00:00Hello and welcome to the latest business bulletin on Wednesday the 12th of March.
00:04Donald Trump's tariffs on UK steel and aluminium couldn't have come at a worse
00:08time according to the industry. Last-ditch attempts to make the US
00:12president change his mind on a 25% import tax failed so the tariffs have
00:17come into effect. The UK government says it's disappointed but isn't likely to
00:21immediately retaliate but EU states are proposing major countermeasures start on
00:26April the 1st. The White House has however halted the planned tariff
00:30increase from 25 to 50% on Canadian steel and other metals. The threat
00:35initially caused markets to plummet but the Ontario provincial government
00:39suspended its planned surcharges on electricity sold to the US so the tariff
00:44increases were paused too. UK music streaming sales topped 1 billion pounds
00:49last year for the first time ever however the industry is facing a looming
00:53threat from AI copyright plans. Demand for vinyl also continued to grow last
00:58year but paid subscriptions to platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube
01:02continue to make up the bulk of revenues. Some interesting results today the gym
01:07group has swung back to profit after its members increased by 4%. The company
01:12posted a pre-tax profit of 2.5 million pounds up from an 8.3 million
01:17loss the previous year. And finally Legal & General has announced a 500 million
01:22pound share buyback. It's part of its aims to return over 5 billion pounds to
01:27shareholders within three years. The group posted a 6% rise in core operating
01:32profits to 1.62 billion for 2024. That's all for today, more tomorrow.
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