A decision by Barclays (BARC) to pull out of an agreement allowing bank customers to withdraw cash from post offices for free has been criticised as “shocking”. The bank is the only one to scrap over-the-counter cash withdrawals at Post Office branches, with 28 other UK banks signing up to a new deal that means millions of people can continue to benefit from free access to everyday banking services. The move by Barclays prompted a wave of criticism, including from a regulatory body, and appears to be linked to a sizeable rise in the bank-funded fees paid to postmasters for providing these services. Barclays has separately announced its own proposals, which it said were designed to boost bank branch demand and improve access to cash.
Two of Britain’s biggest recruitment companies have warned that uncertainty created by Brexit, protests in Hong Kong and the US-China trade dispute will hit their profits this year. Pagegroup (PAGE) said rising fears about Brexit had made companies less willing to hire workers and potential candidates wary about moving jobs. It said uncertainty had affected the market for jobs at all levels. Its rival Robert Walters (RWA) predicted no increase in profit this year.
easyJet (EZJ) has been given a lift by recent strikes at rivals British Airways and Ryanair, which boosted its revenues and profits. The budget airline expects to make headline pretax profits of £420m to £430m for the year to 30 September. This is at the top end of City forecasts but will still be below last year’s profits of £578m. EasyJet said the strikes helped its revenue per seat increase by 0.8% in the second half, compared with its previous expectation that the figure would be “slightly down”. Its chief executive, Johan Lundgren, said: “As a result of our self-help initiatives and the increased demand due to disruption at British Airways and Ryanair, we anticipate achieving headline profit before tax for the full year 2019 of between £420m and £430m, in the upper half of our previous guidance range.”
The Hong Kong stock exchange has abandoned its £32bn takeover offer for the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) after being “unable to engage” with management on the deal. The announcement by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) came nearly four weeks after the London bourse firmly rejected the cash-and-shares bid as a “significant backward step” with “fundamental flaws,” and said it saw “no merit” in holding talks with its Hong Kong rival. Shares in the LSE fell more than 6% to £69.94, about the level where they were before HKEX made its approach for the prized 321-year-old City institution.
