Business Extra

Boohoo stake FRASERS GROUP acquired a £22 million (€25.6 million) stake in fashion group Boohoo as owner Mike Ashley makes more online retail investments. The company, which owns Sports Direct, added the 5 per cent Boohoo holding shortly after announcing a 9 per cent stake in the electrical goods retailer Currys.

Going Dutch PONTEGADEA, Inditex’s €15 billion real estate arm, has bought a €105 million logistics platform in the Netherlands.  Pontegadea’s first incursion into this segment outside the US, the installation has been leased to transport and logistics company DVS until 2033, with an option to extend the contract until 2048.

Next up FASHION retailer Next upgraded its forecast for 2023 after better weather and UK workers’ pay rises boosted sales at the company’s 500 stores in recent weeks.  Shares rose by almost 5 per cent and the company foresees a pre-tax profit of £835 million (€917 million), an increase of £40 million (€46.5 million).

Client catcher THE BBVA bank acquired 476,000 new customers during the first five months of 2023, 11 per cent more than during the same period last year.  Twenty per cent of Spanish clients who changed banks between January and June went to BBVA, while half joined via the bank’s e-channel.

Gold gone MATT MOULDING, founder and chief executive of online retail platform THG, has finally relinquished his “golden share” enabling him to block any hostile takeover bid.  Moulding’s controversial share was initially supposed to be cancelled a year ago “in furtherance of good corporate governance”, the company said at the time.

Church mice CHURCH OF ENGLAND vicars asked for a pay rise to help them cope with the cost-of- living crisis. More than 2,000 clergy and lay staff represented by the Unite union have submitted their first-ever official pay claim, asking for a 9.5 per cent rise in their current annual stipend, which stands at £26,794 (€32,142).

Upbeat Hauwei DESPITE a US veto on Hauwei’s networks, equipment and 5G technology that is supported by many countries, Huawei España recorded a €1.135 billion turnover in 2022.  This was 57.6 per cent more than in 2021, while the company’s €29.8 million net profit showed a 49.4 per cent increase on 2021. according to accounts submitted to Spain’s Mercantile Registry.

New role ENDESA’S board has appointed as its vice-chairman Flavio Cattaneo, who is the new chief executive of Enel, the Italian energy group which controls 70 per cent of the Spanish electricity company.  Cattaneo replaced Francesco Starace after he failed to receive backing from Giorgia Meloni’s new government on completing his third three-year term in April and resigned as CEO.

Right all along FORMER Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, told the Daily Telegraph that Brexit was to blame for soaring inflation in the UK. “We laid out in advance that this would be a negative supply shock for a period of time which would result in a weaker pound, higher inflation and weaker growth,” Carney said.