
Renowned UK retail giant Marks & Spencer pays costs of store closures but maintains the dividend. The company says start of its transformation plan is “well under way”.

Full-year figures from British retailer Sainsbury fail to cheer investors. Its next hurdle is to persuade competition authorities to allow a £15 billion merger with rival Asda.

First-quarter figures for global consumer giant Unilever show sales up but prices flat. Investors marked the shares down despite upbeat talk from the chief executive.

Britain’s biggest motoring organisation slashes its dividend as it steps up investment. New chief executive puts boardroom turbulence of last year behind the AA.

UK-based retail giant Tesco pays first end-year dividend in four years after 12 months of “strong progress”. Underlying operating profits rose 28.4 per cent in the year to February 24.

Stock prices advanced broadly on Friday as investors stepped up their buying shrugging off recent interest rate and inflation worries.

Li Shufu, the principal owner of Chinese auto group Zhejiang Geely, has purchased a 10% stake in automaker Daimler.

Volkswagen shares slipped 0.8% on Friday after the company warned profits could be hit this year due to rising investment in electric cars and new product launches.

There was little cheer from the FTSE 100 earlier, sinking -0.30% as IAG shares lost altitude, down -5.5%.

BMW is set to build an all-new electric Mini in China in a new joint venture with Chinese company Great Wall.

US-based food group General Mills is to acquire luxury dog food maker Blue Buffalo Pet Products in an $8bn deal.

Tesla’s electric trucks could soon pay off, according to German juggernaut Deutsche Post DHL – the world’s biggest logistics company.

Investment giant BlackRock has said it will be “engaging with weapons manufacturers and distributors to understand their response to recent events”.

Bosses at UK house-builder Persimmon are to take cuts to their bonuses worth £51m after criticism from shareholders.