1 A key measure of US inflation rose by more than expected in March, dashing hopes that the Fed will begin cutting interest rates as early as June. Monthly core consumer prices inflation rose by 0.4 per cent between February and March, higher than the 0.3 per cent forecast.
2 Hundreds of staff at the Dutch division of KPMG cheated on professional exams and misled investigators, resulting in the accountancy firm being hit with a $25 million fine from the US audit regulator. The cheating included exams sat to test the understanding of professional ethics.
3 More than a third of City lawyers responding to an anonymous online poll put up their hands to padding time sheets, with 13 per cent saying that they did so “regularly”.
4 Tesco workers will receive a bonus after profits rose by almost 160 per cent last year. The grocer said it would hand out £70 million to hourly-paid employees in its stores, customer fulfilment and customer engagement centres, worth 1.5 per cent of their annual wages, or £300 each for full-time workers.
5 Aston Martin will continue to make petrol hybrid vehicles well into the mid-2030s and will not end its production of sports cars with internal combustion engines until legislators stop their manufacture, its boss has stated.
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6 Estate agents are receiving more calls and emails from would-be homebuyers than they have in more than two years — and expect to get busier. In a poll by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a net 8 per cent reported an increase in new buyer inquiries in March.
7 Rampant inflation and “dramatic” cost increases have forced THG to cut almost a third of its workforce in the past two years. Matt Moulding said his beauty and nutrition business had cut 3,000 roles from 2022’s staff count of 10,000 after a cost-saving review and amid a “huge automation rollout”.
8 Warren East has been named chairman of Britain’s air traffic control provider as it seeks to repair its reputation from a technical meltdown last summer. The former boss of Rolls-Royce will join National Air Traffic Services in September.
9 A boom in artificial intelligence has fuelled demand for chip components made by IQE. The order book for wafers made by the Cardiff-based company had grown and was likely to do so further, it said in an update that prompted a 28.8 per cent jump in its share price.
10 The rise and resilience of luxury retail has prompted Blackstone to snap up a property on Britain’s most expensive shopping street. The New York-based asset manager, which owns British offices, warehouses and country clubs worth billions of pounds, has paid £230 million for 31,000 sq ft of retail space on New Bond Street in the West End of London.