THE DAILY BRIEFING

FOURTH BID

michael mcgarry, the boss of US predator PPG which is trying to take over Dulux’s owner Akzo nobel, said he remains interested in negotiating a ‘consensual’ deal – despite having three takeover bids rebuffed.

DEBT BLUES

government borrowing unexpectedly jumped to £10.4bn last month – a £1.2bn rise on April 2016 – due to a lower than hoped for VAT tax take. The Office for national Statistics also reported it had revised the last financial year’s spending shortfall down by £3.3bn to £48.7bn.

TARGETS REJECTED

Oil giant Shell’s shareholders have rejected a proposal by environmental group Follow This calling for the oil company to set and publish annual targets to reduce carbon emissions.

RIPE RESULTS

Booming demand for ‘ food to go’ meal deals helped sandwich maker Greencore post stellar results. It reported a 46.1pc boost in sales to £ 1bn in the 26 weeks to march. Profits nearly halved from £20.8m to £11.7m in the period – though it was largely due to the £605m takeover of rival Peacock Foods in December.

EARNINGS SLUMP

Profits at buy-to-let mortgage lender Paragon fell to £69.4m in the six months to the end of march, down £100,000 from the same period a year earlier.

LONG HAUL

Budget airline Ryais selling Air Europa tickets on its website, allowing customers to choose from 20 long haul routes including Argentina, Brazil, cuba, mexico and the United States.

HARDY HOTELS

Budget chain Easy Hotel said sales in the six months to march 31 rose 21.2pc to £3.1m compared to the same period a year before. Profits fell to £60,000.

REVENUE RISE

Engineering and IT group Aveva posted a 7pc rise in revenue to £215.8m, boosted by the fall in the pound since the Brexit vote. Profit was up 7.4pc to £55m in the year to march 31.

SALES SOAR

Shoppers stocking up on casual clothing sent fashion sales at John Lewis up 4.9pc last week. Total John Lewis sales were up 1.1pc to £76.3m.

BARRELS BOOST

Kazakhstanfocused oil and gas producer Nos

trum Oil and Gas says sales are up to 43,279 barrels per day, compared to 38,754 over the same period last year. Profits had risen to £52m compared to £39m over the same period.