Wednesday 30 May 2018

Managers of companies which bombard the public with nuisance
calls could be fined up to £500,000 under new government plans. It
is estimated that consumers received 3.9bn nuisance phone calls and
texts last year but currently only the companies, rather than
individuals, are liable for penalties. Margot James, minister for
Digital and the Creative Industries, said: “Nuisance calls are a
blight on society and we are determined to stamp them out.”

Dixons Carphone issued a surprise profits warning
yesterday. Blaming its problems on former management and the
market, the retailer now forecasts a pre-tax profit of £382m in the
year to April, down from £510m the year before. It forecasts that
profits would fall further to £300m in the year to April 2019,
significantly below the City’s expectations of £387m. The Times
says new boss Alex Baldock has “hit a snag”.

Sir Martin Sorrell will return to the London stock market
just six weeks after his abrupt departure from WPP Group. Sir
Martin will take charge at Derriston Capital, a listed cash shell,
and use it as a vehicle to build a “next-generation” marketing
services group, reports Sky News. He is understood to be injecting
£40m of his own money into the new venture.

The government says that Roman Abramovich will be
permitted to visit the UK for up to six months as an Israeli
citizen, but he will not be able to work without a visa. Downing
Street said the Russian billionaire “can come as a visitor for six
months but will need a visa to live, work or study in the UK”.
Abramovich obtained Israeli citizenship after his application for a
new UK visa was delayed by new checks.

Pret a Manger’s 12,000 employees will be given a £1,000
payout as the sandwich chain is sold to a family of secretive
German billionaires for £1.5bn. Commenting on the bonus, chief
executive Clive Schlee, said: “It’s serendipity for those who have
just joined.” But the sale will mark an even bigger payday
for Bridgepoint, which bought the chain for £364m in
2008. 

We must never forget that we are only ever a few short steps
away from the very serious risk of losing the irreplaceable asset
of trust. There are no justifications, except for emotions, for
what we’re seeing today on the markets.” Ignazio Visco,
governor of the Bank of Italy, as Italian two-year bonds suffered
their biggest sell-off in almost three decades.

FTSE 100: down -1.26 to 7,632.64
Dow Jones: down -1.58 to 24,361.45
Dax: down -1.53 to 12,666.51
Cac 40: down -1.29 to 5,438.06
Nikkei: down -1.57 to 22,008.00
Hang Seng: down -1.62 to 29,991.91
US dollar: buys €0.8666 and £0.7546
Sterling: buys $1.3252 and €1.1485
Oil: $75.11 down -0.28