(Bloomberg) -- There may be a changing of the guard at British American Tobacco, but the strategy remains the same. That’s the message from Tadeu Marroco in his first trading update as CEO. “Will there be a change in our strategy? No. I am clear that the strategy we created in 2019 is right,” he said, in his opening remarks.
Here’s the key business news from London this morning:
In The City
British American Tobacco Plc: The tobacco company’s new CEO doubled down on his predecessor’s strategy and said the company is on track to meet its full-year guidance.
- At the same time, it said its performance in US combustibles “has been disappointing,” and pointed out that flavoured cigarettes are still being illegally sold in California due to a lack of enforcement on the state’s ban
SSE Plc: Energy regulator Ofgem plans to fine SSE Generation Limited £9.78 million for breaches of its energy generation licence.
- The regulator said the unit “significantly” increased the cost it charged the system operator to reduce production at one of its power stations, meaning the unit made a “significantly greater” profit
Associated British Foods Plc: The food company will buy National Milk Records Plc, a supplier of management information and testing services to the UK dairy supply chain, for £48 million.
- AB Foods says the deal will help its agricultural unit provide services across the UK dairy industry
In Westminster
A group of almost 1,000 technology companies including giants Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. urged the UK government to urgently overhaul its policies and regulations to avoid falling behind in key technologies such as AI and semiconductors. In a report published Tuesday, the so-called lobby group TechUK called Britain a “broken” economy for growing startups and described its regulation as “expensive and awkward.”
In Case You Missed It
AviLease, a jet lessor owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is in advanced talks to buy an aviation finance business from Standard Chartered Plc in a deal that could be valued at least €3.5 billion ($3.7 billion), people with knowledge of the matter said.
Meanwhile, HSBC Holdings Plc plans to hold a new flagship investor conference in Hong Kong next year to replace the marquee event now being dropped by Credit Suisse Group AG. The London-headquartered bank is expecting to host more than 2,000 clients and investors in an event at the upscale Conrad Hotel from April 8 to 10 in the Central business district, a spokesperson for HSBC said.
Looking Ahead
Fund manager M&G Plc updates investors on its first-quarter performance on June 8, while bus and rail operator FirstGroup Plc unveils its results in the 52 weeks to March 25.
Also watch out for low-cost carrier Wizz Air Holdings Plc, which is expected to provide an outlook for the summer travel period as rivals benefit from a strong post-pandemic recovery.
For a more considered take on the UK's economic and financial news, sign up to Money Distilled with John Stepek.
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