Tuesday newspaper round-up: Pharma companies, Puig, Thames Water

9th Apr 2024 07:31

(Sharecast News) - Rachel Reeves has said an incoming Labour government would launch a £5bn crackdown on tax avoiders to close a gap in its spending plans exposed by Jeremy Hunt scrapping the non-dom regime to finance tax cuts. Warning households and businesses that Labour was prepared to adopt tough measures to tackle tax fraud and non-compliance, Reeves said the funding would be used to pay for free school breakfast clubs and additional NHS appointments. - Guardian

Pharmaceuticals companies were told to make fewer drugs for the sake of the environment, in new draft guidelines for businesses in the Government's latest net zero drive. The suggestion was among a vast array of proposals which Britain's biggest businesses have been told to consider as they are ordered to publish lengthy reports every year to show how they plan to meet their net zero targets. - Telegraph

Russia has reportedly asked Kazakhstan to supply it with petrol as Ukrainian attacks on its refineries force it to import gasoline. Kazakhstan has been asked to set up a reserve of 100,000 tonnes of gasoline, equivalent to 845,000 barrels, to supply Russia should shortages arise, Reuters reported. It is unclear if a deal has been reached. The Kremlin has also been seeking supplies from Belarus. - Telegraph

The Spanish family-owned cosmetics group Puig, which owns brands such as Charlotte Tilbury, Paco Rabanne and Carolina Herrera, is preparing an initial public offering, the biggest stock market listing in the beauty sector in years. The Barcelona-based company announced the move to go public on Monday with plans to sell €1.25 billion (£1.07 billion) of new shares and an even larger amount of existing stock through the IPO, taking the total sum raised to more than €2.5 billion. - The Times

The Australian financial group Macquarie is one of the consortium of lenders to Thames Water's parent company Kemble Water Finance, The Times can reveal. Last week it emerged that the lenders, which also include two Chinese state-owned banks, the Dutch bank ING and Allied Irish Bank, could determine the fate of the troubled utility. - The Times