Ineos Quattro earnings fall
Earnings at one of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s biggest businesses collapsed at the end of last year as cost pressures continue to pile on European chemicals makers.
At Ineos Quattro, one of the three largest businesses in Ratcliffe’s chemicals empire, quarterly earnings fell to €77m in the fourth quarter of last year, compared to €177m in the preceding quarter and €155m in the same a year before.
Britain’s seventh richest man has been a vocal critic of Europe’s trade and climate policies, which he has blamed for raising energy costs while allowing competitors who don’t face green taxes and costs to corner the market.
“Trading conditions remained very challenging in all regions,” the company said. “In Europe, weakness in demand, elevated energy and feedstock costs, and competitive imports continued to pressure margins across the product portfolio.”
Andy Currie, one of the Ineos Group’s billionaire owners who founded the group alongside Ratcliffe and John Reece, has put his 217ft super yacht up for sale, with an asking price of €85m. According to a report in The Times, a source close to the company says that the sale was a purely personal matter, and not connected to the company’s financial performance. Until it’s sold, the yacht’s jacuzzi, gym, outdoor cinema and two helipads may help to ease the stress of the European chemicals sector.
• This segment was amended on 26 February 2026 to refer to The Times report that says a source close to the Ineos Group said the sale of Andy Currie’s yacht was not connected to the company’s financial position.
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Time to wrap up…
The president and CEO of the World Economic Forum, Borge Brende, is stepping down after an independent investigation into his relationship with late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Brende, who became president of the WEF in 2017, announced his decision in a statement following disclosures from the U.S. Justice Department that showed the Norwegian had three business dinners with Epstein and had also communicated with the disgraced financier via email and text message.
Brende said:
“After careful consideration, I have decided to step down as President and CEO of the World Economic Forum. My time here, spanning 8-1/2 years, has been profoundly rewarding.”
The co-chairs of WEF, which holds its annual meeting in Davos each year, said the independent review had concluded and had not found any additional concerns beyond what has been previously disclosed.
Chipmaker Nvidia has failed to wow investors with its latest financial results, despite growing revenues sharply and forecasting a bigger sales jump this quarter.
Last night, CEO Jensen Huang, said “Enterprise adoption of [AI] agents is skyrocketing”.
But today, Nvidia’s shares have dropped by 3.5%.
Britain’s stock market hit a fresh record high this morning, lifted by upbeat results from Rolls-Royce, Howden Joiners and London Stock Exchange Group.
Ocado is to cut 1,000 jobs as the retail technology business attempts to slash £150m in costs though a substantial restructuring programme.
The number of young people in the UK not working or in education has risen closer to a million, figures show, as a government adviser warned that society’s expectation of each generation doing better than the next was “now being broken”.
