A recent surge in mortgage rates has led to fewer applications for buy-to-let products, Paragon said in a trading update this morning. The price moves haven’t led to materially higher arrears though.

Here’s the key business news from London this morning:

In The City

Paragon Banking Group Plc: The lender saw fewer applications for buy-to-let mortgages last quarter amid interest rate and swap volatility.

• That said, Paragon has seen limited increases in arrears and confirmed its full-year targets for lending and profitability

Unilever Plc: The company reported sales that beat analysts’ estimates, driven by higher prices for products like Dove soap and Knorr stock cubes.

• Sales advanced 7.9% on an underlying basis in the second quarter. Unilever also raised its full-year forecast, predicting revenue growth of more than 5% this year. The guidance may be conservative, as analysts are forecasting 6.1%
• Investors are scrutinizing the first set of results under Chief Executive Hein Schumacher for hints of his strategy to revive Unilever’s sluggish performance

888 Holdings Plc: The William Hill owner named gaming industry veteran Per Widerström as its new chief executive officer.

• Widerström last ran online betting firm Fortuna Entertainment Group
• 888 shares plunged earlier this month, when the firm said it ended talks about management positions with shareholder FS Gaming Investments and noted the GB Gambling Commission has decided to start a review of the company’s operating licences

In Westminster

The government will force social media platforms and services like Alphabet Inc.’s Google Ads to stop scam advertisements, including fake celebrity endorsements, and take tougher action to prevent children from age-restricted ads for drinking and gambling.

London’s highest earners have reaped the biggest pay raises since the start of the pandemic, widening the gap between the richest and poorest people in the UK for the first time in two decades, an influential research group found.

In Case You Missed It

The strikes by Hollywood writers and actors are an opportunity for London, says Bloomberg Opinion’s Howard Chua-Eoan. The UK's many skilled film artisans may think about initiating independent productions to sell to soon-to-be content-starved US studios. That kind of self-starting may help break British dependence on Hollywood financing and revive an industry that once rivalled America's.

Meanwhile, British nonprofit Christian Aid announced that it will no longer bank with Barclays Plc due to the bank’s funding of oil and gas projects. Banks are coming under scrutiny for their funding of coal, oil and gas as concerns about climate change grow.

Looking Ahead

Tomorrow’s batch of FTSE blue-chips reporting results includes Britain’s top mortgage lender Lloyds Banking Group Plc, consumer products firm Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc, Lucky Strike maker British American Tobacco Plc and GSK Plc.

Some analysts expect the pharmaceutical giant to raise its full-year guidance tomorrow. However, the challenges facing Emma Walmsley in her seventh year as chief executive officer “go well beyond the 2023 numbers,” writes Bloomberg Opinion’s Chris Hughes.

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