Business Extra for the UK and Spain

Payback time  POST OFFICE staff whose erroneous convictions for theft and false accounting were overturned will be offered £600,000 (€694,818) each in compensation, the government announced. Approximately 700 prosecutions were based on evidence from flawed accounting software, making it appear that money was missing from branches.

Out of play PLANS to float Barça Media, the football club’s content creation subsidiary, for $900 million (€973 million) in New York have been put back until March 2024.  Shareholders in specially-created Mountain & Co voted in favour of the delay, although some investors have already withdrawn 6 per cent of their funds.

Track record AVANTI, regarded as one of the UK’s least reliable train operators, won a long-term contract to continue providing intercity services on the West Coast Main line. Transport secretary, Mark Harper, claimed that Avanti was “back on track” although fewer than half of Avanti services ran on time between April and June.

Rato trial RODRIGO RATO, ex-president of Bankia, ex-government minister and the International Monetary Fund’s former managing director, stands trial in Madrid in December. Rato, 74, who served four-and-a-half years for misappropriation of public funds, is accused of several crimes including tax evasion, money-laundering and corruption.

Harsh taste NAKED WINES founder and chairman Rowan Gormley apologised to shareholders while reporting losses of £15 million (€17.37 million) for the year ending on April 3 after new sales dropped from £34 million (€39.37) to £26.9 million (€31.15 million).  “Falling disposable incomes have put pressure on sales and costs,” Gormley said.

Carrefour deal THE Corte Ingles has sold for €60 million the goodwill of 47 of its 189 Supercor supermarkets to Carrefour in areas in Madrid, Cataluña, Andalucia and the Valencian Community which it no longer considers strategic.  The department store chain, which retains the properties belonging to it, announced that the transaction included “certain obligations with regard to maintaining employment.”

Rain check THIS year’s olive oil production was one of the worst in a long time, generating 663,000 tons according to Spain’s Agriculture ministry, a reduction of 55.57 per cent on the previous campaign and the lowest so far this century.  Producers now hope that a rainy finish to September will help save next year’s crop.

Next best NEXT increased its full-year profit expectations for the third time in four months while predicting that prices could dip next spring. The fashion retailer raised its annual profit guidance by £30 million (€34.6 million) to £875 million (€1 billion), explaining that better ranges, a sunny spring and pay rises for many of its habitual customers had boosted sales.

Tram fiasco A PUBLIC enquiry into Edinburgh’s tram line said its real cost reached well over £1 billion (€1.15 billion) through a “litany of avoidable failures”. The report concluded that Tie, the company contracted to deliver the line, Edinburgh council and Scottish ministers shared the blame for cost overruns, delays and damage to the city’s economy.

Stat of the week: €12 billion  foreign investment in Spain – principally Madrid, Valencian Community and Cataluña – during 2023’s first half, was 26 per cent less than the same period last year.