Yahoo Movies Britain forced to pay Brussels £2.3bn over imports dispute
The Government has paid £2.3bn to the EU after a court ruled that Britain failed to collect billions as a result of fraud on imports from China.
The European Commission had complained that importers into Britain evaded a large number of customs duties with false invoices and artificially low-value declarations for Chinese textiles and footwear.
In March last year, the European Court of Justice ruled against the UK, saying it had failed to adopt the measures necessary to combat the import fraud from 2011-2017, when Britain was still a member of the EU.
John Glen, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said Britain had maintained that it had taken appropriate steps to counter fraud throughout the legal proceedings.
However, he said the UK had also subsequently increased its measures to prevent fraud.
He said further legal wrangling could increase the size of the bill, as interest continued to accrue, and that it had paid three tranches totalling €2.6bn (£2.3bn).
Mr Glen said: "Whilst the UK has now left the European Union and this is a legacy matter from before our departure, the Government is keen to resolve this long-running case once and for all.
"These are substantial sums but represent the final payments and draw a line under this long running case, with the UK fulfilling its international obligations."
07:10 PM
That's all from us
Thanks for following our live coverage today. See you in the morning.
07:06 PM
Adidas forecasts €700m losses after scrapping Kanye West collab
Adidas predicts major losses this year after scrapping its partnership with rapper and designer Kanye West.
Preliminary results show that the German sportswear giant recorded a net income of €254m (£225m) last year, down from €1.49 billion in 2021.
Ending its tie-up with Mr West could see the company suffer operating losses of up to €700m this year, the global fashion label said today.
Adidas ended the multi-billion euro deal with Mr West last year following his anti-Semitic comments.
06:47 PM
Disney's international content chief exits after corporate restructuring
Rebecca Campbell, Disney's chairman of international content and operations, is leaving the US media giant following a broad corporate restructuring.
Disney confirmed the high profile departure in a statement announcing a "strategic restructuring that will refocus the organisation on creativity, empower creative leaders and ensure they are accountable for all aspects of their businesses globally".
It comes after Disney's plans to cut 7,000 jobs and $5.5bn in costs after reporting its first ever drop in subscriber numbers.
The new system will see international regional heads report to Disney co-chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden, plus ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro as part of their global responsibilities.
The statement said:
As a result of the changes, Rebecca Campbell, Chairman, International Content and Operations, has decided to leave the Company.
Disney veteran Ms Campbell was only appointed to the position last year.
06:03 PM
NatWest scraps new loans for oil and gas businesses
NatWest plans to end new business loans for oil and gas industry as part of efforts to tackle climate change.
The UK bank today said will no longer provide reserve based lending, a type of funding facility commonly used in the oil and gas sector, for new customers. It will also no longer renew, refinance or extend reserve based lending for existing customers as of December 2025.
Oil and gas represent less than 1pc of the bank's corporate lending exposures.
According to Alison Rose, NatWest’s chief executive officer, the move is to ensure "our capital is being used to support a transition whilst continuing to reduce the financing of harmful emissions".
She added:
Tackling the climate emergency is one of, if not the biggest issue of our time – and banks have a massive role to play in mobilizing the power of finance to meet the net zero ambition.
It follows the bank's decision to stop lending and underwriting debt for oil and gas majors without an energy transition plan that aligned witht the climate change Paris Agreement.
The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, has fallen 1.25pc to $84.03
05:43 PM
FTSE 100 risers
The closing share price for Standard Chartered plc surged by 10.66pc to 762.23p, following reports that First Abu Dhabi Bank is moving forward with an all-cash bid of $30bn-$35bn for the Asia-focused bank.
AstraZeneca's closing share price climbed 3.83pc to 1,1163.74p marking a recovery from last week's low of 10,250p. Earlier today, the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company announced boosted profits driven by cancer treatments and its takeover of a rare disease biotech unit Alexion, which completed last November.
BP also continued to make gains after its record results earlier this week, closing 0.69pc up at 536.87p
05:10 PM
FTSE closes
The FTSE 100 closed 33pc higher at 7,911.15 points, after reaching another record breaking high earlier today.
The blue chip index today peaked at 7,949.57, buoyed by a slate of upbeat earnings and merger talks tied to Standard Chartered. It's the third time in a week that the FTSE 100 has reached an all-time high.
However, the trading day for broad-based FTSE 250 was more volatile. The index closed down 0.13pc at 20,277.34 despite reaching a high of 20,410.04.
04:28 PM
MGM Resorts "moved on" from Ladbrokes owner buyout
The boss of Las Vegas hotels and casinos giant MGM Resorts has shut down rumours of another takeover attempt of Ladbrokes owner Entain.
Bill Hornbuckle, the chief executive of MGM, told investors today that “we’ve moved on” from the FTSE 100 listed gambling company. He said: "We're going to go down our own direction as we begin to allocate capital."
It comes after Entain, which also owns betting shop chain Coral, rejected MGM’s £8bn buyout offer in 2021.
However, takeover rumours later resurfaced following the strong performance of the pair’s US joint venture, BetMGM, which is expected to turn a profit in the second half of 2023.
04:03 PM
Handing over
Right, that's all from me today. My colleague Adam Mawardi will guide you through the evening.
03:47 PM
AstraZeneca snubs Britain over £320m drug factory amid ‘discouraging’ taxes
AstraZeneca has overlooked Britain for a new $400m (£320m) drug factory because of “discouraging” taxes here, chief executive Pascal Soriot has said.
He spoke to our retail editor Hannah Boland:
The drug giant has chosen Ireland over the UK for its new plant amid growing frustration among pharmaceutical companies about soaring NHS levies on the industry.
Chief executive Pascal Soriot said AstraZeneca had wanted to open a new state-of-the-art plant near its existing manufacturing sites in the North West of England, but instead switched to Ireland because of rising tax charges in Britain.
He said: "We really have invested a lot [in the UK] and the country was making a lot of progress in building a life sciences sector.
"But, I have to say in the recent past, it's not been as supportive as we would have thought."
Read why bosses are raising the alarm about the soaring costs for pharma companies in Britain.
03:25 PM
Peltz declares fight over future of Disney over
The activist investor Nelson Peltz has declared his proxy fight with Disney over after the entertainment giant unveiled a vast restructuring plan that includes 7,000 job cuts.
Mr Peltz, whose daughter Nicola married Brooklyn Beckham last year, built up a $900m (£739m) stake in Disney through his Trian Partners.
In a blistering statement last month, Trian criticised the entertainment giant for failed succession planning which it notes sent Disney's share price to an eight-year low, a lack of cost discipline and “over-the-top” executive pay.
However, today Mr Peltz told CNBC:
Now Disney plans to do everything we wanted them to do.
We wish the very best to Bob [Iger], this management team and the board. We will be watching. We will be rooting.
03:01 PM
Disney jumps 3.9pc as Wall Street rallies
Wall Street stocks have risen in early trading, extending a rollercoaster week as Disney rallied following an announcement it is cutting 7,000 jobs.
Shares of the entertainment giant jumped 3.9pc as recently reinstated chief executive Bob Iger's message of austerity appeared to resonate with investors.
The storied company founded by Walt Disney said its streaming service saw its first-ever fall in subscribers last quarter, as consumers cut back on spending.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen 0.6pc while the broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.7pc. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite jumped 1pc.
It comes after applications for US unemployment benefits rose for the first time in six weeks but remained historically low, underscoring the resilience of the job market despite mounting economic uncertainty.
Initial unemployment claims rose by 13,000 to 196,000 in the week ended February 4, Labor Department data showed.
The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 190,000 applications.
The US labor market has remained firm in the backdrop of the Federal Reserve's most aggressive tightening campaign in a generation.
Despite a rising number of layoffs spreading beyond tech companies, many business — particularly smaller ones — are still struggling to hire, while others are holding onto staff they worked so desperately to on-board.
We're big believers in US disinflation and have banged the drum on this since mid-2022. But US disinflation is now also more than priced, while that isn't true abroad, where the same disinflation dynamic is now taking hold, especially in Europe. The US Dollar sell-off is over! pic.twitter.com/PCpzHw5RsP
— Robin Brooks (@RobinBrooksIIF) February 9, 2023
02:37 PM
Wall Street surges at opening bell
US markets have opened higher as data showed a rise in weekly jobless claims, even though the figures remain historically low.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 0.7pc to 34,189.22, while the broad-based S&P 500 has jumped 0.8pc to 4,152.57.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has risen 1.1pc to 12,043.76.
Applications for unemployment benefit in the US rose for the first time in six weeks in the week to Feb 4, showing the tight labour market is beginning to loosen and potentially a sign the US Federal Reserve could ease its pace of interest rate rises.
02:16 PM
Trafigura faces $577m loss after 'uncovering nickel fraud'
Commodity trader Trafigura Group is facing more than half a billion dollars in losses after discovering metal cargoes it bought did not contain the nickel they were supposed to.
Trafigura has spent the past two months uncovering what it claims is a systematic fraud against it.
It has started legal action against Indian businessman Prateek Gupta and several companies connected to him including TMT Metals and subsidiaries of UD Trading Group, the company said in a statement.
The missing nickel is a blow for the business, which that has grown rapidly in the past decade to become one of the world's largest trading houses.
If the claims are proven, it would become another black mark for the metals-trading industry, which has in recent years has been beset by tales of fake warehouse receipts, duplicate shipping documents and containers filled with painted rocks.
Trafigura has recorded a $577m (£473.8m) impairment as a result of the alleged fraud, although the final cost could be lower if it is able to recover some funds.
Mr Gupta and his companies have been approached for comment.
02:06 PM
Pound rises 1pc as Bank of England raises concerns about inflation
The pound has risen about 1pc against the dollar after the Bank of England said pay rises for public sector workers should not be funded by borrowing.
Bank chiefs including Governor Andrew Bailey said they remain concerned about inflation, indicating that interest rate rises may continue.
The pound’s move back towards $1.22 comes despite US data showing layoffs remain historically low, indicating the labour market is still hot.
However, more Americans filed for jobless benefits last week, rising to 196,000, ahead of estimates of 190,000, potentially boosting hopes that the US Federal Reserve will ease off on its pace of interest rate rises.
01:31 PM
Deliveroo lays off almost one in ten staff as tech job cuts continue
Deliveroo is cutting 350 jobs as the food delivery app reels from a tech downturn and a drop in people ordering takeaways.
Technology editor James Titcomb has the latest:
Will Shu, the company's chief executive, announced the news to staff on Thursday, pointing to the cost of living crisis and saying he took responsibility for over-hiring in the past.
The cuts amount to around 9pc of its workforce. It said it hoped around 50 people would be redeployed to new roles at the company.
The cuts, which come two years after a disastrous £8bn London listing, are the latest in a string of job losses at tech companies, which have been blamed on over-optimistic hiring during the pandemic tech boom.
Read how it comes amid a wider retreat by the food delivery company.
01:18 PM
Scrapping bankers' bonus cap was right, says Bailey
Andrew Bailey told MPs that ending the cap on bankers' bonuses was the right thing to do.
Economics editor Szu Ping Chan has the latest:
The Governor of the Bank of England said he was always against the introduction of a cap imposed after the 2008 financial crisis that limited bonuses at twice an employee's salary.
He said: "I was concerned that it would lead to two things: One is that it would lead to an increase in permanent pay and an substitution from from bonus to permanent pay, and two, that it really didn't have the right incentives in terms of risk taking.
"I think the first of those... actually has happened."
Mr Bailey pointed out that the UK has its own regime that focuses on delayed remuneration and the ability to claw back bonuses if necessary.
He says that he is confident that getting rid of it wil not lead to more risky behaviour.
Former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng scrapped the cap on banker bonuses in his ill-fated mini budget on September 23. It was one of the few policies to survive when Jeremy Hunt entered Downing Street.
01:14 PM
Borrowing to fund public sector pay rises will fuel inflation, Bailey warns
Andrew Bailey has said that unfunded pay rises - namely through borrowing - would fuel inflation as he unwittingly waded into the public sector pay debate.
The Governor of the Bank of England also suggested that public sector workers should take into account the fact that inflation is "going to fall very rapidly" when considering their pay demands.
Tory MP Anthony Browne asked Mr Bailey during an appearance in front of the Treasury Select Committee whether giving into demands for big pay rises would "fuel wider inflation"?
Mr Bailey brought up the fact that there is now "quite a wedge between private and public sector pay" in terms of how fast wages are growing.
Private sector pay rose by 7.2pc in the three months to November 2022 compared with a year earlier versus 3.3pc in the public sector.
"I'll be careful what I say here," he said, before adding that the risks to inflation of handing big pay rises to nurses and teachers "depends on how it's funded".
He said: "I don't think you can say there's no effect. I'm not advocating anything at this point, because this is not territory the Bank of England would want to be in. But in the economics of it, I think it depends whether you raise taxes or whether you borrow, frankly."
He also urged everyone to be "forward looking" in terms of pay demands.
He added: "What I would urge is that, particularly going forwards - because we think inflation is going to fall very rapidly - that that is taken into account."
11:59 AM
Volvo nearly triples electric vehicle sales
Volvo has said it will not follow Tesla and Ford in lowering prices for its electric cars anytime soon as it revealed sales of the vehicles nearly tripled.
The carmaker is seeing robust demand for its fully battery-powered models, chief financial officer Johan Ekdahl said.
It comes as the company's net profit rose by almost 20pc to 17 billion Swedish kronor (£1.4bn) last year.
Electric cars accounted for 11pc of sales last year, compared to 4pc in 2021, with the company's revenue climbing by 17pc to a record 330 billion kronor (£26.2bn).
Mr Ekdahl said: "We feel comfortable in our pricing strategy and will not engage in price wars."
Ford last month slashed the price of its electric Mustang Mach-E by an average of $4,500 in response to earlier cuts from Tesla, the biggest producer of EVs.
Analysts have said they expect more discounting across the industry as additional EV models come to market and manufacturers overcome supply chain issues that have curtailed production.
11:48 AM
Wall Street expected to open higher
US stock markets are likely to move higher at the opening bell after a slew of strong quarterly earnings lifted sentiment after a day of losses on Wall Street.
Walt Disney climbed 6.6pc in premarket trading after topping earnings estimates and announcing 7,000 job cuts as part of an effort to save $5.5bn (£4.5bn) in costs and make its streaming business profitable.
Casino stocks Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts International gained about 5pc each before the open after reporting fourth-quarter results, with Wynn indicating a meaningful return of visitation and demand in Macau during the recent Chinese New Year holiday period.
Pepsi rose 1.4pc as the soda maker reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
Tobacco firm Philip Morris International Inc, drugmaker Abbvie Inc, apparel maker Ralph Lauren Corp and cereal maker Kellogg Co are all set to report earnings during the day.
Futures contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.8pc, S&P 500 contracts were up 0.9pc, and Nasdaq 100 gained 1.3pc in premarket trading.
11:38 AM
Bank policymaker considering vote for interest rate cut
One of the Monetary Policy Committee's most dovish members says she will be considering cutting rates this year if signs emerge that the Bank of England should do more to support the economy.
Economics editor Szu Ping Chan is watching the Treasury Select Committee hearing:
Silvana Tenreyro said policy is "already too tight to meet the [inflation] target" of 2pc. She said the Bank's own projections show this.
She told MPs: "Definitely where things stand right now, I would see myself considering a cut."
While she said she does not want to talk about a particular meeting or how soon she might vote for a rate cut, she highlights that risks are two-sided.
She said: "Energy prices can go up, but they can also go down."
11:33 AM
'Certainly potential' for pay demands to fuel inflation, warns Pill
The Bank of England's chief economist Huw Pill appeared to support Andrew Bailey's warnings about how funding public sector pay through borrowing could fuel inflation.
Mr Pill said that pay demands across the economy are fuelling inflation and forcing the Bank to take action across the board.
Tory MP Anthony Browne asked him to clarify if public sector wage demands are met with inflation-matching increases, would that have an impact on price growth and interest rates?
Mr Pill said: "There is certainly the potential for that to happen.
"And if that happens, our job is to ensure it does not lead to inflation by responding to it with tighter monetary policy."
11:22 AM
Oil continues week-long rally
Oil has steadied after rallying nearly 7pc this week as investors assessed continued supply disruption and the outlook for interest rates.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, has climbed 0.4pc and sits above $85 a barrel.
West Texas Intermediate futures also traded up 0.4pc above $78 a barrel after closing almost 2pc higher on Wednesday. #
BP said exports of Azeri oil from Turkey's port of Ceyhan still have not resumed following two devastating earthquakes. Last month those flows amounted to 615,000 barrels a day.
A raft of Federal Reserve speakers reinforced the idea that interest rates will need to keep climbing to combat inflation, putting concerns about a possible drag on demand back in focus.
Crude has traded in a narrow band of just over $10 since the start of the year as investors look for signs of a sustained rebound in Chinese demand, which some predict will drive prices above $100 a barrel.
10:55 AM
Businesses expected to begin reducing staff hours, says Bailey
Andrew Bailey said companies will be looking to reduce the amount of hours their staff work in the near future as Britain continues to grapple with rising inflation.
He said there is evidence that companies will soon not find it quite so difficult to find good people to fill jobs as the UK's labour market is beginning to become less tight.
He told the Treasury Select Committee:
What we're hearing and seeing on that front at the moment is the numbers remain tight and they are tighter than we thought they would be at this point in time on the inactivity side.
The agents are telling us at the moment that there are early signs of some signs of loosening but that will come through more in a decline in vacancies and potentially in a decline in hours worked.
It will not necessarily come through so much in a rise in unemployment.
The reason for that is… that it is so hard to recruit people in the current environment that they will be reluctant to shed people.
They are more thinking in terms of reducing hours rather than heads.
Reducing hours has a different effect on people than losing jobs. It is a milder effect and that does feed through into people’s views on savings and on demand.
10:37 AM
Britain would have needed 'massive recession' to hit inflation target, says Bank chief
A Bank of England chief has said she believes interest rates are "too high right now".
Monetary Policy Committee member Silvana Tenreyro told the Treasury Select Committee that a "fall in inflation is pretty much guaranteed".
However, she warned that just a fifth of rate rises have fed through to the economy.
Defending the Bank of England over inflation, which presently is five times more than above target at 10.5pc, Ms Tenreyro said that to meet the 2pc target in 2022, Britain would have needed deflation in its dominant services sector of 22pc.
"To have deflation in services requires a massive recession," she said.
10:25 AM
Bailey 'uncertain' about price and wage rises this year
Andrew Bailey has said there are "powerful downward forces" on inflation this year, but said the Bank of England has still raised interest rates because of concerns that price rises may persist.
The Governor said the Monetary Policy Committee which sets interest rates is “concerned about persistence” of inflation.
He told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee this morning that the Bank's projection "indicates that inflation will probably come down below 5pc by the end of this year". He said:
There are very powerful base effects that are going to come out this year and that puts a powerful negative trajectory on inflation unless we have some event in the world that we do not know about at the moment.
A lot of that is down to energy prices.
We are concerned about persistence. That is why we raised interest rates this time.
You could justifiably say to us that if you've got this view of inflation going forwards, if you've got those powerful downside forces why are you raising interest rates again?
The answer for me to that question is I'm very uncertain, particularly about price setting and wage setting in this country.
We have got the largest upside skew on our forecasts that we have ever had on inflation… so we do put wait on the persistence rise this year but there are very powerful downward forces this year all things equal.
10:01 AM
Strikes impacting one in six businesses, says ONS
One in six businesses were hit by strikes in December, with a quarter unable to obtain necessary goods for their business due to the walkouts, latest figures show.
A fifth were unable to obtain necessary services during the month, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Today, civil servants working in the Government's biggest department start 20 days of strikes as part of the long-running dispute over pay, jobs, pensions and conditions.
University staff and NHS physiotherapists are also on strike.
It comes as businesses already face growing pressure due to soaring energy prices.
The ONS said 37pc of businesses had taken some form of action to reduce their energy costs in the last three months, with 19pc saying energy prices were their main concern this month. Some 16pc said inflation was their biggest worry.
More than one in five said their employees' hourly wages had increased in December compared to the previous month.
09:46 AM
Surging mortgage rates hit Bellway home reservations
House builder Bellway has reported a 60pc drop in its private reservation rate for new homes as high mortgage costs and the removal of help to buy hurts sales.
The company said customer demand in the first half of its financial year was affected by the challenging economic backdrop and rising mortgage rates.
These issues have been "compounded for first-time buyers given the recent expiry of Help-to-Buy and the shortage of affordably priced, higher loan-to-value mortgage products", the company said.
The company did reveal record completions of 5,695 homes in the six months to the end of January and a 1.6pc increase in the average selling price to £316,900.
However, its forward order book has declined 28.5pc to nearly £1.4bn.
The overall reservation rate reduced by 31.7pc to 138 per week, with weaker private demand partially offset by the group's acceleration of the construction of social homes.
Its share price has fallen 0.7pc.
09:32 AM
FTSE 100 hits record high for third time in a week
The FTSE 100 hit an all-time high, buoyed by a slate of upbeat earnings and merger talks tied to Standard Chartered.
The blue-chip index rose 0.7pc to touch a record high of 7,943.68, while the midcap FTSE 250 index inched up 0.1pc.
AstraZeneca jumped 4.3pc, set for its best day in nearly a year, after the drugmaker forecast earnings growth in 2023.
Unilever rose 0.4pc after the consumer goods giant reported quarterly underlying sales growth above expectations.
Standard Chartered jumped 9.0pc to the top of FTSE 100 after Bloomberg News reported that First Abu Dhabi Bank is pressing ahead with an all-cash bid of $30bn-$35bn for the Asia-focussed bank.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "Investors have been looking towards the UK market over the last year as an attractive geography in the search for potential takeover targets, given the depreciation of the pound and the corresponding increased attractiveness of sterling-priced valuations."
09:08 AM
Watches of Switzerland declines after US sales miss expectations
Watches of Switzerland shares have fallen 11.8pc to make the company the biggest faller on the FTSE 250.
The decline, its worst since April 2020, comes after US revenues fell short of expectations at £169m, out of a total of £407m in its financial third quarter.
Analysts said luxury watches show strong performance but the business had seen weakness in its jewellery business.
08:53 AM
German inflation eases in January
German inflation slowed in January to its lowest level in five months as government aid partially shielded households from soaring energy costs.
Consumer price growth eased to 9.2pc from 9.6pc in December.
However, this is more than half a point higher than estimates from Eurostat last week for Europe's largest economy.
As you can see below, interpreting the data is complicated due to regular re-pricings of households' energy contracts:
Good Morning from Germany where #inflation ticks up but not sufficiently to spook investors. CPI rose to 8.7% in Jan from 8.6% in Dec. But interpreting data is complicated due to re-pricings of households’ energy contracts & relief measures from govt PLUS an update to CPI basket. pic.twitter.com/it1Fsgar8U
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) February 9, 2023
08:42 AM
FTSE 100 hovers near record levels
A slate of upbeat earnings from blue-chip companies has kept the FTSE 100 pinned near record levels.
However, shares of Entain tumbled after a report suggested US casino operator MGM was ending talks to takeover the betting firm.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 has risen 0.6pc to 7,931.49, hovering near record levels hit in the previous session, while the midcap FTSE 250 index inched up 0.2pc.
Unilever rose as much as 0.5pc after the consumer goods giant reported quarterly underlying sales growth above expectations, helped by higher prices for its detergents, soaps and packaged food.
AstraZeneca has jumped 2.5pc after the drugmaker beat expectations with fourth-quarter profits despite lower than expected sales of its best-selling oncology and rare blood disorder drugs.
Entain tumbled 11.4pc, after a Jefferies report pointed to MGM's chief executive officer saying the company had "moved on" from the gambling firm amid speculation of a takeover.
British American Tobacco fell 3.9pc after it reported full-year results and said it expects to complete the sale of its Russian business to its local partner in 2023.
The company controlled almost a quarter of the Russian market before the country invaded Ukraine.
08:31 AM
Credit Suisse suffers worst loss since 2008 financial crisis
Credit Suisse has suffered its biggest annual losses since the global financial crisis as the scandal-hit lender's new boss attempts to drastically overhaul the business.
The bank said clients pulled a record amount of funds in the final three months of last year, as it posted a net loss of 1.39bn Swiss francs (£1.3bn) over the quarter.
This took its net loss for the year to 7.3bn Swiss francs (£5.6bn).
Switzerland's second-biggest bank is still struggling to recover from a rush to withdraw deposits after a social media storm questioning the bank’s future.
It led to depositor panic in the first few weeks of October, with outflows for the quarter totalling 110.5 billion francs (£99.3bn).
While Chairman Axel Lehmann has sought to stem the exodus, the loss of assets will see the bank's key wealth management unit continue to haemorrhage cash into the first quarter of this year.
The continued losses underscore the urgency for Mr Lehmann and chief executive Ulrich Koerner, appointed to the position in July, to put Credit Suisse on sustainable footing, with investors and analysts showing limited patience for execution of the revamp.
Credit Suisse shares were down 4pc in pre-market trading after it reported its worst annual loss since the 2008 financial crisis.
The Zurich-based lender had waved goodbye to more than eight billion Swiss francs during the global financial crisis 15 years ago. It lost 7.3bn Swiss francs in 2022.
Blaming the impact from restructuring charges and its exit from non-core businesses, Credit Suisse said in a statement that it "would also expect the group to report a substantial loss before taxes in 2023".
Those restructuring costs are estimated at around 1.6 billion Swiss francs this year and around one billion francs in 2024.
Following the exodus of depositor cash in the last three months of 2022, chief financial officer Dixit Joshi said that the wealth management unit had seen inflows in January.
This was particularly focused in the Asia-Pacific region, in a sign that the bank is winning back some client confidence.
08:04 AM
UK markets continue to outperform at the open
The FTSE 100 has risen despite Wall Street giving back some of its recent gains on persisting uncertainty over interest rates and inflation.
Britain's blue-chip index continued to outperform global markets by rising 0.5pc to 7,920.63 at the open.
The FTSE 250 has gained 0.3pc to 20,368.61.
07:55 AM
British American Tobacco forecasts vaping growth
British American Tobacco said it is confident revenues in non-combustible products like e-cigarettes and vapes will nearly double to its target of £5bn by 2025 as it reported operating profits for the year that beat analyst estimates.
The company said the products have "become a significant contributor to the group's financial delivery" after it invested more than £2bn and reduced operating losses by 62pc.
Revenues in its "New Category" business were up 37pc to £2.8bn last year.
The business expects the global tobacco industry volume to fall about 2pc this year but it said non-combustible product consumers were up 4.2m to 22.5m.
Chief executive Jack Bowles said: "Looking forward, while we expect the macro-economic environment to remain challenging, we will continue to deliver and further accelerate our transformation.
"We will leverage our well-established multi-category brand portfolio, our new regional structure to enable even greater collaboration and accelerated decision-making and our new market archetype model to guide our strategic choices and resource allocation to further enhance returns."
Overall operating profits stood at £12.4bn.
07:28 AM
AstraZeneca drug sales slightly below estimates
AstraZeneca has posted fourth-quarter revenue just shy of analyst estimates, with slightly lower-than-expected sales of its best-selling oncology and rare blood disorder drugs.
However, the London-listed drugmaker, said it sees "another good year ahead" even as chief executive Pascal Soriot acknowledged on Bloomberg TV that the environment in Europe is becoming more difficult.
The company, which reports its results in US dollars, reported an adjusted profit of 1.38 cents per share on sales of about $11.2bn (£9.3bn).
Analysts were expecting $1.34 per share on sales of about $11.3bn, according to company-compiled consensus estimates.
Sales of AstraZeneca's best-selling cancer drugs — Tagrisso, Imfinzi and Lynparza — generated $1.3bn (£1.1bn), $752m (£621.5m) and $689m (£569.4m) in the quarter respectively.
AstraZeneca forecast adjusted earnings per share in 2023 to grow by a "high single digit to low double-digit percentage", and revenue to increase by a "low-to-mid single-digit percentage", at constant currency rates.
07:16 AM
Unilever beats sales forecasts but expects plans to raise prices
Ben & Jerry's and Dove soap owner Unilever has reported quarterly underlying sales growth above expectations, helped by higher prices for its detergents, soaps and packaged food.
However, the London-based consumer giant said it expects cost inflation to continue in 2023, forecasting a €1.5bn (£1.3bn) increase in raw material costs in the first half, and a lower amount in the second.
The packaged goods industry has raised prices sharply over the past year to cope with surging costs of everything from cocoa and sunflower oil to wheat.
The industry had already been battling high Covid-era supply chain and raw material expenses when Russia invaded Ukraine, driving up the prices of energy and several other commodities.
Unilever said in a statement:
In the first half, underlying price growth will remain high, and volume growth will be negative.
Volume will improve as price growth softens, but it is too early to say whether volume will turn positive in the second half.
Underlying sales rose 9.2pc in the fourth quarter, beating company-provided analyst estimates of a 8.2pc increase.
07:06 AM
Twitter users unable to tweet as Musk says platform experiencing 'issues'
Twitter users have been left unable to tweet following what chief executive Elon Musk described as “multiple internal and external issues”.
The company’s support account said it was aware of the outage that meant the social media platform “may not be working as expected for some of you”.
Users first noticed the problem when they tried to send tweets and received a message saying they had reached their "tweet limit."
There were more than 3,800 complaints in Britain on the outage tracking website Downdetector shortly before 10pm last night.
Elon Musk tweeted: “Multiple internal & external issues simultaneously today. Should be fully back on track later tonight.”
Twitter has slashed more than half of its staff and has seen a mass exodus of advertisers since Mr Musk took control of the social network in a $44bn (£36bn) deal in October.
Twitter users from the US to Asia were unable to tweet, follow new accounts or check messages, in one of the higher-profile outages since Elon Musk bought the platform and fired half its staff.
Many users were unable to send tweets, instead getting an automated message saying they were "over the daily limit for sending Tweets" — even for those who had not posted yet for the day.
The billionaire tweeted hours after problems surfaced that he hoped to resolve "multiple internal and external issues," without elaborating.
An exodus of workers — many of whom were fired — since Mr Musk's acquisition has raised concerns about whether Twitter can sustain its operations and regulate content.
Users have expressed concern about a widespread Twitter breakdown since billionaire Mr Musk took over the social network last year and immediately fired 50pc of the company's workforce.
Many of those who left Twitter worked on core infrastructure projects that help keep the site operational. Some users and former employees openly fretted that such a sudden reduction in staff might lead to cascading product outages.
Multiple internal & external issues simultaneously today. Should be fully back on track later tonight.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 9, 2023
06:59 AM
Good morning
Many Twitter users found themselves unable to tweet, follow accounts or access their direct messages as the platform experienced a range of technical problems.
The company tweeted from its "support" account: "Twitter may not be working as expected for some of you. Sorry for the trouble. We're aware and working to get this fixed."
It is not clear what caused the meltdown, but Twitter engineers and experts have been warning that the platform is at an increased risk of fraying since owner Elon Musk fired most of the people who worked on keeping it running.
5 things to start your day
1) Disney to cut 7,000 jobs after fall in streaming subscribers | The job cuts represent just over 3pc of Disney’s global workforce of around 220,000
2) $120bn wiped off Google after Bard AI chatbot gives wrong answer | Company's answer to Microsoft's ChatGPT AI falls at the first hurdle
3) Global trade will contract this year, shipping giant Maersk predicts | Full warehouses and looming recessions have cut demand, company warns
4) Plot to almost halve number of HS2 trains and run them at slower speeds | Number of HS2 trains running per hour to fall as ministers grapple with inflationary measures
5) Union threatens to cause blackouts with strike at Britain’s biggest power station | Walkouts to strain electricity supplies and make it harder to keep the lights on
What happened overnight
Tokyo's key Nikkei index ended lower, with investors taking cues from declines in US shares linked to hawkish comments by Federal Reserve officials.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.1pc to end at 27,584.35, while the broader Topix index edged up 0.1pc to 1,985.00.
Meanwhile, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.5pc to 7,490.30. In Mumbai, the Sensex gained 0.1pc. Shares fell in Bangkok, Taiwan and Singapore.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 1.3pc to 21,557.09, while the Shanghai Composite index advanced 1pc to 3,266.14.
US stocks slid overnight as investors grow anxious over the deteriorating corporate earnings outlook, as well as fears that the Federal Reserve could keep interest rates too high for too long.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6pc to 33,939.01, while the broad-based S&P 500 slumped 1.1pc to 4,117.86.
The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 1.7pc to 11,910.52, with around $120bn wiped off Google's market value after experiencing technical difficulties when presenting its challenger to Microsoft's new ChapGPT-powered search engine.
