THE DAILY BRIEFING

CASHING IN among a series of first- quarter results this week, Lloyds is forecast to post a 9pc rise in profits to £2.3bn.

Barclays, meanwhile, is expected to record a £500m loss on Thursday, after a £1.4bn settlement with the Us Department of Justice over the sale of toxic mortgagebacked securities in the lead-up to the financial crisis.

Royal Bank of scotland will report its figures on Friday, with UBs analysts pencilling in profit of £1.3bn.

BIG BET a Canadian gaming company is buying sky’s online bookmaker arm Sky Bet.

The stars Group is paying around £3.4bn for the firm which is owned 20pc by sky and 71pc by CVC Capital Partners.

PAYING OUT First-quarter dividends from UK companies rose 7.6pc to £16.7bn, boosted by about £ 1bn from British american Tobacco. about a sixth came from the healthcare sector, including astrazeneca and Glaxosmithkline.

BONUS CUT The boss of B&Q owner Kingfisher was paid £1.7m last year, down from £1.9m the year before. Veronique Laury, 52, saw her bonus slashed from £967,400 to £537,000, after the firm cut maximum awards from 200pc to 80pc of salary. The board said she was entitled to 72pc after meeting targets.

SMOKE ALARM Vaping products firm Supreme Imports is planning to list on the junior aIM stock exchange with a value of between £100m and £150m.

GAS LEAK australian bank Macquarie is reportedly considering selling Calon Energy, which owns three UK gas-fired power stations – sutton Bridge, in Lincolnshire, and Baglan Bay and severn Power in south Wales.

BAD BOOZE accountancy giant KPMG could face a probe by the Financial Reporting Council over its auditing of Bargain Booze owner Conviviality, which slid into administration this month.

KPMG is already under investigation over its work for bustbuilder Carillion, among others.