Metro Bank profit jumps as it bucks branch closure trend August 4, 2026 Metro Bank secured its highest half-year profit on record in the first six months of 2026 as it bucked an industry-wide trend of branch closures and grew its small business offering. The FTSE 250 bank recorded a £60.7m pre-tax profit, up 41 per cent from the same period last year. This was driven by a [...]
FTSE 100 Segro agrees to £14bn takeover by Prologis August 4, 2026 FTSE 100 property firm Segro has agreed to a £14bn takeover by Prologis, bringing an end to a long tussle between the two real estate giants and striking another blow to the London Stock Exchange. The US-based commercial landowner said on Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with Segro’s board which values the British [...]
HSBC kicks off $1bn share buyback after profit smashes forecast August 4, 2026 HSBC has resumed its share buyback programme after profit soared past expectations in the second quarter of 2026. The FTSE 100 bank – whose market cap of £274bn makes it the London Stock Exchange’s most valuable company – posted $10.1bn (£7.5bn) in pre-tax profit for the last three months, surging past an internal forecast of [...]
As it happened: Oil prices tumble as Bessent says US-Iran deal imminent; miner stocks rally August 4, 2026 Welcome back to the Morning Wire FTSE 100 liveblog. The price of oil tumbled on Tuesday afternoon after a senior Trump ally said that a deal over control of the Strait of Hormuz could be agreed with Iran in the coming days. The price of Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil – tumbled [...]
What are we to make of John Healey? Time will tell. August 4, 2026 Who exactly is in charge of this government’s economic policy? In a bid to find out, I’ve tasked two of our journalists to hit the phones, mooch around the bars of Whitehall and track down Westminster’s new power brokers. I’ll let you know what we find out, but he fact that the answer to this [...]
West Ham: Staveley receives Sadiq Khan encouragement to buy London Stadium August 4, 2026 The door is open for West Ham United to buy their London Stadium home, with the Mayor welcoming any future discussions after Amanda Staveley said property would be part of her next football investment, Morning Wire can reveal. The former Newcastle United co-owner has agreed a deal – subject to majority owner Daniel Kretinsky not [...]
Exclusive: Blackstone set to back AI ‘droid’ firm at $3.5bn valuation August 4, 2026 Blackstone is weighing a fresh funding injection for Nvidia-backed artificial intelligence firm Factory in a deal likely to value the coding company at more than $3.5bn, Morning Wire has learned. The New York-headquartered investment giant, which has been ploughing cash into AI firms and digital infrastructure in recent years, is considering the investment as part [...]
UK founders cast doubt on Burnham’s pro-business push August 4, 2026 The majority of Britain’s top scale-up founders believe business conditions will not improve under Andy Burnham as just one in 20 entrepreneurs feel the new PM backs the private sector. New research by Helm, a membership group of over 400 scale-up founders, suggested that a substantial number of its members were pessimistic about Burnham’s premiership. [...]
Meet the top lawyer challenging Gianni Infantino’s Fifa power play August 3, 2026 Uefa has enlisted a leading US white-collar expert as legal tensions escalate over Gianni Infantino’s unsuccessful Fifa World Cup sell-off. US legal giant Dechert’s former Chair, Andrew Levander, has been nabbed by the European body, which informed Zurich-headquartered Fifa his client was “actively considering legal action, arbitration, and/or regulatory complaints”. Fifa has promised that raising [...]
Trump regime distances itself from Infantino as under-fire Fifa boss faces calls to quit August 3, 2026 The Trump administration has denied answering the call of Gianni Infantino as the under-fire Fifa boss scrambles to save his job. Infantino is facing a possible vote of no confidence from Fifa members following last week’s fierce backlash to his plan to sell stakes in a new subsidiary that would hold the commercial rights to [...]