Reuters

(Reuters) - British luxury carmaker Aston Martin posted a bigger-than-expected first-quarter pretax loss on Wednesday due to higher finance costs and the timings of its car launches.

The company reported an adjusted pretax losses of 111 million pounds ($138.45 million) for the three months ended March 31, compared with 57 million pounds a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, were expecting an adjusted pre-tax loss of 93 million pounds,... (continue reading...)

By Lucy Craymer

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand’s government is continuing "information gathering discussions" on future cooperation with the AUKUS security pact but is "a long way" from being able to make a decision on this, the country’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

AUKUS is a two-stage defence pact formed in 2021 by the U.S., Britain and Australia as part of efforts to push back against China's growing influence in the... (continue reading...)

LONDON (Reuters) -British house prices fell unexpectedly for a second month running during April, figures from mortgage lender Nationwide showed on Wednesday.

House prices fell 0.4% month-on-month, after a 0.2% drop in March. A Reuters poll had pointed to a 0.2% increase.

In annual terms, house price growth cooled to 0.6% from 1.6%.

The figures pointed to some moderation in the recent recovery in housing market activity, which... (continue reading...)

(Reuters) -GSK raised its full-year profit forecast on Wednesday and said its sales would be higher in the first six months of the year than the second half on the back of strong demand for its common respiratory virus and shingles vaccines.

The London-listed drugmaker said it now expects a rise of 8% to 10% in annual adjusted earnings per share, up from the 6%-9% growth previously forecast. It also expects its 2024 sales to rise in the upper end of its 5%... (continue reading...)

LONDON (Reuters) - British clothing retailer Next on Wednesday kept its forecast for annual profit after reporting a 5.7% rise in first-quarter full-price sales that was slightly ahead of its guidance.

The group's results, which are often considered a useful gauge of how British consumers are faring, said it still expected a profit before tax of 960 million pounds ($1.2 billion) in its 2024/25 year, up from 918 million pounds in 2023/24.