THE DAILY BRIEFING

MOSS GLOSS Moss Bros is targeting a younger clientele as wedding parties ditch morning suits and black tie for lounge suits.

Chief executive Brian Brick also said providing ‘first suits’ to 16-yearold boys for school proms was a growing business. Sales rose 4.1pc to £63.8m in the first half of the year with profits up 30pc to £3.7m. QATAR DEAL British Airways’ parent company IAG has announced a partnership with Qatar Airways.

They will co-operate on scheduling and pricing across a route network serving more than 70 destinations under the revenue-sharing deal. ZUCKERBERG SWOOP Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has poached an AstraZeneca board member for his £2.3bn project to cure disease. Neurobiologist Cornelia Bargmann will leave the British drug maker in October to become president of the science arm at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. LENDING AID Legal & General has backed a £500m fund for lending to small UK businesses.

The cash will be offered by investment firm Pemberton, in which L&G has a 40pc stake. CENTRICA CUTS Centrica is cutting 560 jobs and closing its green energy business as part of £300m-ayear in ‘efficiency savings’.

Hundreds of British Gas staff jobs are at risk, as the group ramps up plans to reduce headcount by 3,000 by the end of the year. STAGECOACH WARNING Transport firm Stagecoach could take a hit from Britain’s uncertain economy.

The business warned of ‘a higher than usual degree of forecasting uncertainty’.

Regional bus revenues fell 1.9pc in the 16 weeks to August 20, while UK rail was up 1.7pc and turnover at Virgin Rail West Coast rose 4.7pc. GRID ALERT Energy watchdog Ofgem has warned bidders vying for a slice of the National Grid.

Ofgem said any ‘assumptions’ of future energy prices were made at the bidders’ risks, after reports of buyers offering well above the potential value of the business. National Grid is offering a 55pc stake in its £11bn gas distribution arm. EURO DOUBT Banking crises in Europe could drive down the euro against the pound, according to currency trader Moneycorp.

Deutsche Bank has been hurt by speculation about its future and Italian banks are struggling under bad debt. Moneycorp handled £11.4bn of currency trades in the first half of the year, and profits rose 34pc. LOSS POSTED Travel money business FairFX lost £900,000 in the first half of 2016, down from a £2.1m loss a year earlier.