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German energy company E.on has reported a record loss of 16 billion euros (£14bn) but said it had made a "clean break" and the 2016 results were the last to reflect the "burdens of the past".

The key "burdens" it had to pay for were spinning off its fossil fuels energy division Uniper into a separate company and an agreement with the German government to fund the phase-out of nuclear energy. 

"Both items left deep marks on the company’s balance sheet but also paved E.on’s way into the new energy world," said the company in a statement.

However, it added: "This clean break clears the way for the company’s healthy core operating businesses — energy networks, customer solutions, and renewables — to grow in the future.  

"Being freed from past burdens leads to net loss of roughly €16 billion but also lays foundation for future growth."

Image source, Reuters

The government has further reduced its stake, external in Lloyds Banking Group, putting the lender on track to be back in private ownership within the next few months. 

The UK taxpayer now holds less than 3% in the bank - down from 43% at the height of the financial crisis.  

UK Financial Investments Limited (UKFI), which manages the government's stake, resumed share sales in October, having halted them for almost a year due to market turbulence. 

BBC Radio 5 live

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Two million of us took a cruise last year, according to new figures, with the average passenger age now down to just over 55. 

Giles Hawke, the boss of Cosmos Tours and Cruises, was on Wake up to Money.   

He said more people have been attracted to cruising by the introduction of a lot of new ships and on-board features.

The cliche of cruise clients as being "over fed, newly wed and nearly dead" doesn't apply any more, he added. 

There are now ships to suit every age and taste, from ships cruising the Caribbean with 6,000 passengers on board to river cruises for 160 people. 

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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Fashion retailer French Connection announced its fifth straight year of losses earlier this week. 

One of its shareholders, hedge fund Gatemore Capital, says the board now either needs to "clean up corporate governance or sell the business in a transparent way".

Liad Meidar, managing partner at Gatemore, tells Today that the retailer's board has "almost no independence" and has "arguably overseen massive destruction in value". He also wants founder Stephen Marks - who owns 42% - to give up the dual role of chairman and chief executive.

Mr Meidar does admit that if the business was doing well, shareholders "wouldn't be complaining, but it's not". The new directors coming in need to be more independent, he adds. 

French Connection says it's aware of Gatemore's comments, but doesn't discuss individual shareholders' views in the media.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, AFP

Before Charlotte Hogg resigned as a deputy governor of the Bank of England, there was a "whiff of complacency" about her breaking the Bank's code of conduct, says Philip Augar, a former banker and City historian.

There are also "serious questions about how the Bank handled this" - both the "arcane" Court that holds the Bank to account and the governor himself.

The Court is somewhat similar to a company's board, made up of "the great and the good of the financial services industry". A key difference, though, is that it doesn't have the power to appoint or fire the governor.

"In the case of the Bank, the lines of accountability aren't always very clear," Mr Augar says.

BBC World Service

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A rare glimpse into Donald Trump's private finances has emerged with the leak of part of his 2005 tax return. Two summary pages were shown on the American TV network, MSNBC; a journalist interviewed there said he'd received the documents in the post, from an anonymous source. 

The White House said the President had paid $38m (£31m) in taxes on an income of more than $150m. It added that Mr Trump had a responsibility to his company and his family to pay no more tax than legally required - and it accused MSNBC of breaking the law by publishing the documents. 

For decades, presidential candidates have routinely released their tax returns, but Donald Trump refused to do so, saying they were under audit by the tax authorities.

Image source, AFP

Asian shares were trading lower on Wednesday, with investors holding their breath before that Fed decision on US interest rates later in the day. 

While traders are confident the US central bank raise rates, they are most interested in what its plans are for future hikes, with FED chief Janet Yellen's comments the main focus. 

Japan's Nikkei 225 was lower by 0.2% while Hong Kong and Shanghai were both marginally down at lunch time. 

South Korea's Kospi was also down by 0.2% with only Australia's ASX 200 beating the trend, finishing up by 0.3%. 

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The owner of fast fashion chain Zara has results out, external , and they're pretty good again. 

Net sales at Inditex jumped 12% last year to 23.3bn euros (£20bn), helped by new store openings in 56 markets and online growth.

The fastest growing sector of the business, though, was the chain's homeware department, Zara Home. Sales there grew 15% to 168m euros in 2016.

Image source, AFP

Hong Kong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific has reported its first annual loss since the global financial crisis.

The airline is struggling with overcapacity and increasing competition from Chinese carriers.

The net loss of HK$575m ($74m; £60.1m) for 2016 was down from a HK$6bn profit the previous year. It is only the third time the company has posted a full-year loss since it was founded in 1946. 

Shares fell by 6% on Wednesday.  

The airline warned that 2017 would be similarly "challenging". In January, the carrier announced a major restructuring programme which would see jobs axed, although it remains unclear how many roles will be affected.

BBC Radio 5 live

The newly-appointed deputy governor of the Bank of England, Charlotte Hogg, resigned after failing to disclose her brother worked at Barclays. 

Jonathan Portes, professor of economics at King's College London was on Wake up to Money. 

He said Ms Hogg wrote the code of conduct about disclosing conflicts of interest and she broke it so she had no alternative for her but to resign.

He said that it sends a "positive signal to all of us, little people, big people or in between that we have to follow the rules and there's a consequence to not following them.  

Andreas Illmer
Business reporter in Singapore

Image source, Reuters

Another day, another drop for Toshiba shares. The Tokyo stock exchange on Wednesday put the firm "under supervision" - and that means the stock is now at serious risk of being delisted. 

Shares in the Japanese conglomerate closed the day down by more than 12%.

Yesterday, Toshiba had been given permission to delay reporting its earnings for a second time. In February, Toshiba's  chairman stepped down  and the firm for the first time delayed publishing its results over disagreements with its auditors.  

Last month, the firm announced it expected a 712.5bn yen ($6.3bn; £5bn) writedown because some of its US nuclear assets were worth far less than estimated.  

Image source, Reuters

The US Federal Reserve is in the second day of its meeting on US interest rates, and there's a widespread expectation rates will go up - it'll be just the third increase since the crash of 2008. 

Gervais Williams, managing director at Miton Group, was on Wake up to Money.

He said it was a "near slam dunk" that there would be a rate rise and he reckoned it was likely to be a 025% increase. 

He said that was unlikely to cause much of a reaction on the financial markets because it had been widely expected. However, if the Fed didn't raise rates that would have an impact on the markets.

Mr Williams said then we're likely to see another couple of rises this year, in June and then later in the year. 

Welcome to the midweek Business Live.

It's a busy day for economic announcements. 

At 09:30 we will get the latest UK jobs figures.

But the big focus will inevitably be on the US where the Federal Reserve is expected to say it's raising interest rates for only the third time in a decade. 

So do stay with us if you can.