Time to recap…

Apple has been fined €1.84bn by European authorities for stifling competition from rival music streaming services.

Margrethe Vestager, the bloc’s competition chief, said the tech giant had broken EU antitrust rules for a decade by “restricting developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside of the Apple ecosystem”.

It is the first time the iPhone maker has been punished for breaching EU law. Apple has vowed to appeal, insisting it has created Europe’s thriving digital music market.

Vestager also revealed that most of the penalty – €1.8bn – was a punitive penalty added to make sure the level of the fine matched Apple’s financial strength, on top of a ‘traditional’ penalty of around €40m calculated under EU rules.

Spotify welcomed the decision, saying it sends a powerful message that no company can wield power abusively to control how other companies interact with their customers.

In other news…

The UK government has introduced a new investment package, worth £360m, to support R&D research.

In another boost, Siemens will invest £100m in a new manufacturing centre to replace its Chippenham rail signalling factory in Wiltshire.

In the markets, Japan’s Nikkei has hit the 40,000-point mark for the first time.

Inflation in Turkey has risen back over 67%, putting pressure on the Turkish central bank to consider further interest rate rises.

The oil price is a little higher, after the Opec+ group agreed to extended its production cuts yesterday.

Here’s the latest on Wednesday’s budget:

And in other news…

Shares in Apple are weakening in pre-market trading, following the EU’s announcement.

They’re down 1.5% at $176, from Friday night’s close of $179.66.

But, news of a large fine in Europe isn’t the only factor.

Apple has also just been dropped from Goldman Sachs’ list of highly recommended companies to invest in.

Bloomberg explains:

Apple Inc. was removed from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s list of top buys after underperformance in its stock amid concerns over weak demand for its key products.

The iPhone maker had ranked in the 20-25 member “Directors’ Cut” version of Goldman’s conviction list since it was unveiled last June. Its share price is little changed in that span while the S&P 500 Index has jumped almost 22%. Apple dropped 0.6% Friday after its removal from the list.

Spotify have hailed today’s fine, calling it “an important moment in the fight for a more open internet for consumers”.

Spotify says the European Commission has made it clear that Apple’s behaviour limiting communications to consumers is unlawful.

It adds:

This decision sends a powerful message — no company, not even a monopoly like Apple, can wield power abusively to control how other companies interact with their customers.

Spotify argues that the foundational belief, that the internet should be a fair and open ecosystem, should still apply on mobile phones, saying:

Apple’s rules muzzled Spotify and other music streaming services from sharing with our users directly in our app about various benefits—denying us the ability to communicate with them about how to upgrade and the price of subscriptions, promotions, discounts, or numerous other perks. Of course, Apple Music, a competitor to these apps, is not barred from the same behaviour. By requiring Apple to stop its illegal conduct in the EU, the EC is putting consumers first. It is a basic concept of free markets—customers should know what options they have, and customers, not Apple, should decide what to buy, and where, when and how.

Apple has claimed that the EU has failed for find any “credible evidence” that consumers have been harmed.

In a hard-hitting response to today’s fine, Apple also insists it has played a key role in Spotify’s success, saying Europe’s digital music market is thriving.

Apple also accuses the Swedish streaming company of working with the European Commission on “an investigation with little grounding in reality”.

The US tech company says:

Today, the European Commission announced a decision claiming the App Store has been a barrier to competition in the digital music market. The decision was reached despite the Commission’s failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm, and ignores the realities of a market that is thriving, competitive, and growing fast.

The primary advocate for this decision — and the biggest beneficiary — is Spotify, a company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Spotify has the largest music streaming app in the world, and has met with the European Commission more than 65 times during this investigation.

Today, Spotify has a 56 percent share of Europe’s music streaming market — more than double their closest competitor’s — and pays Apple nothing for the services that have helped make them one of the most recognisable brands in the world. A large part of their success is due to the App Store, along with all the tools and technology that Spotify uses to build, update, and share their app with Apple users around the world.

We’re proud to play a key role supporting Spotify’s success — as we have for developers of all sizes, from the App Store’s earliest days.

Apple adds that the facts simply don’t support this decision, adding “as a result, Apple will appeal”.

Apple also accuses the EU of having tried to build “three different cases” against it. But each one, it claims, found no evidence of consumer harm or of anti-competitive behavior.

Apple says:

Eight years of investigations have never yielded a viable theory explaining how Apple has thwarted competition in a market that is so clearly thriving.

EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager is announcing Apple’s €1.8bn fine in Brussels now.

She explains that Apple had imposed unfair trading conditions, by preventing music-streaming apps from informing users of cheaper deals away from Apple’s App Store.

Vestager says:

“For a decade, Apple abused its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming apps through the App Store.

They did so by restricting developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside of the Apple ecosystem.”

Newsflash: Apple has been fined €1.84bn by the EU following an investigation into restrictions imposed by its app store on music streaming providers such as Spotify.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, imposed the punishment after finding the iPhone maker had broken competition law by imposing curbs on app developers.

The investigation, launched following a complaint from Spotify, focused on a restriction that prevented developers from telling iPhone and iPad users about cheaper music subscriptions that are available outside the App Store.

Spotify has argued that the restrictions benefit Apple’s rival music streaming service, Apple Music.

More to follow….

UK lenders have reported another surge in 35+ year mortgages, as first-time buyers were forced to borrow into retirement to secure affordable monthly payments.

Previous generations tended to borrow over a 25-year term, but higher interest rates have been forcing borrowers to take out much longer loans.

According to lobby group UK Finance, one in five first-time buyers took out a 35-year mortgage in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to less than one in ten a year earlier. That is the highest since at least 2008, its figures show.

It suggests that home ownership still remains out of reach for many, despite the longest-possible mortgage terms.

Eric Leenders, managing director of personal finance at UK Finance, said:

“2023 was a tough year for UK households and we expect to see continued challenges in 2024. Affordability remains a barrier to home ownership, but pressures should start to ease gradually through this year and next.

“Amidst ongoing cost challenges, it’s encouraging that customers don’t look to be running up higher levels of unsecured debt. But we know some households will be more affected than others - if you are struggling with personal loan, credit card or mortgage repayments, please reach out to your lender as soon as possible for help.”

UK manufacturers are welcoming the government’s £360m funding package to support research and development at UK factories.

Stephen Phipson, chief executive of Make UK, says:

“Industry will welcome this announcement as yet another boost for key sectors that will put advanced manufacturing at the heart of the UK’s economic future.

These industries will be key to addressing many of the societal challenges we face in a competitive world and highlight what can be achieved with a constructive dialogue between Government and business. Taken together they are another piece in the jigsaw of a modern industrial strategy to make the UK a world leader in key sectors of the future.”

Steve Smith, managing director at Alvarez & Marsal Tax, says :

“The reported inclusion of a £360m funding package in Wednesday’s budget would be a timely and much-needed boost for British businesses, particularly those in the aviation and EV industries.

“These sectors are vital for maintaining long-term productivity, so funding is especially welcome considering that the skills agenda has been somewhat overshadowed in budget discussions up to now, often taking a backseat amidst the chatter about individual tax cuts.

KPMG has been fined almost £1.5m by the UK’s accounting watchdog for “basic failings” in its audit of advertising company M&C Saatchi plc in 2018.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) fined KPMG after concluding it had not conducted the audit with sufficient professional scepticism when assessing “work in progress” credits which had lifted M&C Saatchi’s revenues.

They also failed to properly audit journal entries, or show sufficient “professional scepticism” when assessing whether the ad agency was right to retain rebates which should have been passed back to clients.

The FRC launched its investigation after M&C Saatchi’s discovered accounting errors in 2019, which led to its 2018 profits to be restated. It also released two profit warnings which hammered its share price.

It had decided to fine KPMG £2,250,000, which has been reduced to £1.46m after it admitted its errors.

Adrian Wilcox, KPMG’s audit engagement partner, has been fined £75,000, reduced to £48,750.

Claudia Mortimore, the FRC’s deputy executive counsel, says:

“KPMG’s audit did not meet the required quality standards in a number of respects amounting to serious audit failings and breaches of audit standards. This included a lack of professional scepticism in certain high-risk areas of the audit and basic failings in journal testing.”

The oil price is rising, slightly, this morning after members of the Opec cartel agreed to extend their production cuts.

OPEC+ members led by Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed on Sunday to extend voluntary oil output cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day into the second quarter of 2024.

Saudi Arabia is extend its voluntary cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) through the end of June, leaving its output at around 9 million bpd.

Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman are also extending their production cuts through the second quarter of this year.

The decision is meant to support “the stability and balance of oil markets”, Opec says.

Russia also announced yesterday it will cut its oil output and exports by an additional 471,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter of this year.

Brent crude has gained 0.3% to $83.81 per barrel, while US crude is 0.25% higher at $80.18/barrel.

In Turkey, inflation has jumped to a 15-month high of above 67%, adding to pressure on the country’s central bank.

Turkey’s consumer price index (CPI) increased by 67.07% annually in February, up from 64.9% in January, showing prices rising even faster than expected.

On a monthly basis, prices rose by 4.53% in February.

Last month, the central bank left interest rates on hold at 45%, pausing a hiking cycle that had lifted borrowing costs by 3,650 basis points since May 2023. A year ago, rates were down at 8.5%, before a series of hikes to cool inflation.

Over in Japan, investors are celebrating after the country’s Nikkei stock index hit the 40,000 point mark for the first time ever.

The rally pushed the Nikkei to a new a record closing high of 40,109.23, up 198 points or 0.5%.

It comes two weeks after the Nikkei finally rose over the previous all-time high set in 1989, before stocks slumped through the 90s.

The Nikkei has gained almost 20% so far this year, lifted by strong gains in technology firms amid the AI boom. The weakness of the yen is also attracting foreign investors, and helping Japanese exporters sell abroad.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor, says:

The Nikkei in Japan meanwhile has been the beneficiary of the exodus from Chinese shares, quite apart from its own currency weakness adding to the attraction, propelling the main index to over 40000 for the first time.

In addition, the strength in tech shares has been an additional feature, while the latest report on GDP implied that growth could actually be revised to positive from negative, which would reverse the previous thought that Japan was actually in a technical recession.

Major carmakers and motoring groups have backed a letter by campaign group FairCharge and Auto Trader calling for the chancellor Jeremy Hunt to cut VAT on public charging for electric cars.

Car manufacturers such as Jaguar Land Rover and Stellantis, the owner of Vauxhall and Peugeot, signed the letter which said that 38% of electric vehicle drivers were unfairly disadvantaged by the VAT.

Those that charge exclusively at home have to pay just 5% VAT on their energy bill compared to the 38% of drivers who do not have home charging, who have to pay 20%.

The letter, which was also supported by the AA and the RAC, said that the difference between home and public charging costs was a barrier for many looking to buy an EV.

Research by AutoTrader found that drivers charging off peak at home save £865 when compared to petrol vehicles, while those that use rapid public chargers could pay £264 more.

Quentin Willson, FairCharge Founder and motoring journalist, said:

“If the Government is serious about wider EV adoption, they must revisit this out-of-date VAT legislation -- written in the early 1990s before the arrival of electric cars -- and make it fit for purpose.”

Today’s newspapers are hot with coverage of Wednesday’s budget.

The Guardian leads with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s warning that Jeremy Hunt risks condemning Britain to a second “lost decade” for living standards:

The Times reports that Hunt is drafting plans for up to £9bn worth of tax rises and spending reductions, to allow him to cut national insurance by 2p and still balance the books.

The Mirror says unions representing millions of stretched frontline workers, such as teachers, NHS workers, firefighters, and council staff, say “politically driven tax cuts” are the wrong choice.

But the Express reckons “the nation is asking” if the chancellor will produce a tax cut rabbit from his hat on Wednesday:

While the Financial Times says Hunt will use the budget to cut personal taxes, with aides confirming the chancellor would “love to” cut national insurance or income tax by 2p or more, but only if it was affordable.

The Treasury has been exploring every avenue in its attempt to find a way of putting more money in the pockets of consumers while sticking to its self-imposed rule to cut debt as a share of national income in five years’ time, our economics editor Larry Elliott write.

But, experience suggests this strategy won’t work, he points out:

For a start, the sums involved will be relatively modest. The size of Hunt’s net giveaway on Wednesday is likely to be a maximum of £10bn, which is small beer in the context of a £2.5tn-a-year economy.

The package will be smaller than last November’s autumn statement, which made no difference to the Conservative party’s dire opinion poll ratings.

Plus, the country is not in the same state as 1987, when Nigel Lawson cut taxes in a giveaway budget. More here.

Siemens has announced plans to invest £100m in a new centre for manufacturing in Wiltshire.

The global technology company will use the money to replace its factory in Chippenham, with the new facility on the site expected to be completed by 2026.

The current Chippenham plant is the country’s only factory dedicated to developing rail signalling and control systems, and manufactured the signalling tech being used on the Elizabeth line.

It has also been a key site for the development of railway technology since the Victorian times. Its workload includes providing new digital signalling equipment to modernise the east coast main line from London to Edinburgh.

When operational in 2026, the 800 manufacturing, research and engineering jobs at the present factory will be transferred to the new site without any impact on production.

Joint CEO of Siemens Mobility UK & Ireland, Rob Morris, said:

“This investment is a strong commitment to Chippenham and our country.

“Siemens Mobility’s Chippenham site, along with our 30 sites across the country, has been transforming rail, travel, and transport in Britain – and it will continue to do so with cloud-based rail technology connecting the real and the digital worlds, digitalizing rail.”

Jeremy Hunt has also welcomed Siemens’ decision, calling it “a big boost for Britain’s world-class manufacturing sector”.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.

As budget week begins, the British government has announced a new investment package to help make the UK “a world leader in manufacturing”.

Worth a combined £360m from government and industry, the funding will support R&D and manufacturing projects in sectors where the UK is – or could be – world-leading, by unlocking investment from the private sector.

It includes almost £200m for aerospace R&D projects, to develop energy-efficient and zero-carbon aircraft technology needed to achieve net zero aviation.

There’s also £73m of joint funding for “cutting-edge automotive R&D projects” for electric vehicle technology, to make them more efficient and competitive.

The Treasury explains:

Supported by more than £36m of government funding awarded through Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC) competitions, this includes four projects which are developing technologies for the next generation of battery electric vehicles, making them more efficient and competitive, led by companies including automotive manufacturers YASA and Empel Systems.

[This comes six months after prime minister Rishi Sunak’s green u-turn, when he delayed banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by five years to 2035].

The government is also contributing £7.5m to help two pharmaceutical companies to spend £84m to expand their UK plants; Almac, a pharmaceutical company in Northern Ireland produces drugs to treat diseases such as cancer, heart disease and depression, while Ortho Clinical diagnostics of Pencoed, Wales, produces medical testing products.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, says the money will help secure jobs and grow the economy:

“We’re sticking with our plan by backing the industries of the future with millions of pounds of investment to make the UK a world leader in manufacturing, securing the highly skilled jobs of the future and delivering the long-term change our country needs to deliver a brighter future for Britain”.

The economy certainly needs more investment; last summer, the IPPR think tank warned that the UK is bottom of G7 league table for business investment, leaving the country in a growth ‘doom loop’.

Back in the autumn statement last November, the UK announced £4.5bn to increase investment in strategic manufacturing sectors – auto, aero, life sciences and clean energy.

But Labour’s shadow business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, isn’t impressed by today’s announcement; he says the government is “incapable of providing the long-term stability manufacturing needs to thrive”.

Reynolds added:

“Recycled announcements won’t be enough to turn around the lowest business investment in the G7.”

The funding announcement comes as Hunt puts the finishing touches to Wednesday’s budget, with Tory MPs pushing the chancellor to produce some voter-pleasing tax cuts.

But is 1p, or more, off income tax really what people want, given the state of UK public services?

An opinion poll of almost 5,000 people across Britain released by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) this morning shows that almost three-quarters were “very worried” or “fairly worried” about funding for the NHS and other public services, compared with less than half who were concerned about tax on earnings.

JRF are warning Hunt that his budget risks condemning Britain to a second “lost decade” for living standards.

Hunt himself said yesterday he wants to move Britain towards becoming a lower-tax economy, “as and when we can afford it”….