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Finextra
an hour ago
- Finextra
Sainsbury's sells travel money business to Fexco
UK supermarket group Sainsbury's is offloading its travel money business to Ireland's Fexco. Financial terms were not disclosed. 0 Fexco will take over all operations of Sainsbury's Travel Money, including digital platforms and more than 220 bureaux within the supermarket's stores. Services will continue to operate under the Sainsbury's brand with the company receiving an ongoing share of revenue and rental income. The deal increases Fexco's UK retail footprint to more than 460 locations, making it a top five player in the sector. Bláthnaid Bergin, CFO, Sainsbury's, says: With specialist expertise and a strong track record in foreign exchange, Fexco Group is a strong fit for our business. I'm also pleased to confirm that there will be no immediate changes, and customers can expect the same high level of service they know and trust.' Sainsburys has been withdrawing from financial services in the last two years, selling its retail banking operations to NatWest, offloading is mortgage book to Co-operative Bank, and handing over its ATM business to NoteMachine.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
US trade gap skids to 2-year low; tariffs exert pressure on service sector
Aug 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in June on a sharp drop in consumer goods imports, and the trade gap with China shrank to its lowest in more than 21 years, the latest evidence of the imprint on global commerce President Donald Trump is making with sweeping tariffs on imported goods. Trump's tariffs are leaving their mark on the U.S. economy beyond trade, as a measure of activity in the vast services sector hit stall-speed in July, with businesses saying the swarm of new import taxes is driving up costs and making business planning more difficult. The overall trade gap narrowed 16.0% in June to $60.2 billion, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Tuesday. Days after reporting that the goods trade deficit tumbled 10.8% to its lowest since September 2023, the government said the full deficit including services also was its narrowest since then. Exports of goods and services totaled $277.3 billion, down from more than $278 billion in May, while total imports were $337.5 billion, down from $350.3 billion. Imports of consumer goods and industrial supplies and materials were both the lowest since the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, while exports of capital goods hit a record high. The diminished trade deficit contributed heavily to the rebound in U.S. gross domestic product during the second quarter, reported last week, reversing a drag in the first quarter when imports had surged as consumers and businesses front-loaded purchases to beat the imposition of Trump's tariffs. The economy in the second quarter expanded at a 3.0% annualized rate after contracting at a 0.5% rate in the first three months of the year, but the headline figure masked underlying indications that activity was weakening. Last week Trump, ahead of a self-imposed deadline of August 1, issued a barrage of notices informing scores of trading partners of higher import taxes set to be imposed on their goods exports to the U.S. With tariff rates ranging from 10% to 41% on imports to the U.S. set to kick in on August 7, the Budget Lab at Yale now estimates the average overall U.S. tariff rate has shot up to 18.3%, the highest since 1934, from between 2% and 3% before Trump returned to the White House in January. 'Last week's trade announcement reduced policy uncertainty, but businesses hoping tariffs were just threats must now adjust to the reality they are here to stay,' Nationwide Financial Markets Economist Oren Klachkin said in a note. 'We think the negative impact of high tariff rates will outweigh any positives from lower policy uncertainty.' A centerpiece of Tuesday's report was the latest steep drop in the U.S. trade deficit with China, which tumbled by roughly a third to $9.5 billion in June to its narrowest since February 2004. Over five consecutive months of declines, it has narrowed by $22.2 billion - a 70% reduction. U.S. and China trade negotiators met last week in Sweden in the latest round of engagement over the trade war that has intensified since Trump's return. The U.S. currently imposes a 30% tariff on most Chinese imports, which have fueled a steep drop-off in inbound goods traffic from China. Imports from China dropped to $18.9 billion, the lowest since 2009. The trade negotiators have recommended that Trump extend an August 12 deadline for the current tariff rate to expire and snap back to more than 100%, where it had briefly been earlier this year after a round of tit-for-tat increases by both sides. "We're getting very close to a deal," Trump said Tuesday in an interview on CNBC. "We're getting along with China very well." The deficit with China was not the only one to narrow. Amid a continuing impasse on trade talks with Canada and hefty tariffs imposed on autos, steel and aluminum, the trade gap with the United States' northern neighbor was the smallest in nearly five years at $1.3 billion. The trade deficit with Germany also slid, coming in at $3.8 billion and the lowest in five years. But a pair of key Asian trading partners - Taiwan and Vietnam - both posted record surpluses. The tariff effects showed signs last month of spilling over into the domestic services sector, which accounts for roughly two-thirds of total U.S. economic activity. Business activity unexpectedly flatlined in July with little change in orders and a further weakening in employment even as input costs climbed by the most in nearly three years, underscoring the ongoing drag on businesses from tariff policy uncertainty. The Institute for Supply Management's nonmanufacturing purchasing managers index slipped to 50.1 last month from 50.8 in June. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the services PMI would rise to 51.5. A PMI reading above 50 indicates growth in the services sector, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy. The survey's measure of services employment fell to 46.4, the lowest level since March, from 47.2 in June. It has indicated contraction in four of the last five months, and the reading followed the release last week of the Labor Department's surprisingly soft U.S. employment report. Price pressures, meanwhile, continue to mount. The survey's prices paid index rose to 69.9, the highest level since October 2022, from 67.5 in June. Inflation until now has largely remained moderate because businesses have been selling merchandise accumulated before import duties came into effect, but data last week showed prices in some categories of goods like home furnishings and recreational gear have begun rising briskly. More benign inflation from the services sector has helped keep overall inflation in check, but the ISM data brings into question whether that trend will continue or further fan concerns about the emergence of stagflation. Respondents to the ISM survey frequently mentioned tariffs as a drag. 'Trade uncertainty causing client reevaluation of feasibility for projects in certain sectors, resulting in some delays or cancellations," a respondent from the construction sector said.
Leader Live
3 hours ago
- Leader Live
Wrexham-born Olympian Hector is now a record-breaker!
The Wrexham-born swimmer has set a new world record by becoming the first person in history to swim Britain's three biggest lakes – Loch Lomond (Scotland), Windermere (England) and Bala's Llyn Tegid (Wales) – back-to-back in a travel inclusive time between lakes of under 24 hours. The two-time British Olympian completed the three swims, totalling over 34-and-a-half miles, in a combined swim time of 12 hours and 15 minutes. In the process, he smashed the previous record for Loch Lomond by an incredible one-and-a-half hours. Swimming through the night, starting at one minute past midnight on Saturday morning in water temperatures as low as 14 degrees, he completed the gruelling 21.6 miles in a new record time of seven hours, 46 minutes and 15 seconds. From Loch Lomond, Pardoe and his support team travelled the 167 miles to Lake Windermere - where he set the current record back in 2023 - in a fleet of electric Jeeps. He was cheered on at the finish by hundreds of supporters lining the lakeside beaches and pontoon to complete the 10.5-mile length in three hours and 38 minutes. After another 152 miles of driving, the next stop was Bala and it was getting dark by the time he entered the water. Cheered on again by large groups of supporters, he mustered up every ounce of energy to complete the astonishing 34.5 miles of swimming - representing almost twice the length of the English Channel, and over 2,220 lengths of a typical 25m public swimming pool. At the end he was greeted by Fergus Feeney, CEO of Swim Wales and crowned 'King of the Lakes'. In the process, Pardoe has so far raised over £6,000 for Surfers Against Sewage and highlighted the need to clean up our waterways. Support and donations keep flooding in to his Just Giving page. He said: 'I knew that this wasn't just about pushing my own limits; it was also about using the platform I've built through sport to fight for the environment that made me. 'Across the UK, our rivers and lakes are being polluted by sewage and agricultural runoff, making them unsafe – not just for athletes like me, but for anyone who wants to enjoy them. I knew that I had to push through my pain, cold and hunger to further highlight this issue. For me it's all about national pride. 'Hopefully I have now thrown down the gauntlet for others to follow. Complete this challenge if you dare.' Sponsorship came from Jeep, Cameron House Hotel and Bala Lake Hotel.
