BP profits more than double as oil prices soar in Iran war

BP has provoked outrage by revealing its profits more than doubled in the first quarter of this year after its oil traders reaped the benefit of the war in Iran.The energy company capitalised on a surge in global oil market prices to report better than expected profits of $3.2bn (£2.4bn) for the first quarter, more than double the $1.38bn it made in the same period last year

Deloitte and Zoom’s trims to parental-leave benefits may hurt them in long run, experts say

Recent moves by US companies Deloitte and Zoom to reduce how much paid parental leave they offer employees could signal a larger reduction in benefits in corporate America, according to labor market experts.American workers are already seen as having less benefits and labor protections than many of their counterparts across the world, especially in Europe.Leadership at huge accounting and communication technology companies likely made the decisions because the labor market has stagnated, meaning that people looking for jobs do not have the same leverage when considering a job opening, the experts say.But while cutting the benefit might help companies save money in the short term, some consultants argue that the moves will ultimately hurt companies because it will make workers less productive, among other negative consequences.“It feels like someone is just looking at a spreadsheet saying, ‘How can I get more hours?’” said Bobbi Thomason, a professor of applied behavioral science at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School

Shares in buy-to-let mortgage lenders fall after report Reeves plans rent freeze

Shares in some of the UK’s biggest buy-to-let lenders such as Paragon and One Savings Bank have fallen after it emerged that the chancellor may make private landlords commit to a one-year rent freeze.In an effort to protect households from rising living costs as a result of the Iran war, Rachel Reeves is considering whether to ban landlords in England from increasing rents for a limited period of time, the Guardian revealed on Monday night.Shares in buy-to-let lenders fell when the London Stock Exchange opened on Tuesday.Stock in OSB Group, one of the UK’s biggest buy-to-let mortgage providers, was down 3.6% at 510p as investors worried the rent freeze would hurt the FTSE 250 company behind the lenders Kent Reliance and Precise Mortgages

Price rises in UK shops slow as retailers apply heavy discounts to lure shoppers

Price rises in UK shops have slowed as retailers applied “heavy discounting” to their goods in an effort to entice shoppers amid weakening consumer confidence, the industry’s trade group said.Shop price inflation rose by 1% year-on-year in April, a slowdown from 1.2% in March and below the three-month average of 1.1%, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).Retailers made discounts to clothing, furniture and DIY goods, the BRC said in its monthly survey of its members, compiled with NielsenIQ (NIQ)

Rachel Reeves’s fiscal rules buffer should be ‘significantly larger’, say peers

Rachel Reeves should aim to run a “significantly larger” buffer against her fiscal rules, according to a report from a House of Lords committee that says the UK’s public debt is on an unsustainable trajectory.The chancellor raised taxes at last year’s budget in order to more than double the “headroom”, or buffer, against her fiscal rules to £22bn – some of which is expected to be eroded by the impact of the Iran war.But the Lords economic affairs committee says Reeves should aim to raise it more, and complains that she and her recent predecessors have tended to allow themselves too little room for manoeuvre, compared with the £30bn average between 2010 and 2022.“Despite the recent increase in the size of the buffer, it remains at an historically low level and further substantial increases are still required,” it says. “Significantly larger buffers must become the norm

Nationwide should give its boardroom challenger a fair run

James Sherwin-Smith, who is aiming to become the first customer to be voted onto the board of Nationwide in nearly 25 years, deserves top marks for perseverance. A year ago his attempt to get his name on the ballot paper was stymied, or so it seemed, by data protection rules and so forth. This time, he has the necessary 250 nominations to be a candidate at the July annual meeting.It is a development to welcome. As argued here a year ago, there is something of a democracy deficit at Nationwide