NatWest buys Metro Bank mortgage book for £2.4bn and spent £24m on axed share sale campaign – business live

9.58am BST

Allan Leighton gives evidence at the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry

Allan Leighton, the former chair of Royal Mail and the Post Office, has started his testimony at the public inquiry into the scandal.

Leighton was affiliated to the Royal Mail between 2001 and 2009, and the Post Office between 2002 and 2009.

He was the Royal Mail’s chairman when some of the cases wrongly prosecuting sub-postmasters, because of incorrect information from the Horizon IT system, were brought to court.

Leighton gave testimony to the inquiry in April, however due to a technical fault with the recording, he has returned to confirm his evidence.

He may give new answers, or change, his testimony as the inquiry continues this morning.

Between 1999 and 2015 the Post Office relentlessly pursued branch owner-operators across the UK for alleged theft, fraud and false accounting, despite knowing there were faults in Horizon IT accounting software installed by Fujitsu in the late 1990s.

In total, some 3,500 sub-postmasters and mistresses were wrongly accused of taking money from their businesses, with more than 900 prosecuted in harrowing court cases despite protesting their innocence and raising issues with the IT system in their defence.

The scandal has often been described as the most widespread carriage of misjustice in UK history.

Updated at 10.03am BST

9.26am BST

Drax reports 37% increase in profits and plans to return £300m to shareholders

Drax Group, the UK’s largest source of renewable energy, has reported profits of £463m in the six months to the end of June, up from £338m in the same period last year.

The performance prompted the company, which announced a two-year £300m share buyback scheme starting in the next quarter, to up its full year profit forecast to the top end of analyst expectations.

Shares in Drax, which in January received permission from the government to fit carbon capture technology to its wood-burning power plant in a project that could cost bill-payers more than £40bn, surged 12% in early trading a investors responded positively to the results.

Will Gardiner , chief executive of Drax, said:

Drax has delivered a strong operational performance, playing an important role supporting the UK energy system with dispatchable, renewable power, keeping the lights on for millions of homes and businesses.

Drax, which has converted four coal-power units to use biomass and operates hydro power projects, is set to see the end of a government subsidy for biomass generation in 2027.

Updated at 9.27am BST

8.46am BST

Eurostar services to and from Paris have been disrupted due to widspread, co-ordinated acts of vandalism to France’s high-speed rail network hours before the Paris Olympics are due to begin.

All high speed trains to and from the French capital are being diverted via the classic line today, extending the journey time by about 90 minutes, the company said. Several trains have been cancelled.

A spokesperson for SNCF , the French rail operator, said:

This is a massive attack on a large scale to paralyse the TGV network.

Related: Vandals target French rail network before Olympics opening ceremony

8.12am BST

Drivers are still paying to much for fuel, says UK competition regulator

Drivers are still paying too much for their fuel, with increases in retailers’ fuel margins costing consumers £1.6bn last year, according to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The regulator said that retail margins remain “significantly” above historic levels, a year after criticising the market for failing customers .

The CMA said that retailers’ fuel margins - the difference between what they pay for their fuel and the price they sell it at - remain high with supermarkets’ fuel margins roughly double what they were in 2019.

Sarah Cardell , chief executive of the CMA, said:

Last year we found that competition in the road fuel market was failing consumers, and published proposals that would revitalise competition amongst fuel retailers. One year on and drivers are still paying too much.

The RAC said that it has already written to the new energy secretary to try and get action taken on the issue, following the findings of the third monitoring report by the CMA.

Simon Williams , head of policy at the RAC, said:

To see that drivers have paid £1.6bn more than they should have in the last year is nothing short of outrageous, especially when so many are dependent on their vehicles. Drivers have every right to feel ripped off, especially knowing there is virtually no market competition between retailers. Our analysis has long shown that even accounting for retailers’ increased operating costs, margins on fuel are at extremely questionable levels.

Updated at 8.26am BST

7.57am BST

NatWest buys Metro Bank mortgage book for £2.4bn and spent £24m on axed share sale campaign

Good morning, and welcome to our live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets.

NatWest was forced to spend £24m on the former Tory government’s shelved “Tell Sid” campaign featuring Sir Trevor McDonald to promote the sale of the bank’s shares to the public.

NatWest’s bill for the campaign, which was set to launch within days of Rishi Sunak announcing the surprise early summer election which scuppered the roll-out, was revealed as it also announced that it has acquired a raft of mortgages from Metro Bank for £2.4bn.

The bank was forced to stump up for part of what would have been a £10m-plus advertising push - which included TV ads featuring the veteran newsreader and presenter popping up around the UK asking the public “Are you in?” – because of agreements with the government dating back to the tax-payer funded bailout in 2008.

NatWest has had to pay for part of the preparation costs for the sale, including toward the production of the advertising, printing and distributing documents, as well as legal fees and expenses.

The campaign was part of the Tory party’s efforts to return the bank - formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland – to private ownership by 2025-26, following its £46bn taxpayer bailout during the height of the financial crisis. There were also hopes that the campaign would encourage everyday savers to start investing in British stocks.

The nationwide push had been originally intended as a “pre-election sweetener” to help the Tories.

The Agenda

• 9am BST: Italy business and consumer confidence, July

• From 945am BST: Allan Leighton, former chair of Royal Mail and Post Office, to give evidence at the Horizon IT public inquiry

• 1pm BST: USA Core PCE Price Index (June), PCE Price Index (June)

Updated at 8.29am BST