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00:00Hello and welcome to the latest Business Brief on Friday the 16th of May.
00:04The billionaire Hinduja family has topped the Sunday Times rich list for the fourth year
00:09despite a dip in their fortune. The king's personal wealth has jumped to £640 million
00:13putting him level with Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murthy. The UK now has 156 billionaires down
00:20for the third year running due to political uncertainty and tax. Sir James Dyson, Sir Jim
00:25Ratcliffe and Russian-born gaming moguls, the Bookman Brothers, also made the top ranks.
00:30Pop star Dua Lipa is the youngest person to feature in the under-40s list. Fashion tycoon
00:35Anders Holtsch-Polfsen was named the richest person in Scotland for the fourth year in a row.
00:40In other news, Next has faced a shareholder revolt over low pay with more than a quarter backing
00:45calls for more transparency. Nearly 20% supported a proposal to reveal how many staff earn less
00:51than the real living wage. The motion led by campaign group Share Action was backed by major
00:56investors including Scottish Widows. It's part of wider pressure on retailers like M&S and JD Sports
01:02as the cost of living crisis drags on. Media group Future says it now expects revenues to decline
01:08this financial year. The GoCompare and Marie Claire owner blamed ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty
01:14and a weaker US advertising market in March. Revenue fell 3% to £378.4 million in the first half
01:21but digital ads rebounded last month. Future says it's taking a more cautious view for the second
01:27half of the year. The real estate firm Landsec has reported strong annual results with rental income
01:33up 5% and profits of around £393 million. The property giant says demand for quality space is driving
01:40earnings and portfolio growth. It plans to shift £3 billion from offices into retail and housing,
01:46investing £1 billion more in major retail. Dividend payments rose 2% and occupancy hit the highest levels
01:53in five years. And the taxpayer stake in NatWest has fallen below 1% nearly 17 years after the bank's
02:01£46 billion bailout. The Treasury has sold off more shares, cutting its holding from 1.98% to 0.9%.
02:08NatWest was once 84% state-owned after the 2008 financial crisis. The bank says it shares the
02:15government's ambition to return to full private ownership. That's all for today. Thank you for listening.