THE DAILY BRIEFING

AUDIT EXIT Two executives have quit the board of tainted Financial

Reporting Council watchdog. Corporate governance head Paul George and audit regulation director Melanie McLaren have stood down as directors. They previously worked at KPMG and PwC respectively.

They resigned after critics claimed the FRC, which oversees auditors, was stuffed with former accountants who put its independence at risk.

EURO GLOOM The eurozone’s fragile recovery may have already petered out, figures suggest.

Italian industrial output unexpectedly dropped 0.5pc in February, surprising analysts who had been expecting growth of 0.8pc. In France, production grew by 1.2pc instead of the 1.4pc predicted.

It follows data revealing a sharp fall in German exports last month.

AIR BID Budget airline EasyJet has re-submitted an interest in bidding for all or part of bankrupt rival Alitalia’s assets after the process was postponed due to Italy’s general election in March.

SALES ACCELERATE Logistics firm Eddie Stobart made sales of £623.9m last year, up from £549m the year before, with profits up 17pc to £48.5m. It is paying a final dividend of 4.4p per share, making a total dividend of 5.8p per share for the full year.

GOLD HOPE Tanzanian miner Acacia Mining produced 120,981 ounces of gold during the first quarter of 2018, and expects to produce up to 475,000 ounces in the year.

OIL SET UK oil and gas firm Hurricane Energy will start producing oil in the first half of 2019 from its Lancaster field west of Shetland.

METAL POWER South Africa focused miner Tharisa produced 77,000 ounces of platinum group metals during the six months ending March 31, an 11.4pc increase on the year before.

BANK FINE Toxic bank Wells Fargo faces a fine of more than £100m in the US for high-pressure selling of mortgages and car insurance.

RULES FEAR Britain’s £8trillion fund management industry will suffer financially from rules laid out by the City watchdog, credit agency Moody’s has warned.

INTERIOR FUNDS Investor Guy Hands has contributed to a £5.7m fundraising drive by interior design start-up Eporta.