THE DAILY BRIEFING

PETROFAC PROFIT Oil services firm Petrofac has put the headache caused by the delay of the Laggan-Tormore gas plant development behind it.

The FTSE 250 company, which designs, builds, operates and maintains oil and gas facilities, finally delivered a half-year profit after a string of profit warnings last year and said it was on track to meet full-year expectations of £336m profit. Revenue for the half-year was up 22pc to nearly £3bn and it made a profit of £180m.

MERGER PROBE A £1.4bn merger of two giant cash machine makers faces an in- depth probe from the UK’s competition watchdog.

The takeover of Germany’s Wincor Nixdorf by US firm Diebold has been backed by shareholders but the Competition and Markets Authority has launched an investigation which must be completed by February.

PINEWOOD DEAL A £323m takeover of James Bond-maker Pinewood Studios has been given the thumbs up by the UK’s financial regulator.

Buckinghamshire-based Pinewood and Aermont Capital, run by French property tycoon Leon Bressler, said the Financial Conduct Authority had rubber- stamped the tie-up. Shareholders vote on the deal on September 19. Shares rose 8p to 561.5p.

CYBERCRIME BILL Cybercrime is set to cost the UK economy more than £147bn a year, a report says.

Data compiled by the Greater London Authority Conservatives suggests as many as 1.8m companies in the UK could have experienced a security breach in 2015, and the subsequent costs to businesses are rising.

US OPTIMISM US consumer confidence hit its highest level in nearly a year in August, suggesting economic growth could pick up for the second half of the year.

The Conference Board said that its consumer confidence index rose to a reading of 101.1, up from 96.7 in July.

BUNZL DIP Plastic cup and napkin supplier Bunzl brushed off worries over the Brexit vote despite a slide in sales and profits in the UK.

The company, which distributes a wide range of equipment, said revenues in the UK and Ireland dipped 3pc to £523.4m in the first half of the year while profits were down 4pc to £36m. Bunzl hiked its interim dividend by 11pc to 13p per share. The stock fell 7p to 2413p.

HERSHEY HALT Cadbury owner Mondelez has ditched plans to buy US rival Hershey. The Cadbury and Oreo biscuits maker had made a £17.5bn cash and shares bid which was rejected, and does not think it can reach an agreement.

BARCLAYS SELLS Barclays has offloaded its loss-making Italian business as part of a drive to sell noncore assets, at a £258m loss.