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5 Things You Need To Know, Today, on Thursday 3rd February 2022
5. Nestle has announced its confectionery factory in Newcastle is to shut with the loss of 474 jobs.
The global food manufacturer said it was holding talks with employees at the Fawdon plant but the focus was now on closing it in 2023.
4. Spotify's boss says it is "too early to know" how the controversy over Joe Rogan's podcast, which averages 11m listeners an episode, has hit the firm.
It comes as Spotify projected slower subscriber growth for this quarter which saw the company's shares fall by more than 10% in after-hours trading.
3. Social media giant Facebook has seen its daily active users (DAUs) drop for the first time in its 18-year history.
Meta's shares slumped by more than 20% in after-hours trading in New York wiping around $200bn (£147.5bn) off the company's stock market value.
2. The Bank of England looks set to raise interest rates again today and signal further unwinding of its pandemic stimulus, including a gradual reversal of its huge bond-buying plan.
Twenty-nine of 45 economists polled late last month said the BoE would raise Bank Rate to 0.5% from 0.25% at its February meeting, hot on the heels of December's rate hike, the first by a major central bank since the pandemic.
1. Britain’s cost of living crisis is likely to intensify from today as the energy regulator prepares to raise the maximum price of home energy bills by up to 50% above current record highs.
However industry sources believe the Treasury may be poised to help cut £200 from energy bills by offering suppliers government-backed loans that could be repaid over several years.