Total production output for the three months to November slipped by 0.8%, compared to the three months between August to October.

There were falls in all four of the UK's main production sectors manufacturing, mining and quarrying, energy supply, and water and waste management, for the first time since October 2012.

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GDP growth in the three months to November slowed compared to the 0.4% increase between August and October.

Rob Kent-Smith, head of national accounts at the ONS said: "Growth in the UK economy continued to slow in the three months to November 2018 after performing more strongly through the middle of the year. Accountancy and housebuilding again grew but a number of other areas were sluggish.

“Manufacturing saw a steep decline, with car production and the often-erratic pharmaceutical industry both performing poorly.”

UK gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.2% in November, according to the Office for National Statistics.

This is above expectations of a 0.1% rise.

However, for the three months to November it grew 0.3%, the lowest in six months.

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CES - a tech trade show where the exhibit hall spans 2.7 million sq ft (250,000 sq m) - can leave attendees either enthralled or burned out.

With more than 160,000 techies, journalists and businesspeople in attendance, there was plenty of chatter on social media.

For those who spent significant time on the show floor, perhaps Ed Zitron, chief executive at EZPR, summed it up best after he was confronted with a light that promised to visualise his body temperature in colour.

"Come see your mood," a sign beckoned.

Read more here

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German carmaker BMW has reported a rise in 1.1% rise in worldwide group sales for 2018 to 2,490,664 vehicles.

Sales of the BMW-branded vehicles in particular rose 1.8% in 2018 to 2,125,026 vehicles, with sales in December rising by 1.3% over the Christmas period.

However, sales for the December trading period for the group fell by 0.7% overall, due to an 11.3% fall in sales of Mini-branded cars.

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Lidl said that sales of its Deluxe Large Broadland Free Range Bronze Turkey were strong as was demand for its luxury mince pies and its brioche burger buns.

Christian Härtnagel, chief executive of Lidl UK, said: "In the context of a tough trading environment facing all grocery retailers, we are particularly pleased with the performance of our Deluxe premium range of products, which registered strong sales increases and proved a major draw for new and existing customers."

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Hitachi said "no formal decision" has been made over the future of a UK nuclear plant following a report it would halt construction.

The Nikkei Asian Review reported the firm's board would be likely to decide to suspend all work on the Wylfa Newydd plant next week.

Shares in the Japanese company jumped 8% after the report.

In December, the firm said it would do its utmost to ensure the nuclear power facility went ahead.

Image source, Digital First Media / Orange County Register

Just to catch you up on some of the business news overnight:

Yesterday, Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley forced the chairman of Debenhams Sir Ian Cheshire and chief executive Sergio Bucher off the retailer's board at the annual shareholders meeting, after the department store chain reported a 5.7% sales fall over Christmas.

And it seems that Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos was forced to reveal his divorce because the National Enquirer was about to publish a story about his relationship with former Fox presenter Lauren Sanchez.

The Enquirer claimed it had been investigating Bezos for four months and tracked him across five states, gaining access to photographs and text messages.

The CNN, external believes the investigation might have been politically motivated.

Also, a regulator has revealed that train companies are dragging their heels over making compensation payouts, external to customers for train delays between April to October 2018.

Image source, Quiz

Shares in Quiz have slumped by 33% to 23.8p after issuing its second profit warning in three months.

Meanwhile, Debenhams' share price is off 1.4% at 4.75p after its chairman and chief executive were both voted off the board by investors including Mike Ashley's Sports Direct.

The FTSE 100 is up 0.29% at 6,963.01.

The FTSE 250 is up 0.26% at 18,483.28.

Image source, Getty Images

Shoppers with a taste for the finer things in life helped lift Lidl's Christmas by 8%.

The German discount supermarket chain said that sales of its Deluxe range rose by 33% in December compared to the same month in 2017.

Image source, Quiz

Quiz also said it had to take £400,000 write-off due to the administration of House of Fraser, where Quiz has concession stands.

Group revenue for Quiz rose 8.4% in the six week period from 25 November to 5 January 2019, compared to the same period in the previous year. Online revenue rose 34.1%, and Quiz saw revenue on its own websites jump by 50.8%.

In addition to its website, Quiz has 169 concessions and 71 stores in the UK, as well as stores in Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Cyprus, Egypt, Georgia and Pakistan.

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In a few minutes, investors will get chance to react to Debenhams' chairman and chief executive being voted off the board by Mike Ashley's Sports Direct and Landmark Group.

Independent retail analyst Richard Hyman says: "The thing about Mike Ashley is that he is constantly surprising us. This was an ambush of Debenhams."

Commenting on what he believes Mr Ashley's intentions are, Mr Hyman says: "He would like to acquire some of Debenhams' assets. He would like to acquire them in the way he acquired some of House of Fraser's assets. He didn't buy the whole of House of Fraser, he bought some of their assets - there is an important distinction but he doesn't want to have the liabilities as well.

"So it remains to be seen but this is the start of a big battle."

Image source, Quiz

Quiz,the Scottish-based fashion retailer, has issued its second profit warning in three months following lower than expected sales over Christmas.

Quiz had previously indicted that its financial results for the year would be "largely dependent" on Christmas trading.

It said: "As has been widely reported, the retail trading environment has been challenging over recent months, particularly in November. Whilst the group's sales patterns improved as the Christmas trading period progressed, overall sales for the period were below expectations."

The company also said that because of lower sales it has had to offer higher discounts on clothing to clear inventory.

It said it now expects full year sales to miss expectations of £133m.

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Commenting on the rescue deal, Flybe's chief executive Christine Ourmières-Widener, said: "The industry is suffering from higher fuel costs, currency fluctuations and significant uncertainties presented by Brexit.

"We have been affected by all of these factors which have put pressure on short-term financial performance. At the same time, Flybe suffered from a number of legacy issues that are being addressed but are still adversely affecting cashflows.

"By combining to form a larger, stronger, group, we will be better placed to withstand these pressures."

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Virgin, Stobart and Cyrus, which form the consortium Connect Airways, say their offer values Flybe at £2.2m.

The group will also provide £100m worth of loans and investment for Flybe.

Before the deal is completed, Connect Airways will acquire Stobart Air, Stobart's regional airline and aircraft leasing business.

Stobart Air and Flybe will be combined and will trade under the under the Virgin Atlantic brand.

Image source, AO World

AO World has reported an 8.2% rise in like-for-like group revenue for the three months to 31 December.

UK revenue rose by 4.4% while European revenue rose by 31.3%.

The online electrical goods retailer, which sells in the UK, Germany and Netherlands, said its decision to offer Black Friday deals for the longer period in November led to better margins.

Chief executive Steve Caunce, said: "Against a challenging backdrop, the third quarter represents a solid performance across the AO Group."

Image source, Getty Images

Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Aviation and Cyrus Capital Partners have made a joint bid to buy Flybe, the troubled regional airline.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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One of the problems facing companies like Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has been a slowdown in demand from China.

But Tim Urquhart, principal automotive analyst at IHS Markit, doesn't think that the company was wrong to focus on that market.

"China has been a huge growth market for the premium vehicle manufacturers," he says. "[The Chinese] love their SUVs. It made huge sense for JLR to go in there and establish a production facility there which they have done."

But he concedes: "China is catching a bit of a cold in terms of the general market and JLR in particular has suffered quite drastically in the last few months. I think sales have been down by 50% in October and November so it is a situation beyond their control."

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According to Lucy Macdonald, the chief investment officer of global equities at Allianz Global Investors, both China and US are now suffering due to the trade war, and there is more pressure to put an end to it.

But it won't be that easy.

"There is more pressure on both sides to come to some agreement. That may be a two-stage agreement where they talk about some of the easier issues first," she told Wake Up to Money.

"There are some long-term issues about intellectual property and the objections the US has with China's 'Made in China 2025', which they think is unfair subsidy.

"They want to deal with those big issues, but in the short term they'll probably need to extend the truce that they've got at the moment."