BUSINESS LIVE: Heathrow eyes 81.4m in traffic; Ofgem could up price cap; Naked Wines losses widen

Ofgem is plotting a hike in the energy price cap from April next year in order to help suppliers recover nearly £3billion in debts from customers who cannot pay their bills.

The energy watchdog said it wants energy companies to use the extra funding to maintain struggling customers and write off bad debts.

It is proposing a one-off price cap adjustment of £16, equivalent to around £1.33 a month, to be paid between April 2024 and March 2025.

Customers on pre-payment meters will not be affected.

Disgraced ex-BP boss Bernard Looney said he is ‘proud’ of his leadership of the oil company despite the board finding him guilty of serious misconduct.

In his first statement since his shock exit in September, he said he was ‘disappointed with the way the situation has been handled’.

Heathrow expects to handle 81.4 million passengers in 2024, up from 79.1 million this year, with Britain’s busiest airport encouraged by a strong recovery in travel demand.

The group said: ‘The strong recovery in traffic at Heathrow continued in the first eleven months of 2023, with a total of 72.5 million passengers travelling through the airport.

‘We saw a significant enhance in connectivity across various regions, highlighting an impressive recovery, with Heathrow named the most connected airport in the world by OAG. We remain Europe’s busiest airport, and in October became the 4th busiest airport globally. ‘

Rio Tinto has been dragged into a high-stakes trial pitting the billionaire descendants of Australia’s mining pioneers against each other.

Lawyers for the Anglo-Australian firm have been in the state’s Supreme Court seeking to fend off claims over billions of dollars in iron ore royalties that flowed from discoveries made as far back as the 1950s and 1960s.