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- Daily business and finance update 17th April 2023
Daily business and finance update 17th April 2023
Strike action ebbs and flows
Good morning. Getting paid to socialise? That’s the extreme lengths the South Korean government is going to in order to encourage its youth to leave the house and “re-enter society.” The country is offering young people £400 a month to socialise, find work or go to school. South Korea’s family ministry estimates over 300,000 young Koreans live in complete isolation.
Big Stories
Strike action ebbs and flows
One of the UK’s longest running labour disputes could be nearing an end after the Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union announced they reached an "in principle" agreement over pay and conditions for 115,000 postal workers. Over the past year Royal Mail workers have walked out in a series of strikes, including in the lead up to Christmas. It comes weeks after rail workers closed a deal to end months of striking. The move comes amid signs that strike disruption is taking a toll on UK economic growth. On the flipside the Royal College of Nurses have suggested their members could be striking until December after rejecting a pay offer from the government. The strikes are a headache for the government, less than a month before local elections and with a general election expected next year.
Going hands free
The UK has become the first European country to approve a hands-free car for use on motorways. Ford’s BlueCruise system has computer-controlled steering, acceleration and lane positioning, but cameras monitor the driver’s eyes to make sure they stay alert. The manufacturer's Mustang Mach-e is the first model to be fully approved for hands-free driving. The technology will be allowed on 2,300 miles of pre-mapped motorways across the UK and can be operated at speeds of up to 80mph.
US banks post big profits
America’s biggest banks got the earnings season off to an encouraging start with better-than-expected results in the first three months of 2023 fuelled by rising interest rates. The country’s largest bank JP Morgan posted record quarterly revenue of more than $39.3bn and saw its profits spike to $12.6bn, 52% more than the same quarter last year. The bank also had an influx of $37bn in deposits following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Citigroup and Wells Fargo, America’s third and fourth biggest banks, also recorded strong numbers with a 7% and 32% jump in profits respectively. Despite the good results JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon highlighted that “storm clouds that we have been monitoring for the past year remain on the horizon, and the banking industry turmoil adds to these risks.”
Barclays cuts back
This week Barclays will cut more than 100 roles in its investment banking division, the second round of layoffs in less than six months, according to Sky News. The jobs being eliminated aren’t confined to a single country or function within the business. In November, the bank began to cut roughly 200 people across its investment-banking group, representing about 3% of the division’s global headcount. It follows similar decisions at other investment banks as the industry adjusts to a slowdown in deal-making and stock market flotations.
Elsewhere...
Walking out: Workers at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse have begun a fresh round of strike action in a dispute about pay during the cost of living crisis.
Luxury boom: High-end fashion house Hermès reported a 23% jump in sales, becoming the latest luxury goods company to benefit from wealthy shoppers spending big.
Man U sale: The giant American financial investor Carlyle is in talks about a major investment in Manchester United as the auction of the club nears its concluding stages.
Hiring delays: After laying off 19,000 staff, consulting giant Accenture is postponing the start dates for some of its newly hired employees.
Animal takeover: Sega is reportedly close to buying Rovio Entertainment — the company that owns the Angry Birds mobile game franchise — for $1bn.
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