Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 holds off session low of 7,671.06
- US expected to open modestly higher
- BoE's Silvana Tenreyro calls for lower rates
Google action
Hundreds of Google employees staged a walkout at the company’s London offices on Tuesday, following a dispute over layoffs, Reuters has reported.
In January, Google’s US parent company Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc said it was laying off 12,000 employees worldwide, equivalent to 6% of its global workforce amidst a wave of job cuts in the tech sector, which has so far seen companies shed more than 290,000 workers since the start of the year, according to tracking site Layoffs.fyi.
Trade union Unite, which counts hundreds of Google’s UK employees among its members, said the company had ignored concerns put forward by employees.
“Our members are clear: Google needs to listen to its own advice of not being evil,” said Unite regional officer Matt Whaley. “They and Unite will not back down until Google allows workers full union representation, engages properly with the consultation process and treats its staff with the respect and dignity they deserve.”
Gas savings
Centrica-owned British Gas and energy supply rival Octopus Energy paid out millions of pounds to customers who cut energy usage as part of National Grid’s demand flexibility service this winter.
Octopus paid £5.3mln to the near 700,000 people that took part, accounting for roughly half of the required demand shift, while British Gas shared out £1.8mln to 200,000 households.
Smart meter customers were rewarded by suppliers for using less energy during 13 separate demand flexibility service events between November and March, having bills cut based on how much they reduced usage compared to normal demand.
According to British Gas, the majority of savings were made by customers cooking or washing clothes at different times, with its customers saving £28.50 on average.
Octopus customers saved £7.60 on average meanwhile, though amounts paid by both suppliers varied widely.
Some customers gained between £40 and £50, rising to £332 for one British Gas customer.
Some of the top riser and fallers on the junior market
Ramsdens Holdings PLC (LON:RFXR) shares were 8% higher after the pawnbroker and foreign currency group said its first-half performance had been ahead of expectations. The stock, up a third in value in the last year, advanced 9.45p to 226.95p in the first hour of trade.
Solid State PLC (LON:SOLI) (AIM:SOLI) went 2% higher to 1,120p after the component manufacturer said its full-year results be at least in line with consensus expectations.
United Oil & Gas PLC (LON:UOGU) shares gained just over 30% after a project update out of Egypt revealed that drilling has begun at its next well and as production data from its most recent additional confirmed a continuing strong performance.
Corcel PLC (LON:CRCL) shares hopped 5% higher back to a six-month high of 0.40p (having fallen over 99% over the past five years) after it exercised its option to acquire 100% of the lithium rights to the Canegrass lithium project in Western Australia.
Saga PLC (LON:SAGA) fell 11% despite swinging back into full-year profit on an underlying basis as revenue grew strongly due to continued Cruise and Travel recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic. The insurance company, which focuses on the over-50s, posted a reported loss before tax of £254.2mln, widened from £23.5mln, reflecting a £269.0mln impairment of insurance goodwill reported at the half-year stage.
R&Q Insurance Holdings Ltd (LON:RQIH) shares fell 10% to 60p after the company said it expects to make a US$30 to 40mln loss for the past year and proposes spinning off Accredited, its program management business.
Physiomics PLC (LON:PYSM) shares dropped by more than a quarter after the oncology consultancy group said it faced revenue pressure due to the biotech funding squeeze and customer diversification efforts.