Buy

• Overname zou resulteren in een gecombineerd bedrijf dat ongeveer 9,6 miljoen huishoudens bedient, mits er goedkeuring komt van de toezichthouders • Business live – laatste updates

Property prices are still rising at the entry level and as borrowing costs increase, the home ownership dream is even further out of reach The third Reserve Bank rate hike in a row has delivered a blow not only to mortgaged homeowners, but also to those hoping to break into the property market like Dani Hunterford and her husband.They have been saving for a deposit but have been left frustrated as another rate hike appears to put their homeowning dream out of reach again. Continue reading...

‘Least affordable’ areas mainly in London commuter belt, UK Finance finds, with Iran war not yet reflected in dataBusiness live – latest updatesUK homebuyers are facing the worst mortgage affordability pressures for almost two decades, although the “pain” is not being felt equally across the country, according to industry data.The banking body UK Finance said that at a nationwide level, initial mortgage repayments were typically swallowing up more than a fifth (21.3%) of a homebuyer’s gross income – the highest level since 2008. Continue reading...

WhatsApp group has bought tens of thousands of meals for people via Facebook pageCarl used to own pubs – several of them – and a string of hotels. Then two years ago, rising costs forced him into bankruptcy. Now he sleeps on the beach in summer, and in winter sits in an all-night McDonald’s nursing a single cup of coffee.Carl’s daughters are in a different part of the country with his ex-wife. To maintain the illusion that he lives a normal life, Carl is careful only to video-call them from the local Wetherspoon’s with a meal and a drink carefully positioned in shot. That way, he reasons, he looks like a man with somewhere to be. Continue reading...

• Bank of America analyst Epstein reiterated a Buy rating on Boeing (BA) with a $270 price target, signaling meaningful upside potential for the aerospace manufacturer. • Boeing's Q1 2026 earnings report, released April 22, showed revenue of $22.2 billion from 143 commercial deliveries and a record backlog of $695 billion covering over 6,100 commercial airplanes, though the company posted a GAAP loss per share of ($0.11). • The company guided to generate $1 billion to $3 billion in free cash flow for full-year 2026, with analyst estimates around $2.55 billion, representing a significant improvement signaling progression in the company's recovery trajectory.

State’s police minister says buyback ‘doesn’t focus on keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists and criminals’, leaving NSW only clear supporter of planGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastQueensland has rejected key recommendations from the Bondi royal commission’s interim report, insisting plans for a national gun buyback will not keep weapons “out of the hands of terrorists and criminals”.The report, handed down by commissioner Virginia Bell on Thursday, raised doubts about whether efforts to establish a national gun register after the 2022 police killings at Wieambilla in Queensland had been “unduly leisurely”. Bell recommended the federal government and the states speed up a jointly funded weapons buyback scheme. Continue reading...

FTSE 250 firms Paragon and OSB Group, owner of Kent Reliance and Precise Mortgages, slide on London Stock ExchangeRachel Reeves considering rent freeze to limit Iran war falloutBusiness live – latest updatesShares in some of the UK’s biggest buy-to-let lenders such as Paragon and One Savings Bank have fallen after it emerged that the chancellor may make private landlords commit to a one-year rent freeze.In an effort to protect households from rising living costs as a result of the Iran war, Rachel Reeves is considering whether to ban landlords in England from increasing rents for a limited period of time, the Guardian revealed on Monday night. Continue reading...