Author: SKYNEWS

Dr Martens has reported another sharp fall in profits following a “challenging year” for the business.The struggling company said global pre-tax profits in the 12 months to March were £97m – a fall of almost 43% on the previous year. Revenue also dipped 12% to £877m – down from just over £1bn in 2022/23.The British brand blamed its disappointing performance on the US, its largest market, where it said there had been weak consumer demand and a 17% fall in sales of its boots.Kenny Wilson, who recently announced he would be stepping down as chief executive, said the results were…

Workers posing as Disney favourites such as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Snow White in California have formed a union – Magic United.There are roughly 1,700 performers and assistants who help to bring popular characters to life at Disneyland near Los Angeles. Disney has faced allegations of not paying them a living wage, despite many facing exorbitant housing costs and commuting long distances.Parade performers and character actors earn a base pay of $24.15 (£19) an hour, up from $20 (£15.75) before January.The president of the Actors’ Equity Association, which will represent the group, called the workers the “front lines” of…

A former top executive at FTX has been jailed for more than seven years over his role in the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange.Ryan Salame, 30, is the first deputy at the company to be sentenced following the conviction of its “crypto king” boss Sam Bankman-Fried. FTX suddenly went bankrupt in November 2022 – leaving millions of users frozen out of their accounts and unable to make withdrawals.Bankman-Fried was jailed for 25 years in March after being found guilty of stealing billions of dollars from his customers.Salame was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison, plus three years of supervised release,…

Daniel Kretinsky is on the cusp of becoming the new man in charge of the Royal Mail.The board of its parent company, International Distribution Services (IDS), announced on Wednesday it had agreed to a takeover by Mr Kretinsky’s EP Group, which has valued the firm at £5.3bn. The deal must first be approved by IDS’s shareholders and regulators before it can go ahead.But who is Mr Kretinsky and what is his background?The 48-year-old is ranked 33rd on The Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated net worth of £6bn – up £2bn since 2023. Low profileHe is known as the…

Sir Douglas Flint is facing mounting unrest over his stewardship of IP Group, the London-listed investor in early-stage science and technology companies.Sky News has learnt that Lombard Odier, one of IP Group’s top-three shareholders, has expressed misgivings over the company’s leadership in recent months, fuelling speculation in the City that Sir Douglas could step down. City sources said on Wednesday that a number of other institutional investors were aligned with Lombard Odier, which holds about 4.6% of the company’s shares.It was unclear whether IP Group’s board was discussing Sir Douglas’s future, and the company declined to offer a defence of…

Artificial intelligence could play a pivotal role in the early diagnosis of people who are at risk of heart failure as it is able to identify anomalies which are traditionally hard to detect, new research shows. Heart and circulatory diseases are the world’s biggest killer, claiming one in three lives every year. Researchers in Scotland set out to test how AI could have “real-world benefits” for those at risk. Thanks to patients who voluntarily offered their data to the Scottish Health Research Register and Biobank (SHARE), researchers at the University of Dundee’s School of Medicine looked at a final cohort…

Klarna, the buy now pay later (BNPL) finance giant, has removed the right of large shareholders to block smaller investors’ share trades ahead of a prospective $20bn (£15.7bn) US float.Sky News has learnt that the Stockholm-based company, which has in the region of 150m customers, notified investors last week that it had taken control of stock transaction approvals and eliminated special rights held by a small number of its principal shareholders. In an investor memo, Klarna said it had “listened to…shareholders”.”A lot of you have raised issues with the slow process of approving secondary transfers but even more with lack…

Whoever wins the general election, one potential headache for the new administration will be Thames Water.The current government has already drawn up contingency plans, known as Project Timber, for the possible collapse of a company currently saddled with debt of £15.4bn. A possible collapse of Thames also features strongly on a dossier of potential crises compiled by Sue Gray, Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, that an incoming Labour government would face.Money latest:Man Utd staff ‘given week to resign’ in WFH crackdownTalk of a possible collapse has moved up the agenda because Thames Water’s owners, which include the Canadian pensions…

Around one in five professional football players currently use snus, tobacco-free nicotine pouches or both, according to a study.The research, covering both male and female players, said the actual number was likely to be higher as some may not want to admit using them. Snus, pronounced ‘snoose’, is a smokeless, moist tobacco pouch that’s put under the top lip.Its supporters say it can help people quit smoking, but it still contains high levels of nicotine and evidence suggests a higher risk of oesophagus and pancreatic cancer – as well as cardiovascular disease.There’s also evidence of a link to mouth lesions…

Blackstone, the world’s most prolific private equity investor in real estate, has roared into the £850m auction of Village Hotels, the mid-market hotel chain.Sky News has learnt that Blackstone, which owns property assets in Britain worth billions of pounds, has tabled an offer to buy Village. City sources said on Wednesday that Sixth Street, another US-based investment firm, was also in contention for the deal.Earlier this month, Sky News revealed that Aermont, the majority backer of Pinewood Studios, was among the suitors vying to buy Village.The chain, which operates more than 30 sites, is owned by KSL Capital Partners. Follow…