Business Live: US shares down

Summary

Yahoo sells core business to Verizon for almost $5bn
FTSE 100 closes 0.3% lower
Sir Philip Green threatens to sue Frank Field
Scathing critique of Sir Philip Green in 66-page report by MPs
Renewed calls for Green's knighthood to be stripped
MPs urge Green to fill £571m hole in BHS pension fund

Live Reporting

Ben Morris

Hats offpublished at 08:53
Financial Times editor Lionel Barber tweets:
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Out of fashion?published at 08:46
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Independent retail analyst Nick Bubb gives his view on BHS:
Quote Message
The estimable Parliamentary Select Committee looks to have been quite right to say that Philip Green squeezed a lot of money out of BHS and then left it in a big mess…begging the question of just how much of a mess his master company Arcadia is now in, after yet another very difficult season for fashion retailers."
Black hole widenspublished at 08:39
BBC Radio 5 Live
More from Labour MP Iain Wright, who says that while the report puts the BHS pension deficit at £571m, "probably now it's roundabout closer to six or seven hundred million".
"Symbols are important," Mr Wright adds, piling in to the retail tycoon.
"He's just taken ownership of his third yacht."
'Worse than Maxwell'published at 08:34
BBC assistant political editor Normal Smith tweets:
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'Empty words'published at 08:26 British Summer Time 25 July 2016
BBC Radio 5 Live
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Labour MP Iain Wright, one of the committee members behind the BHS report, accuses Sir Philip Green of not keeping to the promises he made when he gave evidence to MPs a few weeks ago.
"He promised to look at redeploying many of the people who currently work in BHS in some of his Arcadia companies - Topshop and what have you. That hasn't happened.
"He said that he would sort the pension deficit out. That hasn't happened. These are just empty words."
Face offpublished at 08:20 British Summer Time 25 July 2016
The term "the unacceptable face of capitalism", which the MPs' report uses to describe Sir Philip Green, is not an original thought. It was coined by former Conservative prime minister Edward Heath in 1973 during a Commons statement on the so-called "Lonrho" affair, in which it was alleged that sanctions against Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) were flouted, although the claims were never proved.
However, one of Mr Heath's aides was later reported to have said privately that the then PM had misread the Commons brief, which had used the word "facet" and not "face". That could well have reduced the impact of the phrase somewhat.
Right and wrongpublished at 08:14 British Summer Time 25 July 2016
Justin Urquart-Stewart, partner and co-founder of Seven Investment Management, tweets:
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Remember when...published at 08:11
Andy Cowper, editor of Health Policy Insight, tweets:
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'Contagious problem' for British businesspublished at 08:05 British Summer Time 25 July 2016
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Sir Roger Carr, chairman of BAE Systems and a former CBI president, says Sir Philip Green's ownership of BHS has created a “contagious problem” for British business, with the scandal surrounding the collapsed retailer badly staining its reputation.
“When one individual seems greedy and irresponsible, that washes across the whole of business and damages the voice of business,” Sir Roger writes in The Times, external.
Business must be about “fairly rewarding the enterprise of the many rather than feeding the greed of the few”, he adds. “Better boardroom behaviour by all is mandatory if we are to regain trust and avoid intrusive legislation and excessive regulation.”
'Retribution and justice'published at 07:56 British Summer Time 25 July 2016
BBC assistant political editor tweets the thoughts of Labour MP, who chairs the Work and Pensions select committee:
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'Hands in the till'published at 07:51 British Summer Time 25 July 2016
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Some more juicy goodness from the MPs' report into the BHS collapse, external - this time on Dominic Chappell, who bought BHS for 31 from Sir Philip Green:
Quote Message
171. Dominic Chappell was out of his depth. He was over-optimistic to the point of arrogance. He failed to recruit a retail expert despite his own lack of experience; failed to secure funding on commercial terms; failed to address BHS’s property leases in a timely way; and failed to address the company’s long-term underperformance. Mr Chappell has referred to the rewards for risk that are the foundations of entrepreneurship, but he was taking no risks. The rewards that he took, on the other hand, were lavish. In putting his ‘home team’ first, he and his fellow directors were personally enriched as BHS failed around them. In effect, he had his hands in the till. His description of £2.6 million that he personally took, in addition to an outstanding £1.5 million family loan, as “a drip in the ocean” is an insult to the employees and pensioners of BHS that he let down."
Fitness and paybacks...published at 07:43
One Business Live reader - Sarah - takes a hard line:
"Sir Philip Green should be made to pay the £571m black hole in the workers' pension scheme AND stripped of his knighthood."
Another reader, who prefers not to be named, adds: "It seems that it is not only his fitness for knighthood that should be considered - but also his fitness for business."
Magic numberpublished at 07:37
Today business presenter Dominic O'Connell tweets:
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Green won't fix it?published at 07:33
5 live presenter Adam Parsons tweets about Sir Philip Green (aka SPG):
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'Held to account'published at 07:29
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4
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Dave Gill from the Usdaw union, which represents shop workers, says the "consequences of the actions of a handful of people" are now being felt by 11,000 workers who will lose their jobs as the remaining BHS stores close.
He says Sir Philip Green promised MPs five week ago that he would sort out the retailer's huge pension fund deficit: "He should be held to account to do what he promised."
That issue was more important to his union's members than whether the retail tycoon retains his knighthood, Mr Gill adds.
Green is a 'Napoleon figure'published at 07:24
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Frank Field, chairman of the Work and Pensions select committee, which jointly produced the report along with the Business committee, says action needs to be taken now that the document has been released.
"Sir Philip is the Napoleon figure that orchestrated this. His family has been made rich beyond the dreams of avarice. Parliament now needs to think..fine doing those reports, but we musn't just leave things there. We need to take this on so that people who behave as badly as Sir Philip has know that they are not necessarily gonna get away with it."
Pensions a 'secondary issue'published at 07:18
BBC Radio 5 Live
BHS pension trustee chairman Chris Martin tells 5 live that the pensions debacle was a "significant contributor" to the collapse of the company, but adds that it was also a "failing retailer".
The pension scheme was "underfunded for many years" and that during the time that the retailer was struggling, pensions were a "secondary issue".
'Manifold weakness'published at 07:14
Telegraph retail correspondent Ashley Armstrong tweets:
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'Sir Shifty'published at 07:08 British Summer Time 25 July 2016
The Daily Mail has a particularly memorable epithet for the erstwhile BHS boss.
Green 'aware' of pension deficitpublished at 06:55
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In another passage from the report, external, the committee dismisses the notion that Sir Philip may not have noticed the draining of BHS' pension schemes:
Quote Message
We reject any assertion that Sir Philip was not aware of the growth of the deficit: he had a responsibility to be aware and he was aware. That there is a massive deficit is ultimately Sir Philip Green’s responsibility. When Sir Philip Green bought BHS, the pension schemes for which he became responsible were in surplus. As these schemes declined into substantial and unsustainable deficit he and his directors repeatedly resisted requests from trustees for higher contributions. Such contributions were not charitable donations: they were the means of the employer meeting its obligations for deferred pay."