 | Royal Mail (RMG) warned that its UK business could make a loss next year due to a “challenging” outlook and a slower than expected recovery in letter volumes, sending its shares to a new record low. |
| Car maker Fiat Chrysler is on the brink of shutting a major European plant as the supply of crucial components from China dries up due to the coronavirus outbreak. | |
| Retailers are facing delays of up to four years as they fight to cut incorrect business rates, according to new data which highlights a vast backlog of appeals. | |
| Cuadrilla quakes as US private equity backer bails out of fracking firm. Riverstone’s decision to exit the market comes three months after ministers effectively killed off hopes of a shale boom in the UK. | |
| Time, it seems, is running out for traditional watchmakers: the Apple Watch outsold the entire Swiss watch industry last year, according to new data. |
| Beijing will halve tariffs on 1,717 American products next week as it scales back the trade war with Washington and shores up the world’s second largest economy. | |
| Royal Mail (RMG) expects to have a tough year after letters volumes fell short of expectations and the threat of strikes over Christmas hit parcel revenues as people switched to other carriers. |
 | A rally in bond and equity markets has boosted investment returns at the Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley (BEZ) and offset the absence of any profit from its underwriting business last year. |
| Twitter has increased its user base by a fifth over the past year, lifting its quarterly revenues above $1 billion for the first time. | |
| The new chairwoman of the John Lewis Partnership has warned that the retail group faces more shop closures and job losses but stressed that it would “double down” on its ethical business model under her leadership. |
| Ackman sold Starbucks stake as the coronavirus hit. Hedge fund manager banked 73% profit from his bet on coffee chain’s growth in China. | |
 | HSBC Holdings (HSBA) to defer appointing chief until after strategy shake-up. Some investors expected interim leader Noel Quinn or external candidate to be installed this month. |
| Three Credit Suisse investors back Thiam in board battle. Tensions with chairman Urs Rohner increased since the bank was embroiled in a spy scandal. | |
 | NMC Health (NMC) founder eyes a return to embattled group. 77-year-old entrepreneur BR Shetty ‘looking to buy out Emirati partners’. |
 | GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) warns profits to fall as it steps up R&D spending. The UK drugmaker weighs asset sales to help cover costs of planned break-up. |
| Top US executive at SoftBank’s $100bn Vision Fund to leave. Michael Ronen negotiating exit after expressing concerns over ‘issues’ at tech group. | |
 | Imperial Brands (IMB) warns vaping crackdown will hit earnings. US ban on some products hampers efforts to move away from traditional cigarettes. |
 | Barclays (BARC) under pressure over backing fossil fuel producers. Second influential investor group demands lender adopts stricter climate change policy. |
| Tech firm LG has become the first major company to pull out of the global tech extravaganza Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this month over coronavirus fears. | |
| Autonomy founder Mike Lynch has this morning submitted himself for arrest in what his legal team said is a formality triggered by a US extradition request. | |
 | Housebuilder Barratt Developments (BDEV) enjoyed the highest number of half-year completions for 12 years in the final six months of last year. |
 | Bosses at investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) have bagged share awards worth £2.3million, just days after savers in Neil Woodford’s doomed fund learned the size of their losses. |
 | Vodafone Group (VOD) has announced it will spend about €200million (£170million) to remove Huawei systems from its ‘core’ network. |
| An advert that showed a model wearing revealing clothing has been banned for being likely to ’cause serious offence by objectifying women’ following a single complaint. |
| Imperial Brands (IMB) has given warning that the clampdown in the United States on vaping will hit revenues and earnings this year. |
 | The boss of Babcock International Group (BAB) is stepping down after a tumultuous three and a half years in charge of the defence contractor during which its share price has fallen by more than 40 per cent. |
| Britain’s biggest housebuilder, Barratt Developments (BDEV), has announced that it will pay shareholders a £350 million special return over the coming two years in a demonstration of its confidence in the housing market. |
| Vodafone Group (VOD) is preparing to strip out Huawei technology from the sensitive part of its network across Europe at a cost of €200 million. |
 | BP (BP.) warns of big hit to oil amid worsening fallout from coronavirus. The financial damage from the coronavirus escalated last night as multinationals curbed their exposure to China amid warnings that it will knock global trade growth and demand for oil. |
| Vodafone Group (VOD) is to remove Huawei equipment from the sensitive, core parts of its mobile networks across Europe at a cost of €200m (£169m) over the next five years. |
 | Ryanair Holdings (RYA) has been accused of greenwashing after the UK advertising watchdog banned an ad campaign claiming that the airline has the lowest carbon emissions of any major airline in Europe. |
| Mike Lynch, the founder of the software company Autonomy who is subject to a £3.8bn civil fraud trial in London, has submitted himself for arrest as part of an attempt by the US to extradite him to face criminal charges. | |
| Barclays (BARC) is facing a fresh revolt from the UK’s most powerful investor group amid mounting concerns over its role as the biggest European financier of fossil fuel companies. |
| Macy’s announced on Tuesday that it will close 125 stores and axe 2,000 jobs, becoming the latest shopping giant to shutter shops amid a radical reordering of the retail landscape. |
 | Taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) has been forced to ask more than 6,000 customers of its banking app Bó to destroy their cards as the bank complies with new EU banking rules. |
| Britain’s biggest car maker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and other luxury UK auto firms will be among the biggest victims of a ban on diesel and petrol sales by 2035, analysts fear. | |
| Stocks extended a global rally on eased market concerns about the impact of the deadly China virus following reports of a scientific breakthrough on tackling the epidemic. | |
| GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) “disappointed” analysts with its full-year performance as it revealed plans for a £2.4bn two-year programme to carve up the group and split off its consumer health arm. |
| Ministers are preparing to give consumer watchdogs sweeping new powers and could slash business rates in a radical bid to restore faith in capitalism and save the high street. |
| Tesla shares surge again despite Saudi exit. Stock passes $900 as sovereign wealth fund discloses it sold its $2bn stake. | |
| The UK plans to ban the sale of all polluting cars by 2035. Industry attacks target petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles as ‘unworkable’. | |
| BP (BP.) warns coronavirus could hit oil demand growth by 40%. The oil major and rivals under pressure as lower prices have offset increased production. |
 | Anglo American (AAL) chief ‘surprised’ by palladium bull market. Mark Cutifani says he had expected more substitution away from metal. |
| Alphabet chief lifts the covers on earnings. Google parent offers increased transparency to improve dealings with shareholders. | |
 | EnQuest (ENQ) forecasts 2020 production decline due to platform closures. North Sea oil group says output rose 24 per cent last year. |
 | Glencore (GLEN) says Africa copper turnround plans on track. Issues at operations in DRC and Zambia hit profits last year. |
| Respite for the Glencore (GLEN) ‘billionaire boys’ club’ as miner’s share price jumps 5.2%. The stock closed up 5.2 per cent on the back of a mixed report for 2019, which saw higher cobalt, zinc, lead and coal output offset by declines in copper, nickel, gold, silver and ferrochrome. |
| BP chief hikes dividend in parting gift: He saved firm after Deepwater but profits have plunged and climate change leaves a headache. Departing BP boss Bob Dudley has handed shareholders a £1.6billion farewell gift as he bowed out after a decade in charge of the oil giant. | |
 | Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ)’s largest shareholder, private equity firm Indigo Partners, sold about 12.5million shares in the airline at a 3.5 per cent discount to Monday’s closing price. |
| Software and IT company Micro Focus said its chairman Kevin Loosemore will step down this month after a ‘challenging’ year. | |
 | Plumbing and building supplies merchant Ferguson (FERG) has confirmed it is considering switching its stock market listing to the US as it spins off its UK arm, Wolseley, this year. |
| The Competition and Markets Authority has put the merger between Just Eat and Takeawy.com on hold as it buys time to probe the £6billion takeover. | |
| Investment giant Blackrock says it’s too soon to gauge the impact of the current coronavirus outbreak on the economy, but believes it could hamper global growth. |
| Ferguson (FERG) , one of Britain’s biggest companies that traces its roots back to the Victorian era has outlined plans to list in the United States in a move that could see the business drop out of the FTSE 100. |
 | Kevin Loosemore, the executive chairman of Micro Focus International (MCRO), is to step down from the software developer after a challenging year. |
| Mike Ashley’s retail empire, Frasers Group Plc (FRAS), has bought a 12.5 per cent stake in Mulberry, the British maker of luxury handbags. | |
| BP (BP.) has raised its dividend despite reporting a 65 per cent drop in annual profits owing to lower oil and gas prices and heavy impairment charges. |
| Ikea is shutting a large store in the UK for the first time as it focuses on modernising the business to cope with the rapid change in shopping habits. | |
| Alphabet, the owner of Google fell short of Wall Street’s ambitions for its fourth-quarter earnings last night, sending its shares down moments after it revealed its results after the closing bell in New York. |
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