U.K. police on Thursday arrested King Charles III’s brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, on suspicion of misconduct in public office, with the monarch expressing his “deepest concern” over the latest development.

British police were seen arriving at Andrew’s residence in Sandringham, England, on Thursday morning, according to earlier reports from the BBC and the Daily Telegraph.

Thames Valley Police said in a statement that they had arrested a man, who they did not name, in his 60s from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk. 

“Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office,” Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said in the police statement.

“It is important that we protect the integrity and objectivity of our investigation as we work with our partners to investigate this alleged offence,” he said, adding: “We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time.” 

German luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz Group on Thursday reported a steep drop in full-year profit and warned of challenging times ahead, following a year marred by intense competition from Chinese rivals and global tariff costs.

The automaker posted full-year operating profit of 5.8 billion euros ($6.9 billion) in 2025, reflecting a 57% drop from a year ago. The result was significantly lower than analyst expectations of 6.6 billion euros.

Mercedes-Benz Group said its earnings were shaped by foreign exchange headwinds and competition in China, alongside a reported 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) hit in tariff costs.

“Amid a dynamic market environment, our financial results remained within our guidance, thanks to our sharp focus on efficiency, speed, and flexibility,” Ola Källenius, chairman of the board of management at Mercedes-Benz Group, said in a statement.

Mercedes-Benz Group said it planned further cost cuts in 2026 as well as a flurry of product launches, seeking to hit an 8% to 10% profit margin at its auto division.

Shares of the Munich-listed company fell 5.3% during morning deals.

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British oil giant BP on Tuesday posted fourth-quarter profit in line with expectations and suspended share buybacks, seeking to shore up its balance sheet as lower crude prices take their toll.

The London-listed energy firm reported underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, of $1.54 billion for the final three months of 2025. That matched analyst expectations of $1.54 billion, according to an LSEG-compiled consensus.

BP’s full-year 2025 net profit came in at $7.49 billion, missing analyst expectations of $7.58 billion. That’s down from nearly $9 billion in 2024.

BP said the board decided to suspend the share buyback and fully allocate excess cash “to accelerate strengthening” of its balance sheet. The firm’s previous buyback was $750 million and was announced alongside third-quarter results in November.

For the fourth quarter, the company announced a dividend per ordinary share of 8.320 cents.

“2025 was a year of strong underlying financial results, strong operational performance, and meaningful strategic progress,” Carol Howle, BP interim CEO, said in a statement.

“We have made progress against our four primary targets – growing cash flow and returns, reducing costs, and strengthening the balance sheet – but know there is more work to be done, and we are clear on the urgency to deliver,” she added.

Woodside Energy boss Meg O’Neill is scheduled to take the reins at BP on April 1, following Murray Auchincloss’ decision to step down late last year.

Shares of BP fell 5.4% during morning deals, slipping toward the bottom of the pan-European Stoxx 600 index.

Some other earnings highlights included:

• BP’s fourth-quarter net debt came in at $22.18 billion, down from around $23 billion in the same period last year.
• Fourth-quarter operating cash flow came in at $7.6 billion, up from $7.43 billion a year ago.
• BP set its 2026 capital expenditure budget at $13 billion to $13.5 billion, reflecting the lower end of its guidance range.

The results come at a tough time for Europe’s oil and gas sector.

Oil prices notched their biggest annual loss since the Covid-19 pandemic last year, partly due to oversupply concerns, ratcheting up the pressure on Big Oil’s commitment to shareholder returns.

BP’s industry rivals Equinor and Shell both reported weaker quarterly earnings last week, citing lower crude prices, among other factors.

Equinor announced it would reduce share buybacks to $1.5 billion this year, down from $5 billion last year, while also trimming investments in its renewables and low-emission energy projects.

Shell, for its part, kept its buybacks steady at $3.5 billion, a move that marked the firm’s 17th consecutive quarter of $3 billion or more in buybacks.

Shares of automaker Stellantis plunged 27% in European trading on Friday, after the company said it expects to take a 22-billion-euro ($26 billion) hit from a business reset and hinted at a pull-back from its electrification push.

By 12:57 p.m. in Milan, the company’s Italian shares were 27% lower. In premarket trading on Wall Street, the transatlantic firm’s New York-listed stock plummeted 26.5%.

Other French auto stocks also fell Friday morning, with Valeo and Forvia both down more than 1.2% and Renault sliding 2%.

“The charges announced today largely reflect the cost of over-estimating the pace of the energy transition that distanced us from many car buyers’ real-world needs, means and desires,” said Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa in a statement.

“They also reflect the impact of previous poor operational execution, the effects of which are being progressively addressed by our new Team.”

Going forward, Stellantis said it would remain at the forefront of EV development, but said its own electrification journey would continue at “a pace that needs to be governed by demand rather than command.”

Stellantis also pre-released some figures for the fourth quarter on Friday, saying it anticipates a net loss for 2025. In recognition of that net loss, it has suspended its dividend for 2026 and plans to raise up to 5 billion euros by issuing hybrid bonds.

For 2026, the auto giant is targeting a mid-single-digit percentage increase in net revenue and a low-single-digit increase in its adjusted operating income margin.

The company said its dividend pause and bond issuance would help preserve its balance sheet, and outlined the actions it had taken last year as part of its reset strategy.

These included announcing “the largest investment in Stellantis’ U.S. history” — totalling $13 billion over four years — as well as launching 10 new products, canceling products that could not achieve profit at scale, and restructuring its global manufacturing and quality management capabilities.

Under the U.S. investment drive, the transatlantic automaker has said it will add 5,000 jobs to its American workforce.

While these moves had resulted in costs of 22.2 billion euros, the company said they had collectively delivered a return to positive volume growth in 2025.

In the second half of the year, Stellantis’ U.S. market share rose to 7.9%, while the company said it retained its overall second-place market share position in the enlarged Europe.

Stellantis’ writedown follows multibillion-dollar hits at rivals Ford and GM, which recently announced their own hits worth $19.5 billion and $7.1 billion, respectively — both being related to EV pullbacks.

Given the “magnitude of the kitchen sinking” and the soft 2026 guidance, UBS analysts said the negative share-price reaction was expected. They added, however, that new management’s “decisive” clean-up and solid regional market fundamentals leave the stock attractive as a potential U.S. “comeback” play.

Friday’s writedown announcement came alongside news that Stellantis will offload its stake in NextStar Energy, a joint venture with LG Energy Solution that built and operated a Canadian battery manufacturing facility. LG Energy Solution will take over Stellantis’ 49% stake, the firms said on Friday morning.

The joint venture was part of Stellantis’ broader electrification strategy. In 2022, former CEO Carlos Tavares set a goal for 100% of sales in Europe and 50% of sales in the U.S. to be battery electric vehicles by the end of the decade.

The company is set to present an updated long-term strategy at its Capital Markets Day in May.

Stellantis’ stock has been under pressure for some time, with its Italian shares slumping nearly 25% last year and 40.5% the previous year. Shares are currently down more than 13% since the beginning of 2026.

Filosa previously dubbed 2026 the “year of execution” for the embattled automaker, which has been grappling with falling sales, leadership changes and disappointing earnings for several years. In July, the company said it expected to take a tariffs hit of around 1.5 billion euros in 2025, as it reported a first-half net loss of 2.3 billion euros.

Shares of Sweden’s Volvo Cars tumbled as much as 19% on Thursday morning, putting the company on track for its worst trading day ever.

The automaker, which is owned by China’s Geely Holding, posted a substantial drop in fourth-quarter operating profit, citing the impact of U.S. tariffs, negative currency effects and weak demand.

Volvo Cars said fourth-quarter operating income excluding items affecting comparability fell by 68% to 1.8 billion Swedish krona ($200.46 million) compared to the same period a year prior.

“We have a very challenging market, especially in China, very tough competition. All of our European colleagues have the same problem,” Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Thursday.

He added the discontinuation of EV incentives in the U.S. and China were also contributing to “a very challenging external environment.”

“But internally we have had very good work done with lowering our costs and securing a positive cash flow, so that I would highlight as the most important positive things that we have reached during the year,” he added.

Shares of Volvo Cars were last seen down 18.1%, having pared some of its earlier losses. A single-session fall of more than 11.2% would reflect the firm’s worst trading day ever.

The U.S. and EU agreed to a framework trade deal in July last year, one which saw the Trump administration impose a blanket tariff of 15% on most EU goods, a significant reduction from Trump’s threat of 30% and almost halving the tariff rate on Europe’s auto sector from 27.5%.