Business Live: Phoenix considers sale of Sun Life, AO World profit beats expectations, REVB rises on cost cutting

(PA) – Universal has revealed new details about plans for Britain’s first theme park, which the company claims will boost the UK economy by around £50 billion.

Universal Destinations and Experiences, a subsidiary of Sky’s parent company Comcast, bought the 476-acre former brickworks site in Kempston Hardwick, Bedfordshire, last year.

The company has proposed building a large theme park resort at the site and has begun discussions with local residents and the government.

A new report commissioned by Universal says construction of the project would create 20,000 jobs in the long term, with 5,000 workers on-site at peak times.

When the resort opens, it will initially create 8,000 new jobs across a range of roles.

The study also found that the project would deliver benefits of more than £49 billion to the local economy and the wider UK economy.

This includes a contribution of £35.1 billion throughout the construction process and the first 20 years of operation.

AO World’s full-year profits soared as higher prices helped it make up for falling revenue and achieve higher profit margins.

The online electronics retailer said adjusted pre-tax profit rose 186% to £34.3 million for the year to March, well above guidance of between £28 million and £33 million.

German car giant Volkswagen Group plans to invest up to $5 billion (£4 billion) in US electric car maker Rivian as part of a joint venture to share EV architecture and software.

The significant investment will provide a financial lifeline to Rivian, which has been hit by a series of losses, and help fund development of future models.

Witan Investment Trust will combine assets with London-listed peer Alliance Trust to form a £5 billion portfolio to allocate cash to a range of global equity investors and aim for FTSE 100 status.

Witan’s assets will be transferred to Alliance Trust in exchange for new ordinary shares in the renamed and enlarged Alliance Witan Investment Trust, the investment companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

(Pennsylvania) — The rising cost of living has cash-strapped shoppers considering replacing their appliances, according to retailer Marks Electrical Co., a trend that has caused the company’s profits to fall by a third last year.

The electrical goods retailer, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2021, said trading conditions were putting pressure on profit margins as consumers “remain highly price sensitive”.

Marks Electrical’s adjusted profit fell 33% to £5 million in the year to March 31, despite its domestic appliances market share rising to 2.8% from 2.5% a year earlier.

The company’s profits fell this year despite sales rising 17% to £114m, its highest ever.

“In the current trading environment, consumers remain highly price sensitive and given our focus on premium, this continues to impact our average order value and as a result customer order volumes are growing faster than sales,” Marks Electrical chief executive Mark Smithson said.

More than half of homes are energy inefficient, which could cost you thousands of extra pounds on your bills, according to new research from Rightmove.

According to a real estate portal, at least 18 million homes have an energy performance rating of D or below, which represents 55% of the total number of homes.

Phoenix Group has decided that its Sun Life business is “no longer core to its operations” and is considering selling it.

The FTSE 100 company acquired the business from French insurance giant AXA in 2016, along with AXA Wealth, the company’s non-platform investment and pensions division, as part of a £375m deal.

As Nvidia has grown into the world’s most valuable company, the little-known chip designer and its inspirational founder, Jensen Huang, have become the tech world’s “Swifties.”

The stock market is an unforgiving and often irrational place, where herd instinct can trump fundamentals.

The notion that tech-savvy young people are less likely to fall victim to online scams is a misconception, new statistics show.

Data from money app Revolut found that 65% of scams reported in the past 12 months were committed by Gen Z and millennials, which fraud experts say is because they’re conducting more banking transactions online.

Britain’s biggest winemaker could be put up for sale as it seeks to meet soaring demand for English sparkling wine.

Chapel Down has launched a strategic review to explore ways of finding new capital to fund its ambitious growth plans.

Shares in artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia rose nearly 6% after a three-day sell-off wiped $557bn (£440bn) off its market capitalisation.

In a much-needed relief for investors in Nvidia shares and funds that hold the company, the company’s shares rose to nearly $125 a day and its market capitalisation was once again approaching $3 trillion (£2.4 trillion).

Richard Hunter, Head of Markets at Interactive Investor:

“With much of the hard work of revamping the business now complete, AO World can move into the next phase of development, but our mobile business requires some care and attention.”

“The sector is currently in the red due to weak consumer demand and falling number of connections.

“While this business represents a relatively small proportion of the group’s overall revenue, AO World continues to fulfil its potential and, to provide further sales channels, the group has acquired two web domain names during this period, as part of its strategic focus to sell its full range of products to customers.”

Party manifestos may not have had much time to settle, but small businesses are already finding out they will have to shoulder much of the heavy lifting required to pay for them.

With economic growth and wealth creation at the heart of each major political party’s appeal, the UK’s community of self-employed, start-ups and small businesses are ready to vote for the party they believe will make rebuilding the economy their top priority.

The owner of Vauxhall has warned it may halt car production in the UK amid a dispute over sales targets for electric vehicles.

Stellantis, one of the world’s largest car makers, has threatened to close its factories in Ellesmere Port and Luton, Cheshire, where it employs 2,500 people, over the government’s zero-emission vehicle quota.

Amid a dramatic escalation of tensions between manufacturers and ministers, Stellantis UK boss Maria Grazia Davino warned the government, saying a decision would be made in “less than a year”.

Cosmetics brand Revolution Beauty returned to profitability last year after a tumultuous two years and a makeover under new management.

The company reported pre-tax profits of £11.4 million for the year to the end of February, up from a loss of £33.9 million the previous year.

Sales rose just 2% year-on-year to £191.3m, which the company said included the liquidation of unwanted stock to focus on core products.

Lauren Brindley, a former Walgreens vice president who was named Revolution’s chief executive officer in August, said the past year had been one of “significant strategic and financial progress after two challenging years.”

The company was plunged into crisis in 2022 over accounting errors and an ongoing dispute with its former president.

British online electronics retailer AO World Inc. said its profits beat expectations last year as a plan focused on efficiency took effect and that it expected to grow at least 6 percent this year despite a tough economy.

AO, which sells washing machines, fridge-freezers, cookers, TVs, laptops and mobile phones across the UK, said it made adjusted pre-tax profit of £34 million for the 12 months to the end of March, beating its forecast of being at the top of a range of £28 million to £33 million.

The group forecasts double-digit growth in revenue and profits in the range of £36m to £4m.

The company, which has a 15% share of the British consumer electronics market, will withdraw from the German market in 2022 and has cut costs, dropped low-cost products from its range and introduced delivery charges over the past year as part of a plan to improve profitability.

AO said it was confident of further profit growth in the medium term, despite “ongoing macroeconomic challenges” following two years of high inflation.

Morrisons is opening more convenience stores as it shows signs that its price war with Aldi and Lidl is paying off.

The supermarket group said it plans to open around 400 more Morrisons Dairy stores by 2025, taking the total number of stores to 2,000.

Insurance company Phoenix Group is considering selling its Sun Life business, which specialises in people aged over 50, after receiving expressions of interest from potential buyers.

Phoenix told investors it had concluded that Sun Life, which is set to report post-tax profits of £16 million in 2023, was “no longer core” to delivering the group’s “vision to become the UK’s leading retirement savings and income business”.

It added: “The board has decided to commence the sale process having received a number of initial expressions of interest from third parties; however, it cannot be certain at this stage that a sale will occur.”