ensure the sector delivers better value.’

Neil Shah, director at Edison Group:

‘Aldi’s record profits owe a lot to its supermarket sweep of UK households, with two-thirds now shopping at the German discount supermarket giant.

‘Aldi UK’s burgeoning growth, marked by a 17.1 per cent increase in sales at £15.5 billion last year, is significantly attributed to consumer shifts during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, with a heightened preference for economical own-label products.

‘The business is amplifying its investment to £1.4 billion through 2024, following a significant uptick in 2022 profits. This announcement is synchronous with Aldi UK inaugurating its 1,000th store and revising its target to 1,500, signalling robust growth and expansive market strategies. The refined investment will predominantly fund the expansion and refinement of stores and distribution networks and technology enhancement.

‘Aldi, surpassing Morrisons, now ranks as the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket and, along with Lidl, is manifesting rapid growth, altering shopping habits, and cementing its position in the market by drawing in value-seeking consumers.

‘This fortified market stance underscores Aldi’s commitment to offering value-driven, cost-effective alternatives, attracting nearly a million new customers in a year.’

Ladbrokes owner Entain expects third-quarter online net gaming revenue to be down by ‘high single digit percent’ on a pro-forma basis, citing regulatory headwinds and slower-than-expected growth in Australia and Italy.

Entain, which also owns Coral betting shops, added it expects group online gaming revenue for the full year to be down ‘low single digit percent’ on a pro-forma basis.

The company had earlier forecast annual growth in the mid-teens for online gaming revenue, including the acquisitions of STS Holdings and Angstrom Sports, which is expected to close in the second half of 2023.

‘We continue to see good underlying growth in our online business and are reiterating our EBITDA guidance for the year despite softer than expected revenue growth in Q3 and the ongoing roll-out of industry-leading safer gambling measures,’ CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen said in a statement.

Aviva has agreed to acquire the UK protection business of AIG for £460million.

Aviva said on Monday it would buy the unit – known as AIG Life UK – from Corebridge Financial, a New York-listed subsidiary of AIG.

Amanda Blanc, CEO of Aviva, said the deal would strengthen the FTSE 100 company’s position in an attractive market and help position it for ‘capital-light growth’.

The transaction will add 1.3 million individual protection customers and 1.4 million group protection members, Aviva said, with the deal expected to close in the first half of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals.

The deal would represent around a 5 percentage point cut to Aviva’s group solvency II cover ratio, the company said.

Marks & Spencer has teamed up with Adidas and Sweaty Betty as it extends its ‘brands’ strategy.

More than 150 products across the two sportswear brands will launch on M&S’ dedicated Sports Edit platform in early October.

M&S is hoping to drive online growth by selling third party brands, with upcoming additions including Columbia, Regatta and Sorel.

Aldi UK delivered record sales of £15.5billion last year, reflecting growth of 17.1 per cent, as the German discounter benefited from the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

The business said it would invest £1.4billion in the two-year period to the end of 2024.

Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK and Ireland, said:

‘Although inflation is easing, households are still under real pressure from higher living costs. As a result, Britain is shopping very differently to how it did 18 months ago – fewer trips, more own label products, and switching supermarkets in search of better value.

‘What we’re seeing is a new generation of savvy shoppers who’ve turned their back on traditional, full-price supermarkets in favour of transparent, low prices, which is what we’re famous for. That’s why we’re still welcoming more and more customers through our doors – people who come to us for our low prices but stay for the award-winning quality of our exclusive brands.

‘Shoppers know they’ll always get more for their money at Aldi. That’s a promise we’ve kept for more than 30 years.’

Samantha Phillips, partner at McKinsey & Co:

‘Looking ahead to the golden quarter, the next three months will be pivotal. Consumers are likely to spend cautiously with high winter energy bills in mind.

‘And retailers will need to stay in tune with the functional and emotional needs of their customers.

‘It will be important to monitor where consumers are willing to make trade-offs and where they are willing to stretch their budgets and spend. Those that can use these insights to inform product availability, pricing and promotions will be better placed to capture a greater share of the customer’s wallet.’

Neil Birrell, chief investment officer at Premier Miton investors:

‘UK retail sales figures for August came in much as expected which will please the Bank of England after its decision to keep interest rates unchanged yesterday.

‘With inflation coming in below expectations earlier in the week, strong consumer spending would not have been welcome.

‘The UK economy appears to in reasonable shape given everything that is being thrown at it and sharp eyes will remain on the data as we monitor the impact of all the interest rate increases we have seen.’

Fresh data shows UK consumer confidence has improved to its strongest since the start of 2022, while separate figures show retail sales ticked higher last month thanks to better weather conditions.

The GfK consumer sentiment indicator rose for a second month in a row to -21 in September, the highest since January last year, from -25 in August although it remained below the average of -10 for the survey, which has been running since 1974.

Economists had forecast a fall to -27.

Meanwhile data from the Office for National Statistics shows UK retail sales grew 0.4 per cent in August, just missing forecasts of 0.5 per cent growth.