Business

Janet Yellen has told Sky News the United States can “certainly” afford wars on two fronts, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas threatens stability in the Middle East and the US continues to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia. Talking exclusively to Wilfred Frost ahead of a meeting of finance ministers in Luxembourg, the US

Metro Bank has set a quickfire timetable for rivals to snap up a substantial chunk of its mortgage book. Sky News understands that Metro Bank wants bidders to submit offers at the beginning of next month, with Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group all having an indicated an interest. News of the timetable comes

Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani has withdrawn from the process to buy Manchester United, Sky News understands. His offer, which valued United at more than £5bn, was believed to be the only bid for 100% of the club – that the Glazers announced last November could be sold. He and Ineos billionaire

NatWest Group is preparing to cancel millions of pounds in bonuses and share awards earmarked for its former chief executive following a probe into the closure of the former UKIP leader Nigel Farage’s bank accounts. Sky News has learnt that NatWest, in which the government remains the single-largest shareholder, wants to resolve the issue of

UK wholesale gas prices have risen again and are now at their highest level since mid-February. Prices rose to nearly 135 pence a therm (a unit of heat used to measure gas) on Friday afternoon. It comes after gas costs hit a six-month high of nearly 123p a therm on Tuesday afternoon – a level

The chancellor has warned the British public he is preparing “for the worst” as he draws up his autumn statement. Jeremy Hunt told Sky News the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) official economic forecasts would be considerably worse than at the budget – a signal there may be spending cuts or possibly even tax rises

Microsoft’s bid for Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard has been given UK approval, removing a last hurdle to the biggest-ever gaming deal. The UK’s regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), said it gave the go-ahead to after the restructured deal substantially addressed its earlier concerns. Microsoft, who make the Xbox, announced the biggest

The former CEO of Barclays has been fined £1.8m after misleading regulators and the bank’s board about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Jes Staley has also been banned from holding senior management positions in the financial services industry. According to the Financial Conduct Authority, he “recklessly approved” a letter sent by Barclays to the FCA

The UK economy grew by 0.2% in August – in line with expectations. This was mostly driven by 0.4% growth in the services sector – with a 0.7% contraction in production output and a 0.5% fall in the construction sector. The Office for National Statistics has also revised July’s gross domestic product (GDP) downwards. While

Football clubs should be banned from selling crypto-based “fan tokens” as part of engagement with supporters by the sport’s incoming regulator, according to a cross-party committee of MPs. In its report, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMS) warns about the volatility of prices and the risk of financial harm to supporters who are convinced

Worse financial pain is to come, as many people have not yet felt the full impact of the increased cost of borrowing, the Bank of England has said in one of its latest health checks of the UK’s financial system. Higher interest rates, currently at 5.25% after a run of 14 hikes, have not yet

There are a few ways one could report the latest economic growth forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The first way is to declare that Britain’s economy is heading for the buffers. Its economy will grow next year at the slowest rate in the G7 group of leading industrialised economies (0.6%). This is considerably

The rate of grocery inflation eased considerably over the past month, part-aided by a “jump in the amount of money spent on offers”, according to a closely-watched study. Kantar Worldpanel, which records supermarket sales and price data, said the annual rate of grocery inflation fell back to 11% over the four weeks to 1 October.

Santander UK has been approached to revive its financial crisis-era role as a white knight for failing British lenders as regulators seek to secure a quickfire private sector deal to shore up Metro Bank. Sky News has learnt that the Spanish-owned bank, NatWest Group and Lloyds Banking Group are among those approached by banking regulators

Wilko will shut the doors on its last remaining high street stores for the final time after the chain’s collapse. The 93-year-old retailer has been closing each of its 400 UK stores over the past month after collapsing into administration in August. Forty-one stores now remain but will close on Sunday. The shelves have already

The board of Metro Bank rejected a secret takeover approach last month from a rival British lender, just days before its share price crashed when it emerged that it was seeking hundreds of millions of pounds to shore up its finances. Sky News can exclusively reveal that Shawbrook has tabled several bid proposals to Metro

The UK is on course for the biggest tax rise in at least 50 years because of the freeze on personal thresholds and soaring inflation, according to new analysis. The Resolution Foundation said taxpayers are set to hand over about £40bn a year by 2028 – up from a forecast of £30bn at the time

One thing that quite often puzzles people who do not work in financial markets is their tendency to treat seemingly good news as bad. We got a classic example on Friday with news that US employers added 336,000 jobs in September. That was up from 227,000 in August (a figure itself revised higher from the

JD Wetherspoon has credited a surge in sales and reduction in costs for its first annual profit since the COVID pandemic. The value pub and hotel chain, which trades from 826 sites across the UK and Ireland, reported profit before tax for the year to the end of July of £42.6m. That compared to a

Metro Bank has kicked off talks about the sale of a £3bn chunk of its mortgage book as part of an increasingly urgent attempt to shore up its fragile balance sheet. Sky News has learnt that advisers to Metro Bank – which saw its shares plunge on Thursday after acknowledging that it was seeking to