1 The board of LV= is facing mounting criticism over the decision to sell the mutual insurer to Bain Capital, an American private equity firm, after it emerged that most of its 1.2 million members stand to receive only £100 each from the £530 million deal.
2 The Federal Reserve will start tapering its vast economic support for the American recovery this month, but emphasised that it remained too early to raise interest rates.
3 The controlling shareholder of the Daily Mail publisher has been accused of attempting to take it private on the cheap. In a sign of a potential investor revolt, Majedie Asset Management said that Lord Rothermere’s offer to take the Daily Mail and General Trust private was not generous enough.
4 Costs and prices in the dominant services sector rose at the fastest pace in at least a quarter of a century last month, according to IHS Markit/CIPS UK services purchasing managers’ index, which highlighted the inflationary pressures on the economy.
5 Mini sales have plunged by 25 per cent as the worldwide computer chip shortage continues to cause problems for carmakers’ supply chains.
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6 The price of a typical UK home has surpassed £250,000 for the first time, according to one of the industry’s most closely watched house price trackers. In its latest house price index, Nationwide estimated that prices had risen by 0.7 per cent in October compared with the previous month.
7 A commercial energy supplier backed by Glencore has ceased trading, leaving more than 40,000 business customers in limbo and at risk of losing their credit balances. CNG Group said that it could no longer continue to operate CNG Energy Limited, its business energy retail division.
8 Labour shortages and inflation may hurt Next over Christmas, despite the retailer’s sales in the third quarter being better than expected. The FTSE 100 group said that full-price sales had risen by 17 per cent in the 13 weeks to October 30 compared with the same period two years ago, before the pandemic.
9 Most of Britain’s biggest listed businesses have signed up to eliminate their greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The government said 60 companies in the FTSE 100 were part of the United Nations’ Race to Zero campaign after a push by ministers before the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow this week.
10 CityFibre, a Goldman Sachs-backed broadband infrastructure company, is planning to launch further acquisitions to “crack open” the BT and Virgin Media O2 “weak duopoly” after raising £1.1 billion and reaching one million homes.