Chris Peters

Cineworld shares plunged by 40% on Wednesday after the British cinema operator was ordered to pay C$1.23 billion ($957 million) in damages to rival Cineplex for abandoning a planned takeover, a decision it said it would appeal.

A.G. Barr expects annual profit to exceed pre-pandemic levels and beat current market expectations, with “on the go” and hospitality sectors remaining particularly strong, the Scotland-based soft drinks maker said on Monday.

Britain's largest online electricals retailer AO World warned on Tuesday that supply chain issues, product shortages and rising costs were hammering its all-important peak trading period, prompting it to slash its profit outlook.

Cineworld sales touched 90% of pre-COVID levels in October, the world’s second-largest theatre operator said on Monday, driving its shares up 14% while the London-listed firm also said demand in the UK and Ireland was greater than 2019.

* Shares up 4.5%, top gainer on FTSE 250 (Adds CEO comments from call, details, updates share move)

Shares of Entain (ENT.L), which rejected a takeover offer from MGM Resorts (MGM.N) this year, jumped to a record high on Wednesday after a $4.4 billion asset sale by the U.S. casino group prompted bets of a renewed bid for the British bookmaker.

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened a shortage of white-collar workers in many countries, forcing companies to pay higher salaries to woo talent, a top London-based recruiter said on Tuesday.

Upmarket retailer Ted Baker (TED.L) said on Monday dresses and suits were back in demand, with Britons rediscovering a taste for formal wear as months of COVID-19 curbs on social life were slowly relaxed.

Gambling company Entain (ENT.L) did not declare a dividend on Thursday as it took a cautious stance and said the strong online growth that drove lockdown earnings could ease as betting shops re-open.

A former employee of Microsoft Corp is facing criminal charges after he allegedly passed trade secrets to a blogger in France, U.S. court documents showed.