Tuesday 8 May 2018

Company news, markets and financial talking points, available from 8am Monday to Friday

UK households 'vulnerable' as they go into deficit

UK households are borrowing more money than they are saving for the first time since the "Lawson boom" of the 1980s, warns Fitch. The credit rating agency says that for the past nine months, households have been in deficit. Chief economist Brian Coulton said the UK consumer is now "in a vulnerable position if we get any negative shocks".

ITV, BBC and C4 discuss stream to tackle Netflix

The BBC, Channel 4 and ITV have discussed teaming up to create a unified British streaming service to rival Netflix and Amazon in the UK. "They know a video-on-demand platform play would be a true defence for the UK creative industries," said a source. A second source described the prospect as a "public service broadcaster domestic competitor to Netflix".

Nestle pays Starbucks $7.1bn to sell its coffee products

Nestle will pay Starbucks $7.1bn (£5.2bn) to sell the chain’s coffee products. The deal will allow the Swiss company to market Starbucks' coffee in non-Starbucks retail outlets, a sector of the business that currently generates $2bn in annual sales. It means owners of Nespresso machines will be able to buy Starbucks coffee branded pods to enjoy at home.

UK challenger banks discuss merger deal

Challenger banks CYBG and Virgin Money are geared up for a merger in a deal that values the latter at just over £1.6bn. Virgin Money says it had received a "preliminary and conditional proposal from CYBG". Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, which owns just under 35% of Virgin Money, has been "looking for an exit" for some time, according to a source.

Punters splash out on paddling pools and gnomes

The warm and sunny May bank holiday has seen sales of paddling pools and garden gnomes rise. As Britain basked in the hottest early May bank holiday on record, retailers "packed the shelves with ice-cream, barbecue food, paddling pools and plants," says The Guardian. Sainsbury’s was predicting a 600% increase in ice-cream sales, while Asda said sales of paddling pools were up by almost 50%.

Quote of the day… Don't tighten when you don't have to

"The point of economic policy is to prevent recessions, not to cause them by tightening policy when it is unnecessary. That’s not prudence. It’s self-flagellation." Larry Elliott of The Guardian says a cut in the UK’s interest rates would be better advised this week.

THE NUMBERS... AT 0640 GMT

FTSE 100: up +0.86 to 7567.14
Dow Jones: up +0.39 to 24357.32
Dax: up +1.00 to 12948.14
Cac 40: up +0.28 to 5531.42
Nikkei: up +0.13 to 22496.18
Hang Seng: up +1.27 to 30375.20
US dollar: buys €0.8396 and £0.7381
Sterling: buys $1.1374 and €1.13549
Oil: $75.40 down -1.01