Closing summary
The UK government will explore options for selling off its remaining 38.6% stake in the high street lender NatWest Group to the public within a year, bringing it back to full private ownership, Jeremy Hunt has announced.
Delivering his autumn statement in parliament, the chancellor said he would “explore options” for a retail share offer in the next 12 months but said it would be “subject to supportive market conditions and achieving value for money”. This means shares can be bought by anyone, whereas previous share sales were to financial institutions.
In a reference to the privatisations of the 1980s, when shares in British Gas were advertised to retail investors with the slogan “If you see Sid … Tell him”, the chancellor declared: “It’s time to get Sid investing again.”
Grangemouth oil refinery is to cease operations as soon as 2025, under plans announced by its owner, Petroineos, a joint venture between the Chinese state-owned oil firm and the petrochemicals empire owned by Monaco-based British billionaire Sir James Ratcliffe.
Amid warnings that the plan blew a hole in Scotland’s industrial base, trade unions and Holyrood politicians raised concerns about the job security of the 500 people directly employed at the facility, near Falkirk, and the impact the closure of one of Britain’s six remaining large oil refineries would have on the country’s fuel supply.
Petroineos, which has discussed its plans with the UK and Scottish governments, said it had had no choice but to adapt to global pressures affecting the refining market.
The culture secretary intends to ask the media watchdog to examine the Barclay family’s proposed deal to hand control of the Telegraph and the Spectator magazine to an Abu Dhabi-backed consortium.
Lucy Frazer said today she was “minded to” call in Ofcom to look at the investment fund’s plans to take over the titles in exchange for repaying £1.15bn of the family’s debts to Lloyds Banking Group.
In a statement to parliament on Wednesday, Frazer said her department had written to Lloyds, the Barclay family and the consortium, RedBird IMI, to inform them she was minded to issue a Public Interest Intervention Notice (PIIN).
Sam Altman is to return as chief executive of OpenAI after the ChatGPT developer said it had “reached an agreement in principle” for his reinstatement.
The San Francisco-based company made the announcement after days of internal turmoil after Altman’s surprise sacking on Friday. Nearly all of OpenAI’s 750-strong workforce had threatened to resign unless the board overseeing the business brought him back and then quit immediately afterwards.
The balance sheets of eurozone banks are showing “early signs of stress” after a rise in loan defaults and late payments by customers, the European Central Bank has warned.
Higher interest rates have boosted banks’ income and profits for the time being, the ECB said, but lenders are facing pressures from higher funding costs, worsening asset quality and lower lending volumes.
The central bank also warned in its twice-yearly financial stability review that higher interest rates and slower growth were posing problems for people, companies and governments in the euro area.
Tom Stevenson, investment director for personal investing at Fidelity International, said:
This was an autumn statement with references that may have only resonated with older voters. Jeremy Hunt promised to get ‘Sid’ investing again as the government prepares to sell its remaining stake in NatWest. It’s unlikely that anyone under the age of at least 50 will have recognised this reference to the 1986 sell-off of British Gas!
