THE DAILY BRIEFING

CHEAPER FEES

hargreaves Lansdown has added 13 tracker funds to its Wealth 150 Plus list of top investments for the first time.

As with other funds on the 150 Plus, hargreaves has negotiated a discount on fees for its customers. The average tracker will be 32pc cheaper through the fund supermarket than its standard price.

RECLINING MARGINS

harveys and Bensons for Beds owner Steinhoff has warned the collapse in the value of sterling could have an adverse impact on its British businesses.

The South African retailer, which has bid for Poundland, said the currency’s fall of 10pc against the dollar since June 23 might have an ‘ unfavourable effect’ on future margins.

STERLING DEFENCE

Chemring said a fall in sterling after the Brexit vote had boosted its order book by 12.6pc. A weak pound added £50.5m to the defence group’s order book, taking it to £665.9m – up from £591.3m at April 30. revenue for the three months to July 31 was £109.1m, up 20.2pc on the same period last year. Shares rose 1.6pc, or 2.3p to 143.25p.

BAR RUSH

Pub giant Punch Taverns saw profits rise 4pc in a year and claims to have broken from the traditional ‘pub code’.

Punch, which operates 3,300 pubs in the UK, has been hit by the law that ended the pub tie forcing pub tenants to buy beer from their landlords. Groups have been rushing to move pubs onto a new market-rent only contract. Punch said it plans to roll out up to 150 pubs per year. Shares were up 2.4pc, or 2.25p to 97.5p.

INVESTMENT VEHICLE

More than 2,700 jobs are set to be created in a new business district being supported by government investment of £35m. The 24-hectare automotive business zone in Whitley, near Coventry, is aimed at attracting local manufacturers and supply chain firms from next year.

FALLING VALUES

Building materials supplier Grafton took a tumble as it warned of a more uncertain future and competitive market in the UK.

The group said demand had been relatively flat since the EU referendum and it is looking at cost initiatives including branch closures. But it was making good progress and pretax profit was up 12pc year-on-year in the first six months to £65m.

Shares were down 10pc, or 60.5p at 547.5p.

RUBBER STAMPED

The two main UK pension funds of tyre maker Pirelli have agreed deals with insurer Zurich to farm out £600m of risk that members will live longer than expected.

The deals were constructed using a derivative longevity swap – a type of investment which protects insurers from the risk of ageing savers.