Business

The boss of Virgin Atlantic said there was “no reason to delay” the return of US-UK travel next month – as the carrier reported an £858m annual loss. Virgin, which has cut thousands of jobs with flights grounded during the pandemic – and last autumn completed a rescue deal with investors – said passenger numbers

Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s 2020 compensation totaled $37.7 million last year, down from $45.8 million in 2019, the company said Friday. The package included a $3 million base salary, unchanged from the year before. His stock awards were valued at $12.5 million and he received non-equity incentive plan compensation (like cash bonus) of $21.8 million.

Barclays was given a thumbs down from the City despite a bumper rise in quarterly profits to £2.4bn and growing optimism about the UK’s recovery from the COVID-19 downturn. The lender delivered earnings of £2.4bn in the January-March period, up from £923m a year ago when the economic picture was darkened by the prospect of

For Los Angeles, that “bright light at the end of the tunnel” that California Governor Gavin Newsom keeps referencing is taking on a yellow hue. As in, the Yellow — or least restrictive — tier of the state’s reopening plan. L.A. County has remained in the state’s Orange tier for more than three weeks and

State-backed lender Natwest has reported a sharp rise in profits as it followed rivals in clawing back some of the money set aside to cover loans going bad. The bank, which remains 60% owned by the taxpayer, said pre-tax operating profits rose 82% to £946m for the first quarter partly thanks to a £102m release

Twitter’s monetizable daily active users hit 199 million in the March quarter, shy of the 200 million Wall Street anticipated but up by seven million from year-end 2000 and significantly higher than the 166 million in the year ago period. Revenue of $1.04 billion, up 28% from $808 million the year prior, also fell short

BT has confirmed that it is in “early discussions” over BT Sport – following a report that it was in talks to offload a stake in the TV operation. The Daily Telegraph said the telecoms giant was understood to be in talks with potential partners including Amazon, Disney and sports streaming service Dazn, as well

A brush fire erupted today about 30 miles north of Los Angeles in Santa Clarita. By 8 p.m., the blaze had scorched about 650 acres and continued to burn unchecked, prompting evacuations. The North Fire was reported at about 1:45 p.m. in the area of 29330 The Old Road, east of the Golden State (5)

Nestlé is to make almost 600 people redundant as it closes a factory in the UK and moves some of its production to Europe. The Swiss multinational said products currently made at Fawdon near Newcastle would move to other plants in Britain and on the continent. Fawdon, which opened in 1958 and makes products including

Facebook hit 2.85 billion monthly active users, or MAUs, last quarter (up 10%) and 1.88 billion daily users (up 8%) as ad-driven revenue surged 48% to $26.2 billion, crushing forecasts. Earnings per share of $3.30 — up 93% – were also a beat as the social media giant’s advertising muscle powers through the cloud of

Sainsbury’s has reported a £261m loss for the year as it counted the cost of falling fuel sales and COVID-19 measures. Britain’s second-biggest supermarket chain said grocery sales for the year to 6 March climbed by 7.8% but overall revenues were flat as fewer motorists used their cars during a year of lockdowns. COVID-19 costs

Refresh for latest…: Sony Pictures Entertainment saw its full-year 2020 profits rise 21%, to $762M, despite a 25% decrease in sales to $7.2B. Both are results of the impact of the coronavirus. With movie theaters shut around the world for a large portion of the year, and amid a production slowdown, revenues were affected. Conversely,

Premier Inn owner Whitbread has slumped to a £1bn annual loss – but hopes to benefit from a “staycation” boom over the summer. Revenues for the year to 25 February fell 71% to £589m with the group’s hotels and restaurants closed for much of the period while 27,000 workers were furloughed and about one in

For the first time, Los Angeles has qualified for the least-restrictive tier of California’s reopening Blueprint. It’s a remarkable development for a county that, in early January, was the epicenter of the worldwide pandemic. Los Angeles County’s adjusted 7-day test positivity rate fell to just 1.9%. That’s below the 2.0% threshold to qualify for the

HSBC’s profits have surged by a better than expected 79% to $5.8bn (£4.2bn) in the first quarter, largely thanks to an improved economic outlook in the UK. The upturn allowed the banking giant to release $435m (£313m) that had been set aside to cover bad debt, boosting its bottom line despite a squeeze on revenues

An NFT created of the late Chadwick Boseman for the 93rd Academy Awards is being redesigned after sparking backlash online. Andre Oshea, one of the artists hired to produce the non-fungible token, took to Instagram Monday to announce the redesign, and to apologize “for any upset caused.” “I now recognize that Chadwick’s face is a

The UK is on course for its strongest annual growth since the Second World War after a resilient performance through latest lockdowns, according to a respected economic forecaster. Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to expand by 6.8% this year, according to the EY ITEM Club – which would be the fastest pace since 1941.

EXCLUSIVE: Harry Macqueen, writer-director of the critically acclaimed film Supernova starring Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth, has signed with Anonymous Content. Released in January 2021 by Bleecker Street Films and Studio Canal, Macqueen’s second film Supernova recently was longlisted for the 2021 BAFTAs for Outstanding British Film and Best Supporting Actor. It was selected as one of only 12

Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells has quit boardroom positions at retailers Morrisons and Dunelm as well as her role as a Church of England minister after a major miscarriage of justice. It comes after 39 sub-postmasters had their wrongful convictions for theft, fraud and false accounting overturned on Friday by the Court of Appeal.

At the outset of this year’s very unusual Oscarcast, Regina King noted the Derek Chauvin verdict this past week, telling viewers, “If things had gone differently this week in Minneapolis, I may have had to trade in my heels for marching boots.” Then, she added, “I know that a lot of you at home want