Mr Mullen’s departure comes as the bank announces a rise in income and profits in its latest accounts

Newcastle challenger bank Atom Bank has announced the departure of its chief executive Mark Mullen. Mr Mullen, who co-founded the bank in Durham ahead of its move to Tyneside this year, has stepped down after a period of speculation around possible takeover bids for the digital-only bank.

Current chief financial officer Andrew Marshall will become interim CEO as Atom starts the search for a permanent successor to Mr Mullen. The announcement came as accounts for Atom for the year ending March 31 showed a growth in net operating income to £99.8m, while profit before taxation increased significantly from £5.1m a year earlier to £9.4m.

In the accounts, Mr Mullen said the company’s performance had been “positive”, though he stressed the need to find a “better balance in the composition of our earnings”.

He added: “We delivered these results despite considerable macroeconomic volatility, maintaining exceptionally low levels of both arrears and forbearance at just 0.9% across the loan portfolio. In the final quarter of the financial year, the impact of the potential economic fallout from the war in Iran played through into higher modelled Expected Credit Losses (ECLs) for the year at £9.4m against £7.1m in FY25.

“In the course of the year, we further expanded and established new deposit platform partnerships. We grew retail deposit balances to more than £8.3bn and launched our first Cash ISA.

“We have invested in our behaviouralisation and price elasticity modelling and continued to leverage our Elvet Securitisation programme. Growing our retail deposit capabilities will remain a key strategic focus. We continue to work toward increasing our maximum aggregate balance, driven by the upcoming launch of our latest savings variants.”

In this morning’s announcement of his decision to step down, Mr Mullen said: “After 12 years as CEO, I have decided to hand over the leadership of Atom. It has been a privilege to build this business and I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together, growing Atom into a leading UK bank that successfully competes with the High Street banks.

“Atom is a fantastic company with a bright future. I wish Andrew and my permanent successor well.”

Atom chair Lee Rochford said: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Mark for his leadership, dedication and significant contributions since he founded the business 12 years ago. Under his leadership, Atom pioneered digital banking in the UK.

“His vision of an online bank devoted to customer service has been adopted across the industry and helped make Atom one of the UK’s most trusted banks for customers. That is a legacy to be proud of.”

Mr Marshall said: “I am pleased to take on the role of Interim CEO and to lead Atom after 10 years with the business. Mark leaves us with a strong foundation and an excellent team, and I look forward to working with the board and leadership team to maintain our momentum.”

Richard Holden has written to transport secretary Heidi Alexander asking for action to be taken on the A303 traffic problems

A senior politician has called for urgent action on the A303 following a fact-finding visit to villages surrounding Stonehenge. Richard Holden, the shadow transport secretary, wrote to his government counterpart, Swindon South MP and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, urging action in the wake of the scrapped £2bn Stonehenge Tunnel project.

Mr Holden visited communities in the Stonehenge area at the invitation of Dr Monica Devendran, the Wiltshire Councillor for Amesbury West.

During his visit, Mr Holden said there was “a clear and consistent concern that the underlying transport problems affecting communities along the A303 corridor have not gone away”.

In his letter, he wrote: “Residents are particularly concerned that, despite the cancellation of the scheme, there appears to have been little consideration given to mitigating the continuing impact of congestion and the increasing volume of diversion traffic through surrounding villages.”

He highlighted a recurring issue of “the routine rerouting of traffic by satellite navigation services through villages such as Shrewton, Berwick St James and other nearby communities whenever congestion or incidents occur on the A303”.

Locals, he said, “described the resulting rat-running as causing severe congestion, speeding, noise, pedestrian safety risks and disruption to local businesses.

“In many cases, these roads are simply not designed to accommodate such volumes of through traffic,” he added. Mr Holden called on the Department for Transport to engage with Google Maps and other mapping services “to reduce unnecessary routing of strategic traffic through unsuitable villages wherever practicable”.

He said: “It is clear that local communities feel current navigation algorithms are exacerbating an already difficult situation, particularly following the cancellation of the improvement scheme.”

He also voiced concern that “no credible alternative has yet been put forward to address congestion, improve resilience along the A303 corridor, or reduce the impact of diversion traffic on neighbouring villages when issues do occur”.

He also called for “secure, sensible and low-cost mitigations, such as screening” to “stop people dangerously slowing down, pulling over, hanging out of windows, or standing up through sunroofs, often with children, to take photographs of Stonehenge”.

The A303 Amesbury-to-Berwick Down highway scheme, which included proposals to divert the arterial route through a tunnel past Stonehenge, was scrapped by the incoming Labour Government in July 2024 as part of a review of unfunded or unaffordable transport commitments.

The Government subsequently brought the project to a formal close when Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander revoked its Development Consent Order, citing “exceptional circumstances”, a substantial change in deliverability, and the scheme’s failure to align with current strategic policy objectives.

At the point the scheme was halted, the estimated cost stood at between £1.4bn and £1.7bn, with £179.2m already spent on planning, design and development by the time the project was abandoned.

In May, a motion put forward to Wiltshire Council by Cllr Devendran was passed by 91 votes to one, compelling council leader Ian Thorn to write to Ms Alexander regarding A303 traffic concerns.

Cllr Thorn said he would “drive to Swindon and talk to her myself” about the issue.

This week, Cllr Devendran told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I will continue pressing the Government, National Highways and relevant stakeholders to ensure local communities are heard and kept informed as this work progresses.

“I thank Richard Holden for visiting Stonehenge, listening directly to residents, and taking the concerns of local communities to the Secretary of State for Transport.”

PERTH, Australia — Shares of Tasmea Ltd. climbed $0.69, or 7.42%, to $9.99, continuing a strong run for the specialist industrial services company as investors respond to its aggressive acquisition strategy positioning the business at the center of Australia’s data center and electrification infrastructure boom.

Tuesday’s gain adds to a period of sustained momentum for Tasmea shares, which have traded within a 52-week range spanning from $3.20 to $10.20, according to figures compiled by Google Finance, reflecting a dramatic run-up for the Perth-area based company over the past year. The stock’s current price sits just shy of its 52-week high, underscoring the strength of investor appetite for the company’s growth story heading into the final months of 2026.

Tasmea, based in Jandakot, Western Australia, provides shutdown, maintenance, emergency breakdown and capital upgrade services across Australia’s mining and resources, oil and gas, power and renewables, defense and infrastructure, and water sectors, operating through Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Workforce Solutions and Water & Fluid business segments. Founded in 1999, the company has grown into one of the largest specialist industrial services providers listed on the ASX, employing roughly 8,000 workers.

Much of the recent investor enthusiasm surrounding Tasmea stems from the company’s ongoing programmatic acquisition strategy, which has significantly expanded its scale and market positioning over the past year. In its most significant recent deal, Tasmea announced a binding agreement to acquire Maxim Group Australia in a transaction valued at up to $254 million, a move the company said would deliver approximately 31% pro forma earnings-per-share accretion in fiscal 2026, excluding synergies, assuming a full 12 months of ownership.

Maxim Group is a market-leading specialist electrical contractor headquartered in Victoria, with established credentials across data centers, major government infrastructure and battery energy storage system markets. According to Tasmea’s official ASX announcement, Maxim has delivered more than 450 projects and employs approximately 600 full-time staff, including a substantial cohort of high-voltage-accredited and rail-inducted specialists, with the company currently active on roughly 30 projects across its core end markets.

Following completion of the Maxim acquisition, Tasmea’s Electrical segment earnings before interest and taxes are expected to reach approximately $100 million, positioning the combined business as one of the largest electrical contractors listed on the ASX. Maxim’s own forecast fiscal 2026 underlying EBIT stands at approximately $47 million, with the business having delivered organic revenue growth of roughly 70% compounded annually between fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2026, supported by an identified project pipeline exceeding $1.3 billion that provides full revenue visibility for fiscal 2027 and roughly 85% visibility for fiscal 2028.

The Maxim deal is being fully funded through Tasmea’s existing banking facilities, with no equity raise required, and is expected to leave the company’s post-deal net leverage at approximately 0.85 times net debt to pro forma fiscal 2026 EBITDA, according to deal documentation reviewed by Quartr. Settlement of the transaction was targeted for around July 1, 2026, subject to customary conditions precedent, including approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Beyond the Maxim acquisition, Tasmea has continued expanding through additional bolt-on deals throughout the year. The company completed its acquisition of JPS Holdings Pty Ltd, issuing 3,011,765 fully paid ordinary shares on Aug. 28 as part of the consideration for that transaction, according to a cleansing notice subsequently filed with the ASX. The JPS acquisition expanded Tasmea’s presence specifically in liquefied natural gas, gas and broader energy infrastructure markets, adding a specialist services platform with established Tier-1 client relationships and technology-enabled isolation service offerings. According to deal summary documentation, the JPS acquisition also positions Tasmea for further international expansion, leveraging JPS’s existing client relationships in the United States and Africa. All five JPS founders and owner-managers have remained with the business under the deal, retaining significant equity stakes alongside a four-year earn-out structure designed to align incentives and ensure continuity through the integration period.

Industry analysts have pointed to the broader structural demand tailwinds driving Tasmea’s acquisition strategy, particularly the company’s growing exposure to data center construction. According to analysis published by EnkiAI, the specialized electrical infrastructure required to support artificial intelligence data centers has shifted from a routine construction component to the central bottleneck constraining new data center development, given that modern AI computing racks now demand between 50 and 100 kilowatts of power, compared with just 5 to 10 kilowatts for previous generations of computing infrastructure. That dynamic has made specialized electrical contractors like Maxim increasingly valuable acquisition targets for industrial services firms such as Tasmea seeking to establish a foothold in the rapidly growing data center construction market without building that specialized technical capability from scratch.

Tasmea previously reported robust financial results for the first half of fiscal 2026, posting a 36% increase in underlying EBIT to $44.3 million and a 32% rise in net profit to $26.6 million, according to Investing.com’s coverage of the results, with revenue growing 31% including acquisitions and 12% on an organic basis, driven by particularly strong performance within the company’s electrical and civil services segments.

Consensus analyst forecasts for Tasmea have continued improving throughout the year. According to Simply Wall St, the company’s fiscal 2026 revenue forecast has climbed from an earlier estimate of $717.3 million to $1.04 billion, while earnings-per-share estimates have risen from $0.289 to $0.295. Net income is forecast to grow 41% next year, outpacing the 26% growth rate projected for the broader Australian construction industry, with the consensus analyst price target rising from $4.73 to $5.05 in earlier tracking, a figure that has since been revised considerably higher given the stock’s continued rally throughout the year.

With Tuesday’s gain extending Tasmea’s remarkable run over the past year, investors will likely continue watching closely for further updates on the Maxim Group acquisition’s integration progress, additional bolt-on deals as part of the company’s broader programmatic growth strategy, and continued signs of demand from Australia’s expanding data center and energy infrastructure construction pipeline heading into the remainder of fiscal 2026 and beyond.

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CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple’s biggest product event in years is set for Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 1 p.m. ET, marking the first major keynote hosted by new CEO John Ternus and widely expected to include the company’s long-rumored first foldable iPhone.

The event, expected to be titled “Surprise and Shine,” will unfold at Apple Park, with CNET reporters on site to cover announcements as they happen. The presentation follows years of speculation about whether and when Apple would enter the foldable smartphone category, a segment Samsung has occupied since 2019 and one Google has more recently entered with its Pixel Fold lineup.

The rumored foldable device, expected to be called the iPhone Ultra, is anticipated to be joined by updated iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models. For the first time in the company’s recent product history, Apple is expected to exclude a base iPhone 18 model from Wednesday’s announcements entirely, reportedly pushing that device, along with a rumored second-generation iPhone Air, to a spring release instead.

Ahead of the event, CNET conducted a consumer sentiment survey examining how much interest, and how much money, U.S. adults are prepared to put toward a foldable iPhone. According to the survey, roughly 1 in 4 U.S. adults, or 25%, expressed interest in a foldable iPhone. However, respondents indicated they were willing to spend an average of just $781 on such a device, a figure that falls well short of the roughly $2,000 price some analysts have projected for the iPhone Ultra. Notably, that $781 average is actually $48 less than the starting price of the base iPhone 17 model, suggesting a significant gap between consumer price expectations and the phone’s likely actual cost, particularly given ongoing RAM shortages and broader rumors of price increases across Apple’s lineup this year.

Some of the clearest hints at the foldable device’s eventual design have come not from Apple itself, but from accessory makers moving quickly to capitalize on public anticipation. Phone accessory company Dbrand has already begun selling skins designed for the rumored iPhone Ultra, alongside skins for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, ahead of any official confirmation from Apple. According to CNET’s review of the products, the iPhone Ultra skins closely track months of leaked design details, featuring a wider form factor similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8.

Analysts have also pointed to last year’s iPhone Air as a possible design precursor for the foldable device. The 5.6-millimeter-thick iPhone Air, while not considered a blockbuster seller on its own, may have served as a proof of concept for the thinner hardware engineering Apple would need to successfully execute a foldable design. Rishi Padhi, a research principal at Gartner, offered his assessment of the Air’s broader significance within Apple’s product strategy.

“The first iPhone Air may eventually be viewed as a transitional step rather than a failed product category,” Padhi said. “It proved that Apple could still make a thinner iPhone.”

Beyond hardware, Wednesday’s event is also expected to showcase Apple’s redesigned Siri assistant, part of the broader iOS 27 update first previewed at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June. CNET writer Katelyn Chedraoui, who has used public betas of the new software ahead of its general release, described a marked improvement over the assistant’s previous shortcomings, noting that even longtime skeptical colleagues found the revamped Siri “immediately improved” during testing. The new version is expected to offer significantly better understanding of natural voice commands and improved general knowledge, drawing on generative AI advances that have reshaped digital assistants industrywide over the past several years.

Other anticipated announcements for Wednesday include updated Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 models, new AirPods, refreshed Mac hardware, and an updated Apple TV 4K streaming device. CNET’s coverage has also floated the possibility of a new camera pro mode within iOS, giving users more granular manual controls similar to features already found on some Android devices, along with speculation about whether Apple might adopt newer silicon-carbon battery technology already used by some Android manufacturers, including OnePlus, Motorola and Samsung, to boost battery capacity without increasing the physical size of its devices.

Pricing remains one of the most closely watched open questions heading into the event. Even setting aside the foldable device specifically, some analysts have suggested that if Apple pursues previously rumored price increases across its standard lineup, the cheapest new iPhone unveiled at Wednesday’s event could carry a starting price around $1,100, a notable jump from prior years’ entry-level pricing for Apple’s Pro-tier devices.

Wednesday’s presentation carries particular symbolic weight as Ternus’s first major public event since formally succeeding Tim Cook as Apple’s chief executive on Sept. 1. Given that all specific product details remain unconfirmed ahead of the keynote, based only on analyst predictions, leaked design mockups and third-party accessory listings rather than official company statements, Wednesday’s presentation is expected to finally resolve months of accumulated speculation, offering the clearest picture yet of how aggressively Apple intends to compete in the foldable smartphone category against established rivals, and what pricing strategy the company plans to pursue across its broader fall lineup heading into the holiday shopping season.

SINGAPORE, September 07, 2026 – Despite the Middle East energy shock, growth of the Thailand’s economy has been better than expected, supported by investment, fiscal spending and technology exports. However, growth remains uneven; technology-linked sectors have expanded strongly while traditional industries, particularly the SME segments, remain weak.

The current wave of FDI- and technology-driven investment offers Thailand a major opportunity to lift its growth potential and accelerate its economic transformation. Realizing this opportunity will require proactive measures to broaden its spillovers to productivity, employment and income across the economy.

This preliminary assessment follows AMRO’s Annual Consultation Visit to Thailand from August 24 to September 4, 2026. The mission was led by Group Head and Lead Economist Allen Ng, with AMRO Director/CEO Yasuto Watanabe and Chief Economist Dong He joining policy meetings with the authorities.

Economic developments and outlook

“Growth is projected at 2.4 percent in both 2026 and 2027, supported by continued private investment, fiscal spending and technology-related exports,” said Ng. “The priority now is to harness the current investment wave to drive broader economic transformation by deepening domestic linkages, boosting productivity, creating jobs, and raising incomes.”

FDI-backed projects, particularly in digital infrastructure and electronics, continued to strengthen the investment cycle in the first half of 2026. The investment pipeline could support medium-term growth, but the benefits have yet to spread widely across domestic firms and workers.

Headline inflation is projected at 1.6 percent in 2026 and 1.3 percent in 2027. Price pressures should remain contained as the energy price increase following the Middle East conflict recedes, although cost pass-through and food prices warrant monitoring.

Risks and vulnerabilities

Risks remain tilted to the downside, as reliance on a narrow set of drivers leaves the outlook vulnerable to external and domestic shocks. A sharp slowdown in global AI and technology-related activity could weaken exports, FDI and investment, while further weakness in household incomes and vulnerable sectors could become self-reinforcing. Energy, trade and weather shocks would pose additional headwinds.

On the upside, stronger external demand and investment activity, alongside wider domestic spillovers could lift growth above the baseline.

Source : Thailand: From Investment-Led Growth to Broad-Based Transformation – ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office – AMRO ASIA