The European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates for the first time in more than 11 years

By Suzanne Evans, Director, Political Insight

The European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates for the first time in more than 11 years yesterday in an attempt to stem inflation in the eurozone. The ECB hiked its key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points to 0.0% - a larger move than the bank had previously signalled - and plans further hikes this year. The rate has been negative since 2014 in a bid to boost the region's economy after years of weak growth, the BBC says, but consumer prices rose at a record 8.6% in the 12 months to June as food, fuel and energy costs soared, well above the bank's 2% target.
 
The number of property transactions fell unexpectedly in June, Yahoo Finance UK reports. Sales were 7.9% lower than in May, according to the latest data from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which confirmed that residential transactions during the month stood at 96,290, 55.1% lower than June 2021, and 3.1% lower than the previous month. Meanwhile, non-residential transactions stood at 8,850, almost a quarter (24.3%) lower than last year, and a 9.5% drop from May 2022. It was the third slowest June for a decade and down 4% from June 2019.
 
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has fined pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Flynn £70m after they charged “hugely excessive” prices for the anti-seizure drug phenytoin sodium. Pfizer was fined £63m and Flynn was given a £6.7m penalty after an "in-depth investigation" found the two firms "de-branded" the drug, previously known as Epanutin, meaning it was no longer subject to price regulation and they could set prices at their discretion. This meant the NHS had no choice but to pay the inflated final price for the "important" anti-epilepsy medicine, which was between 780% and 1,600% higher than previously. Pfizer supplied the drug to Flynn, which then sold the capsules on to wholesalers and pharmacies at prices between 2,300% and 2,600% higher than previously charged by Pfizer. The CMA said the illegal behaviour led to NHS annual costs for phenytoin capsules increasing from £2m in 2012 to about £50m the following year.
 
Britain's competition and aviation regulators informed airlines yesterday that they risk enforcement action if travellers face more flight disruptions and cancellations throughout the summer, Reuters reports. "We are concerned that consumers could experience significant harm unless airlines meet their obligations and minimise flight disruptions throughout the summer and beyond," the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said in a joint open letter to airlines. The CMA and CAA said some airlines may not be doing everything they can to avoid "harmful practices", which include selling more tickets “than they can reasonably expect to supply” and failing to provide customers with clear information, including about the risk of cancellations. They also warned airlines they needed to support customers whose flights are cancelled, by offering alternative routes and providing effective communication, as well as paying refunds promptly.
 
Long-running weekend strikes on London's Night Tube have been suspended after the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union accepted a concession from London Underground about rotas, agreeing to have a minimum number of drivers who prefer to work overnight on each line.
The RMT stressed however that the dispute was not resolved, and the situation would be reviewed in three months. The BBC reports that the ongoing weekend strike action began in January and was planned until December to "prevent the ripping up of staffing arrangements that would wreck the work-life balance of drivers". Previously, London Underground's Nick Dent said the new rotas meant Tube drivers would have to work up to four night shift weekends each year and that London Underground had "guaranteed" there would be no job losses.
 
Sports Direct's parent firm, Frasers Group, has reported a bumper profit for the past year despite a "significant increase" in running costs, Sky News reports. The Mike Ashley-founded business, which also runs House of Fraser and Game stores, among others, saw adjusted pre-tax profits jump to £344.8m for the year to April, compared with a £39.9m loss in the previous year. It also expects to post an adjusted pre-tax profit of between £450m and £500m over the current financial year. Revenues grew by 30.9% to £4.75bn as the group benefitted from the reopening of its stores after covid restrictions were lifted, it said.
 
Improvements have been ordered at the Dounreay nuclear power complex in Caithness following an incident in April when a small amount of a radioactive material may have been released into the environment during a chemical reaction in a storage tank. The BBC says that no-one was injured, but there was some minor damage to pipework and internal components. The Office for Nuclear Regulation said it had issued Dounreay with an enforcement letter. The complex is in the process of being decommissioned.
 
A new £700m film and TV production complex is to be built in Hertfordshire. The development will be the first Sunset Studios facility outside of the US, where the owners - Blackstone & Hudson Pacific - run four studios. The investment is set to create 4,800 jobs.
 
Sky News claims that London-based events start-up Pollen, which raised $150m from blue-chip investors just three months ago, has drafted in Goldman Sachs to find a buyer. City sources said the company had also asked Kroll, the restructuring specialist, to assist with the process, although one insider said that Kroll's mandate was confined to Pollen's student travel arm.  Pollen's backers include some of the biggest names in venture capital investing, such as Northzone and Lansdowne Partners, the hedge fund, and the company partners with music event promoters like Live Nation and Electric Zoo to create exclusive packages for its customers, as well as working with upmarket hotel operators, restaurants and nightclubs. Sky said industry sources were sceptical that it would be a profitable transaction for the company's existing shareholders, however, as earlier this year, Pollen was reported to have laid off more than 20% of its workforce and missed employees' monthly salary payments.
 
Amazon has agreed to buy US primary healthcare company One Medical in a $3.9bn cash deal, representing a price of $18 per share. Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services, said: "We think health care is high on the list of experiences that need reinvention. Booking an appointment, waiting weeks or even months to be seen, taking time off work, driving to a clinic, finding a parking spot, waiting in the waiting room then the exam room for what is too often a rushed few minutes with a doctor, then making another trip to a pharmacy - we see lots of opportunity to both improve the quality of the experience and give people back valuable time in their days. We love inventing to make what should be easy easier and we want to be one of the companies that helps dramatically improve the healthcare experience over the next several years." Shares of One Medical's parent, 1Life Healthcare, shot up 67% in pre-market trade to $16.98 on the announcement.
 
Reuters says HSBC has unloaded its complete Russian business shortly before Moscow announced that it would move to block foreign lenders divesting their operations in the country. HSBC's activities in Russia consisted mainly of corporate banking services. It had some 200 local staff on its payrolls and generated approximately $15m in annual revenues before the war in Ukraine.
 
Russian steelmaker Evraz has denied speculation that it either is or has been supplying products to the Russian military which may have been used for military purposes. In a brief statement issued yesterday, the company insisted that it supplies products in Russia to infrastructure and construction sectors for civilian use only.
 
As reported on Wednesday, the Chinese authorities have proceeded to fine ride hailing app Didi Global 8.026 billion yuan ($1.2bn; £990m) for breaking its cyber security laws. Yesterday the Cyberspace Administration of China(CAC) said that it had found "conclusive evidence" against the company since it began an investigation into Didi just days after the firm launched its shares in the US last year - reportedly against authorities' wishes – and forcing it to stop trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The CAC also said it had imposed fines of one million yuan each on Didi Global's chairman and CEO Cheng Wei and president Liu Qing. In December, Didi announced plans to exit the US stock market and relist its shares in Hong Kong when it became, along with other high profile tech companies, the target of crackdowns by the Chinese government.
 
Shares in the owner of social media platform Snapchat have plummeted 25% in after-hours trade in New York after it missed revenue expectations and warned it faces "incredibly challenging" conditions. The BBC reports that the firm says advertisers cut spending as they face supply chain disruptions, rising costs and labour shortages. The firm also said privacy changes to iPhones, economic challenges, and increasingly tough competition for advertisers had "substantially slowed" its revenue growth. However, daily active users on Snapchat grew to 347m by the end of June, beating forecasts. It said it now aims to reduce hiring, grow its advertising business, and find new sources of revenue.

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