Judge reluctantly approves eye-watering Thames Water rescue package
A JUDGE slammed the “eye-watering” £210million paid to advisers working on Thames Water after reluctantly approving a £3billion lifeline. The restructuring plan for debt-laden Thames will see bondh…
A JUDGE slammed the “eye-watering” £210million paid to advisers working on Thames Water after reluctantly approving a £3billion lifeline.
The restructuring plan for debt-laden Thames will see bondholders provide £1.5billion of rescue financing and potentially £1.5billion more debt at a 9.75 per cent interest rate.
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A judge has approved a £3billion lifeline for Thames WaterCredit: ReutersA legal battle was brought by junior bondholders and campaigners who accused the firm of being “held to ransom”.
In a 178-page ruling, Mr Justice Leech yesterday said the restructuring of the UK’s biggest water firm could proceed.
If he had ruled against it, Thames would have been taking a big step towards insolvency, with the Government stepping in.
The judge slammed the mismanagement of Thames and said costs of the debt and adviser fees were “very high”.
READ MORE ON BUSINESSHe also highlighted well over half of the loans would “go round in a circle and back into the pockets” of the creditors, who loaded Thames with £1.4billion of debt in the first place.
Mr Justice Leech said: “Customers who are struggling with their bills will be horrified at these costs and mystified how the Thames Water Group has been able to fund them or why it has agreed to do so.”
Matthew Topham, at campaign group We Own It, said: “This is nothing but a stay of execution for Thames Water.
"The privatised company will limp on for a few more months like a profit-thirsty zombie.”
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Thames, which already has £16billion of debt, this week filed a separate request to the competition regulator after arguing a 35 per cent increase in household bills was not enough.
It is pushing for closer to a 53 per cent jump.
Debt-ridden Thames Water hit with multi-million pound fine for polluting rivers as firm ‘pushed to brink of collapse’Mr Justice Leech yesterday said he “might have been tempted to refuse to sanction” the plan, but there was a “public interest in facilitating the rescue of struggling companies”.
Mark Lloyd, chief executive of charity The Rivers Trust, said: “A large proportion of customer bills will be spent on paying financiers rather than improving the environment.”
A SCRAMBLE for silver has meant stores of it in London’s vaults have fallen to the lowest levels in a decade.
Thousands of tons have been flown to New York since Christmas in a race to get ahead of possible US tariffs.
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A scramble for silver has meant stores of it in London’s vaults have fallen to the lowest levels in a decadeCredit: ShutterstockThe Sun can reveal the capital’s silver vaults have seen the biggest outflows in ten years.
Sources at Heathrow say IBI and Brink’s have seen a massive increase in silver shipments.
Carriers, including United Airlines and Delta, are making a killing after hiking cargo rates some 200 per cent for the shipments.
The Sun understands an airline charged Brink’s more than £160,000 to ferry the commodity on a recent flight.
One source said there had been around 50 tons of silver flown out of Heathrow to New York in just the past three days.
They said: “No one in the industry has seen anything like it.”
Ross Norman, of Metals Daily, said the rush has been triggered by US traders wanting to avoid a 20 per cent cost increase if tariffs are imposed.
The London Bullion Market Association said the outflow has left the lowest holdings in vaults and biggest monthly decline since 2016.
AVERAGE wage increases have continued to rise at double the inflation rate — while the level of unemployment has remained steady, stats show.
The Office for National Statistics reported average earnings rose by 5.9 per cent between October and December compared to 5.6 per cent in the previous quarter.
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Average wage increases have continued to rise at double the inflation rateCredit: GettyExcluding bonuses the average weekly wage is £664.
Meanwhile the unemployment rate has remained broadly flat at 4.4 per cent.
The tight labour market has prompted some economists to raise concerns the Bank of England will not rush to cut interest rates amid concerns that higher wages could fuel inflation.
Governor Andrew Bailey yesterday looked to calm those fears.
He said he was not that concerned by faster pay growth and the Bank was still confident that inflation would fall over the year.
THE rush by firms to axe diversity policies after US President Donald Trump’s victory has prompted a British union to call for Westminster intervention.
Tech union Prospect has written to the Women and Equalities Committee to scrutinise how US multinationals in the UK are making changes without consultation.
It is calling on the committee to urge bosses to comply with UK employment law and “expectations of equality”.
Accounting firm Deloitte now has different approaches for US and British staff while Facebook owner Meta axed its diversity scheme entirely.
Rachel Curley from Prospect said: “The rollback of these policies in US-based firms will have a direct impact on UK staff where the legal framework is substantially different.”
IN GOOD NICK
ANGLO AMERICAN is selling its nickel business in Brazil to China’s MMG for £396million.
It is part of the miner’s radical shake-up after fending off a £39billion takeover last year from rival BHP.
It is still trying to offload its De Beers diamond firm.
HOLIDAY INN owner IHG has snapped up a boutique hotel chain for £87million — alongside posting a jump in sales and profits.
IHG, which has 355 hotels in the UK and 5,629 around the world, posted a 7 per cent rise in revenues to £1.83billion while operating profits lifted by 10 per cent to £890million.
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Holiday Inn owner IHG has snapped up a boutique hotel chain for £87millionCredit: Louis Wood News Group Newspaper LtdIHG said that overall it was able to charge 3 per cent more for its rooms, but China remains weak with revenues per room falling by almost 5 per cent.
Alongside revealing a £713.4million share buyback, IHG also made its 20th acquisition, buying small hotel chain Ruby, which has 20 hotels across Europe, including three in London.
The Ruby brand sells itself on its “lean luxury” approach.
It has ten more hotels in the pipeline and plans to have more than 120 over the next 10 years.
THE number of people becoming insolvent jumped by 12 per cent in January compared to the previous year, stats show.
The total was 9,706, with the majority of people entering into debt relief orders.
These give a breathing space on their debts up to £50,000, but still appear on credit files.
READ MORE SUN STORIESMeanwhile, there were 1,971 company insolvencies registered, the numbers from the Insolvency Service showed.
This was 6 per cent up from the previous month.
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