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Europe
The Guardian

BMW to cut ‘as many as 8,000 jobs’ under pressure from Chinese rivals

BMW’s headquarters in Munich. The company has started a voluntary redundancy programme agreed with employee representatives, it said. Photograph: travelstock44/AlamyView image in fullscreenBMW’s headquarters in Munich. The company has started a voluntary redundancy programme agreed with employee representatives, it said. Photograph: travelstock44/AlamyAutomotive industryBMW to cut ‘as many as 8,000 jobs’ under pressure from Chinese rivalsLayoffs will come in admin and development divisions in Germany, with production operations unaffected BMW is planning to cut as many as 8,000 jobs in Germany, according to reports, in the latest sign of Europe’s largest carmakers reducing costs under pressure from Chinese rivals. The Munich-headquartered company has started a voluntary redundancy programme agreed with employee representatives, a BMW spokesperson said on Wednesday. The company and its ​works council had agreed a severance ⁠programme targeting the administration and development ​divisions, the spokesperson said. Production operations are excluded. Germany’s carmakers have come under intense pressure in recent years with the rise of Chinese competitors that have quickly come to dominate in the electric vehicle market. Chinese manufacturers have also launched a fierce price war in their home market, which had previously been a lucrative source of export earnings for European brands including BMW. Europe’s carmakers have also had to find cash for their own transition from petrol to electric, and cope with the impact of US tariffs. Several manufacturers – including Volkswagen, Stellantis and Ford – have turned to partnerships with Chinese rivals to help them build and sell in Europe. BMW’s cuts come after Milan Nedeljković, who was previously head of production, took over as chief executive in May. A spokesperson said: “The BMW Group is proactively shaping the profound changes taking place in its operating environment. These include the technological transformation of the automotive industry, geopolitical uncertainties, changing market conditions and developments in China.” View image in fullscreenPorsche is also undergoing restructuring, with 9,000 redundancies – a fifth of its workforce – planned by 2035. Photograph: Ralph Orlowski/ReutersVolkswagen, Germany’s largest carmaker by volume, confirmed on Friday that it would cut as many as 100,000 jobs from its total workforce of 650,000. The plans include closing four factories and halving the number of models produced. Porsche, the sports car brand part-owned by Volkswagen, is also undergoing a severe restructuring. Another 5,000 job cuts were agreed this week, taking total planned redundancies to 9,000 – a fifth of its workforce – by 2035. The Stuttgart-based company reported a €1.4bn (£1.2bn) profit before tax on Wednesday, up from €1.1bn a year earlier. Porsche’s sales in China slumped by 30% to 14,500 in the first half of 2026, faster than the 17% decline across the group as a whole. Donald Trump’s withdrawal of subsidies for electric cars such as Porsche’s Taycan also hit North American sales. View image in fullscreenAston Martin reported a loss before tax of £89m in the second quarter of 2026. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PAAston Martin has also struggled in China and the US. The Warwickshire-based company’s losses grew in the first half of the year despite it saying that its turnaround efforts had improved sales.

BMW to cut ‘as many as 8,000 jobs’ under pressure from Chinese rivals
Europe
BBC Business

Andy Burnham wants to fix social care - what are the options?

ByBen ChuPolicy and analysis correspondent, BBC VerifyPublished27 July 2026Updated 1 hour agoPrime Minister Andy Burnham has said he wants major reform of the social care system in England, calling the current situation "bad for everybody". In a speech at a care home on Wednesday he announced that cross-party talks involving the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats would start later. Burnham also said he had asked Baroness Casey - who is carrying out a review of social care - to bring forward her report by a year. She will now set out her recommendations in 2027. He confirmed that her review will also look at the question of how to pay for any reforms. BBC Verify has looked at four options for approaching reform and how much they could cost. It has been estimated that around one in seven people aged 65 and over face lifetime care costs of more than £100,000. One proposal is to cap these costs with the government picking up the bill above a certain cash threshold. In 2011 a commission headed by the economist Andrew Dilnot proposed a lifetime cap of £35,000. Dilnot estimated his proposed reforms would cost between £1.3bn and £2.2bn a year. The cost today would be higher due to inflation and the ageing population. The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, led by David Cameron, accepted Dilnot's recommendations. But after the 2015 general election, which delivered a Conservative majority, Cameron delayed the implementation of the cap to 2020 over what he said were pressures on the public finances. Image source, Getty ImagesIn 2017, when Theresa May was in No 10, the Conservatives' general election manifesto proposed a different way to reform social care.

Andy Burnham wants to fix social care - what are the options?
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Coal India’s profit may dip as Iran war lifts mining costs

State-run miner Coal India Ltd.’s first-quarter profit likely declined marginally from a year earlier, led by costlier raw materials, such as explosives and diesel following the Middle East war. Average of estimates point to a profit of ₹8,640 crore ($895 million), about 1 per cent lower than a year earlier, according to analyst views compiled by Bloomberg. Higher expenses may wipe out gains from stronger demand during the quarter. The company said in April that it was absorbing higher costs to avoid a “cascading effect” on the economy. The war resulted in an effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key supply route for energy and commodities to India, causing shortages of fuels such as diesel, natural gas, and cooking gas and leading to a surge in prices. At the start of April, the cost of explosives used for blasting layers of soil sitting over mineral deposits had risen 26 per cent from pre-war levels, while price of diesel, used to fuel mining machinery, had risen by about half since the middle of March, according to Coal India. Operationally, the quarter was marked by sales growth as demand for electricity to run cooling appliances was stronger during summer. While shipments rose nearly 4 per cent from a year earlier, the miner also sold more coal in auctions that fetched a 44 per cent premium over base prices. Peak electricity demand posted new records during the period, pushing utilization at the country’s coal power plants upward and boosting generation by 8 per cent from a year earlier, power ministry data show. Still, the fuel’s contribution in India’s generation during the quarter remained flat at around 70 per cent, while renewables gained more ground with a record 19 per cent share. That kept Coal India’s unsold inventory at elevated levels, forcing the miner to cut output by about 8 per cent during the quarter. Rapid deployment of renewables as well as rising competition from other miners has challenged Coal India’s dominant position in India’s coal market. Even though coal is expected to remain an important part of the country’s energy mix for at least a decade, challenges on the horizon have pushed Coal India to diversify into renewables and mining critical minerals. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Coal India’s profit may dip as Iran war lifts mining costs
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Inflation remains RBI’s foremost priority: Governor Sanjay Malhotra

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra dismissed concerns that the inflows merely represent a recycling of existing deposits, stressing that the RBI has adequate tools to manage any resulting liquidity. | Photo Credit: Umesh Goswami The Reserve Bank of India’s recent measures to attract foreign capital have garnered strong investor response, with banks mobilising nearly $32 billion, largely through FCNR(B) deposits, while government securities have attracted more than $7 billion in foreign inflows since the June policy measures, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra has said. In an interview with businessline, Malhotra dismissed concerns that the inflows merely represent a recycling of existing deposits. He added that the RBI has adequate tools to manage any resulting liquidity. The inflows have strengthened India’s external position amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty and volatile global capital flows. Responding to concerns over the RBI bearing the hedging cost of fresh FCNR(B) deposits and offering concessional forex swaps for external commercial borrowings (ECBs) by public sector entities, Malhotra said: “It is not something which should be a matter of concern because we have a foolproof system of insuring ourselves. So, whatever dollars we get, the excess foreign currency is invested in foreign assets. The risk, therefore, is not there.” Pressure on the currency has largely stemmed from geopolitical tensions, dollar strength and broader volatility across emerging markets, Malhotra said. | Photo Credit: Umesh Goswami The Governor said the measures should be viewed in the context of challenging global conditions facing emerging markets and are expected to further strengthen India’s balance of payments and currency stability. Malhotra also sought to reassure markets on the rupee, arguing that recent depreciation does not reflect any weakness in the country’s economic fundamentals. According to him, pressure on the currency has largely stemmed from geopolitical tensions, dollar strength and broader volatility across emerging markets. “We do not target any specific exchange rate or band for the rupee. Our intervention, whenever necessary, is targeted to curb excessive volatility,” he said, adding that the currency is “not overvalued” and could even be considered undervalued in both nominal and real effective exchange rate terms. He pointed to a current account surplus during April-May, robust services exports, resilient remittance inflows, rising merchandise exports and improving foreign direct investment flows as indicators of external sector strength. On forex reserve management, Malhotra said the RBI continues to be guided by the principles of safety, liquidity and returns, while reviewing reserve deployment periodically. Turning to monetary policy, the Governor reiterated that inflation control remains the RBI’s foremost priority even as it remains mindful of growth risks. He said the monetary policy committee (MPC) would continue to adopt a data-dependent approach while navigating the evolving growth-inflation trade-off. “Our primary mandate is inflation and price stability. Therefore, we will do whatever is required first, to keep price stability and then, to see to what extent we can support growth,” he said.

Inflation remains RBI’s foremost priority: Governor Sanjay Malhotra
Europe
BBC Business

Data centres could pay hundreds of millions in deposits for power demands

Ofgem has proposed new measures which could see developers of data centres made to pay hundreds of millions of pounds up front. The British energy regulator said a refundable fee should be charged for projects that want to connect to the network, amid mounting demand for connections to the electricity grid. It is proposing developers pay a deposit between £237,500 to £712,500 per megawatt - meaning data centres seeking 1 gigawatt (GW) of power would have to pay hundreds of millions up front, paid back if the project was completed. The proposal follows growing opposition in parts of the country to plans for new data centres, which are needed to power the artificial intelligence boom. Data centres are large buildings which house computer servers used to store and process data and run the digital services which power the internet. Ofgem has started a consultation on its proposals, which will run until 16 September. It said the amount of electricity capacity being requested by projects seeking to connect to the grid had risen from 41 GW to 125 GW in the past year, reflecting a sharp increase in demand. This is significantly more than double 2025's peak electricity demand in Britain of around 46 GW. The regulator said the projects would have to hit key milestones to keep their place in the grid connection queue, which has seen a surge in demand. An increasing number of centres have been built around the world in recent years to provide the computing power needed to train and run AI systems. Residents have raised concerns about noise, electricity demand and the large amounts of water sometimes used to cool the high-performance chips that generate vast amounts of heat. There are currently 564 data centres listed in the UK, according to the data centre map, external.

Data centres could pay hundreds of millions in deposits for power demands
Europe
BBC Business

Matcha and protein pivot pays off for Greggs as profits rise

Greggs's pivot towards healthier products and trending drinks has helped it boost sales, with the bakery chain reporting a 20% rise in profit over the first half of the year. Greggs, the UK's largest fast-food chain, has launched a range of new products this year, many of which latch onto trends such as high-protein salads and matcha. Greggs's chief executive Roisin Currie previously told BBC News the rise of weight-loss drugs has led customers to to look for "smaller portions", which could affect its bottom line. Total sales for the bakery topped £1.1 billion for the 26 weeks to the end of June - 7.2% higher than the same period a year ago. Pre-tax profit for the first half of the year was £76.0m - up from £63.5m for the first six months of 2025. Currie said the company was "broadening and innovating our menu in line with changing tastes and trends". The company relaunched its salad range in May, "adding protein and increased choice for customers". It is also trying to appeal to "new and younger customers" through its new iced matcha lattes, and to health-conscious consumers by making nutritional information on its labels clearer. Greggs, which has more UK outlets than McDonald's, opened 34 stores in the first half of 2026. That brings the total to 2,773, taking into account 31 store closures. More than half of the new openings were in areas with no Greggs stores within a mile. A similar proportion opened away from the High Street in locations including petrol forecourts, supermarkets, retail parks, hospitals and university campuses, it said. Currie said Greggs is monitoring customer behaviour to ensure new stores boost visits "without cannibalising existing shop sales". She also said Greggs had no price rises planned after its breakfast, lunch and "big" deals went up in May, following multiple hikes last year.

Matcha and protein pivot pays off for Greggs as profits rise
Europe
BBC Business

Ticket prices set to rise by 15p as Heathrow able to recover runway project money

Image source, Getty ImagesByKaty AustinTransport correspondentPublished29 July 2026, 07:18 BSTUpdated 3 hours agoHeathrow Airport will be allowed to charge airlines more for its services to recover money spent on the early stages of its third runway project. The aviation regulator is permitting the airport to claw back up to £320m through higher airport charges to airlines for each passenger. This is likely to end up adding 15p to ticket prices in 2028, rising to 30p in later years. A bidder which unsuccessfully put forward a rival design involving a shorter runway, Arora Group's Heathrow West, will also be allowed to recover £4.1m pounds in costs. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Heathrow said safeguards would be put in place to protect consumers from unjustified costs. At this stage, the costs being recovered are only for the early planning and design of the runway during 2025 and 2026. How much the cost of actually building the runway will add to ticket prices won't be clear for some time. Tim Johnson, the CAA's director of consumers and markets, told the BBC: "We've announced that the first tranche of costs, which is to help with the planning of this, can be recovered from passengers. That's up to a maximum of £320m." Heathrow airport will also be able to collect Heathrow West's costs up to November last year by adding to its airport charges. The CAA said allowing these costs to be recouped will result in the maximum airport charge per passenger increasing by around 15 pence in 2028, rising to an estimated 30 pence in the following years. A Heathrow spokesperson said: "This project is about making travel more affordable and giving passengers more choice, while providing a real economic boost to every region and nation of the country." "We are carefully considering the CAA proposals and will make investment decisions accordingly," the spokesperson added. In November, the government announced it preferred the £33bn scheme put forward by the airport over Arora's alternative plan.

Ticket prices set to rise by 15p as Heathrow able to recover runway project money
Europe
BBC Business

Burnham has no scope to increase borrowing, think tank warns

Prime Minister Andy Burnham will have to raise taxes or cut spending to meet his pledges on defence and the cost of living, a major think tank has said. Burnham has announced a series of new measures since assuming office last week, including cuts to electricity bills and bringing the bus fare cap in most parts of England back down to £2. But the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) warned the public finances will continue to be squeezed by more persistent inflation as a result of the Iran war. It questioned whether Burnham had "fully thought through" how his promises would be paid for, but said the prime minister will have to raise taxes or cut spending elsewhere. Stephen Millard, Niesr's deputy director for macroeconomics, said: "There's clearly no scope for increasing borrowing, so it is about choices." Labour's manifesto pledge was to not increase taxes for working people - including income tax, VAT and national insurance contributions - which Burnham has said he will uphold. Millard said Niesr was advocating for cost-of-living measures to be funded through higher taxes – "which could involve tax reform rather than higher marginal rates" – or spending cuts. He said: "People have talked a lot about the welfare bill – that is an obvious place to look. "The triple lock on pensions, that is very, very expensive, and will get more expensive as we age." He also pointed to potentially reforming council tax to move towards a land value tax system, or scrapping some VAT exemptions. "Once you've done all of that, then I'm afraid I would break the manifesto promise and would be looking at the income tax rate." Niesr also said on Wednesday it expects inflation to keep rising until February 2027, peaking at 3.8% before falling back to the Bank of England's 2% target.

Burnham has no scope to increase borrowing, think tank warns
North America
CNBC Finance

Visa is cutting 7% of employees in efficiency push as AI reshapes work

Visa, which runs the world's largest payments network, plans to cut about 7% of its workforce as CEO Ryan McInerney moves to streamline the company and invest more in growth areas, according to a memo confirmed by CNBC. The company plans to eliminate roughly 2,600 positions, mostly in its technology and product operations, according to the memo. CNBC confirmed the contents of the memo, which was reported earlier by Bloomberg, with a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Impacted employees will start to be contacted on Tuesday for next steps and transition assistance, said the person. "To capture the opportunities ahead and best position Visa to lead this transformation, we must continue evolving how we work," McInerney wrote. "AI is also helping to accelerate this evolution and shape the way work gets done at Visa." The layoffs come as companies across the financial and technology sectors increasingly use artificial intelligence to automate technical work like software development, while seeking to rein in costs after years of rapid hiring. Visa had about 34,100 employees at the end of its last fiscal year. While AI played a significant role in the layoffs, it wasn't the sole driver, according to the person with direct knowledge of the matter, who declined to be identified speaking about the changes. Visa wants to invest more in what it views as growth areas, including its emphasis on affluent customers, cross border activity, business payments, stablecoins and geographic expansion, said the person. "As a result of the choices we have made over the past few years, we are entering a new era in commerce with a business that has real momentum," McInerney wrote, citing good financial results and client satisfaction. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis.

Visa is cutting 7% of employees in efficiency push as AI reshapes work