By Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) -London’s Heathrow airport, Britain’s busiest, saw its lowest number of passengers since 1972 last year and suffered wider losses as the coronavirus pandemic slashed demand for business travel and holidays. Passenger numbers fell to 19.4 million in 2021. Heathrow also recorded a pretax loss of 1.79 billion pounds ($2.43 billion)…
AMSTERDAM (AP) — A gunman who held a hostage for hours in the Apple Store in Amsterdam demanded a ransom of 200 million euros (more than $226 million) in cryptocurrencies before he was run over by police as he chased his hostage out of the shop, police and prosecutors said Wednesday. The tense, five-hour standoff…
BERLIN (AP) — Climate activists on Wednesday blocked roads leading to Germany’s three biggest airports, gluing themselves to the ground before police arrived. Members of the group Uprising of the Last Generation said they wanted to disrupt cargo and passenger traffic at the airports in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin. The group has demanded that the…
LONDON (Reuters) – JPMorgan’s emerging market strategists said on Wednesday that new U.S. sanctions on Russian sovereign debt announced this week were likely to have limited implications for the international investors that already hold them. They added that the new measures, which introduce restrictions on ‘secondary market’ trading of rouble and non-rouble-denominated debt issued after…
(Reuters) – British broker Peel Hunt said on Wednesday it expected full-year earnings to miss analyst views, hurt by deal delays in its investment banking unit and a slowdown in its trading division, sending its shares more than 13% lower in early trade. The company, which made its market debut in September last year, said…
By Nick Carey LONDON (Reuters) -Aston Martin narrowed its annual loss in 2021 as sales surged and the company said on Wednesday it expected further improvements this year as it launches new, more profitable models and plans to raise prices across its model line-up. The British luxury carmaker said it expected to see sales rise…
FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Florence is famed for its contributions to Italian art, architecture and cuisine. But these days, local leaders in the city regarded as the birthplace of the Renaissance are concerned with more mundane matters: paying the bills. Amid soaring energy costs across Europe, officials at Palazzo Vecchio — the building that serves…
(Reuters) – Metro Bank reported on Wednesday a smaller loss and higher margins for 2021, as the British high-street lender’s turnaround actions bear fruit and the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact. The London-based bank, who in 2010 became the first lender to be granted a high-street banking licence in Britain in 150 years,…
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — One by one, embassies and international offices in Kyiv closed. Flight after flight was canceled when insurance companies balked at covering planes arriving in Ukraine. Hundreds of millions of dollars in investment dried up within weeks. With Russian troops encircling much of the country, Ukrainian businesses large and small no longer…
(Reuters) – Upmarket fashion retailer Ted Baker reported higher fourth-quarter sales on Wednesday as demand for office and party wear remained strong even in the face of Britain’s pandemic-related curbs during the reporting period. The group’s sales, including online and in-store sales, jumped 35% in the 12 weeks ended Jan. 29, a period in which…
