Summary

  • Sony unveils new powerful version of PS4

  • Apple launches new iPhone 7

  • Pound ends six-day winning streak against dollar

  • BoE Governor Mark Carney 'serene' about Brexit warnings

  • Mike Ashley says he will go if he can't sort things out at Sports Direct

  • Sports Direct chairman Keith Hellawell says he will step down next year if he loses support

  1. Sports Direct board 'not fit for purpose'published at 08:26 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

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  2. Australia's economy has 25 years without recessionpublished at 08:21 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Workers viewing a large modern open-cut and shaft mine system in the upper Hunter ValleyImage source, Getty Images

    Australia's resource-rich economy expanded at its fastest annual pace in four years last quarter, with 25 years without recession, as exports made up for a patchy performance at home.

    Gross domestic product rose 3.3% in the year to June, up from around 2.9% the previous quarter.

  3. Calls for 'fundamental change' at Sports Directpublished at 08:18 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    Ashley Hamilton-Claxton, corporate governance manager at Royal London Asset Management, which owns shares in Sports Direct, said on the Today programme: "We need fundamental change at the top and that starts with the chairman."

    Sports Direct has said in a statement to the stock exchange that its chairman Keith Hellawell is to stay on at the company despite calls for his resignation.

    Ms Hamilton-Claxton said Mr Hellawell had "not shown sufficient leadership" and making "minor changes" to its employment practices was not enough. 

  4. Will Sports Direct go private?published at 08:12 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

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    Despite the scrutiny currently facing Sports Direct, Radio 5 Wake Up to Money presenter Adam Parsons says founder and 55% shareholder Mike Ashley plans to keep the company publicly listed on the stock exchange. 

  5. Sports Direct says chairman Keith Hellawell will stay onpublished at 08:08 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Sports Direct chairman Keith Hellawell will stay on at the company, the retailer has said in a statement to the stock exchange, external.

    The firm said Mr Hellawell had offered to step down over the weekend ahead of the publication of Tuesday's report by the chain's lawyers which found "serious shortcomings" in working practices, but the firm says "he will stay in his role in order to assist with making further improvements".

    "Further to the Working Practices Report published by the Company yesterday, the Company announces that Dr Keith Hellawell QPM has been asked by the Board, which includes the Company's majority shareholder, Mike Ashley, to continue in his role as Chairman," it said. 

  6. Tech start-ups 'cynical' in extracting cash from investorspublished at 08:00 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    People work at computersImage source, Getty Images

    Tech start-ups have an image of being young, trendy, and running on little more than air and a vision for the future.

    But Dan Lyons, formerly of Newsweek, who took a job in a tech start-up, said he had a "revelation" that many of these firms are really just vehicles for extracting cash from investors.

    "It is very cynical... I met people... who were VCs or people who were founders, who were... from the point of view of like: 'We don't really care if the product is any good, we really don't care if this thing sustains long-term, but yeah, if you can pull this off the right way...' One guy referred to it as 'making a movie'... There's an entire ecosystem of companies now that have never made a dime of profit, but have enriched individuals massively."

    But Ophelia Brown of venture capital firm Local Globe says: "Venture has made outsize returns, and you know that the success rate is small, but you have to take lots of calculated [risks]."

  7. How much are you saving?published at 07:50 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    Are you saving enough for your retirement? 

    Scottish Widows research suggests 56% of the nation are saving adequately, putting 12% of their salary into their pension each month. 

    However, those in their 30s and 40s have the lowest adequate savings levels at 53%. 

    Robert Cochran, retirement expert at Scottish Widows, says people will simply end up working longer and "easing themselves into retirement" by doing consulting work after they have finished their main job. 

    "The fastest growth for self employed people will be pensioners," he says. 

  8. Brexit 'phony war'published at 07:40 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    After June's Brexit vote, we are at a stage of a "phony war", Anne Richards of M&G Investments told Wake Up to Money.

    "Nothing has yet changed other than this big move in the currency, in terms of the way people do their business, and the way businesses do their business day-to-day, and of course we won't see what that change is going to be until we actually leave the [European] Union."

    "We're in this phony war stage. The longer it gets pushed out, the longer it will be before people actually feel the impact in running a business, and in their day-to-day lives, and... that's when we'll start to see the real challenges bite."

  9. Hargreaves Lansdown battles through 'low investor confidence'published at 07:30 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown has reported a 10% jump in profits to £218.9m and said "asset gathering has continued despite periods of low investor confidence during the year" to 30 June.

    "Investors have been concerned by weaker financial markets, geo-political uncertainty, economic weakness and, in the latter stages of the reporting period, the debate surrounding the referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union," said chairman Mike Evans.

    "Notwithstanding this, we have delivered net new business inflows in line with last year, underpinned by impressive numbers of net new clients. As a result, our assets under administration finished the year at another record level."

    The firm also announced that chief executive Ian Gorham has decided to step down no later than 30 September 2017.

  10. Housebuilder Barratt 'monitoring market conditions'published at 07:17 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    New houses built by Barratt HomesImage source, Getty Images

    Barratt Developments has reported strong annual profit before tax, up 20.7% at £682.3m.

    "Barratt starts the new financial year in a good position with a strong balance sheet, good forward sales and an experienced management team.

    "Whilst we continue to monitor market conditions closely, current trading trends are positive, and I remain confident in the fundamentals of the housing sector and of our business," said chief executive David Thomas.

    The results covered the year to 30 June.

    Shares in housebuilders took a big hit after the Brexit vote due to an anticipated slowdown in the housing market.

  11. Sports Direct chairman resignation turned downpublished at 07:10 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

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  12. Monsanto deal an 'important test case'published at 06:59 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Today Programme
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    Bayer logoImage source, Getty Images

    Germany's Bayer is continuing to pursue Monsanto, recently raising its offer to $65bn (£49bn), or $127.50 a share, in a bid to create a global seeds and pesticides giant.

    Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, says the deal is "an important test case of whether or not corporate governance meets political governance."

    "This is a battle between a vision of a food system based on agri-life sciences or ecological integration, a more benign way of getting our food," he says. 

  13. Japan shares lowerpublished at 06:46 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Tokyo stock exchangeImage source, Getty Images

    Japanese shares have lost territory, slipping from yesterday's three-month high. 

    The Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% while in China, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was also slightly down, losing 0.2%. The mainland benchmark Shanghai Composite was higher by 0.4%. 

    In Australia, the ASX 200 was 0.2% up while the Kospi in South Korea traded flat. 

  14. 'Firms need to focus on behaviour'published at 06:38 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    Sports DirectImage source, PA

    Ahead of Sport Direct's annual general meeting today, by pure coincidence the Institute of Directors has published its annual review of corporate governance. 

    IoD board member Chris Walton, who helped oversee the review, says there is nothing "terribly wrong" with a public company having a dominant shareholder, such as Mike Ashley's position at Sports Direct.

    "The key is how the board and that dominant shareholder work together and that's where governance comes in.

    "Many FTSE companies purely just tick the box. They take the UK corporate governance code, go through section by section and say 'we are compliant'."

    He says firms need to focus less on process and structure and more on ethical behaviour.  

  15. From Higgs to the Citypublished at 06:29 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    A model of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) tunnel is seen in the CERNImage source, Getty Images

    Anne Richards, chief executive of M&G Investments, used to work at nuclear research facility Cern. She says one thing she learnt there was: "There are no problems that can't be solved if you worry away at them for long enough."

    "It took them more than 30 years to find the Higgs Boson, but they got there in the end."

    She adds: "The only laws in life that are truly immutable are the laws of physics, and everything else is a matter of negotiation or interpretation."

  16. Do shareholders care about corporate governance?published at 06:17 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    Sports Direct has been facing calls for an independent review of its corporate governance. Laura Lambie from Investec says corporate governance is "really at the heart of most of the shares that we look at".

    Nevertheless, she says: "This not the first [firm]... BP, with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill - that was due mainly to an over-dominant culture at the top - that could be the accusation levelled at [Sports Direct's] Mike Ashley. I do think corporate governance is important, but it tends to only matter to investors when share prices fall."

  17. Too many stores?published at 06:11 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    Sports Direct's sales have slowed this year, but this isn't really to do with corporate governance, says Richard Perks of Mintel.

    "Its trading has been weak recently... mainly because it's reached maturity in the UK. It's got so many stores - it's got 473 stores in the UK now, that's an awful lot."

  18. Do customers care how Sports Direct runs itself?published at 06:08 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    Do customers care how Sports Direct runs itself? Richard Perks, director of retail research at Mintel, says "some people do, but... an awful lot don't".

    "[For example] Primark had a lot of bad publicity when it was accused of using child labour, and it continued to put on like-for-like sales growth and gain market share throughout that period of criticism... The majority of people shop on the basis of what they find in the store, they're looking for... value for money."

  19. Good morningpublished at 06:00 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    It's Sports Direct's annual general meeting today. The sportswear retail chain, which is majority-owned by Mike Ashley, has been criticised over the company's working practices and corporate governance. Some big institutional investors in Sports Direct are getting increasingly concerned about the way the company is being run.

    Coming up we have results from construction firm Barratt Developments and investment company Hargreaves Lansdown.

    And think tank the Resolution Foundation has said the government should not limit increases to the national living wage.