Daily Mail Business Articles

Finnish insurer Sampo Oyj and South Africa’s Rand Merchant Investment, which already own a 29.7 per cent stake in Hastings, have offered 250p per share in cash for the company.

The decade-old business said Covid-19 had cost it around £109 million as it reported a pre-tax loss of £240.6 million in the first six months of the year.

The closures will leave the betting firm with 1,414 stores across the UK. William Hill has not yet revealed the location of the 119 sites staying shut.

The betting giant’s half-year profits fell 85 per cent to £11.8million, while revenues shrunk by 32 per cent to £554.4million on the previous year.

Virgin Atlantic’s filing on Tuesday in U.S. bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York said it has negotiated a deal with stakeholders ‘for a consensual recapitalization’.

Travel shares took off after a buoyant update from budget airline easyJet. Demand for last-minute summer holidays has been so much better than expected that the company expanded its schedule.

Prices have been driven higher by the weak dollar, depressed bond yields and fears about the economic impact of the Covid crisis. Market turmoil tends to push investors towards so-called ‘safe haven’ assets.

Companies will hand back £60.5bn to shareholders in 2020, according to financial administration firm Link Group. This is down a whopping 39 per cent from £98.5bn last year.

The energy giant was hammered by a sharp drop in oil prices, triggered by the pandemic. But shares jumped after chief exec Bernard Looney (pictured) unveiled some details of its new green strategy.

The breakdown firm said Centerbridge Partners and Towerbrook Capital were launching a potential offer, rivalled by potential bids from their peers Platinum Equity Advisors and Warburg Pincus.