Image source, Admiral

Henry Engelhardt used to be relied upon for some humour when insurer Admiral delivered its results. Alas, he has been replaced by David Stevens as chief executive, who gets to report a modest 4% rise in pre-tax profit to £193.3m for the Cardiff-based FTSE 100 company.

Admiral says that prices have risen for UK car insurance and that the market is increasingly "rational" with less volatility.

There's also good news for investors - the interim dividend is up 23% to 62.9p a share - and staff too. More than 8,400 workers are eligible to receive £1,800 of shares through Admiral's employee share scheme based on the results for the six months to 30 June.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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Demand for farmland has dropped sharply this year, reflecting the post-Brexit uncertainty, according to the surveyors' body RICS. Meanwhile, prices for "greenfield" residential sites are down by 4% nationally, according to estate agents Knight Frank - but have sunk by 9% in prime central London.

Grainne Gilmore, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, says the fall in the capital is partly a slowdown following some very big rises in recent years.

She points out that prices for brownfield sites in regional cities have risen by 9%.

It's a "very multi-speed market - and prices in outer London boroughs are still rising sharply", Ms Gilmore says.

While the economic outlook remains unclear, there is strong demand for property in the UK amid a loack of supply and ultra-low mortgage rates. “Sales are still going through – but there is uncertainty,” she adds.

BBC Radio 5 Live

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It's often a difficult - and expensive - decision to move a relative into a care home. Research by nursing and care employment agency, Prestige, suggests residential care home fees have risen by about £1,500, or 5.2%, over the past year.

The figures are drawn from 165 care homes, where the average cost is almost £31,000 a year. 

Nadra Ahmed, chair of the National Care Association, which represents small and medium-sized care providers, is on Wake Up To Money and explains why prices are rising.   

"The expenditure of actually running a good quality services has gone up and part of that equation is a 7% hike in the national living wage. We already have the national minimum wage which still remains so we have that,  auto- enrollment has come in and we have got all the ... other complex issues," she says.

"We;re looking after people with quite complex medical needs now who used to be looked after by the NHS and, of course, because the NHS is in a position now where they themselves are struggling a lot of the support that the individual was getting  ... like a nursing bed or hoists or anything like that is no longer supplied by the NHS, so the provider themselves has to buy these quite expensive pieces of equipment in order to make sure that they support the individual in the right way." 

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Accountants or advisers who help people bend the rules to gain a tax advantage never intended will face tougher fines of up to 100% of the tax that was avoided under new penalties proposed by the Treasury.

Richard Murphy, a chartered accountant and academic at City University, says the true level of tax avoidance in the UK could be as high as £10bn a year. 

He tells Today that “every honest accountant will be jumping for joy this morning” and that the new rules will be an "amazing deterrent". For that reason he doesn't expect there to be too many prosecutions.

As we don’t yet know the detail, Mr Murphy expects the initial impact will be very small as it is altering the balance of risk that changes.  

Steven Bell, chief economist at BMO Global Asset Management, agrees that if it tilts the advantage away from accountants it’s a good thing. 

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On Wake Up To Money Steven Bell, chief economist at BMO Global Asset Management turns his attention to the average earnings figures which are also out today. Does he expect they'll show a rise in wages?

"I don't think we have had a decent pay rise for years, but what we have had is a fall in inflation, so what's happened is the real improvement has been because inflation's come down and inflation's come down because commodity prices tumbled.

"With such low unemployment we should be seeing increasing wages and all these things about flexible working and zero hours and stuff should be beginning to fall away as workers ... should be able to say I want a pay rise and I don't want that zero hours thing, I want to work for someone who'll give me a proper job that I prefer and we're not really seeing that.

"It's just a question of how strong the economy has to be to get that wage inflation. That was the situation before the Brexit vote, now suddenly it's all a bit wobbly, so we may get a rise in wages today, I think we will, but after that it may end up leveling off again."

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Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific said first-half net profit fell sharply amid weak economic growth, currency weakness in some markets and falling demand for premium seats on long-haul routes. 

Net profit for the six months to 30 June fell to HK$353m ($45.5m, £34.9m) from HK$1.97bn for the same period last year, the airline said.

Broker BOCOM International says that Cathay is facing challenges from delivery delays, foreign exchange losses from hedging, a rise in oil prices and increased airport fees. 

Cathay's profit surged more than 90% last year as low oil prices helped cut fuel costs and a higher contribution from its affiliate, Air China, boosted the bottom line.   

BBC Radio 5 Live

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Today's unemployment figures cover the three months from April to June, and forecasters are expecting a slight increase in the jobless total - from 4.9% to about 5%. Average earnings are predicted to pick up slightly, and the claimant count number - which relates to July - will be scrutinised for any post-Brexit impact.

Steven Bell, chief economist at BMO Global Asset Management, is on Wake Up To Money. 

He points out that most of the figures out today are pre-Brexit, with the claimant count for unemployment the exception.

"It's too soon really for this to rise, but it's been falling, falling, falling for years so less and less unemployment, it's been a great success. And post-Brexit I'm expecting a big rise in this number one month," Mr Bell says. 

"It probably isn't today but if we do get an increase, over a period, of 150,000 to 200,000 that will change the mood music, I think, and all  those people who said these economists forecasting doom and gloom and airily dismissed them may have to rethink, that actually we got it right. And that's what I expect to happen. Will it happen today? Maybe not." 

Welcome to another day on Business Live - and it promises to be a busy one. 

Yesterday we had inflation numbers for July and this morning we'll get the latest unemployment and wage growth data.

The figures cover April to June, and forecasters are expecting a slight increase in the jobless total to around 5%. Average earnings are predicted to pick up slightly, and the claimant count number - which relates to July - will be scrutinised for any post-Brexit impact.

But of course predictions can always be wrong, so we'll bring you all the latest on that and the other financial news when we get it.

Do stick with us if you can.