THE DAILY BRIEFING

CHRISTMAS SHOP Discount supermarket Lidl has opened a £55m distribution centre in Exeter – creating 500 jobs in the process.

The hub will help see it through the Christmas period, where it expects to distribute 40,000 turkeys, 1.5m boxes of mince pies, 100,000 prosecco bottles, 150,000 bags of carrots and 100,000 packs of sprouts in the week leading up to Christmas Day.

BANK WARNING Scandal-hit bank Standard Chartered has still not convinced US authorities it has changed its ways, meaning the threat of prosecution will hang over it for another year.

The lender was fined £250m in America in 2012 for working with blacklisted businesses in Iran and other countries. It avoided prosecution by pledging to clean up its act by mid-2017 – but yesterday this deferred prosecution agreement was extended to July next year.

CREDIT SLUMP Profits at credit checker Equifax fell to £73.3m in the three months to September 30 – down 27pc on a year earlier. The firm is reeling after criminals raided 15.2m personal records of UK consumers, along with 143m in the US.

APP FLOAT Dara Khosrowshahi, boss of Uber, said the taxi app firm is planning to go public by 2019.

TOASTING SUCCESS Craft beer firm Brew Dog is looking for sales managers and account managers to fuel expansion after revenue surged 93pc at the end of September.

METER FEES Struggling families will no longer face fees as high as £900 if they are forced to have an energy prepayment meter installed, said Ofgem. The most they can be charged is £150, said the watchdog. EGYPT LOAN Washington-based International monetary Fund is pumping £9.1bn into Egypt as part of turnaround efforts following civil conflict and a military coup.