BUSINESS EXTRA Changing tastes

THE UK’s Competitions and Market Authority expressed concerns regarding Asda’s £600 million (€683.9 million) deal to take over 132 Co ­ op petrol forecourts, Warned that the deal could mean higher prices or less choice for consumers, Asda was given five working days to address the regulator’s doubts.

Iberdrola posts

THE board of Spain’s energy multinational Iberdrola is set to re ­ elect Juan Ignacio Sanchez Galan as its chairman until at least 2027, when he will be 76, while ratifying Armando Martinez as CEO. Both appointments will be formalised at the shareholder’ meeting in Bilbao on April 28.

NHS info

DOCTORS will sue the UK government over plans that could hand the medical records of millions of NHS patients to Denver­based Palantir, which makes FBI and CIA surveillance software. The £480 million (€447 million) privatelyrun database would include all health information held by the NHS.

More employees

THIRTY PER CENT of Spanish companies plan staff increases during 2023’s second quarter, a further 20 per cent foresee reductions but others expect to remain the same.

Businesses located in Andalucia, Extremadura and Canaries were the most optimistic, with 22 per cent taking on more employees.

Read it up

BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING, buoyed by demand for fantasy novels and academic digital resources, expected full­year profits comfortably exceeding forecasts. The group envisaged a pre ­ tax profit of around £30 million (€34.2) for the year ending on February 28, instead of the forecast £26.9 million (€30.6). .