THE DAILY BRIEFING

EARNINGS SOAR

Profits at Tata Steel have risen five-fold over the latest quarter to £145m, boosted by volume growth in India and rising steel prices.

STRONG RENTALS

Major West End landlord Shaftesbury said trading was robust over Christmas and occupancy levels are high.

STOCK BID

Investment titan Blackrock is launching a £7.2bn fund to invest in firms not listed on stock markets.

JOBS LOST

Finance job vacancies were down 35pc in January on a year earlier because of uncertainty over the future, claimed recruiter Morgan McKinley, which has repeatedly railed against the Brexit vote.

...JOBS FOUND

Headhunter Robert Walters, meanwhile, says Brexit has not affected City jobs at all, and reported that UK-wide data suggested a pick-up in wages as firms have to compete harder to hire good staff.

BANK FINE

Hong Kong’s watchdog, the Securities and Futures Commission, has fined Credit Suisse £3.6m after the Swiss bank failed to follow short-selling regulations and report transactions properly.

BITCOIN CRACKDOWN

French and German finance ministers and top central bankers have written a joint letter to their G20 counterparts – including Britain – demanding a crackdown on bitcoin, which they claim could pose a substantial risk for investors.

VENTURE QUEST

Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin has raised £260m for his venture capital firm

B Capital Group, which will invest in start-ups around the globe but will focus on Asia.

BILL DROPPED

Telecoms giant BT has U-turned on a threat to charge telecoms providers for six years’ worth of back-payments for special phone-book listings.