BUSINESS LIVE: Wage growth hits record high

British bookmaker 888 Holdings does not expect any operational impact from the ongoing investigation by the UK gambling regulator, it told investors this morning after posting a 9 percent rise in first-half profit helped by effective measures. of cost reduction.

Last month, the owner of William Hill appointed a new chief executive after ignoring a call by its second-biggest shareholder, FS Gaming, to name its candidates for top jobs, prompting the GB Gambling Commission to launch a review of the licenses of the betting firm in the United Kingdom.

FS Gaming’s push for former GVC, now known as Entain, executives to be named to 888’s board, could have forced the company out of its biggest market.

Russia’s central bank will hold an emergency meeting on interest rates today after a blame game with the Kremlin caused the ruble to plunge sharply.

The currency fell to its lowest level against the dollar in a year and a half, to less than a US cent, before paring losses after the meeting was announced.

Russia’s economy has been in turmoil since it launched its war against Ukraine in February last year and left it facing isolation from the West.

Legal & General posted a better-than-expected operating profit of £941m in the first half of 2023, driven by its bulk annuity business, with the group on track to meet its five-year ambitions.

Analysts had forecast the British life insurer and asset manager to post an interim profit of 834 million pounds.

Higher UK interest rates have improved the funding positions of final salary or defined benefit pension plans, allowing employers to offload pension risk to an insurer via a so-called bulk annuity more economical.

“We remain on track to achieve our five-year ambitions and deliver attractive returns for our shareholders,” Chief Executive Nigel Wilson said in a statement.

Julia Turney, partner at career advice consultancy Barnett Waddingham:

‘The job market is tight: most people who want a job have it. This, combined with cost-of-living pressures facing consumers, means wages are rising and are expected to outpace inflation later this week.

‘The CIPD has revealed that almost half of UK employers have counter-offers in the last year to try to keep staff; It is clear that the war for talent is back and the battlefield is wages.

“But this upward spiral is not sustainable. If wages continue to rise, so will inflation: labor costs will rise, and in turn prices. To break the cycle, companies have a responsibility to create an environment where staff are paid fairly and highly valued.

“Organizations need to take a holistic, planned approach that goes beyond just cash compensation – it needs to include benefits, culture and wellness. Most employees who stay do so because they love the job and the culture, and many who leave dislike the job and the team. Employers who tackle this problem head-on will not only be able to compete in the war for talent, but change the battle entirely.”

Wage increases have reached a new record, raising fresh concerns about inflation, despite signs that the job market is weakening.

Regular pay rose 7.8 percent annually in the quarter through June, the fastest pace since comparable figures began in 2001.

Although the sharp rise was still slightly below the surprising increases in prices, the ONS findings will cause anxiety for the Bank of England as it considers whether to push interest rates higher. Less reliable but more up-to-date wage data suggests that the upward momentum may have slowed.

Dr. Roger Barker, Director of Policy at the Institute of Directors:

‘The latest data shows a gradual easing of labor market pressures, as the number of job openings in the economy fell by another 60,000 in the three months to July.

‘However, there are still more than a million open positions, which is a great practical concern for business leaders.

‘Even more worrisome for policy makers, wage inflation shows no sign of abating.

‘The concern for business is that this may fuel the persistence of stubbornly high inflation rates and high interest rates. Such a backdrop of continued wage cost pressures and labor shortages is not a positive for many companies.

Officials at the Bank of England were investigating last night the worst disruption to Britain’s banking payment systems in almost nine years.

Home buyers and sellers may have seen deals delayed as a result of the outage, which lasted about five and a half hours yesterday.

The bank, led by Governor Andrew Bailey, said a “technical issue” affected its real-time gross settlement service (RTGS) and high-value payments system CHAPS, which handle hundreds of billions of pounds of transactions. every day.

Marks and Spencer has told investors it now expects earnings growth this year, and its soon-to-be-released interim results are likely to improve significantly compared to earlier expectations.

M&S said: ‘Significant uncertainties remain about the economic outlook, and there is a risk that the consumer market will tighten as the year progresses.

“However, we now expect the full-year result to show earnings growth in 2022-23, with interim results to show significant improvement versus earlier expectations.”

Specialty insurer Just Group posted a 154 percent increase in first-half profit, beating market estimates, thanks to strong sales of its retirement income products and higher new business income.

Underlying operating profit reached £173m in the six months to June 30, up from £68m last year and beating forecasts of £162m.

UK wages excluding bonuses grew at the fastest year-over-year pace since records began at 7.8 percent in the three months to June, new data from the Office for National Statistics shows.

Wage growth has been an area of ​​concern for the Bank of England as it tries to control inflation.