City pars

‘COMPLY OR EXPLAIN’ WHY YOU CAN’T REACH DIVERSITY TARGETS, REGULATOR TELLS LISTED FIRMS

Publicly traded companies might be forced to explain themselves to shareholders if they have fewer than four in ten women or if their board contains only white people. New Financial Conduct Authority proposals would require companies to meet these targets or publish a statement explaining why they did not. The targets also include having a woman as chair, chief executive, finance director or senior independent director. The targets include those who self-identify as women, the FCA said. They are not binding and no companies will be forced to diversify their boards, however the proposal would make it clear how companies are making progress on diversity. “Our proposals are intended to increase transparency by establishing better, comparable information on the diversity of companies’ boards and executive committees,” said the FCA’s Clare Cole.

REVENUE DOUBLES, BUT LOSSES WIDEN AT WIZZ AIR

Wizz Air saw its revenue more than double in the three months to the end of June. The Hungarian airline which is listed in London said that revenue had reached £199 million in its first quarter, up from £91 million in the same period last year. But the bounce failed to make a dent in Wizz’s pre-tax loss, which widened by nearly 6% to £113.5 million. The results show that although passengers are returning to the skies, they are still flying in much smaller numbers than before the pandemic. Wizz Air carried around 3 million passengers over the three months, compared to over 10 million in the same period in 2019. The airline is still only operating at a third of its capacity.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY TRENDS BOOST MUSICMAGPIE

British shoppers are increasingly adapting to a circular economy, boosting sales at musicMagpie, which refurbishes electronics, the company said on Wednesday. It showed a 6.8% growth in UK revenue in the first six months of the year, yet still swung to a loss in its global operations. The business reported a £17.7 million pre-tax loss, compared to a profit of £2.6 million a year earlier. Much of this was costs surrounding shares and the £4.1 million price tag the company paid to list. “This has been a landmark period for musicMagpie, and we are very pleased with the performance of the business as it has adapted quickly to life as a public company. We are seeing strong and growing demand for our unique circular economy model, as consumers continue to realise the benefits of buying and renting refurbished consumer technology products,” said chief executive Steve Oliver.