THE DAILY BRIEFING

FLYING HIGH Passenger numbers at Ryanair grew 6pc to 12.5m in May, compared to a year earlier, despite more than 200,000 customers having their flights cancelled because of strikes and stormy weather. PIG PLAY Alton Towers owner

Merlin Entertainments has won rights to open the world’s first Peppa Pig indoor play area in Shanghai later this year. In a deal with TV and film distributor Entertainment One, Merlin has also secured four additional sites in Beijing, Dallas, Michigan and New York.

BOSS QUITS The boss of ten-pin bowling firm ten Entertainment is stepping down due to personal reasons. Chief executive Alan Hand will leave after almost 10 years at the business on December 14.

COOL SALES Sales came in flat at John Lewis last week as shoppers stayed outside to enjoy the warmth. Fashion sales at the department store fell 4.5pc in the week to June 2, while home sales were down 2.4pc. Sales at Waitrose edged up 0.8pc.

TWEET BOOST Social networking website twitter, worth £21bn yesterday, is to join America’s S&P 500 Index, replacing agricultural production giant Monsanto. Netflix will also replace the same firm, which is being bought by life sciences firm Bayer for £47bn, on the S&P 100 index.

MACHINE FUTURE Robots should be handling luggage at airports, the president of airline Emirates has said. Tim Clark said the machines could handle bags in the same way they are used to sort items for deliveries in online retailer Amazon’s warehouses.

ELECTRIC EARNINGS Profits are up 19.2pc at gas and electricity cable provider Fulcrum Utility

services, to £8.7m, on revenues up 18.8pc to £44.8m. The Sheffieldbased company expects growth on the back of smart meters and electric vehicle charging.

CONTRACT EXTENDED Outsourcing firm Capita will manage more of the payments and technology for Transport for London’s systems to prevent polluting vehicles entering London. The extension to its current contract is worth around £56m to 2021.

WIND POWER Energy investment company the Renewables

Infrastructure Group has bought the Rosiere and Montigny onshore wind farms in northern France.