Tuesday 12 June 2018

Poundworld’s founder could return to save the
seemingly doomed bargain chain. Christopher Edwards, who sold the
business in 2015, said he is considering buying back some of its
stores after it fell into administration on Monday. He believes the
company could be saved with fresh management. During a testing
period for retail, Poundworld has struggled with weak consumer
confidence, soaring overheads and the growth of online
shopping.

The British economy is showing the greatest
signs of stress since 2012, reports The Guardian. Recruitment firm
ManpowerGroup found a net balance of only 4% of major employers are
planning to hire more staff rather than cutting back. Meanwhile,
Britain’s factories unexpectedly recorded the sharpest fall in
output for more than five years in April.

Jaguar Land Rover will move production of its
Discovery from the UK to Slovakia. In a move that could lead to job
losses, Britain’s biggest carmaker will transfer production early
next year. Last month, the firm revealed that fourth-quarter
pre-tax profit halved to £364m on revenues of £7.6bn as demand for
diesel vehicles slumped. It pointed the finger of blame at
uncertainty over Brexit and vehicle taxation.

National Savings and Investments has reduced
the limit that people can deposit in its most popular accounts from
£1 million to £10,000. The Treasury-backed savings bank cut the
maximum investment allowed into its popular one-year and three-year
guaranteed growth and guaranteed income bonds. It feared that it
would overshoot the finance limit imposed by the chancellor, Philip
Hammond.

Ryanair’s cabin crew are to be represented by
a union for the first time after Unite signed an agreement with the
airline. The deal will cover about 650 staff working from Ryanair’s
UK bases, with the union representing them in any talks on pay,
hours and holidays. Unite general secretary, Len McCluskey, said it
was a “historic agreement and a significant step by
Ryanair”. 

“The Bank’s optimism that a pick-up in growth in the second
quarter will justify higher borrowing costs is based so far purely
on survey evidence. This is the first hard data for the second
quarter – and it is not good.” Larry Elliott of The Guardian
says a slump in manufacturing may stop the Bank of England raising
interest rates in August. 

FTSE 100: up +0.73 to 7,737.43
Dow Jones: up +0.02 to 25,322.31
Dax: up +0.60 to 12,842.91
Cac 40: up +0.43 to 5,473.91
Nikkei: up +0.42 to 22,899.99
Hang Seng: up +0.47 to 31,208.99
US dollar: buys €0.8496 and £0.7481
Sterling: buys $1.3364 and €1.1354
Oil: $76.56 up +0.13