Summary

  • Get in touch: bizlivepage@bbc.co.uk

  • Sainsbury's shares slide as deal with Asda in trouble

  • Lloyds announces share buy-back

  • US wants China to avoid currency devaluation

  • Laura Ashley warns on profits

  1. Karl Lagerfeld's cat named in his willpublished at 11:40 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    Karl Lagerfeld in 2014, next to a photograph of himself with ChoupetteImage source, AFP
    Image caption,

    Karl Lagerfeld in 2014, next to a photograph of himself with Choupette

    It has emerged that German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, who died in Paris on Tuesday, has left some of his £150m fortune to his cat.

    Mr Lagerfeld told French magazine Numero last year that he had named his birman cat, Choupette, as an heir, along with others. The cat was given to him by one of his muses in 2012.

    The designer employed two maids to look after the pampered animal, who reportedly eats off fine china. She has her own Twitter and Instagram accounts with a combined following of about 200,000.

  2. Factory orders ahead of Brexitpublished at 11:35 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    workerImage source, PA

    The CBI's monthly industrial trends found that factory orders rose in February compared with January.

    But manufacturers told the CBI survey that they expected growth to slow in the coming months.

    "UK manufacturing activity has moderated at the same time as headwinds from Brexit uncertainty and a weaker global trading environment have grown," said Anna Leach, economist at the CBI.

  3. UK politics newspublished at 11:25 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

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  4. Retail historypublished at 11:22 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    Sainsbury trolliesImage source, Getty Images

    "Sainsbury looks like it has misunderstood the consumer and the CMA".

    That's the view of Clive Black and Darren Shirley at Shore Capital in their analysis of the Competition and Market Authority's view on the tie-up between Sainsbury's and Asda.

    "We stated repeatedly that we could not predict the CMA and today we see why. In provisional findings that potentially create retail history, the CMA looks minded to reject the proposed merger of Sainsbury and Asda," they say.

    They also say it is "bordering on laughable" for Sainsbury's to say that the CMA would "reject the opportunity to put money directly into consumers' pockets" because they felt the 10% price-cut promise made by the supermarkets was "playing to galleries".

  5. Sainsbury's sinks but Lloyds helps FTSE bouyancypublished at 10:56 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    FTSE 100

    The FTSE 100 is up, just, helped by Wood Group, Easyject and Lloyds.

    The banking group gained after promising to return cash to shareholders.

    But Sainsbury's shares have slumped more than 15% after regulators objected to its takeover of Walmart's Asda.

  6. Glencore 'plans to cap coal output'published at 10:48 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    Glencore mineImage source, Getty Images

    Mining giant and major coal producer Glencore plans to cap coal output broadly to current levels following investor pressure over climate change, it says, external.

    It made the move after pressure from a group of investors from Climate Action 100+ - the same group which helped persuade BP to back a shareholder resolution on climate change.

    This is quite a surprise move from "coal champion" Glencore, which is responsible for about 20% of the coal which is mined and traded around the world, according to Bloomberg, external.

  7. Surprising CMApublished at 10:29 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    Sainbury's local storeImage source, Getty Images

    Catherine Shuttleworth, chief executive and founder of marketing agency Savvy Marketing, appears to have some sympathy with the views of Sainsbury's chief executive Mike Coupe.

    He told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme earlier than the the Competition and Markets Authority had changed the way it was looking at supermarket tie-ups.

    Ms Shuttleworth said: "Very surprising conclusion reached by the CMA, which doesn’t seem to fit with precedent and fails to take account of the changing shape of the grocery market, in particular the growing influence of discounters as mass market businesses. The thought that a merged Sainsbury’s/Asda could push up prices is ludicrous in what would remain one of the most competitive grocery markets in the world.”

  8. GMB opposes supermarket dealpublished at 10:06 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    Asda basketImage source, Reuters

    Tim Roache, general secretary of the GMB, has described the CMA's findings in the Sainsbury's-Asda deal as "staggering".

    "GMB Union will absolutely oppose any merger that would see hundreds of stores and scores of depots put at risk," he said.

    "Our members - many of whom have worked at Asda for years, if not decades - will continue to support Asda in being the highly successful, standalone business it has been for generations, but it’s increasingly clear from the CMA announcement that isn't compatible with the Sainsbury’s merger plan, which must now be blocked," he added.

    He said the deal could put thousands of jobs at risk in stores, distribution, head office and home shopping.

  9. Swindon's good locationpublished at 09:57 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    Honda logoImage source, Reuters

    On Tuesday, Honda announced the closure of its Swindon plant in 2021.

    Phil Smith, managing director of the business group Business West which covers the Swindon area, says he is concerned.

    "We are really concerned but I'm confident that Swindon can bounce back," he told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.

    He said that "given he uncertainty around Brexit I can't see" any large scale announcement about a move by a company into the area happening in the next few months.

    But, he said, Swindon is a "good place" and well-located for London and the west.

  10. Intu scraps dividendpublished at 09:46 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    Intu logoImage source, Getty Images

    Shares in Intu, which owns shopping centres including Lakeside and the Trafford Centre, are down after it scrapped its full year dividend.

    FTSE 100 companies British Land and Land Securities are also lower.

    John Strachan, intu chairman, said the company "has had a challenging year with a difficult retail and uncertain economic environment, together with responding to two abortive corporate offers for the company".

    The company said its property values reduced by 13% (£1.4bn), citing "uncertainty around the UK economy and the challenging retail background are leading to weakening sentiment in the retail property investment market, impacting property valuations".

  11. Jail threat for Indian tycoonpublished at 09:33 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    Anil AmbaniImage source, Reuters

    Indian billionaire businessman Anil Ambani is facing a possible jail sentence after a deal between his cash-strapped firm Reliance Communications (RCom) and telecoms giant Ericsson went sour.

    Ericsson is owed 5.5bn rupees (£59.3m) by RCom under the terms of an agreement to manage and operate its network. RCom failed to comply with a Supreme Court order to pay the money by 15 December last year.

    Now the court has found Mr Ambani guilty of contempt and given him another four weeks to pay, or else face three months in prison.

    Both sides have said they respect the ruling.

  12. 'Very significant' competition concernspublished at 09:21 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    shopperImage source, Newcast

    Stuart McIntosh, who is leading the Competition and Markets Authority investigation in to the Sainsbury's Asda tie-up, told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme said it could be complex and challenging for them to address the preliminary concerns the watchdog had found.

    He said it was “very very important your listeners understand we have found very significant competition concerns in a number of areas - they are to do with grocery shopping in supermarkets, grocery shopping online and the companies' petrol stations".

    There are two options for the CMA - prohibition of the merger or sale of stores and assets - if the findings are confirmed.

    "However if one recognises that the competition concerns are quite broadly based …. putting together a package of measures which addresses those concerns is likely to be complex and quite challenging," he said.

  13. More from the CMApublished at 09:13 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    Mike Coupe, the chief executive of Sainsbury's, said earlier that the Booker/Tesco deal had been cleared by the competition authorities without any stores being sold off. The Competition and Market Authority is signalling stores will have to be sold if the Sainsbury's deal with Asda goes ahead.

    Stuart McIntosh, who is leading the CMA's review of the Sainsbury's/Asda tie-up, said he was "not necessarily sure" this should be seen as a precedent as that was a deal between a supermarket and wholesaler.

    The scale was different, he said, and "most critically we're looking at the merger between two of the largest competitors" in grocery retailing shopping.

  14. CMA 'not surprised' by Sainsbury's responsepublished at 09:05 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    shopping trolliesImage source, Reuters

    Stuart McIntosh, who is leading the Competition and Markets Authority investigation in to the Sainsbury's Asda tie-up, has been speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.

    He said he had not heard the reaction of Mike Coupe, the Sainsbury's chief executive, who was on the programme earlier and said the competition watchdog had changed the rules for supermarket mergers.

    But, he said, he was surprised by his reaction.

    “I’m not altogether surprised they should take a sharply different view from where we are in the process. We wouldn’t see this as necessarily being as unprecedented as Mr Coupe does," he said.

    "Each merger does have to be assessed on its merits and that’s what we have done in this case. Grocery shopping is something which is important to all of your listeners," he said.

    "Just to be absolutely clear what we have published today are provisional findings, not a decision so they are provisional findings for consultation and we will take our decision once we’ve seen responses to those.”

  15. More on gender pay gappublished at 08:41 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    man and woman in yellow vestImage source, Getty Images

    Rebecca Hilsenrath, Chief Executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme that the gender pay data was about shining the light on equality in the workplace and not about tackling equal pay.

    "It's not just about the data, it's about what organisations are doing to address the gap," she said.

    She was speaking after BBC research showed that four in 10 private companies that have published their latest gender pay gap are reporting wider gaps than they did last year.

  16. Tokyo stocks risepublished at 08:33 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    A man stands in front of stock board in JapanImage source, Getty Images

    Japan's stock market has closed higher for a third session.

    The benchmark Nikkei 225 index put on 0.6% to finish at 21,431.49.

  17. FTSE uppublished at 08:29 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    pound coins and union jack flagImage source, Getty Images

    Sainsbury's might be falling but the FTSE 100 index is up, around 35 points at 7,212

    Mining groups, such as Anglo American, BHP, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Glencore, are all higher.

    Lloyds Banking Group, which published its results this morning, is also up around 1%.

    But supermarkets are down: Morrisons is off 4% and Tesco 2%.

    The pound is above $1.30 on the foreign exchange markets, after reaching a two week high.

  18. 'Hammer blow' to supermarket dealpublished at 08:19 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    Quote Message

    "These provisional findings deliver a hammer blow to the potential tie-up between Sainsbury's and Asda...The scope of any potential recommendations in the final stage may be too much to swallow for the deal to survive.

    Richard Lim, Chief Executive, Retail Economics

  19. Sainsbury's shares slidepublished at 08:14 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019
    Breaking

    Sainsbury's shares are down sharply after that announcement from the Competition and Markets Authority that the merger with Asda could lead to a "poorer shopping experience".

    They are off more than 14% at around 242p.

  20. Laura Ashley warningpublished at 08:10 Greenwich Mean Time 20 February 2019

    Laura Ashley signsImage source, Getty Images

    Laura Ashley has reported a £1.5m loss (including exceptional items) and a 4.2% fall in like-for-like for sales, which strip out changes to stores.

    The figures from the fashion and home furnishings retailer are for the period for the 26 weeks to 31 December 2018.

    "Trading conditions have been difficult during the first six months of the year to 31 December 2018. Given the continued market turbulence and having reviewed the revised management forecast for the second half year, the board now holds the view that the performance for the entire year will fall short of market expectations," said chairman Andrew Khoo.