Tuesday newspaper round-up: Nestle, UK borrowing costs, Equinor, Thames Water.


Nestlé has dismissed its chief executive, Laurent Freixe, after an investigation into an “undisclosed romantic relationship” with a subordinate that was found to have breached its code of business conduct. The Swiss-headquartered multinational named Philipp Navratil as his replacement. Nestlé said Freixe’s departure after 40 years at the company followed an investigation overseen by its chair, Paul Bulcke, and lead independent director, Pablo Isla, with the support of outside counsel, into the relationship with a direct subordinate in breach of company’s conduct code. – Guardian

Source: Sharecast

Donald Trump’s attempt to influence the US Federal Reserve could pose a “very serious danger” for the world economy, the head of the European Central Bank has warned. Christine Lagarde, the president of the ECB, said Trump undermining the independence of the world’s most powerful central bank would have an impact for the US and other countries. – Guardian

Britain’s borrowing costs have risen faster than any other G7 country in the wake of Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to reshuffle his team of economic advisers. The yield on 30-year UK gilts – the return that investors demand from the Treasury to fund its debt – rose to a 27-year high of 5.64pc on Monday. The latest increase came after the Prime Minister appointed Darren Jones, who had been deputy to Rachel Reeves in the Treasury, as his Chief Secretary. – Telegraph

Britain’s biggest windfarm operator has received a £700m lifeline from Equinor, the Norwegian oil giant, as it seeks to stave off a crisis prompted by Donald Trump. Equinor said it would invest 6bn Danish kroner (£697m) in Ørsted, the Danish wind giant that recently launched an emergency cash call amid the US president’s war on offshore wind. – Telegraph

Thames Water’s largest group of creditors is to offer an additional £1bn-plus sweetener in a bid to persuade Ofwat and the government to pursue a rescue deal with them that would head off the nationalisation of Britain's biggest water utility. Sky News has learnt that the senior creditors, which account for roughly £13bn of Thames Water's top-ranking debt, will propose this month that they inject hundreds of millions of pounds of new equity and write off a substantial additional portion of their existing capital. – Sky News

Compare our accounts

If you're looking to grow your money over the longer term (5+ years), we have a range of investment choices to help.

Halifax is not responsible for the content and accuracy of the Markets News articles. We may not share the views of the author. Understand the risks, please remember the value of your investment can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invest. We don't provide advice so if you are in any doubt about buying and selling shares or making your own investment decisions we recommend you seek advice from a suitably qualified Financial Advisor. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.