THE DAILY BRIEFING

■ JETTING OFF Travel firm Thomas Cook could sell a stake in its airline, paving the way for a breakup. The business is said to be considering ways it could spin off its carrier altogether to focus on the tour operator division, which organised 11m holidays last year and had revenues of £7.1bn.

■ RESCUE RISK Fears are growing for House of Fraser amid speculation it may not be rescued. The department chain was due to axe 31 of its 59 shops in a deal that would see Chinese firm C.Banner take a stake and invest £70m. But shares in C. Banner have fallen 73pc this month, throwing plans into doubt.

■ MELTDOWN PROBE A report which will reveal who is to blame for the IT meltdown at TSB will not be published until 2019, boss Paul Pester has said. City law firm Slaughter and May has been commissioned to probe a botched computer upgrade that left 1.9m customers unable to access their bank accounts. ■ NEW VENTURE The ex-boss of failed broker Beaufort Securities has started a new venture – running an Indian takeaway. Beaufort went bust in May following an FBI money laundering probe into some of its staff. Now Tanvier Malik, who has not been linked to any wrongdoing, has started a restaurant called Sanderson Kitchens.

■ TURNOVER BOOST Sales at Next are forecast to have risen by 3pc in the last quarter, compared to a year earlier. The clothing chain will issue a trading update on Wednesday, and analysts at UBS expect it to buck the gloom on the High Street with a rise in sales.

■ BOOKIE DEAL The owner of bookmaker Ladbrokes is teaming up with Las Vegas casino MGM in a bid to crack open the US market. GVC Holdings will work with the Bellagio and Mirage owner on a £153m sports betting joint venture. ■ DIVIDEND BOOST British public companies paid out a record £30.7bn of dividends in the second quarter of this year, claims Link Asset Services – up 7.1pc on a year earlier.