THE DAILY BRIEFING

OLIGARCH OUT Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska has quit the board of his aluminium firm Rusal to cope with us sanctions on him and the biggest companies in his empire.

WATER WORKS Water supplier Pennon Group has become the latest to report a rise in profits, up 3.5pc to £258.8m, thanks to higher bills and cost savings. Revenue rose 2.9pc to £1.3bn.

DYE DEAL Cosmetics conglomerate L’Oreal has bought professional hair colour brand Pulp Riot for an undisclosed amount. Pulp Riot makes brightly coloured hair dyes for stylists in shades including lilac, lemon yellow and blush pink.

BEAUTY HUB Department store chain Debenhams has tied up with beauty company Estee lauder to trial an interactive beauty counter in its stevenage store. Called the Beauty Hub, it will sell products by Estee lauder, Bobbi Brown and Clinique, and offer make up advice. TOY STORY British toy store Hamleys has joined Bandai Namco Amusement to open its first stores in Japan this year. The 258-year-old retailer has 133 stores in 19 nations.

MORTGAGE RUSH Families rushed to lock in a low-rate mortgage last month in case the Bank of England raised interest rates. The trade body UK Finance said £20.4bn of mortgages were lent out in April – up 13.3pc in a year. Most were remortgaging approvals, which rose 30pc.

INSURANCE FRAUD Insurer Aviva uncovered £90m of fraud last year – or £246,000 a day. This is 5.4pc higher than in 2016. Aviva said £59m of the fraud came from motor insurance, including bogus injury claims.

SALES SLIDE Revenues at us retailer Gap have sunk below expectations. stores open for more than a year saw sales fall 4pc in the 13 weeks to May 5, sending shares down 8pc in New York. Analysts had expected a 0.4pc drop.