Profit

Airport has also been ‘engaging closely’ with regulator to discuss cost of plan to build third runwayBusiness live – latest updatesHeathrow has said that passenger numbers and profits will fall this year because of the conflict in the Middle East.Europe’s busiest airport said it expects a 1.1% decline in the total number of passengers to 83.6 million, as the impact of the Iran war affects global air travel. Continue reading...

• Asian stock markets plunged on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 dropping 4.4% and South Korea's Kospi crashing 7.7%. • The sell-off was driven by traders locking in profits following a period of significant rallies in stocks tied to artificial intelligence. • Other regional markets were also affected, including Hong Kong's Hang Seng, which lost 1.9%, and the Shanghai Composite, which slipped 2.1%.

King Charles’s property management firm rakes in £1.2bn as it continues to benefit from offshore windfarm boomKing Charles’s tax bill: what did we learn and what is still in the dark?King Charles’s property management company has made more than £1bn for the third consecutive year thanks to the boom in offshore windfarms paid for through energy bills.The crown estate, the royals’ portfolio of land and property, reported £1.2bn in profit for the last financial year, almost three times the amount it made three years ago. Two-thirds came from the offshore wind industry. Continue reading...

• Major AI-driven tech stocks, including hyperscalers like Microsoft and Alphabet, are experiencing a slump as investors question the timeline for returns on massive AI investments. • The decline follows a period of aggressive spending where companies utilized significant cash reserves to fund AI infrastructure and expansion. • This market shift highlights growing nervousness among investors regarding whether the high capital expenditures will translate into sustainable profit growth.

Martin Seidenberg, chief executive of parent company IDS, handed payouts after takeover of UK postal serviceBusiness live – latest updatesThe boss of the parent company of Royal Mail saw his pay and bonus package more than triple last year to almost £7m, despite group profits slumping by a fifth.Martin Seidenberg, the group chief executive of International Distribution Services (IDS), took home £6.9m in pay, bonus and long-term incentive scheme awards in the year to 31 March. This compares with the £2.1m he took home the previous year. Continue reading...

Underlying operating profits down 19% with 2019 frigate-building programme making loss, firm reportsOne of the UK’s biggest defence contractors has blamed Brexit and Covid among a catalogue of problems to beset a key contract for the Royal Navy, which led its annual profits to plunge.Annual profits at Babcock International fell by almost a fifth in the year to the end of March, as the firm reported a £140m charge on its contract to build five Type 31 frigates for the Royal Navy. Continue reading...

Retailer plans to shut unprofitable stores as shopper numbers at airports fall amid Middle East conflictBusiness live – latest updatesWH Smith has issued a profit warning after shopper numbers at its stores in US airports fell as a result of the war in the Middle East.The retailer, which operates 1,200 outlets globally in airports, railway stations and hospitals, also announced plans to raise about £100m to strengthen its balance sheet, pay down debt, invest in technology and shut down unprofitable stores after “a downturn in trading conditions”. Continue reading...

Tech company received infrastructure relief as its five biggest UK divisions generate £32bn in revenuesAmazon’s main division in the UK was handed a £7.6m tax credit last year by HM Revenue and Customs, despite profits at the retail-to-streaming company surging by more than a quarter to £355m.Amazon UK Services – which employs 66,000 staff, the vast majority of its 75,000 employees in Britain – said it owed £9.1m in “current tax” last year. Continue reading...