Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 holds off day's low of 7,723.23
- Dow Jones, S&P 500 seen weaker after big gains on Wednesday
- BT (LON:BT) plans to cut up to 42% of workforce as profit falls
Energy refunds ordered
Ovo Energy and Good Energy have been ordered to refund customers after regulator Ofgem found the pair had been charging households more than was allowed under its price cap.
Combined the suppliers were issued £4mln worth of fines, with £2.7mln set to be distributed between 18,000 households and £1.25mln placed in Ofgem’s voluntary redress fund.
Ofgem limits the amount energy companies can charge customers per unit of electricity and gas under its price cap, which sat at £3,549 from October to December on an annual basis and £4,279 between January and March, when the firms were found to have over billed.
Good Energy, alongside Octopus and E.ON, was already slammed with fines on Wednesday after failing to compensate customers who were owed money after switching suppliers.
Alongside £8mln worth of fines for the trio, Unite union cast fresh allegations that the UK’s power sector had been profiteering over the past year, claiming household bills sat £1,800 higher than needs be in 2022.
Ovo will refund customers up to £181, and Good Energy £109, following Thursday’s ruling, with each overcharging 10,987 and 6,966 households respectively.
Bricks and mortared
The UK might never see the house price gains over the past four decades ever again, the government’s official spending watchdog suggested today.
“The age of massive rises of house prices may be nearing an end", said David Miles, senior economist at the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Citing working from home and a slowdown in population growth, Miles said forces driving house price will be much weaker in future.
House prices have risen by around 91% since 2005, due, he said, to limited supply and a sharp fall in the real cost of narrowing.
A look at today’s fallers and risers
Fallers
BT - down 7% to 137p: Shares slumped after the telco unveiled plans to axe up to 55,000 jobs alongside a fall in pre-tax profits and an unchanged dividend.
Christie - down 13% to 130p: Shares tumbled after the company warned a chunk of revenue expected to be recognised in the first half of the financial year would be put back into the second half.
Future - down 15% to 880p: The media company reported lower operating profit, earnings per share and free cash flow at the half-year mark which sent shares lower.
Risers
SRT Marine Systems - up 20% to 55p: Shares surged after the company announced it has signed a US$180mln (£145mln) contract with a national Coast Guard.
ImmuPharma - up 10% to 3.4p: Shares leapt after the FDA endorsed the company's proposal for a late-stage clinical trial for the treatment of chronic idiopathic demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), a rare neurological disorder.
Aston Martin - up 14% to 264p: Chinese carmaker Geely upped its stake to 17% in Aston Martin which sent shares racing ahead.